Victor Davis Hanson // American Greatness
We know the nature of mass hysterias in history, and how they can overwhelm and paralyze what seem to be stable societies.
We know the roots and origins of the cult of wokeness.
And we know, too, how such insanity—from the Salem witch trials to Jacobinism to McCarthyism—can spread, despite alienating most of the population, through fear and the threat of personal ruin or worse. These are the dark sides of the tulip, hula-hoop, and pet-rock fads, the mass obsessions so suited to past affluent Western societies.
But does wokeism serve another purpose as well? Specifically, does it either hide preexisting incompetence or fuel it?
The notion that “McCarthyism” is the equivalent of the Salem Witch trials and Jacobinism is beneath you. As we know now, the decryptions that were in the hands of the FBI and CIA were quite definitive. Senator McCarthy may have been a weak vessel for conveying the message, and worse yet, he may have had the demagogic inclinations of every successful Democrat, but he was basically correct, unlike his Democrat fellow travelers. The remarkable thing is that the continuation of the McCarthy’s accusations led to the House Unamerican Activities Committee which is the focal point for most of the concern about “McCarthyism”. Which makes no sense at all, since Joe was long gone by then. Your fixation or McCarthy may be out of respect for your father and his political inclinations, or it may be a mechanism for gaining some creds with liberals. Either way, it is beneath you.
Having expressed my concern over your use of Tail Gunner Joe as though he was the equivalent of the Jacobins or the Salem Witch Trials, let me congratulate you on the the rest of this essay. If I had to choose a team for the conservative party (which does not exist,) and my choices were any collection of seven Republican Senators on Team One, or you and Devon Nunes on Team Two, I would double down on Team Two. My only difficulty would be whether you would be the Team Captain, or Devon. Devon has survived living in DC while retaining his integrity, which, to my personal knowledge, is a rare accomplishment. There are no almond trees, vineyards, owls, coyotes, or the need to keep the tractor running in DC. It is all hype, special privilege, and mirrors. I spent two years in what was supposed to be the second best public school system in the country in 1957-59, and was two years behind my cohort when we returned to Pasadena, California. Just because some public relations expert says it is so, doesn’t have any bearing on reality.