Peggy Noonan has become something of the moral center of America’s institutional political class.

As a former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, and a long time columnist at the Wall Street Journal, Noonan represents a version of American conservatism that is more William F. Buckley than Donald J. Trump.  Her conservatism is a traditional conservatism, one of moderation, of temperance, and of a belief – and indeed a reliance upon – American institutions.

Her column this weekend in the Wall Street Journal is titled “Defuse America’s Explosive Politics.”  It’s a thoughtful column that I think is worth commending to you and our readership.

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She speaks to this importance of institutions and our common understanding of what it is to be American.  More importantly, however, she bridges this understanding by explaining how both Democrats and Republicans view today’s world.

Democrats really and sincerely see the threat of violent words and actions as coming from the right. It’s Mr. Trump—he’s hateful and has no respect and it sets a tone. He encourages fights at his rallies; he said the other night that a congressman who pushed around a reporter was his kind of guy. He calls the press the enemy of the people. He widens all divisions, mindlessly yet opportunistically. No surprise his adversaries are being sent bombs.

Republicans and the right truly, deeply see the threat as coming from the left. Rep. Maxine Waters and Sen. Cory Booker actually told crowds to get in Republicans’ faces; Hillary Clinton says you can’t treat them civilly. Republicans see the screamers and harassers at the Kavanaugh hearings, the groups swarming Republican figures when they dine in public, antifa. A man who wrote “It’s Time to Destroy Trump & Co.” on Facebook didn’t insult Rep. Steve Scalise last year; he shot and almost killed him. The intimidation is coming from the left.

Trump supporters don’t take him seriously when he issues his insults. He’s kidding; he doesn’t mean it; he’s Trump. You’re lying when you say he makes you afraid.

But the left finds him, and some of his allies, honestly—honestly—dangerous.

Just as the right finds Ms. Waters and Mr. Booker and Mrs. Clinton and the swarms and the hissers and antifa honestly—honestly—the threat.

Neither side appreciates—neither side credits—the anxiety the other side legitimately feels. They have no sensitivity to it. They had better get some.

It’s this lack of understanding, of sensitivity that Noonan argues is why we face such an uncertain time.  If we don’t understand our common bonds and recognize that we have more in common than we do that divides us, it’s easy to lose sight of the value and importance of our American community.  Sure, a vocal minority, she argues, will have an interest in division.  Fear is great for fundraising and for cable tv advertising.  But it’s small.

The dirty secret of most political professionals is that they do see virtues in the other party. And when you show respect for people, they tend to put down their rocks.

Does this sound dreamy or otherworldly? Yes. But a tender moment isn’t the worst thing that could happen to us right now, and enraged people will find it boring. We want them bored. And actually I don’t mean it as sentimental but reorienting—a reminder for some and an education for others about what it is we’re trying to do here.

Claire McCaskill, Sherrod Brown, let us hear you on what you know to be admirable in the Republican Party—and in Republicans. Ted Cruz, Martha McSally, the same from you on the Democrats. Show some largeness. We’re dying of smallness.

Noonan has argued in her career as a scribe that words matter, that the leadership a president provides through rhetoric can call us to our better angels – or enflame our lesser impulses.  She doesn’t think President Trump understands this.  But, as a Reagan Republican, Noonan doesn’t think that lets the rest of us off the hook.  The downside, she argues, is deep if we don’t take this moment seriously.

Mr. Trump seems to think only about his audience and his foes. He doesn’t seem to proceed with a broad knowledge that there are the unstable among us, and part of your job as president is not to push them over the edge. It can get ugly when you do.

In a funny way he seems to think everything’s more stable than it is, that the veil between safety and surprise is thicker than it is. Maybe you assume everything’s safe when you’ve spent your whole adult life, as he has, with private security and private cars, surrounded by staff. Maybe that makes you careless, or too confident.

But few of our political leaders seem especially sensitive to the precariousness of things. I wish they worried about the country more.

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