Noonan's trenchant piece recalls who we are as a nation and who we'll have to be to get our economy fixed - but she leaves out a very important piece.
Since before her Reagan administration days, Noonan has been in the bleachers observing what's been going on in the U.S. from a highly pro-GOP point of view.
While her recent WSJ column talks about the mettle we'll need as a nation to pull together, she misses a critical point - the current leadership gap will be filled by each of us as individuals.
The loss of trust in the government, churches and other social institutions is huge. The cost of this credibility gap - caused by relying on so-called 'experts' who are supposed to guide the hoi polloi - has been so large that I argue we're not going back to the old days of 2007 when people were acting like sheep.
To be sure, there are some left. But most are now so disaffected, they're not going to be waiting for words of wisdom from the usual suspects - that day is over.
Our frontier has been recreated by the economic Katrina, and people are already starting to seize the helm. I can't wait to see what the results will be.