A Sarah Palin presidential bid angers Peggy Noonan, Ronald Reagan's protector

Irish American Peggy Noonan is keeper of the flame of the legacy of Ronald Reagan.

She has slammed Palin for comments she made recently about Reagan and some of the bad movies such as 'Bedtime with Bonzo ' that he appeared in.

The former Reagan speechwriter was writing in the Wall Street Journal.

Palin was reacting to criticism of her own TV reality show by pointing out that Reagan in a different era did the same thing . She called Reagan 'an actor' and said 'Wasn't he in Bedtime with Bonzo, Bozo, something."

Noonan saw red at this slight on her hero.

Noonan knows exactly what she is doing. The Tea Party essentially cost the Republicans the senate as they would surely have won Delaware, Nevada, Colorado if they had picked reasonable candidates.

Now Palin looks like she could cost them the White House given that she would be a very formidable candidate internally among the Republican base but polls show that she lacks any broad following in the general electorate like the Tea Party candidates who failed.

That is why Noonan is already commencing offensive operations.

"Excuse me, but this was ignorant even for Mrs. Palin. Reagan people quietly flipped their lids, but I'll voice their consternation to make a larger point. Ronald Reagan was an artist who willed himself into leadership as president of a major American labor union (Screen Actors Guild, seven terms, 1947-59.) He led that union successfully through major upheavals (the Hollywood communist wars, labor-management struggles); discovered and honed his ability to speak persuasively by talking to workers on the line at General Electric for eight years; was elected to and completed two full terms as governor of California; challenged and almost unseated an incumbent president of his own party; and went on to popularize modern conservative political philosophy without the help of a conservative infrastructure. Then he was elected president."

The point is not 'He was a great man and you are a nincompoop,' though that is true," Noonan continues.(ouch) "The point is that Reagan's career is a guide, not only for the tea party but for all in politics. He brought his fully mature, fully seasoned self into politics with him. He wasn't in search of a life when he ran for office, and he wasn't in search of fame; he'd already lived a life, he was already well known, he'd accomplished things in the world."

Calling Palin a "nincompoop" is a typical Noonan comment, reflecting her haughty disdain for Palin. Make no mistake about it this will get very interesting when the 2012 nomination battle begins in earnest.

Karl Rove Noonan and Co. know the Republicans will be in dire straits if Palin wins the nomination. However, they are already gearing up to top that.

A real donnybrook looks likely.