The Confessions of a Confused Misfit

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

The Rich

I confess I never admired John Edwards — and used to argue with the late Christopher Hitchens[1] about the blow-dried lawyer’s suitability for president. I didn’t think much of Al Gore or John Kerry, well before the “he lied!” vein-bulging fits and the wind-surfing spoofs. I was not surprised when Susan Rice just disclosed that she is worth considerably over $30 million[2] — and has money in Keystone[3] no less. Are they all part of the “one percent”? Did they pay “their fair share”? Do they “spread the wealth”? At what point in his life did Al Gore know that he had made enough money (before barreling ahead and making more)? Continue reading “The Confessions of a Confused Misfit”

Graffiti on Trees, High-Speed Rail to Nowhere: The Wages of Liberalism

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

Last week, while reading about an insolvent California’s insistence on going ahead with the first leg of a proposed high-speed rail line (total cost of the system: an estimated $100-$300 billion), I heard the following story on a local ABC news affiliate about a nearby low-Sierra lake: Continue reading “Graffiti on Trees, High-Speed Rail to Nowhere: The Wages of Liberalism”

The Demons of the Modern Rampage Killer

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

As of now we know little about what conditions drove, or proved useful to, the Aurora suspect to murder and maim [1]. But given the worldwide incidences of so-called “rampage killings,” the culprit was not the particular gun laws of Colorado. Continue reading “The Demons of the Modern Rampage Killer”

Beware the Idea of October

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

What should we expect as the campaign heats up in the final four months? Continue reading “Beware the Idea of October”

Obama’s ‘They’-Did-It Campaign

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

The next five months should be interesting — given that Barack Obama is now experiencing something entirely unique in his heretofore stellar career: widespread criticism of his performance and increasing weariness with his boilerplate and his teleprompted eloquence. Continue reading “Obama’s ‘They’-Did-It Campaign”

Can California Be Fixed?

by Victor Davis Hanson

NRO’s The Corner

Recently, I was driving down pot-holed, two-lane, non-freeway 101 near Monterey (unchanged since the 1960s) when the radio blared that on a recent science test administered to public schools, California scored 47th in the nation. Continue reading “Can California Be Fixed?”

The Power of Cool

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

When Barack Obama two years ago joked at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that potential suitors of his two daughters might have to deal with Predator drones (“But boys, don’t get any ideas. Two words for you: Predator drones. You will never see it coming.”), the liberal crowd roared. Continue reading “The Power of Cool”

The Stupid Party

by Bruce S. Thronton

FrontPage Magazine

The presidency of Barack Obama has established once and for all that modern liberalism is now the stupid party. Very little of liberal thought these days represents anything fresh or new, but rather comprises what Lionel Trilling once reduced conservatism to: “irritable mental gestures which seek to resemble ideas.” Continue reading “The Stupid Party”

The Trayvon Martin Case and the Growing Racial Divide

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

Two Racial Narratives — and the Current Hysteria

Polls show that the Trayvon Martin case has split the country apart over perceptions of race and justice, in ways that may dwarf the polarities of the O.J. Simpson trial days of 1994. Continue reading “The Trayvon Martin Case and the Growing Racial Divide”

Strangers in a Stranger Land

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

Trostky-ization

In ancient Rome, when the emperor or an especially distasteful elite died, his image on stone and in bronze was removed. And by decree there arose adamnatio memoriae, a holistic effort to erase away his entire prior existence. Continue reading “Strangers in a Stranger Land”