Victor Davis Hanson and cohost Jack Fowler look at listeners questions on the Vietnam war, the decline of civilization, can decline be stopped, can woke destruction be reversed? Everyone needs to refuse to live by lies.
Menu
Interesting. Especially that since this was recorded dozens of Trump supporters, and his ACTING ATTORNEYS, have been visited by Bill Barr’s finest, and their rights violated. I have no doubt that goons are perusing these comments. So, now that the administration has shown that standing up, “each according to their station”, will result in untold fear and torment, what to think?
I wonder how many people decided to quit their jobs just so they could speak out?
A project I’ve always wanted to do was analyze and publish US election results under hypothetical scenarios of how slaves were counted.
Stated another way, would a different formula have changed the 1860 election, and would it have changed our historical trajectory?
How’s the grant environment for an analysis of that nature?
Victor, this type of talk is what we need. You provided solutions, and call to action – the truth will set US free. Not once in this podcast did you preface your opinion with, “I have to be very careful here…”, Good for you! More of this. Thank you.
As usual, and as we have become accustomed to, The Republicans (this time, Jerry Ford) managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It’s well into the 21st century and nothing has changed. 2024 looms large and I see a replay coming up. Please, Victor, tell me what the Republican plan for righting the country is since all we hear from them is about the big, bad Left. Do they have a vision for the country and some idea of what they will do to get there? Will anyone in that party wake up and realize that they are a party in name only at present? Make American Great Yet Again is not a plan.
Very valuable information as always. Is there a written text of this you could post on victorhanson.com because in the middle of it you gave a very good prescription for what it would take to right our country?
I listened with interest to the discussion on the Vietnam War and whether it was lost or won.
There was no commentary on the period 1946-1964.
My recollection of writers in that period, brings up a great French Vietnam author who fought as a French partisan in WWII. His name is Bernard Fall. He was killed in Vietnam in 1967.
The U S. caused the avietnam war by supporting Frances colonial recovery after WWII
The OSS worked with Ho Chi Minh, fighting the Japanese. The OSS understood Ho was a communist but also a nationalist. Those Americans supported Ho for a prominent leadership position.
When the French returned they installed a friendly regime to them. That Regime was Cathilic Vietnamese. The Church had significant interests in Vietnam and wanted those protected. Vietnam was largely populatd by Budhists.
Inevitably competing claims to power in Vietnam were not resolved. In 1954 the French suffered a stunning defeat Deim Bien Foo. This caused the French to abandon Vietnam. A interim settlement was reached to have an armistice and an election sanctioned by the UN in 1956. The North would have won that election and the US prevented it from taking place. A puppet regime was established in the South governed by the Catholic minority.
The civil war began and the vietcong settled into the south. The two sides were harsh in their actions towards each other and a classic guerilla war began in the South. The US armed, supported, and stood behind the south. The Dulles Brothers
I ran out of space yesterday.
After 1954 and 1956 the CIA and Green Berets were th advisers and armament suppliers to Saigon. Army, Navy and S. Vietnam airforce. Arms were tactical in nature and directed towards a guerilla war. Navy patrol boats for Mekong,, ocean capable craft for raids on the north. Skyraider (A-1) for bombing and strafing VC. Army trained by Green Beret and installed as mission advisers.
JFK wanted to exit Vietnam by mid 1960s. The CIA inspired assasination of the Saigon President in 1963 proved problematic. From 1956 to 1964 the conflict was not as intense as post 1965. It was an ugly guerilla conflict. The south was mapped and prepared for a large war war by army and marine special forces. Tir for tat fighting occurred and both sides strive fo control of the south. Targeted assasinations were a fact of life.
GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT.
The south with wrh American advisers conducted commando raids on the north. The VC received arms from the north and what they took from defarwd ARVN troops.
Coincident with this and as part of normal intelligence gathering. USN made elint sweeps of the north from international waters. An extensive EOB was created in preparation for possible conflict with the North.
The commando raids on the north via the gulf were coded as Desoto raids. The north was obviously aware and countered where and when they could.
THE INCIDENT
The NVN mistook the Elint patrols for Desoto raiders and launched a low intensity attack TBC
The Tonki Incident was diminimis militarily. The only evidence of any hostility was provided by the security attachment (manned a temporary supprad) on board the Maddox or Turner Joy. A max priority message was originated to D C. by the security detachment. It was deemed authentic intercepts but politically formed a pretext to upgrade the war in Vietnam. The incident observed in August 1964. The war was going to be upgraded period and a pretext would have been found. The incident report was several inches thick.
The American lives lost were a crime;agent orange caused a medical catastrophe for U.S. forces to this very day and surely impactd The Vietnamese similarly.
THE NAVY ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE WAR IN 1968 predicated on several illustrative incidents not war deterninative. A young F-8 Lt. Jg shot Don a MIG. He had a brownie movie camera and followed the MIG down while filming. The pilot visited ships in the Gulf as a rah rah tour.
In Spril a nuclear powered Cruiser down a MIG 21 in the north from more than 50 miles. The pilot escaped. The MIG was probably worth a lot less than the Talos Missile. Net gain for arms manufacturers to replace the missile. In summer 68 an F4 was lost to a jingoist at Yankee Station. The F4 pursued the MIG21 feet wet near 20 north latitude. Jouett had a Terrier lovkon the MIG with a 96% shoot down probability. OIC at Yankee Station waved off Jouett and ordered the F4 to take the MIG, which turned and shot down the F4. This was prior to Top
This url leads to an excellent piece on the losing theory in Vietnam and how it evolved.
https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-politicians-in-Washington-mess-up-the-Vietnam-war-so-bad
I hear Hunter is seeking an adjustment to his child support payments. I hope the judge tells him to move to Fresno and save $18k a month.
Victor seems to be honing in on why many Republicans either didn’t vote for Trump or “held their nose and voted”: the man is a malignant narcissist. That doesn’t mean he didn’t achieve things; US businesses are riddled with narcissists because they have the overwhelming confidence and lack of social inhibitions to get things done. What it does mean is that narcissists, particularly malignant ones, self-destruct. In the end, it’s all about them, and they will throw anyone and anything under the bus the instant their glorious self image is threatened. Many Liberal big wigs, being narcissists themselves, understand this and use it to push Trump’s buttons on command. Being narcissists themselves, they also lose focus when attacking Trump, and persecute him in ways that aren’t helpful to their own cause. Dr. Lee and company at Yale were right in their assessments, but damnable in their breach of paramount guild rules and (once those rules were breached) their execrable failure to call out Joe Biden (a less-skilled malignant narcissist) in turn.
I am so confused by fiat mandates from Prs.Biden that just seem unconstitutional Why don’t conservative lawyers file lawsuits on Border insecurity,Student loan forgiveness,permitting slowness, etc..I know Fitton is on the margins,but there are some monumental rule of law questions to be answered.