Words Matter

Victor Davis Hanson Theft, of course, characterized failed societies. In the last four years America has become a nation of thieves. No need to chart the spiraling crime rate. More interesting is the reaction to it and the effects on the dying citizens who play by the rules. Here are the symptoms of a thieving […]

Victor Davis Hanson Broken things are a sign of decay and decline. The proverbial Third-World hotel room, and I know it too well, is a mishmash of broken water fixtures and light switches, non-working alarm clocks, and blinds that don’t close—aside from inoperable air conditioners, refrigerators, and heaters. I once tried to turn on the

Victor Davis Hanson Another sign of decline is the weaponization and politicization of institutions. Decadent societies indict their former leaders upon leaving offices. Those in power sic federal agencies on their opponents. In turn, bureaucrats become agents of those in power, as if in private service—like laptop suppression, diary retrieval, performance-art raiding and arresting, or

Victor Davis Hanson When I drive in rural California and see the shacks, trailers, and compounds of 30-40 persons living in ad hoc shelters with Romex wire and water hoses attached to a small farmhouse, I conclude that this poverty is much more a third-world scene than I remember of Tunisia, Algeria, or Turkey. Or

Victor Davis Hanson We can calibrate the decline in the quality of American life by comparisons to both societies of the past and contemporary civilization elsewhere. And the result is not encouraging for Americans. I believe I may have visited 80 percent of the so-called first world countries in Europe and the Middle East, and

Victor Davis Hanson The FBI (Continued) How, then, do we alter the FBI to save it from itself? 1. Choice One: Move the entire headquarters to Kansas City or Laramie or Oklahoma City. There would be far less incestuous media/political/bureaucratic marriages, lobbying, and consulting, and far less opportunity for cocktail-hour networking, plotting, profiting, and cajoling.

Victor Davis Hanson Here are a few institutions that have quite outlived their age. Tribal Graduations Consider 40 percent of California’s population now identifies as Latino, predominately Mexican American. Fifty percent of current BAs in the California State University system this year were awarded to self-described Latinos. That paradox brings up the question, why are

Victor Davis Hanson As a general rule, the Left eventually destroys everything it touches. It sees all institutions as ideological fodder, to be warped and twisted, as a necessary means to serve higher political ends. Think of an institution that started out in theory as at least neutral, apolitical, and benign, and then ponder how

Victor Davis Hanson About $40 million and 22 months later, after the birth of the “Russian collusion” special counsel, Robert Mueller shrugged that he found no proof of “collusion.” No matter, James Clapper still claimed that Donald Trump was a veritable “Russian asset,” despite being tougher on Vladimir Putin than both the Bush and Obama