Victor Davis Hanson // Private Papers
Traditionalist and conservative America once was the U.S. military’s greatest defender.
Bipartisan conservatives in Congress ensured generous Pentagon budgets. Statistics of those killed in action, in both Afghanistan and Iraq, reveal that white males, especially those of the rural and middle classes, were demographically “overrepresented” in offering the ultimate sacrifice to their country.
When generals, active and retired, have become controversial, usually conservative America could be counted on to stick with them.
Of the millions of important points in time/policy in America, three stick with me. 1. Cut from gold. 2) End of military conscription. 3. Establishment of “hate” as a crime. The first is (ultimately) the worst. Time will tell. The other two greatly contribute to the psychological demise of our young and their strength of personal meaning and fortitude. It takes self-governance and resolve for millions of “people” to govern themselves (effectively). A sense of history, fragility and purpose is essential for that resolve. Without it, you’ve go mush.
That’s the plan. Destroy traditional defenders of America, substitute woke lefties, and complete the elimination of actual democracy with a theater version — the same kind as in USSR, Russia, China, and Venezuela.
Are we past the tipping point? Maybe not, but it will take a miracle to pull the country back from the precipice.
FYI, the post access regarding (Democrat’s own party doesn’t think crime matters) has been blocked by my ISP search engine. Teck censorship is real and troubling.
Thank you Mr. Hanson for your voice of logic and reason.
Wokeism is eroding merit as the basis for military recruitment, service and promotion. Currently, fewer than 25 percent of American youth can qualify for service based on physical fitness. Other disqualifiers include drug abuse, mental illness, negative police records and low education attainment.
Re: Has the military “Lost Middle America”
‘’Yes; I think they have…from my perspective , they have.
I am a vet; served in the USAF four (4) years Active + four (4) Reserves.
On top of that loss of confidence / support ; I find the VA is irresponsible
and devious; I sought merely an acknowledgement of my service to qualify
for a Home Depot Veterans Identification Card for 10% off purchases.
I have my original Discharge Documents, but they definitely are not accepted for
VA purposes; and apparently will not satisfy any “official documentation“ purposes.
Thus, I requested the VA provide Official verification of my military service
The VA advised “We have a data processing problem; re-apply in a month…”
I learned that response was devious; through my Congressional Representative.
I learned the Veterans Administration has lost my records through a fire incident.
Through my Congressman’s Office, I learned Duplicate Official Records are
available through formal request from the National Archives; they have a
Procedure through which you verify your identity and purpose and they
supply a U.S. Government officially Certified Copy of Service Records.
While this process was under way, I learned that Office Depot, the office
supply retailer verifies military service and provides “unofficial for government
Purposes” but as a courtesy to veterans, a Veterans Service 10% Discount
Identification Card which IS accepted at Home Depot; my original objective.
Add in the current “Woke Movement” and now I feel my country ‘s Government and
many official and unofficial functions are severely corrupted; I have ceased donations
to all formerly supported except the NRA and Hillsdale College; I responded to a
request from Hillsdale just yesterday – in fact. I am “real buttoned down” now.
And, I would NOT volunteer to serve, nor would I advise any others serving, were that matter
pertinent to me or my advice , now. You might say: I have NO confidence in Current government,
the Military’s higher levels of Staff; the Veteran’ s Administration; the FBI; the CIA; and am also
Convinced there is significant fraud in the elections. ‘’The news reporting is now very biased.”
‘
I hope you don’t mind ~ Waterbury (CT) Republican-American
BIDEN BENEFITS FROM DOUBLE STANDARD BY NEWS MEDIA
It’s possible readers are unaware of the realities of who President Biden is and isn’t (June 22 letter by Harold Pantely, “Despite faults, Biden preferable to Trump”) because of the collapse of American journalistic integrity. As historian and author Victor Davis Hanson pointed out June 20, “In American journalism, there are supposed to be some clear, nonnegotiable third rails,” but they no longer exist.
Mr. Hanson cited Mr. Biden’s physical- and mental-health problems; his lies and exaggerations; and his past racist comments. For journalists and entertainers who made much of the defects and foibles of Richard Nixon, Gerald R. Ford and Donald Trump, Mr. Biden appears untouchable.
Mr. Hanson wrote, “Even Donald Trump’s enemies have remarked on his almost unnatural stamina and energy, characterized by 20-hour work days and near inexplicable rapid recovery from COVID-19. … Contrast this with Joe Biden. He has trouble walking up the steps of the Air Force One. He forgets names and events. His days are short and his attention span shorter, his press conferences rare ? and scripted. At the recent G-7 summit, he displayed a mishmash of bizarre interruptions, ‘get-off-my lawn’ temper tantrums at reporters, slurred words, incomplete thoughts and sentences, cognitive freezes, and general fragilities.”
He added, “While Joe Biden is also pointing fingers at white America ? the press is quiet about (his son) Hunter Biden’s exchanges with his cousin Caroline Biden over set-up ‘dates.’ In one, Caroline warns Hunter “I can’t give you (expletive deleted) Asian sorry. I’m not doing it.’ Hunter trumps her racist slurs with his own agreement: ‘No yellow.'” Have you read or heard about this in the news media?
The media and the progressive Democratic Party have made America stupid. I rather preferred Mr. Trump’s desire to make America great.
Jean Bieluczyk
Woodbury
Dr. Hanson, I am a retiree of the Army. Serving first in the 82d ABN as a Cavalry Scout, and later in the National Guard of my state, I was in & out of uniform (couple breaks in service) from 1986 to 2016.
The Armed Services hasn’t lost Middle America, they have abandoned it. The purges of the Officer Corps by first Clinton, and then by Obama, gutted the Moral Courage of the institution that maintained standards, demanded excellence, and elevated service over individual careers. What was left to us was a pack of self-serving managers whose greatest ethic was reaching higher rank.
The same process is now being applied to the enlisted ranks. They were overlooked at first because “well they’re just peons, right?” That misconception is now being corrected, and the enlisted ranks being brought to heel.
The idealogs forcing this program of wokeness have one more misconception they haven’t twigged to yet: the National Guard formations are not subdued yet. They are much more reflections of the communities they come from than the active force. There can still be found NG Officers and men who understand their oaths, and intend on honoring them regardless of personal cost.
The Military cannot be relied upon to resist orders to suppress the citizenry, except in those few NG formations where men of moral fortitude can still be found. No, they didn’t lose us; they LEFT us.