Victor Davis Hanson
American Greatness
Across the political left, from orthodox Democrats to Antifa in the streets, the opposition to Trump has lost its collective mind.
The House minority leader and now self-styled tough guy, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, poses with a baseball bat to show how dangerous he is in opposing Trump’s budget bill.
Jeffries harangued Congress for eight hours; Sen. Cory Booker went on for 25—both to no effect.
Bernie Sanders and AOC hit the rally trail in private jets to rail about oligarchs, omitting that the ultra-rich are not only mostly leftists but also the funders of the Democratic Party.
Sometimes the Democrats in Congress make bizarre videos, featuring profanity like f**k or s**t. On other occasions, they scream and interrupt Congress.
Some representatives now confess that they’re being pressured by their constituents to take a bullet for the cause.
The racialist Rep. Jasmine Crockett—sometimes playing the prep-school prima donna, sometimes modulating her accent to pass as the authentic inner-city activist—gains headlines for monotonously ranting about old white men.
On left-wing social media, the assassin Luigi Mangione remains a heartthrob for murdering a health-care executive, replacing the Tsarnaev brothers as the hot new left-wing killer.
He, too, might soon end up with a cover photo on Rolling Stone.
The left-wing internet mob grotesquely claims that children lost to the recent flash flood in Texas deserved their fate.
They even advance three sick reasons for their ghoulishness. Texas Christians supported the MAGA agenda and thus met a just fate. Or, as red-state Texans, they were deservedly collateral damage to DOGE’s bureaucratic reductions. Or, as climate denialists would say, the flash flood took righteous revenge on children for their supposed ignorance.
Add it all up, and there is a sizable leftist “base” that is completely amoral.
Then there are the college campuses, where left-wing anti-Semitism, pro-Hamas terrorism, and DEI-fueled racism risk costing elite universities their multibillion-dollar subsidies which fund the indoctrination of young leftists.
In panic, cash-strapped universities can no longer hide that they were gouging the federal government with outrageous surcharges on grants. They were systematically defying the Supreme Court by their race-based admissions and hiring. They institutionalized segregationist dorms, segregated graduations, and anti-Semitism.
Finally, there is the so-called “left-wing Résistance” and the street mobs’ descent into violence and terrorism.
Sometimes, thugs ambush ICE agents.
Sometimes, they firebomb Tesla dealerships.
Sometimes, they attack federal buildings, shut down freeways, and pelt patrol cars with concrete.
They continue with impunity because they know the Democrat Party cannot and will not censure them.
As in the months-long rioting of 2020, leftist politicos assume their street bandits will cause so much mayhem, violence, and chaos that Trump will either be forced to call out the troops (and thus “prove” he’s Hitler) or be too scared to—only to be blamed for the unrest, which could cost him the midterms.
But who or what drives the insane rages of these various armies of the left?
One is an obvious bleeding Democrat Party. Despite gushing about its new DEI, illegal alien, trans, and Middle Eastern constituents, it has no political power. Its issues are mostly 30-70 losers.
It has little power in the House or Senate beyond fake-filibusters, performative outrage, or profanity-laced rants.
It lost the White House. The Supreme Court eventually nullified the illegality of left-wing district judges.
It does not trust the people, so plebiscites and ballot measures are mostly out.
Two, unlike his first term, Donald Trump is addressing the causes, not just the symptoms, of the progressive project, whether on the border, crime, cultural issues, or foreign policy.
This time around, there are no John Boltons, no Rex Tillersons, no Alexander Vindmans, and no Anonymouses from the inside to thwart the Trump agenda.
The administration is loyalist and committed to addressing the root causes of the left-wing influence, not just its manifestations.
So, Trump has focused on leftist sacred cows like NPR, PBS, the elite campuses, USAID, and the administrative state—all the inculcators and laboratories of leftist ideology.
Finally, the left is outraged that so far, the Trump counterrevolution is working.
The economy is solid. The border is closed. Military recruitment has radically recovered.
The budget bill has passed. The Iranian nuclear threat has lessened. NATO is strengthening. The Middle East has a chance for calm.
Tariffs did not cause inflation. Deportations created more, not fewer, American jobs. Biological men will likely no longer be winning women’s athletic contests.
Add it all up, and the impotent left in all its orthodox and street manifestations has become unhinged.
And why not when it rightly fears that not just its power, but the very sources of its power, are in mortal danger?
Donald Trump’s the right person in the right place at the right time to dismantle this bloated, parasitic administrative state, emblematic of a nation in decline. You might not agree with his rhetoric or methods, but, as a businessman, he’s results-oriented. We pray for his personal safety and that of his associates or any other politician for that matter.
As delighted as I am to see what the first 6 months of Trump 2.0 has brought, I too worry that the left is that wounded animal as mentioned above. The Administration has to keep the left off balance and pay close attention to what is happening on the street. Too many people expect the government to provide a handout, and they will not be happy when the reality of what the Budget just did.
All in all – Common sense seems to returning.
We want to be careful. The Left is like a wounded animal, cornered in its den. And that is when the wounded animal is most dangerous.
VDH points out the dichotomy and fine line Trump has to walk; how to deal with the crime and illegal immigration without more US citizens believing his administration is becoming tyrannical. The America First/MAGA base will not be the problem, it will be the independents and democrats who agree with the issues but oppose the action, considering them over reactions.
The leftist democrats could not do this alone, they must have a left ideologue media pushing their narratives.
Do not doubt there are no ‘Anonymouses’ hiding within the administration. Has the person been identified that put Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic into the contact list enabling Goldberg to listen in? That is just one of the ‘leaks’ that anonymous got away with.
Trump needs to conduct bi monthly FDR like ‘fireside chats’, 20 minute max presentation of the state of the nation and what his administration is doing.
As the leftists become more extreme, they must be met with overwhelming force to squelch their tactics. We will never be rid of the ideology (sadly), but a strong response is not only needed, but justified and appreciated by the majority of Americans. To do anything less, will only feed the beast.
I wonder if the Democrats are also going through a severe case of buyer’s remorse. Biden’s election “win” in 2020 now seems to have been a poisoned gift, as does the insertion of Kamala Harris into the 2024 contest. They sound and act like spoiled, attention-seeking children badly in need of stern parenting, but who’s going to take on that thankless task. A good many of the American electorate might also give some thought to the people representing them.