Janet Yellen Shills for the Democrats
by Bruce Thornton // FrontPage Magazine At a conference last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen recycled a shopworn Democrat talking point about the supposed crisis of income inequality and stalled economic mobility. “The extent and continuing increase in inequality in the United States greatly concerns me,” Yellen said, going on to wonder “whether this […]
Our Make-It-Up World
Facts now pale in comparison with the higher truths of progressivism. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online Do bothersome facts matter anymore? Not really. This is an age when Americans were assured that the Affordable Care Act lowered our premiums. It cut deductibles. Obamacare allowed us to keep our doctors and health plans, […]
Plutocratic Populism Pays
What’s with rich liberals who blast other people for being rich? by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online In early October, Barack Obama went to a $32,000-a-head fundraiser at the 20-acre estate of the aptly named billionaire Richie Richman. The day before he charmed his paying audience of liberal 1 percenters, Obama had sent […]
Crimes of Exactly What?
by Victor Davis Hanson // PJMedia The recent unfortunate shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and its violent aftermath seem to have had everything and nothing to do with race. Brown was black and unarmed and the officer white; but it is equally true that the 292-pound Brown likely committed a number of crimes […]
Garrison: VDH on Ottawa Shootings
After yesterday’s horrific shooting, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Ottawa. We stand whole-heartedly with them in their fight against terrorism. Victor Davis Hanson gives his perspective on the Garrison Radio Show on 93.1 WIBC-FM that the Canadian Parliament shooting is yet another reminder of the threat we all face. For the […]
America’s October Worries
Unlike the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, many of the threats we currently face are self-created. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online In October of 1962, America worried whether an untried young president, John F. Kennedy, could keep us safe from nuclear-tipped missiles from nearby Communist Cuba. Today’s October worries are more insidious: […]
The Politics of Victimhood
by Bruce S. Thornton // Defining Ideas Gabby Giffords, the former Democratic Congressman from Arizona who was shot in the head at a campaign rally in 2010, has come under fire recently for exploiting her horrific experience for political gain. Using her celebrity as a famous victim of gun violence, Giffords has created a Super […]
The Biggest Lie
The Left would rather forget its old slogan, “Bush lied, thousands died.” by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online The very mention of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and Iraq was toxic for Republicans by 2005. They wanted to forget about the supposed absence of recently manufactured WMD in great quantities in Iraq; Democrats saw […]
Republican Populism—or Republican Destruction
by Victor Davis Hanson // PJ Media Nothing much the Republicans have done explains why they are on the verge of taking back the Senate and making gains in the House. Not since the summer of 1974 or October 1980 have we see a presidency in a total meltdown. Abroad, ISIS, Putin, and the bullying […]
The President We Deserve?
Will Americans choose a difference course for the country this election season? by Bruce S. Thornton // FrontPage Magazine In 1920 H.L Mencken wrote prophetically, “As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of […]
What Defines ‘Hispanic’?
In a racially diverse America, we have no discernible rules for what determines one’s race. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online Once upon a time, the liberal position was to reject the old discriminatory branding of people by the color of their skins rather than by the content of their characters. Not now. […]
Still Getting Jihadism Wrong
by Bruce S. Thornton // FrontPage Magazine President Obama’s recent claim that Islamic State has nothing to do with Islam was nothing new. Since 9/11, we have heard from both ends of the political spectrum that jihadist terror has material causes and psychological conditions created by social, political, or economic dysfunctions. This argument is an […]
Ruins of the Middle East
Obama shuns our friends and courts our enemies. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online Obama’s unfortunate Middle East legacy was predicated on six flawed assumptions: (1) a special relationship with Turkey; (2) distancing the U.S. from Israel; (3) empathy for Islamist governments as exemplified by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt; (4) a sort […]
‘Small and Petty’ from Small and Petty
by Victor Davis Hanson // NRO- The Corner Deconstruct former Obama flack Bill Burton’s hit on Leon Panetta: On Secretary Panetta, he is a guy who has had a long and storied career in Washington and has really served his country well. And it is kind of sad that in its twilight he’s done such […]
From Comedy to Farce
by Victor Davis Hanson // PJMedia It was tragically comical that the commander in chief in just a few weeks could go from referring to ISIS as “jayvee” and a manageable problem to declaring it an existential threat, in the same manner he upgraded the Free Syrian Army from amateurs and a fantasy to our […]
Obama’s Ideal Revolution
America’s current revolutionary inspiration seems to derive more from Robespierre than Madison. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online At the end of the 18th century, there were two great Western revolutions — the American and the French. Americans opted for the freedom of the individual, and divinely endowed absolute rights and values. A […]
Making Harding Look Good
The Obama administration has tarnished nearly every major federal agency. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online Many have described the Obama departure from the 70-year-old bipartisan postwar foreign policy of the United States as reminiscent of Jimmy Carter’s failed 1977–81 tenure. There is certainly the same messianic sense of self, the same naïveté, […]
Welcome to Fantasy Island
Victor Davis Hanson // PJ Media Listen to the president and one would think that he was in office during the financial crisis that began on September 15, 2008. For the nth time, Obama reminded the nation on 60 Minutes of the financial meltdown he inherited. That is his usual way of suggesting to the […]
Reasons for Political Hope
by Bruce S. Thornton // FrontPage Magazine Many Republicans are excited about the midterm elections. They see a good chance of taking over the Senate, which means they can neutralize Obama’s last few years in office. Many also are hopeful about the presidential election in 2016, though Hillary Clinton will enter that race with decided […]
Bomb, Occupy, or Neither?
Blowing apart a problem for a while is different from ending it for good. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online Wars usually end only when the defeated aggressor believes it would be futile to resume the conflict. Lasting peace follows if the loser is then forced to change its political system into something […]