It all starts with the smell. Every year we blurredly get spun around like we’re playing a game of pin the tail on the donkey and stumble from summer into fall. It’s an emotional time.  

During the Cold War, there was almost no insult worse for an average American than to be called a communist. Anyone labeled with the tag might lose his or her job, be shunned by neighbors or undergo government surveillance. Now politicians prone to demagogue are turning to a new punching bag: socialism.  

I bet Peggy Noonan would feel differently if it was her son being waterboarded. Thats one of the first thoughts I had upon hearing the amazing comment uttered from her mouth during a recent discussion on an ABC political talk show. Noonan, 58, was a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan and now is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal.