I’m a day late posting this, so forgive me—lots of folks are talking about Peggy Noonan’s piece in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. What’s interesting is that Noonan doesn’t even talk about whether the Miers nomination should or could be saved; in her unique, GOP-MILF sex symbol sort of way, she offers a gentle road map out, an exit strategy whispered like a bedtime story.

To my mind, all these conservative intellectual types weighing in on Miers is starting to sound like self-parody. Here’s Noonan—whom I actually quite like; although we don’t agree on much, she’s a lovely person—recommending the best way to heal the post-Miers breach:

The White House, after the Miers withdrawal/removal/disappearance, would be well advised to call in leaders of the fractious base-with heavy initial emphasis on the Washington conservative establishment-and have some long talks about the future. It’s time for the administration to reach out to wise men and women, time for Roosevelt Room gatherings of the conservative clans. Much old affection remains, and respect lingers, but a lot of damage has been done….

Ah, yes. Call in the old guard for some nice long talks. I do wonder what particular wise men and women she’s referring to—James Dobson? Pat Robertson? Ralph Reed? Pat Buchanan? Are these really the Vernon Jordans and Bob Strausses of the Bush White House? Or is Noonan just inviting herself to the White House?

I appreciate that Noonan is trying to take down the rhetoric a notch or two, and for conservatives that’s probably a good idea. After all, they do have to live with each other, and with the president, for three more years. But somehow I don’t think that the social conservatives who are so mad about Miers are really going to take their cues from wealthy, privileged Wall Street Journal columnists…..