In this episode, Victor Davis Hanson talks with cohost Sami Winc of new questions about the Biden syndicate, Ukraine war and US arms stockade, woke in the universities, Minneapolis vacancy tax, and the culture of indoctrinated students.
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I’m calling bull on Victor’s entire Ukraine take. He’s made this weirdly personal and has reduced himself on this issue to a mere pundit.
1. The smaller countries in NATO are the impetus for Germany and the US sending tanks. See The Atlantic article “Tanks for Ukraine have shifted the balance of power in Europe.”
2. That the bipartisan community will allow no debate on Ukraine is matched by conservative pressure to silence conservatives who support Ukraine aid. See NRO “Right and Wrong on Ukraine”
3. That the relevant people are talking about our current munitions stocks: The Hill “Is helping Ukraine reducing US preparedness, security?”
4. It is disingenuous in the extreme to keep implying that supporting Ukraine and failure to secure the southern boarder are linked. That is a pundit’s trick. For a perspective on the relationship between the two crises see: The Heritage Foundation “Biden’s boarder and Ukraine’s Crisis”
5. Ukraine aid oversight has bipartisan support and is rigorous. Politico “Armed Services Chair rips calls for stepped up oversight of Ukraine aid” Hudson Institute “Ten myths about aid to Ukraine”
6. Victor engages in victim blaming, vilifying Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians in an effort to blame Putin’s escalating agression on their continued determination to resist. Gen. McMaster made this point forcefully the last time they debated on the Goodfellows Podcast.
Victor must address these points in order for his take on Ukraine to rise above natpop propaganda.
1) why are tanks needed now and not last year? Something no one ever explained. My guess is all the missiles are gone.
2) Lindsey Graham supports Ukraīne and I don’t see anyone marching outside his house.
3) who believes anything from the hill?
4) nobody claimed they were linked. Why couldn’t we have both? because certain people don’t want that – are you among them? Abbott and DeSantis should bus 10x as many migrants now that Adams is squealing. We’re all in this together!
5) why should we believe anyone’s claim of rigor given what we were told about Afghanistan in 2021?
6) what exactly do we owe Ukraīne? What’s weirdly personal is how US pundits have trouble distinguishing Putin from Trump. You should check your own brainwashing, I’m sure it’s top notch.
Sorry, Dude, these are a bunch of non-answers and rhetorical posturing. Either do your homework and provide counter articles or let Victor answer.
And because BoP has lost deterrence by magnanimously publishing my challenge:
7. Following Carlson and Bannon, Hanson incorrectly speaks as if Zelenskyy is an autocrat. The Journal of Democracy has numerous articles on democracy in Ukraine. Try “How Zelenskyy has changed Ukraine” for a start.
8. Putin’s invasion is not a mere grab at former lands, but an attempt to erase Ukrainian identity from the face of the Earth while doing the same to Belarus. Radio Free Europe “US envoy to OSCE warns Russia trying to ‘wipe out’ Ukrainian sovereignty, incorporate Belarus”.
9. Victor fails to engage with the arguments of the NATO nations giving the highest per cent of their own assets and enduring the highest risks as well as the Russian opposition and NATO officials. H.R. McMaster has excellent interviews on the Battlefields Podcast with Russian opposition politician Vladimir Milov, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Minneapolis is not crazy. They are going after private property and liberating it to leftist uses. Tho
It is planned and as you continue to describe this as bizarre and crazy and happenstance versus the destruction of private property and ownership
Why are we not having some solutions in stopping this War. As a person who was born in the Ukraine during WWII and grown up in War Torn Europe and heard all the stories from my parents escape from Russia to Berlin in front of the Russian Armies, Allied Bombing, Nazi and Communist viciousness’, and British agreement with Stalin to send us back to Russia I am still complexed American mentality about Russia and Ukraine after 100 yrs of involvement with them. You would think we would not had this War. If you think the NATOins are good guys, think again. Money talks, bullshit walks, learned that in the US Corps. All have to do with Money, Oil, Power, and more Money. My Grandfathers fought against the Commies, my uncles and dad fought against them, my 4 brothers and I fought against them with their kids, now we face the same dilemma. I thought the Russians were not Communists anymore, got to check with the Clintons and Obama. We should have left them alone instead giving them a reason to invade and make the ordinary people in both countries suffer again. Did we really need this War and NATO War Machine?
When were you in the US Corps? It’s a little hard to follow your narrative at points. English is a beast of a language.
It is encouraging the hear that Mr. Hanson has evolved in his views on the war in Ukraine. He still refers to Putin as a ‘thug’ without explanation, but he has come around to the reality that Ukraine is steadily losing this war. Recently watched a video taken by Russia of Ukrainian troops being identified by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, UAV’s. It looked a lot like a video game with troops and tanks being identified both visually and computing their positions. Think GPS coordinates. The target position is then relayed to artillery or missile launchers which rains fire on the position. A soldier fires his weapon at the UAV which only defines his position more clearly. It is breathtaking in it’s effectiveness in killing an adversary from a safe distance. Defending against it must be akin to fighting a robot army like the one in Terminator films. No chance whatsoever. It made clear that Russia is systematically destroying the Ukrainian army. Zelensky can deny every day that Ukraine is being driven backwards but you will notice that Ukraine never releases any details about troop losses. No matter how many tanks or planes are sent, each of those weapons requires soldiers to operate them. Ukraine has likely lost over half of the army that that they began the war with. Eventually there will be no one left to fight. That day is coming much sooner than any Western news source will admit. No victory can come for the unelected Victoria Nuland’s insane war.
What’s your stake in this, White? Are you a Russian Orthodox convert? You seen pretty into non-western news sources. What news sources would you recommend?
Merit.
Meritocracy.
Merocratic?
I hear people now say, “supremist” for “supremacist”, too. It’s interesting to listen as language evolves around us.
In a few generations, American English will be like French. Half the written letters won’t be pronounced.