Victor Davis Hanson
American Greatness
For years, the left has advanced utter untruths for cheap partisan purposes that it knew at the time were all false. And now when caught, they just shrug and say they were lying all along.
Once it was known that the first COVID-19 case originated in or near a Chinese communist virology lab engineering gain-in-function deadly viruses—with help from Western agencies—the left went into full persecution mode.
They damned as incompetent, racist, and conspiratorial any who dared follow logic and evidence to point out that the Chinese government and its military were both culpable for the virus and lying.
A million Americans died of COVID. Millions more suffered long-term injuries. Still, the left-wing media and Biden administration demonized any who dared speak the truth about a lab origin of the deadly virus.
The lies were designed to protect the guilty who had helped fund the virus’s origins, such as Doctors Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins.
The Biden government also tried to use the lab theory to ridicule a supposedly pro-Trump “conspiracy.”
Western corporate interests deeply invested in China did not want their partner held responsible for veritably killing and maiming hundreds of millions worldwide.
Almost as soon as Joe Biden was inaugurated, the left knew that he was physically and mentally unable to serve as president.
Indeed, that was the point.
Biden’s role was designed as a waxen figurine for hard-left agendas that, without the “old Joe Biden from Scranton” pseudo-moderate veneer, could never have been advanced.
His handlers operated a nightmare administration: the destruction of deterrence abroad, two theater wars, 12 million illegal aliens, a weaponized justice system, hyperinflation, and $7 trillion more in debt.
By 2017, the public knew three truths about the so-called Christopher Steele dossier.
One, it was completely fallacious—fabricated by a has-been, ex-British spy Christopher Steele. He childishly had cobbled together lurid sex stories, James Bond spy fictions, and Russian-fed disinformation to destroy the Trump candidacy and later presidency.
Two, it was paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign. She hid her checks behind the Democratic National Committee, the Perkins Coie law firm, and Fusion GSP paywalls.
Three, the FBI under James Comey hired Steele as an informant. It helped disseminate his concocted files and was also instrumental in trying to subvert the Trump campaign and later administration.
No sane person ever believed that Hunter Biden’s laptop was the work of “Russian disinformation.” Its contents a year before the 2020 election were verified by the FBI, but it kept mum about its confirmation.
The pornographic pictures, the evidence of prostitution and drug use, the electronic communications implicating Joe Biden in his family’s illicit shake-down operation of foreign governments—all were never challenged by anyone who was associated with the laptop’s contents.
Yet future Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, along with former interim CIA Director Mike Morrell, sought to fabricate a colossal lie to arm their candidate, Joe Biden, with plausible denial in the last presidential debate before the 2020 election.
They rounded up a rogue’s gallery of 51 now utterly discredited former intelligence authorities to lie to the nation that the laptop was likely fake.
All knew the FBI had verified the laptop. But they also knew that their titles would empower their lies that the Russians likely invented the laptop to aid the sinister Trump.
And the ruse worked like a charm.
In the debate, Biden cited their lies chapter and verse to claim the incriminating laptop was fake. A lying media damned Trump as a puppet of Vladimir Putin. Joe Biden, little more than a week later, won the 2020 election.
The Biden administration deliberately destroyed the southern border and welcomed 12 million illegal aliens. And then it lied that Biden had no power to stop the influx.
The media fabricated the excuse that “comprehensive immigration reform” was needed to enforce federal immigration laws already on the books.
Upon inauguration, Trump, in a matter of days, stopped what Biden had deliberately engineered for years.
Biden’s handlers wanted new millions of poor illegal aliens, dependent on social services, to swarm the borders.
They saw them as future voters and constituents to fuel their victim/victimizer Marxist binaries.
And they now quietly see their efforts as a huge success—knowing that it will be near impossible to find the millions of illegal aliens they welcomed in.
All these lies have divided the country and permanently damaged the U.S.
The perpetrators have neither apologized for their lies nor tried to either deny or substantiate them.
No one involved has ever been held legally accountable.
The legacy media permanently ruined its reputation and will likely never be seen as credible again.
The Biden administration, overseer of many of these lies, will be regarded as the most duplicitous and dishonest presidency in modern history.
Yes we ARE permanently divided.
My question is this: if we agree we on demonstrable truths that the Steele Dossier was fake and Hunter’s laptop was real, can we ever trust our government to tell us the truth?
The Biden administration…will be regarded as the most duplicitous and dishonest presidency in modern history.
Yes Joe, something to be proud of…
Please help me understand specifically which/who “western corporate interests deeply invested in China” did not want their “partner” to be held responsible for Covid?
Otherwise, spot on!
We can only hope that we have future historians like yourself to keep the record straight.
What? No mention of the C-jabs, the killing mRNA tech marketed as ‘safe and effective’. Too soon perhaps – but not too soon for all those maimed, dead, or dying from ‘turbo-cancers’.
For years now, the left wing media machine has been exposed of the misrepresentation of NEWS in various forms. I.E: Deliberate incorrect fact checking the debates. To continue the same path of exposing these lies is insane in itself.
What needs to happen now is to move on from the issue of exposing, to acting on the legal exposures that these media companies are open to. President Trump is successful at this tactic.
Bombard the left wing lunacy media companies in kind with overwhelming lawsuits until they comply with society norms.
Once again Professor Hanson demonstrates his unerring ability to connect the dots. I wonder when Democrat lying began? Was Thomas Jefferson a liar? How could one man write so eloquently about the evils of slavery at the same time he is prospering from slavery?
“Malicious & Willful Intent” … to defraud the American people.
A clear violation of fiduciary responsibility. Yet, they skate free!
Unfortunately, lies perpetrated by the left will never be legally put to the test. Politicians frequently lie to each other, their constituents, and to the media. You don’t get rewarded for telling the truth or loving your neighbor, and while there are exceptions to freedom of speech, it has great standing before the courts. While it is a crime to commit waste, fraud, and abuse, when a case comes before the Supreme Court the legal test put to the Constitution usually fails.
Dr. Hansen, your excellence in wisdom and knowledge is appreciated and valued. Thank you.
Professor, Fear of COVID could be seen by those who wore masks while they were alone in their cars and by those who gathered for eternal Spring Break. Political Science needs a special course on government by small fears.
or he cadre of dirty sheriffs who noticed a lone sailboarder over half a mile offshore near Huntington Beach. In “grave fear” for the young man’s “sayfffteeee” they went and launched their patrol boat (the ossifers in question of course being VERY close together in the small boat, SURELY less than six feet apart) gave chase, overhauled the poor chap, arrested him, confiscated his board, brought him to land and booked him in jail,, where he was clearly at infinitely greater risk of exposure to the chimeric Vie Russ that can kill from two hundred yards away……
VDH is a national treasure. Your analysis and explanation are superb.
Dr Hanson just always so clarifying to read your work. So grateful for all of the energy & grace you put into your words. The most awful result of the Biden presidency— most probably beginning in the Obama administration— I believe — is that the dishonesty has divided our country so badly it’s difficult to see light at the end of the tunnel. My prayer is that accountability is not abandoned by either the legacy media or all of the players involved. How awfully we have all been manipulated by these ostensible “leaders.”
The Lonely Lie
Once there was a lonely lie
That crawled off by itself to die.
But, before it even left the room,
Its offspring had begun to bloom.
Soon the truth had lost its place
And it quietly left in sad disgrace.
It’s crowded now in that small room
And honor there you can’t presume.
Truth and Trust have been destroyed in this country. I don’t see how a country can recover unless there is a drastic reckoning on the part of the huge swath of the country that continues to believe the lies and reject the truth. I’m sorry to say, despite the solid Trump victory in 2024 we are a long way off from this reckoning.
with all due respect, Dr. Hanson. To think that we will never be able to find and deport the majority of illegal aliens who came in under Biden has got to be a false assumption. It will no doubt be very difficult, but it must be done. Also, we must end birthright citizenship retroactively to January 20, 2020, when our borders effectively ceased to exist.
Brilliant, succinct and informative summary of the Biden administration. I haven’t heard of plans for a Biden Presidential Library (maybe a bookmobile would be more appropriate.) Nancy Pelosi implied Biden was worthy of a spot on Mount Rushmore; I don’t think it would look good, as he would be facing backward, trying to figure out where to go.
I can only pray that this country can recover in time – with honest, competent leadership.
One of the most disturbing aspects of all this is that truth and trust are two commodities without which a free society cannot function. Not truthfulness, i.e. that most people are truthful, but that The Truth is known and recognized, even by those who cannot abide by it. When truth is ignored or denied, as by the left which places it’s relative value far below power and control, trust is eroded. Without trust, representative government, market economics, and most personal relationships decline and eventually fail. As Tocqueville said, America is great because it is good. Liberty can only survive when self-government is the rule rather than the exception.
We must leave nothing to memory. We must hold all those accountable for their bad actions lest it will happen again.
Swamp dwellers also benefit from billions of dollars passing through their hands from the taxpayer to the NGO (non-government organizations). Hold your hand under the water spigot, watch as much of the water cascades to the ground and your hand also is watered. Why is DOGE so demonized by Democrats? Victor Davis Hanson is a treasure of the United States a true voice of reason whose background and skill help us find truth. Thank you sir.
yet still so many in this country blindly follow them…..that is the most baffling thing of all…
Victor’s article should be titled apropos his recent book as “The Lying Citizen”. Pogo – we have found the enemy…..
When social media derived memes and 10 second sound bites are the primary source of news, then all are blind. Our system is a propagandist’s dream delivery system
Kudos to all those who resisted giving up their rights as Americans! RESPECT to all those who knew in their guts that not being able to go to church, see family members, lockdown their children, and then be forced to take a BS vaccine was government over-reach in its clearest most aggregious form.
To those who truly resisted, they will always have my undying respect! You walked the walk! You showed exactly what it was like to be an American. You stood up for your rights and fought back despite being ridiculed, fired, tarred and feathered.
I regret that while I felt this was a government OP that was finding success in totally controlling us, I allowed myself to cave… I was soft and as a 55 year old began worrying about catching the virus. I regret allowing my 15 year old daughter to take the shot. I regret telling my wife– who refused to take the shot, because like me she knew in her heart that we were being lied to and misled– that she might want to take the shot just in case.
I will always respect those true Americans who held true to exactly what it means to be an American. And I thank each and every one of you for reminding me, and giving me the foresight to now stand tall and say NEVER AGAIN! And forever hold firm and demand: DON’T TREAD ON ME!
Victor,
Excellent points, but it is time to leave the Covid 19 fiasco in your rear-view mirror and move on toward protecting our nation from the next pandemic that is probably simmering in coastal Africa. The COVID fiasco was a failure in the federal government, the city government, our medical societies and care, research laboratories, and all the News. When the next one comes knocking at it no one will believe anything. The virus has found the weakness in humans that it will exploit to increase its R0 number; it is our hubris
Dr. Hanson is as always so clear and precise in the analysis. This article is so powerful in its clarity and truth it makes me cry for what these monsters were allowed to take from us which can never be recovered. Mourning for the bright city on the hill!
I agree and would recommend his podcast as well. Always well thought out, clear, and precise reasoning. Why DVH remains in California is a mystery.
Those destined to be progressives are born with a sophistic habitus. It is fostered by public education, media, social media, and institutions of higher learning. It is further inbred by indoctrination and imitation of the established and incestuous body politic. Liberals are immune to animadversion. Progressivism and its offshoots become the religion dur jour for democrats. When will they recognize that this brand of idealism does not appeal to mainstream America, and will never win the hearts and minds of the majority? We who realize the venomous nature of their polemicism will never accept what they say, or give credence to their defacatory ideas.
Uncovering these truths is needed to purge the system of its corruption. It will not be easy or fast but it must be pursued. Thank you, Victor.
Knowing who is accountable will perhaps be the most disturbing of all
Hi Victor;
Much respect to you and your accumulated wisdom. Spot on for the most part: blatant lies, and the “what are you going to do about it” attitude disgusts and double disgusts.
However, I would argue that the Covid catastrophe was more than what you describe. It was not just covered by lies about its origins in order to protect a few guilty American “scientists” or investors.
Covid is among the arsenal of unspeakable weapons held in the Deep State’s back pocket. This one was chosen and its development accelerated, then “accidentally” released explicitly to cause as much mayhem as possible for POTUS 45, ultimately to help the left “win” the 2020 election.
For the DEMs (“uni-party”, if you prefer), this was about their fear that a non-player in the grift/graft lifestyles of so many could have enough power to actually ruin their “American dream”.
The DEM party signed on and became tools of the Deep State as they had run out of other weapons. They were desperate.
I wonder if they knew how many innocent people they would kill worldwide when they signed on to this monstrous plan. Yes, sadly, I have come to believe, based upon their other blatant lies and their clear and utter oft-demonstrated disregard for civility, that they are willing to actually kill people to push their agenda.
I wish I could convince myself otherwise.
Best Regards
The Deep State; America’s Communists.
Yes. Communists lie, which these people are at their core; it is a hallmark of their control playbook. This a good reason to dispute the current narrative, lab leak, too convenient and seems orchestrated. No novel virus has been proven, CCP computer model is not proof, easily manipulated false positive PCR tests, not diagnoses, are not proof, falsified hospital death reports are probable proof of a manufactured crisis. The flu did not take a holiday, people died but not more than usual overall. Unexplainable, not believable death spikes in NYC, and Bergamo Italy, April 2020. Hospital protocols, universally orchestrated, killed many as did the poison shots. No, likely a planned psych operation, fear campaign, fake pandemic. For what purpose.? Population control. Global order. Perhaps the Trump administration will release the pandemic planning documents?
Re: Biden mental deterioration. I do support Trump’s challenge to legal efficacy of Biden’s exec orders from the final days of his presidency when his signature was executed by auto-pen (i.e., not hand written). Has anyone looked at authenticated Biden handwriting over the course of the last few years of his presidency as an indication of mental deterioration? (It may be that muscle memory for signature is so deeply ingrained it doesn’t deteriorate much over time. )
Alexander Solzhenitsyn pretty much summed it up: “We know that they are lying, they know that they are lying, they even know that we know they are lying, we also know that they know we know they are lying too, they of course know that we certainly know they know we know they are lying too as well, but they are still lying”
Love you work, Victor…But I never understand why many continue to say, “the most duplicitous and dishonest presidency in modern history.”
Surely, it is correct to say, “the most duplicitous and dishonest presidency IN HISTORY.”
Thank you for being a “Voice” for regular Americans who are busy working all day and taking care of their families, leaving little time for following politics.
The bad actors could not have succeeded without a complicit corrupt “legacy” media.
And the common denominator of all the left’s lies? Donald Trump must be defeated. I believe DJT has both the will and the guts to do what needs to be done. It wont be pretty, in fact it will be messy. Very messy. I hope his supporters have the courage to stay with him.
Can you confirm that a million Americans died of COVID? COVID turned out to me a serious case of the flu but once the Fauxi like ‘experts’ gained control, tossing therapeutics out the window and forcing patients onto ventilators, prescribing remdesivir and locking elderly back into the infected care centers it is extremely questionable what exactly caused the death of so many. Then we had the Mrna jabs that have been linked to massive blood clots resulting in heart failures, possible carcenogin causing cancers and so much more.
One quick look at regions in India where they refused the jabs in exchange for mandatory therapeutics of Ivermectin resulting in very low numbers of deaths.
The actual COVID virus may have caused more deaths than a normal flu outbreak but it is impossible to determine how many were caused by government ‘precautions”.
All the lies mentioned are factual but the greatest lie perpetrated on the world was COVID by Fauci and the WHO.
I don’t think we will ever know how many died of COVID and how many of inappropriate medical interventions, or completely unrelated causes. The government made it much too lucrative for hospitals to code everything as COVID and to use dangerous, poorly tested or indeed frankly inappropriate medical interventions and to even increase reimbursement to those hospitals if the patient died. And the disaster that the mRNA “vaccines” have caused and will cause (death, infertility, cancer acceleration, novel autoimmune diseases) will not be elucidated in our life-times. Too many prominent people would have their reputations severely damaged should an honest accounting take place.
There should be a reckoning but I won’t see it before I die.
Thank God for Victor Davis Hanson! Sadly, many will never hear or read of his thoughtful comments. The legacy media will refuse to have him burst their bubble while the misinformed lemmings march obediently over the cliff.
Joe Biden preemptively pardoned his family members and government officials before leaving office.
All of them, including Joe, should be investigated, charged, tried, and convicted to memorialize their crimes for the history books and for all the public to know.
Afterwards, Biden’s pardons can activate and keep them from being punished, but the American people and the world need to know the truth.
Excellent idea! Who do you know in any branch of government with the spine to initiate, bear the thermonuclear leftist/media response, and judicial resistance to indict? I admit, without the 5th to enhance selective memory loss, it should be quite a show! They may be immune from punishment, but their testimony would at least be a ray of sunshine, for those capable of seeing and completely ruin their reputations.
Yes, the world needs to see that justice still exists. In Australia, we are fed the same nonsense as your media. Our Labour Party has begun to copy the tactics of the Democrats and you can see the same playbook in other parts of the world. We all need to expose the lies, tactics and strategies.