VDH Ultra
03/27/17 From an Angry Reader: Victor, As a fine historian (but poor political scientist) you know quite well that Andrew Jackson was a national hero with a distinguished military career. The Donald is a former casino owner and reality TV show star. It is a long stretch to compare them. Further, a column replete with […]
VDH Ultra
From an Angry Reader: Russia’s political hierarchy and official press greeted Trump’s Inauguration with unreserved glee. An old order had crumbled and, with it, an impediment to Putin’s ambitions. “In 1917, armed supporters of Lenin stormed the Winter Palace and arrested capitalist ministers and overthrew the social political order,” the lead article in the daily […]
Law Takes a Holiday
And anarchy follows. by Victor Davis Hanson//National Review In the 1934 romantic movie Death Takes a Holiday, Death assumes human form for three days, and the world turns chaotic. The same thing happens when the law goes on a vacation. Rules are unenforced or politicized. Citizens quickly lose faith in the legal system. Anarchy follows […]
VDH Ultra
03/22/17 From an Angry Reader: This was written with the notion that we can have a mutual exchange of ideas. Thanks, Tom: Victor Davis Hanson (sic) commentary (I assume it is Dr. Hanson) is very quiet and unassuming along with his Rodney King, “Why can’t we just get along,” attitude coupled with, ” everybody’s opinion […]
Monasteries of the Mind
When everything is politicized, people retreat into mental mountaintops — dreams of the past and fantasies of the future. by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review So long, it’s been good to know ya, So long, it’s been good to know ya, So long, it’s been good to know ya. This dusty old dust is a-gettin’ […]
VDH Ultra
03/21/17 From an Angry Reader: Sorry so many of the stars disagree with your politics, but it is an alternative fact to state that the envelope mixup was the fault of dense celebrities. The PWC representative, who handed the wrong envelope to Warren Beatty, along with his PWC associate in the wings, the only other […]
Moving Forward: The Need For Innovations In Technology And Strategy
by Kiron K. Skinner // Strategika Two broad sets of U.S. military strategies during the second half of the twentieth century combined ideas, innovation, and technology in ways that offset Soviet conventional (and later nuclear) superiority in arms and military forces. These strategies also contributed to the overall state of cold war, as opposed to […]
VDH UltraAcademy Untoward 2
From an Angry Reader: After reading your discombobulated thoughts on Academy Awards, Mayor Bloomberg, et al., I now know why newspapers have traditionally been used as toilet tissue. M. Buendia Breinigsville PA Victor Davis Hanson’s Reply: Dear Angry Reader M. Buendia, Are such angry letters mass produced in some central clearing house? No argument: CHECK; […]
VDH UltraAcademy Untoward
03/17/17 From an Angry Reader: Mr. Hanson. Don’t know what Acadamy awards you were watching but my husband and I watched the whole show. There was no bashing of Mr Trump at all during the entire show. Jimmy Kimmel did some jokes but light weight. So please we are tired of all the lies .. […]
It’s Not Just the Technology: Beyond Offset Strategies
By Colonel Joseph (Joe) Felter (ret.) // Strategika A range of breakthrough technologies are emerging today that have the potential to radically change how we fight and deter threats across all conflict domains—air, land, sea, space, and cyber. Artificial intelligence, directed energy, robotics, and machine learning are just a few examples. Significantly, unlike in previous […]
Deterrence and Human Nature
By Victor Davis Hanson// National Review The dream of a therapeutic utopia without punishment for wrongdoing fails in practice. Deterrence is the strategy of persuading someone in advance not to do something, often by raising the likelihood of punishment. But in the 21st century, we apparently think deterrence is Neanderthal and appeals to the worst […]
You Say You Want A Revolution?
By Thomas Donnelly To paraphrase the Beatles: Well, you know, you’d better free your mind instead; you may want a revolution but ought to settle for some evolution. It is an article of revealed religion among defense elites that “we live in a relentlessly changing and fiercely competitive world.” Those words were from former […]
The World on January 20, 2017
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Red-blue tensions at home, mounting dangers abroad Most Americans are worried about our domestic crises. Obama left office after doubling the debt to $20 trillion. Near-zero interest rates over eight years have impoverished an entire generation of seniors — and yet remain key to servicing the costs of such […]
VDH Ultra
From an Angry Reader: Read your column on immigration published in the 2/24/2017 Morning Call (Lehigh Valley, PA) and was wondering – you seemed to indicate that falsification of government affidavits should be grounds for deportation. Since it appears that Melanie Trump was employed in violation of her visa in the mid 1990’s, and lied […]
VDH Ultra
From and Angry Reader: Dear Professor Hanson, Evidently you are a supporter of Donald Trump. If I read your essay on this subject correctly, you seem to be implying that, unlike the false elitism of the Washington Beltway, Hollywood, and Silicon Valley, we should look to the real basis of brilliance and repute in a […]
Don’t Sweat the Big Stuff
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Politicians who cannot cope with the realities of governing should stop fantasizing about utopia. The recent Academy Awards ceremony turned into a monotony of hate. Many of the stars who mounted the stage ranted on cue about the evils of President Donald Trump. Such cheap rhetoric is easy. But […]
VDH Ultra
03/10/17 From an Angry Reader: Mr. Hansen – In this commentary, you appear to be engaging in sophistry. In other words, you appear to be decisively imparting falsehoods. First you fabricate a definition of the “American elite” comprised exclusively of progressives. Then you fabricate a reality where the mainstream press disseminates lies, where college campuses […]
The Ancient Laws of Unintended Consequences
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Eight years of a fawning press have made the Left reckless. The classical idea of a divine Nemesis (“reckoning” or “downfall”) that brings unforeseen retribution for hubris (insolence and arrogance) was a recognition that there are certain laws of the universe that operated independently of human concerns. Call Nemesis […]
Talk Radio, Cable News, the Mainstream Media, and the News Revolution
The Corner The one and only. by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review In the hubbub over Trump’s attack on the media, we sometimes forget that Barack Obama et al. customarily went after talk-radio and cable-news conservatives — whose job, after all, was opinion journalism — as biased, whereas Trump went more after news-gathering organizations who […]
Is the American Elite Really Elite?
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review The public no longer believes that privilege and influence should be predicated on titles, brands, and buzz. Establishment furor over the six-week-old Trump administration is growing. Outraged New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently compared Trump’s victory to disasters in American history that killed and wounded thousands […]