The Origins of Our Second Civil War
Victor Davis Hanson // National Review How, when, and why has the United States now arrived at the brink of a veritable civil war? Almost every cultural and social institution — universities, the public schools, the NFL, the Oscars, the Tonys, the Grammys, late-night television, public restaurants, coffee shops, movies, TV, stand-up comedy — has […]
Progressive Regression
Victor Davis Hanson // American Greatness Donald Trump has certainly changed the rules of presidential behavior, through his nonstop campaign rallies, tweets, and press conferences. What his critics call lowering the bar of presidential decorum by unfettered and often crude invective, Trump dubs the “new presidential.” His style has become a sort of “don’t-tread-on-me” combativeness. […]
07-30-18 Angry Reader
From An Angry Reader: Subject: NATO Maybe it’s my old age but you seem to be contradicting yourself. You explain quite correctly how useless it is and then suggest that you think strengthen it is a good idea??? Looks like trump wants to dump it knowing Germany will never pony up. Have suggested that article […]
07-27-18 Angry Reader
From An Angry Reader: Your article…about NATOs challenge is Germany, not America. Sir, With all respect but before you write any article you should learn about history. Germany did not start both World Wars. You might want to do some research before writing anything. Very sad how little people here actually know about history and […]
Reforming NATO Is the Only Way to Save It
Victor Davis Hanson // American Greatness Donald Trump recently ignited yet another firestorm by hedging when asked whether protecting the newest NATO member, tiny Montenegro, might be worth risking a war. Of course, the keystone of NATO was always the idea that all members, strong and weak, are in theory equal. A military attack against […]
Continental Drift
Victor Davis Hanson // National Review According to Pew International polls, Trump is now intensely disliked in Europe. His endless spats over European trade, the costs of NATO, and differing approaches to Vladimir Putin’s Russia acerbated already tense U.S.–European relations. But Trump neither created European or transatlantic crises nor can be of much help in […]
Russianism
Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Trump’s critics need a scapegoat to explain why they haven’t managed to vanquish him. Russianism is a psychological malady in which furor at Donald Trump’s election victory and presidency — and the ensuing depression resulting from the inability to abort it — finds release through fixation on Russia. ‘Extremely […]
Just How Far Will the Left Go?
Victor Davis Hanson // American Greatness There was no honeymoon for the unlikely winner of the 2016 election. Progressives have in succession tried to sue to overturn Trump’s victory using several different approaches. First on the bogus claim of fraudulent voting machines. Then they sought to subvert the Electoral College by bullying electors into renouncing […]
Putin’s False Equivalency
Victor Davis Hanson // National Review We are in dangerous times. Amid the hysteria over the Russian summit, the Mueller collusion probe, nonstop unsupported allegations and rumors, the Strzok and Page testimonies, the ongoing congressional investigations into improper CIA and FBI behavior, and a completely unhinged media, there is a growing crisis of rising tensions […]
NATO’s Challenge Is Germany, Not America
Victor Davis Hanson // National Review As the most populous and most affluent of European nations, Germany insidiously dominates Europe During the recent NATO summit meeting, a rumbustious Donald Trump tore off a thin scab of niceties to reveal a deep and old NATO wound — one that has predated Trump by nearly 30 years […]
Peter Beinart’s Amnesia
Victor Davis Hanson // National Review NATO’s problems, Putin’s aggression, and American passivity predate Trump, who had my vote in 2016 — a vote I don’t regret. Peter Beinart has posted a trademark incoherent rant, this time against Rich Lowry and meover our supposed laxity in criticizing Trumpian over-the-top rhetoric on NATO. At various times, I […]
Ten Commandments of the Supreme Court
Victor Davis Hanson // National Review What is sacrosanct? Whatever advances progressive causes. 1) Right to Left. The majority of post-war Republican Supreme Court nominees, who were initially perceived as conservative, turned liberal on the bench (Harry Blackmun, William Brennan, David Souter, John Paul Stevens, Earl Warren), or went from right-wing to center-right or centrist (Warren Burger, […]
Deport the Deplorables?
Victor Davis Hanson // American Greatness Deport the Deplorables is a slogan of popular culture, found on bumper stickers, t-shirts, and internet postings. But now the mini-industry of deplorable/deportable sloganeering has made its way into more elite circles. With just three words, the phrase “deport the deplorables” sends two popular messages: one, get rid of undesirable […]
Why Europe Gets No Respect
Victor Davis Hanson // Hoover Institution After the recent G-7 meeting, some European nations such as France and Germany expressed anger that their views were given short shrift by Donald Trump—displaying fits of pique memorialized in a now infamous photo of standing G-7 leaders who were leaning into a surrounded and sitting Trump. “International cooperation,” […]
Reciprocity Is the Method to Trump’s Madness
Victor Davis Hanson // National Review The president sends a signal: Treat us the way we treat you, and keep your commitments. Critics of Donald Trump claim that there’s no rhyme or reason to his foreign policy. But if there is a consistency, it might be called reciprocity. Trump tries to force other countries to […]
The Strange Career of White Privilege
Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Rich whites invent minority pedigrees to gain advantage while they condemn poor and working-class rural whites as racist. You hear the phrase “white privilege” nonstop in America these days, as the slogan has transcended the campus and entered popular culture. Historically, the term apparently refers to the original European […]
History’s Bad Ideas Are an Inspiration for Progressives
Victor Davis Hanson // American Greatness What we now consider stupid and dangerous ideas of the past, progressives see as useful in the present. Even liberal historians usually label as disastrous two decisions by the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration: the adoption of the Earl Warren-McClatchy newspaper inspired plan to intern Japanese-American citizens and the Judicial Procedures […]
The Left Can’t Come to Grips with Loss of Power
Victor Davis Hanson // National Review There’s no better explanation for the current progressive meltdown. Key Trump administration officials have been confronted at restaurants. Representative Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) urged protesters to hound Trump officials at restaurants, gas stations, or department stores. Progressive pundits and the liberal media almost daily think up new ways of […]
VDH UltraAngry Reader 07-03-2018
From An Angry Reader: I was hopeful to find insightful conservative thought for a change, however I was disappointed to find yet another partisan albeit under the guise of an academic. Your ideas are not original nor interesting in terms of advancing our country. Instead, all of your work seems to revolve (devolve?) to the […]
History as Nothing Much at All
Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Former CIA director Michael Hayden recently tweeted a picture of a Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, with his commentary: “Other governments have separated mothers from children.” The suggestion was that industrialized death on an unprecedented scale was somehow similar to the temporary detention of children once their parents have been […]