What Exactly Is Trumpism?
By Victor Davis Hanson//National Review First sketches of a list, starting with tradition, populism, and American greatness Donald Trump is hated by liberal Democrats because, among other things, he is likely to reverse the entire Obama project. And, far worse, he probably will seek fundamental ways of obstructing its future resurgence — even perhaps by […]
Why the Anti-Israel Sentiment?
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review World opinion against Israel comes from a great many factors — especially a certain ancient one. Secretary of State John Kerry, echoing other policymakers in the Obama administration, blasted Israel last week in a 70-minute rant about its supposedly self-destructive policies. Why does the world — including now the […]
Obama’s Legacy of Deceit
by Victor Davis Hanson// Defining Ideas In its remaining days in power, the Obama administration suddenly punished Vladimir Putin’s Russia for allegedly interfering in the U.S. presidential election. It claimed that Russian or Russian-hired hackers tapped into the records of the Democratic National Committee as well as the correspondence of John Podesta, a Clinton advisor.But […]
The Resilience of Israel
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Despite the mess around it, Israel is in its best geostrategic position in decades. Israel would seem to be in a disastrous position, given the inevitable nuclear capabilities of Iran and the recent deterioration of its relationship with the United States, its former patron and continued financial benefactor. Immediately […]
Fifteen Easy Ways to Ruin the Middle East
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review on “The Corner” President Obama had lots of choices in Middle East. Unfortunately he made all the wrong ones, guided by pop ideology rather than unwelcome facts on the ground. The result is chaos at best and millions dead or displaced at worst. It didn’t have to be this […]
It’s Still a Mad, Mad California
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Coastal elites set rules for others, exempt themselves, and tolerate rampant lawlessness from illegal aliens. One reason for the emergence of outsider Donald Trump is the old outrage that elites seldom experience the consequences of their own ideologically driven agendas. Hypocrisy, when coupled with sanctimoniousness, grates people like few […]
The Ancient Foreign Policy
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Nations are collections of human beings, and human nature has not changed, despite Obama’s pleadings. For the last eight years, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Samantha Power, Ben Rhodes, and Susan Rice have sought to rewrite the traditional approach to foreign policy. In various ways, they have warned […]
The Trump Nail in the Media Coffin
By Victor Davis Hanson// Town Hall | President-elect Donald Trump probably will not often communicate with the nation via traditional press conferences. Nor will Trump likely field many questions from New York/Washington journalists.What we know as “the media” never imagined a Trump victory. It has become unhinged at the reality of a Trump presidency.No wonder […]
The Animal Cunning and Instinct of Donald Trump
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review He grasped that what voters cared about were the very issues politicos were disdainfully ignoring. The American middle classes, the Chinese, and Vladimir Putin have never been convinced that Ivy League degrees, vast Washington experience, and cultural sophistication necessarily translate into national wisdom. Trump instead relies more on instinct […]
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From An Angry Reader: Victor Your gloating and myopic column pillorying President Obama’s foreign policy legacy was simple minded and juvenile. Why write something so stupidly one sided????? When Obama came into office we were losing 100 service people per month in a stupid war and as he leaves office, this number is down to […]
Has Trump Nominated Too Many Military Leaders—Or Not Enough?
By Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Choosing military men for top cabinet spots is not unprecedented, nor is it foolish given how Washington insiders have performed. President-elect Donald Trump is being faulted for supposedly appointing too many retired generals to cabinet-level jobs and “militarizing” the government. Former lieutenant general Michael Flynn is slated to be […]
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From an Angry Reader: Re: Obama’s initiatives What a horrible president and yet, 57% approval rating! Wow! How is that possible! I think he did quite well considering that Republicans vowed on the first day not to work with him and never did! Connie Knapp Victor Davis Hanson’s Reply: Dear Angry Reader Connie Knapp, Irony […]
America as Animal Farm
By Victor Davis Hanson// National Review New commandments replace the old ones on the barn wall. The socialist essayist and novelist George Orwell by 1944 grew depressed that as a cost for the defeat of the Axis Powers the Allies had empowered an equally nightmarish monster in the Soviet Union. Since his days fighting for […]
Assessing the Obama Legacy—Against His Own Mileposts
by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review The president’s stated priorities have not turned out well. In his 2016 State of the Union address, President Obama summarized his achievements. That same night, the White House issued a press release touting Obama’s accomplishments. Now that he will be leaving, how well did these initiatives listed in […]
Trump’s Russia “Reset”?
by Victor Davis Hanson// Defining Ideas Throughout the 2016 election, the American Left venomously attacked Russian strongman Vladimir Putin. He was rightly accused of diminishing freedom both inside Russia and within neighboring nations, of gobbling up Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, and of eyeing the NATO member Baltic states for his next intervention. But Putin’s […]
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From an Angry Reader: I love the Angry Reader section of your website, particularly your responses. I want to be an Angry Reader and see what you have to say about my valid, thoughtful points so here goes. How can anyone support Donald Trump (I call him DT because he gives me the dt’s, heh, […]
The Twin Pillars of Progressive Prejudice
By Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Universities and the media: arrogant, ignorant, and ripe for reform In media land, Donald Trump is a reckless tweeter; Barack Obama’s outreach to GloZell and rapper Kendrick Lamar is just kicking back and having fun (Lamar’s latest album portrayed the corpse of a judge to the toasting merriment of […]
‘Clever Fox’ Mattis
By Victor Davis Hanson// National Review The Mattis appointment as defense secretary could prove to be Trump’s most inspired, even given the nightmarish mess brewing abroad. But the media blitz has overdone the idea that Jim “Mad Dog” Mattis is somehow a frenzied, “let me at ’em” gung-ho warrior. He may be certainly all that […]
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From an Angry Reader: Clinton lost because of Republican voter suppression, Comey and Russian hacking. Trump is the establishment. He Pence and his appointments will cripple America for years. You should remove your head from Trumps ass. People like you are the problem. Victor Davis Hanson’s Reply: Dear Repeat Angry Reader Raye Harper, You cite […]
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From an Angry Reader: Hello Mr Hanson. I read your articles on Townhall.com and have a question on something you wrote in Enemies Of Language. In your article you refer to Nazi Germany as having been “right wing.” This is a question that I have been wanting to pose so many times when reading articles […]