by Victor Davis Hanson
Tribune Media Services
As a senator and presidential candidate, Barack Obama said that he detested budget deficits. In 2006, when the aggregate national debt was almost $8 trillion less than today, he blasted George W. Bush’s chronic borrowing and refused to vote for upping the debt ceiling: “Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.'”
Continue reading “When Big Deficits Became Good”
by Victor Davis Hanson
Tribune Media Services
There is a new-year stampede developing that we have not seen for a long time.
Gun stores are swamped with panicking customers. They are looking for handguns, semi-automatic rifles and as much ammunition as they can afford. Continue reading “The Great New Year Stampede”
by Victor Davis Hanson
Tribune Media Services
After his party’s devastating setback in the 2010 midterm elections, Barack Obama was re-elected earlier this month by painting his Republican opponents as heartless in favoring lower taxes for the rich. They were portrayed as nativists for opposing the Dream Act amnesty for illegal immigrants, and as callous in battling the federal takeover of healthcare. Continue reading “Let Obama Be Obama”
by Bruce Thornton
Frontpage Magazine
The election postmortem has identified all manner of causes for the Republicans’ defeat, from the “woman problem” and the “Hispanic problem,” as Peggy Noonan put it, to Romney’s fatcat persona and his inept campaign. But there’s a simpler reason, one consistent with the critics of democracy starting in ancient Athens — Obama and the Democrats promised voters more free stuff. Continue reading “Explaining the Democrats’ Success”
by Victor Davis Hanson
Tribune Media Services
In 2008, Barack “No Drama” Obama was the coolest presidential candidate America had ever seen — young, hip, Ivy League, mellifluous and black, with a melodic and exotic name. Rock stars vied to perform at his massive rallies, where Obama often began his hope-and-change sermons by reminding the teary-eyed audience what to do in case of mass fainting. Continue reading “The Uncool President”
by Victor Davis Hanson
PJ Media
Was it the blame-gaming — “Bush did it!,” ATMs are at fault, tsunamis are the culprit, no other administration has had such challenges, the euro meltdown is to blame, earthquakes shook our confidence — that finally turned the country off of Obama? Continue reading “The Obama Breaking Point”
by Victor Davis Hanson
Tribune Media Services
The theme of the president’s 2012 re-election campaign is that George W. Bush left such a terrible mess that Barack Obama could hardly be expected to clean it up in four years. Continue reading “Let Bush Be”
by Victor Davis Hanson
PJMedia
The World We Don’t Question
I’ve witnessed two of the most radical developments in my lifetime the last four years — changes far greater than those brought on by the massive new increases in the national debt, the soaring gas costs, the radical decrease in average family income, the insolvent Medicare and Social Security trajectories, or the flat housing market. Continue reading “The Terrifying New Normal”
by Victor Davis Hanson
National Review Online
Sometimes societies find themselves in pernicious cycles in which the perceived medicine seems worse than the known disease. The Roman satirist Juvenal lamented the ill effects of free food and free entertainment for the masses (“bread and circuses”) in part because he knew there was no remedy for the pathology in sight — and thus only a slow decline toward fiscal insolvency or riots were on the horizon. Continue reading “Are We Doomed?”
by Victor Davis Hanson
Tribune Media Services
Driving across California is like going from Mississippi to Massachusetts without ever crossing a state line. Continue reading “There Is No California”