Shake, shake, shake that Wall Street Journal columnist and former Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush speechwriter, Peggy Noonan, who was frothing at the bit on one of those Sunday morning talk shows yesterday; her face turned as red as her nemesis, Bill Clinton’s when he gets worked up. Ms. Noonan is up-in-arms because she thinks that former President Bill Clinton is acting un-presidential when he does what spouses of candidates for the presidency are supposed to do: HELP THEM WIN.

Ms. Noonan, who my best friend calls “snooty,” actually speaks with Locust Valley Lock Jaw, that upper-crust phony British accent thing that makes people sound as if they’re talking with a plum in their mouth even though Ms. Noonan was born in Brooklyn, NY.

Author of  The Case Against Hillary (HarperCollins, March 2000), Ms. Noonan obviously isn’t enamored with either Bill or Hillary Clinton. Of course, she has an axe to grind. She was George H. W. Bush’s speechwriter at the time Bush Sr. had his clock cleaned by Bill, thereby putting Ms. Peggy out of a job, which is sad as Ms. Noonan was the creator of these great LIES: “Read my Lips, No New Taxes” and this untruth, “A kinder, gentler nation.” Boy-girl, they just don’t write ’em like they used to. OK, yes they do.

Anyway, back to Ms. Noonan waxing IN-eloquent on the Sunday morning talk show circuit. Maybe Ms. Noonan is too much of an elitist to wag her finger, but purple-faced she was when she launched into this tirade:

“Can I say, on the campaign trail, one of the things I find jarring the past few weeks is that Hillary Clinton is the first major party woman running for president of the United States. She is a woman. She's running for president. She's running for head of the United States, chief executive officer. And she has to send her husband out to yell at the neighbors? It's like she's, she's saying, "You go out there, you fight for me. My husband's going to tell you off!" There's something strange, jarring, unbecoming and even unfeminist about it”

And when her comment was called into question she continued to rant with clenched jaw:  "You think he's just on his [President Clinton] own. Oh, my goodness, it's her campaign. If she didn't want him out there wagging his finger, turning red and arguing with reporters and bringing a level of temper and heat to the proceedings, if she did not want that, I'm sure she would stop it. And if she cannot, we should all just stop and take a breath.”

Upper-crust-NOT, Ms. Noonan of the prestigious The Wall Street Journal (maybe no more) sure knows how to get down and dirty.

As do all politicians, including Ms. Noonan, her beloved George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton who yes, indeed, gets red-faced and has been known to wag his finger a time or two. But isn’t that what all spouses do in presidential campaigns? Play bad cop to the candidate’s good cop?

Hasn’t Michelle Obama had a few choice words to shake, shake, shake her booty about? Let’s see, there was her call to arms: “Black people will eventually wake up and get it,” something her husband couldn’t say as he is running as a colorless candidate.

On the other hand, one would have to question the efficacy of a candidate attacking the spouse of a candidate, former President Clinton, as Senator Obama has begun to do, which speaks to the candidate lacking the courage to directly take on the opposition, and even appears unpresidential.

It is reported that Senator Ted Kennedy and Rahm Emanuel, two important Democrats, are upset with the forceful role that Bill Clinton is playing in his wife’s campaign. Apparently, they believe his conduct is unbecoming a former president and the titular head of the Democratic Party. They have asked Mr. Clinton to tone down his rhetoric and stop attacking Sen. Barack Obama.

Oh, please, let’s all get real. Or as KC of the Sunshine Band sang: “Shake, shake, shake, come on shake, shake, shake your booty, DO YOUR DUTY…”

That, kids, is politics.