What the Ryan Choice Means for November

by Bruce Thornton

Frontpage Magazine

Last week’s poll numbers seemingly confirmed the doubts about democracy’s viability expressed in last week’s column. After a barrage of outrageous smears fired off by the Obama campaign, which accused Romney of killing a woman with cancer and failing to pay any income tax, Obama is leading Romney by 7-9 points. Continue reading “What the Ryan Choice Means for November”

More A Decline of the Spirit?

by Victor Davis Hanson

Ricochet.com

There are lots of ways to lament America’s current financial and cultural dilemmas. Continue reading “More A Decline of the Spirit?”

100 Days Is a Long Time

by Victor Davis Hanson

Tribune Media Services

The presidential election is less than a hundred days away. President Obama and Mitt Romney are roughly even in the various polls, with Obama holding slight leads in the key swing states. Continue reading “100 Days Is a Long Time”

The Positive Role of “Negative Feedback”

by Craig Bernthal

Private Papers

“You can always count on Americans to do the right thing — after they’ve tried everything else.”  Winston Churchill

One of Victor Hanson’s most persuasive arguments about why democracies have an advantage over despotisms in fighting wars is that democracies are much more likely to correct their own mistakes. Continue reading “The Positive Role of “Negative Feedback””

Obama, Storyteller

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

A sign of an undisciplined mind is serial lapses into self-contradiction, or blurting out a thought only to refute it entirely on a later occasion. For a president to do that is to erode public confidence and eventually render all his public statements irrelevant. Continue reading “Obama, Storyteller”

The New American Helots

by Victor Davis Hanson

Tribune Media Services

Ancient Sparta turned its conquered neighbors into indentured serfs — half free, half slave. The resulting helot underclass produced the food of the Spartan state, freeing Sparta’s elite males to train for war and the duties of citizenship. Continue reading “The New American Helots”

The Liberal Super Nova

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

Two parties, left and right, are central to good consensual government — one the perennial check on the other, both within the general boundaries of constitutional free-market capitalism. Continue reading “The Liberal Super Nova”

Secretaries Gone Wild

by Victor Davis Hanson

NRO’s The Corner

We’ve had some unusual cabinet secretaries in past administrations — Earl Butz, John Mitchell, and James Watt come to mind — but never anything quite like the present bunch. Continue reading “Secretaries Gone Wild”

The EU at the Abyss

by Victor Davis Hanson

NRO’s The Corner

Over the last four years, almost all of the news about the shaky European Union has been financial, with some attention paid to southern Mediterranean tabloid attacks on Germany and the German media counter-stereotyping of irresponsible siesta-loving sunny Mediterraneans. Continue reading “The EU at the Abyss”

Winning Battles, Losing Wars

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

Can We Still Win Wars?

Given that the United States fields the costliest, most sophisticated, and most lethal military in the history of civilization, that should be a silly question. Continue reading “Winning Battles, Losing Wars”