by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Moderation and humility help politicians avoid results contrary to what they earnestly want. The mix of politics and culture is far too complex to be predictable. Even the best-laid political plans can lead to unintended consequences, both good and bad — what we sometimes call irony, nemesis, or […]
Beware the Law of Unintended Consequences Read More »
By Victor Davis Hanson//National Review The broken record of racism/sexism/homophobia plays on and on and on. After the Democratic equality-of-opportunity agenda was largely realized (Social Security, Medicare, overtime, a 40-hour work week, disability insurance, civil rights, etc.), the next-generation equality-of-result effort has largely failed. What is left of Democratic ideology is identity politics and assorted
A Party of Teeth-Gnashers Read More »
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review What would happen if conservatives started to change the words we use for political ends? Throughout history, revolutionaries of all stripes have warped the meaning of words to subvert reality. And now here we go again, with another effort — spearheaded by the media and universities — to use
Enemies of Language Read More »
by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Insight often comes not from an Ivy League degree but by way of animal cunning, instinct, and hard work. “Cleverness is not wisdom.” — Euripides, the Bacchae At the height of the sophistic age in classical Athens, the playwright Euripides asked an eternal question in his masterpiece, the Bacchae:
Who Are Wise, Who Not? Read More »
by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Reformulating the Republican message, Donald Trump was able to exploit political mistakes that the Democrats have made. The Democratic party handed Donald Trump a rare opportunity to make radical changes to the electoral map that could last for years to come. First, the Democrats gave Trump a
Trump’s Bizarre Winning Formula Read More »
The Corner The one and only by Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Everyone is playing the “what if” recommendation game. For what little they would be worth in an ideal world, here would be four of my slightly unorthodox recommendations: First, Larry Arnn, Hillsdale College president, for secretary of education. No one, for obvious reasons,
The Appointment Game Read More »
By Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Forgive, but do not forget, and be the strong horse. While we speak, a jealous age will have fled. Seize the day! Trust as little as you can in tomorrow. The Latin poet Horace’s advice of carpe diem— to seize the day and not worry about tomorrow —
Carpe Diem, Mr. Trump Read More »
by Victor Davis Hanson// Defining Ideas Throughout the course of the 2016 election, the conventional groupthink was that the renegade Donald Trump had irrevocably torn apart the Republican Party. His base populism supposedly sandbagged more experienced and electable Republican candidates, who were bewildered that a “conservative” would dare to pander to hoi polloi by
The Corner The one and only. By Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Given the status of the post-election state legislatures and executive offices, the Republican-controlled House and Senate, a Republican president, and a Supreme Court that will not go leftward for a generation, it is hard to see how conservatives could be anything other than
Braver New World — for Now Read More »
By Victor Davis Hanson// National Review Biased and incompetent elites polluted the 2016 election, and they are getting what they deserved. There were a lot of losers in this election, well beyond Hillary Clinton and the smug, incompetent pollsters and know-it-all, groupthink pundits who embarrassed themselves. From hacked e-mail troves we received a glimpse of
A Blow to the Non-Elite Elite Read More »