Victor Davis Hanson // American Greatness
Donald Trump has slumped badly in the polls over the last weeks. There are the usual suspects for his periodic dips: his cul de sac Twitter wars over Joe Biden, obsessing over the utter dreariness of Joe Scarborough’s past irrelevant life, the constant effects of a 93 percent negative media that blames him for everything from the economic collapse to the rioting in Minneapolis, and public frustration of nearly three months of enervating COVID-19 quarantines.
Yet despite the terrible news, the odd thing is that when Trump relaxes and allows even a bleak news cycle to play out, then his policies weather well and usually help him—regardless of the 24/7 negative media editorialization.
Given the doom and gloom, few appreciate that beneath the bleak media veneer, there are some signs of growing optimism. The stock market is recovering on hunches that a vaccine is on the horizon and antiviral drugs may soon be appearing. Viral deaths are falling due to the synergy of warmer weather, a likely constantly mutating and attenuating virus, some growing herd immunities, more outdoor activity, and better hygiene and medical protocols.
Democrat and Expert Pessimists Fall Short
Expert pessimists who warned of millions of dead, of never-ending infection, of no vaccine in sight, of 3-4 per 100 of the infected dying of the virus were not just wrong, but wrong to the degree that the entire national quarantine may itself have been a tragic overreaction.
The restart states so far have not experienced the predicted viral disasters, and are slowly showing the way back to recovery. Large blue states like New York, California, and Illinois are increasingly in untenable positions. One cannot critique restart states as near treasonous when they alone are creating real wealth that can be redistributed to subsidize the blue-states’ own fetal-position edicts.
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Mr Hanson; I always read your column when my local newspaper prints it. I am a huge fan! If you are ever in Virginia give me call I would love to have lunch with you. David Gutowski
Mr Hanson, Thank you for your thoughtful and straightforward columns. Your columns are always a pleasure to read. I am in the middle of "The Second World Wars" and had a question for you. My father was a member of the 104th Timberwolf Division during WWII and was in action in Holland, Belgium and Germany and rec'd 2 purple hearts. In discussions of his time in Erupoe (discussions were only occasional and always circumspect) with us he maintained the German Army was always a very dangerous adversary. However, he would always comment upon the lack of self-reliance of the German enlisted soldiers. He noted his unit would in most conflicts target the commanding officer and kill or wound him. Eventually the German enlisted personnel would give up. He contrasted this with the US Army enlisted members who would take over responsibility for the officer or NCOIC that was incapacitated. At least this "next man up" mentality was present in his unit. I suspect you are aware of such differences or perhaps find exceptions depending on units and battles. Thank you again. Tait
Good job as always. I always share your articles and read your books!
Trump has been dragged through more swampland then any public servant in history. The liberal far left are going to have to answer to the well armed, well versed Patriots eventually.