On this episode, join Victor Davis Hanson and co-host Sami Winc as they discuss pro-Palestinian protests at the NYC Thanksgiving Day parade, the hostage exchange happening in Gaza and Homer’s Iliad.
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13 thoughts on “Gaza Hostage Exchange and The Iliad”
Chris T Farrell
The point where they think disrupting the lives of their host, the U.S.A. and other countries under siege by Islam, benefits their cause is simply in reinforcing the confidence they have in the pan-Islamic Islamo-Fascist civilization jihad doctrine and strategy to establish a world-wide state, (caliphate), and their belief that Islam is superior as expressed in their battle cry ‘Allah is greater!’
It is nonsense to permit Islamo-Fascists into any society that values its liberty. Islam is plain and clear about its aspirations.
The woman who goes by the pen name Bat Ye’Or wrote ‘Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis’ warned us of exactly what is unfolding on the stage of human history right now.
I live in New Orleans. If you ever go to the WWII Museum I would love to walk it with you.
History teaches us that Fascists, whether of the liberal strain or the Islamo-fascist varieties, understand only one thing: Violence.
They routinely lie,, in fact lying is codified within the doctrines of Islam, and use the Hegelian Dialectic in negotiations to incrementally advance their supremacist tyranny.
We can’t turn back the clock and make today’s American population magically have the moral standards of America’s greatest generation. But we can make America great again.
If the Left manages to steal another presidential election, I see no other course but to resort to violence to fight for liberty just as America’s founders fought tyranny in their day.
The correct response to have taken in the first hour after the horrific slaughter of over a thousand Israelis should have been to level the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock completely.
That would have taken only a number of those bombs that penetrate deep into the ground that the IDF is using to take out tunnels.
It is a big mistake to negotiate with terrorists in order to get back hostages. It is a dereliction of duty on the part of Israel’s leaders for them to do so.
The lives of four-hundred people does not justify extending to an enemy that endlessly bleeds Israel by a death of a thousand never-ending cuts the respite with which to consolidate and reorganize its military position.
You write that “It is a big mistake to negotiate with terrorists in order to get back hostages. It is a dereliction of duty on the part of Israel’s leaders for them to do so.” Of course you realize that the US is insisting on this; it is not a positon freely arrived at by isareli leadership, which said from the first day on Oct 7th that the goal was first to take out Hamas permanently and second, to save the hostages. it was hoped that the second would be facilitated by the first.
Now it has come to my attention (can’t recall where I read this) that Israel will require for her future defense and existence certain weapons that America produces, and that Israel does not–and that it is this dependence upon which the US president relies to get his way, which right now is not to lose his base, which consists of every single one of the pro-Palestinian disrupters we see across our land, our colleges, our parades, our bridges, our highways, our news shows, our newspaper front pages. Indeed, I expect TIME man of the year to be carrying a Free Palestine flag.
Your discussion of the Iliad took me back to the tenth grade and the endless, laborious task of translating this great work. I can remember the eye rolling and distressed sighing of Father Henry as he perused the previous nights homework and quizzed us on the meaning of our translated works. Our blank stares as we listened to him explain the poem’s excerpt we had literally just translated yet seemed to have never before heard.
Your mention of the phalanx did bring a smile to my face as I remembered the joy in Father Henry’s voice and eyes as he described the marvel of this to us as it related to the brilliance of this battle strategy. He was met with the same blank stares from 15 year old students who did not yet understand the significance.
Thanks so much for the discussion on the topic and the trip down memory lane. There’s a special place in my heart for father Henry and my Latin teachers as well. A seemingly thankless endeavor but the education in the classics has served me well throughout my life.
Victor. Encinitas California 1980s. I lived front line with the Mexifornia, La Raza, Azatlan, Communist Cuban communists, Drug Cartels, Drop Houses, schools overrun with illegal children, political correctness, and finally, I was run out of my neighborhood with my life in jeopardy. My neighbors were cowed and hid and shunned me. The police were on the take. Border Patrol was impotent. FBI came to my home and said this is wrong, but could do nothing. Houses on both sides of me became drop houses. Border Patrol agent told me to move because they had no buses to make a raid. The neighborhood was lawless, and the City council didn’t want to acknowledge what was happening. They were concerned about the city’s image and property values. What happened to my neighborhood and family has now happened to all of America. Your book Mexifornia helped me keep my sanity. I am not optimistic. By the way, both of my children are professionals and went through California Universities and are brainwashed leftists. I am 75 years old and a Vietnam Veteran. still living in Commie-California. I wish that someday you and I could talk.
Hello, great podcast , as usual. Every few years, I read a different translation of both “The Iliad”, and “The Odyssey”. It’s been a while since I read “Who Killed Homer”. If I remember correctly, in that book, VDH recommended Richard Lattimore’s translation of “The Iliad “. Am I remembering correctly? And which translation of “The Odyssey” does he recommend (I bought a recent translation -Emily Wilson – a couple of years ago, and I wasn’t overly impressed)?
Hello Victor. I received your last direct message to me on the X platform but cannot respond. I get a message that your account is suspended. I don’t know if it’s on your side or mine where the problem lies. Message says rules were violated and I don’t know if they mean something I said or you replied. It’s a mystery I cannot fix. Really enjoy your insight on economic issues. I am not avoiding responding but direct message does not send any more. Sorry. Will keep reading your reports! I am JudithBerg on X but still have email under my married name Judith Davies. Would love to stay in touch. All the best!
Victor, thank you for the insights on the Iliad in this episode. I had never realized it contained aspects of Mycenean, dark age, and early polis Greece, all masterfully adapted by “Homer.” This has enriched my understanding of a classic book I read on a regular basis.
Regarding the MSM emphasis on mass and targeted civilian killings and nuclear bombing equivalency (1.5x Hiroshima). I performed simple math calculations that illustrate the exact opposite. I took different events from WW2 and computed the # of deaths per bombing tonnage dropped.
Israel/Gaza 2023 – 0.6 deaths/ton
Tokyo Firebombing 1945 – 55 deaths/ton
London Blitz 1940/1941 – 4 deaths/ton
Bombing of Dresden 1945 – 12 deaths/ton
Hiroshima Nuclear – 7 deaths/ton
Clearly, should Israel have dropped the 25,000 tons of bombing in the form of a single nuclear bomb equivalent, the # dead would not be ~15,000 but the entire gaza population!
The point where they think disrupting the lives of their host, the U.S.A. and other countries under siege by Islam, benefits their cause is simply in reinforcing the confidence they have in the pan-Islamic Islamo-Fascist civilization jihad doctrine and strategy to establish a world-wide state, (caliphate), and their belief that Islam is superior as expressed in their battle cry ‘Allah is greater!’
It is nonsense to permit Islamo-Fascists into any society that values its liberty. Islam is plain and clear about its aspirations.
The woman who goes by the pen name Bat Ye’Or wrote ‘Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis’ warned us of exactly what is unfolding on the stage of human history right now.
I live in New Orleans. If you ever go to the WWII Museum I would love to walk it with you.
History teaches us that Fascists, whether of the liberal strain or the Islamo-fascist varieties, understand only one thing: Violence.
They routinely lie,, in fact lying is codified within the doctrines of Islam, and use the Hegelian Dialectic in negotiations to incrementally advance their supremacist tyranny.
We can’t turn back the clock and make today’s American population magically have the moral standards of America’s greatest generation. But we can make America great again.
If the Left manages to steal another presidential election, I see no other course but to resort to violence to fight for liberty just as America’s founders fought tyranny in their day.
The correct response to have taken in the first hour after the horrific slaughter of over a thousand Israelis should have been to level the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock completely.
That would have taken only a number of those bombs that penetrate deep into the ground that the IDF is using to take out tunnels.
It is a big mistake to negotiate with terrorists in order to get back hostages. It is a dereliction of duty on the part of Israel’s leaders for them to do so.
The lives of four-hundred people does not justify extending to an enemy that endlessly bleeds Israel by a death of a thousand never-ending cuts the respite with which to consolidate and reorganize its military position.
You write that “It is a big mistake to negotiate with terrorists in order to get back hostages. It is a dereliction of duty on the part of Israel’s leaders for them to do so.” Of course you realize that the US is insisting on this; it is not a positon freely arrived at by isareli leadership, which said from the first day on Oct 7th that the goal was first to take out Hamas permanently and second, to save the hostages. it was hoped that the second would be facilitated by the first.
Now it has come to my attention (can’t recall where I read this) that Israel will require for her future defense and existence certain weapons that America produces, and that Israel does not–and that it is this dependence upon which the US president relies to get his way, which right now is not to lose his base, which consists of every single one of the pro-Palestinian disrupters we see across our land, our colleges, our parades, our bridges, our highways, our news shows, our newspaper front pages. Indeed, I expect TIME man of the year to be carrying a Free Palestine flag.
Victor David Hanson is the Profect Profecto on everything to do with Civilization.
Just watched Glenn Beck’s Chosen by Allah, and I learned a lot about the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran.
Your discussion of the Iliad took me back to the tenth grade and the endless, laborious task of translating this great work. I can remember the eye rolling and distressed sighing of Father Henry as he perused the previous nights homework and quizzed us on the meaning of our translated works. Our blank stares as we listened to him explain the poem’s excerpt we had literally just translated yet seemed to have never before heard.
Your mention of the phalanx did bring a smile to my face as I remembered the joy in Father Henry’s voice and eyes as he described the marvel of this to us as it related to the brilliance of this battle strategy. He was met with the same blank stares from 15 year old students who did not yet understand the significance.
Thanks so much for the discussion on the topic and the trip down memory lane. There’s a special place in my heart for father Henry and my Latin teachers as well. A seemingly thankless endeavor but the education in the classics has served me well throughout my life.
Victor. Encinitas California 1980s. I lived front line with the Mexifornia, La Raza, Azatlan, Communist Cuban communists, Drug Cartels, Drop Houses, schools overrun with illegal children, political correctness, and finally, I was run out of my neighborhood with my life in jeopardy. My neighbors were cowed and hid and shunned me. The police were on the take. Border Patrol was impotent. FBI came to my home and said this is wrong, but could do nothing. Houses on both sides of me became drop houses. Border Patrol agent told me to move because they had no buses to make a raid. The neighborhood was lawless, and the City council didn’t want to acknowledge what was happening. They were concerned about the city’s image and property values. What happened to my neighborhood and family has now happened to all of America. Your book Mexifornia helped me keep my sanity. I am not optimistic. By the way, both of my children are professionals and went through California Universities and are brainwashed leftists. I am 75 years old and a Vietnam Veteran. still living in Commie-California. I wish that someday you and I could talk.
Hello, great podcast , as usual. Every few years, I read a different translation of both “The Iliad”, and “The Odyssey”. It’s been a while since I read “Who Killed Homer”. If I remember correctly, in that book, VDH recommended Richard Lattimore’s translation of “The Iliad “. Am I remembering correctly? And which translation of “The Odyssey” does he recommend (I bought a recent translation -Emily Wilson – a couple of years ago, and I wasn’t overly impressed)?
Hello Victor. I received your last direct message to me on the X platform but cannot respond. I get a message that your account is suspended. I don’t know if it’s on your side or mine where the problem lies. Message says rules were violated and I don’t know if they mean something I said or you replied. It’s a mystery I cannot fix. Really enjoy your insight on economic issues. I am not avoiding responding but direct message does not send any more. Sorry. Will keep reading your reports! I am JudithBerg on X but still have email under my married name Judith Davies. Would love to stay in touch. All the best!
Victor, thank you for the insights on the Iliad in this episode. I had never realized it contained aspects of Mycenean, dark age, and early polis Greece, all masterfully adapted by “Homer.” This has enriched my understanding of a classic book I read on a regular basis.
Regarding the MSM emphasis on mass and targeted civilian killings and nuclear bombing equivalency (1.5x Hiroshima). I performed simple math calculations that illustrate the exact opposite. I took different events from WW2 and computed the # of deaths per bombing tonnage dropped.
Israel/Gaza 2023 – 0.6 deaths/ton
Tokyo Firebombing 1945 – 55 deaths/ton
London Blitz 1940/1941 – 4 deaths/ton
Bombing of Dresden 1945 – 12 deaths/ton
Hiroshima Nuclear – 7 deaths/ton
Clearly, should Israel have dropped the 25,000 tons of bombing in the form of a single nuclear bomb equivalent, the # dead would not be ~15,000 but the entire gaza population!
“At what point do they think that helps them?” Your mistake is connecting the anti-Israel protestors to the word “think.”