{"id":10008,"date":"2017-03-24T09:26:20","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T16:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=10008"},"modified":"2021-07-26T10:25:31","modified_gmt":"2021-07-26T17:25:31","slug":"10008-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/10008-2\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

From an Angry Reader:<\/h3>\n

Russia\u2019s political hierarchy and official press greeted Trump\u2019s Inauguration with unreserved glee. An old order had crumbled and, with it, an impediment to Putin\u2019s ambitions. \u201cIn 1917, armed supporters of Lenin stormed the Winter Palace and arrested capitalist ministers and overthrew the social political order,\u201d the lead article in the daily Moskovski Komsomolets read. \u201cOn January 20, 2017, nobody in Washington planned to storm Congress or the White House and hang prominent members of the old regime from lampposts, but the feeling of the American political \u00e9lite, especially the liberal part of it, is not different from that of the Russian bourgeoisie one hundred years ago.\u201d Sound familiar? Why not check out the March issue The New Yorker article on Trump-Putin-and-the New Cold War. You may live in the cocooned atmosphere of CA? (I\u2019m assuming from your position at Stanford University), but you oversimplify the matter. Take for instance where I live in a tiny hamlet in NE Texas\u2014listed recently in a state medical guide as the \u201cunhealthiest region of Texas.\u201d My town of approx. 25,000 is 9th out of the 10 most crime-ridden areas of Texas. Texarkana, another city within the NE region of Texas, came in 4th, I believe. I\u2019m surrounded by the white uneducated male and guilt-tripped white uneducated female- with hopefully a few more brain cells than teeth in their head, who repeatedly and loyally vote against themselves in GOP primaries election after election. They deny themselves access to health care, vote in public education budget cuts, (along with the public school teachers who can\u2019t seem to connect the dots to why their work is not rewarded with better pay), and vote in tax breaks for the \u201celite\u201d corporate\/oil and gas CEO\u2019s- while fracking and other forms of pollution wreak havoc across Texas. Just a few examples of how stupid it was for the Rust Belt states to go the way \u201cof Texas.\u201d Rest assured, they cannot afford health care for their chronic medical conditions, but repeatedly vote against it for fear of \u201csocialism.\u201d Why? Long-standing, systemic racial bias that is played out in gerrymandering and voter ID laws, and lack of basic education. So, I doubt sir the general voting population of my state could pronounce \u201cElitism\u201d much less understand or take the time to pick up a newspaper and read about it. You give them far too much credit, and given the current whoopla over the current administration and its obvious entanglement with Russia, they will gleefully support Trump choosing to remain blind to the bitter end\u2014an end I fear we\u2019re all about to face.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sherry Scott MD<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Victor Davis Hanson’s Reply:<\/h3>\n

Dear Sort of Angry Reader Sherry Scott, MD<\/p>\n

You letter is sadly full of inaccuracies. Please get your facts straight before ranting.<\/p>\n

1) Russia is currently not happy with the Trump administration, which is far more likely than Obama to pump oil, beef up defenses, and be tougher in the international arena. Russian reset\u2014you forget?\u2014was an Obama phenomenon. It started in Geneva in 2009 with Hillary\u2019s red reset button; it was most famously summarized by President Obama\u2019s hot mic promise to Medvedev that he would be more \u201cflexible\u201d with \u201cVladimir\u201d after the 2012 reelection, and ended only when Russian hackers supposedly turned over Hillary Clinton\u2019s emails to WikiLeaks. The Trump national security team of Mattis\/McMaster\/Tillerson shows no desire of continuing Obama reset that resulted in Russian occupations of Eastern Ukraine and Crimea. It was again Hillary, remember, who cut deals with the Russians on uranium, Bill who enriched himself with Russian speaking fees, Podesta who was heavily invested in Russian stocks, and the Obama administration who used the Russian pretext to monitor the Trump campaign, and then illegally leak the transcripts of that surveillance.<\/p>\n

2) I read The New Yorker<\/em> and it is not disinterested, but like The New Republic<\/em> is now a partisan organ and often unreliable.<\/p>\n

3) I live in the 2nd poorest county in rural California, at ground zero of illegal immigration. I put my children in the public schools and live in the farmhouse I grew up in. I don\u2019t need professional lectures about a \u201ccocooned atmosphere.\u201d Nor do I have contempt for the poor and uneducated, who live side-by-side on our avenue as you do for your own community.<\/p>\n

4) Your arrogant stereotypes about Texans (e.g., they \u201ccould not pronounce \u2018Elitism\u2019; cannot understand the content of newspapers, and have few teeth in their heads) could easily lead to their own stereotypes about smug professionals, whose education and income unjustifiably lend a sense of moral superiority over others deemed deficient in one\u2019s own perceived advantages. Given your puerile views about Trump\/Russia, and venom about an entire class of people, I don\u2019t see anything in your letter that suggests your own professional degree \u201cM.D.\u201d has led to much wisdom, much less grounds for feelings of superiority.<\/p>\n

Victor Hanson, Ph.D.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From an Angry Reader: Russia\u2019s political hierarchy and official press greeted Trump\u2019s Inauguration with unreserved glee. An old order had crumbled and, with it, an impediment to Putin\u2019s ambitions. \u201cIn 1917, armed supporters of Lenin stormed the Winter Palace and arrested capitalist ministers and overthrew the social political order,\u201d the lead article in the daily […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-2Bq","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12129,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/angry-reader-01-08-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":10008,"position":0},"title":"Angry Reader 01-08-2020","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"From An Angry Reader: You are doing the same thing you claim Maddow is doing. Aren\u2019t you an elite grouper, just on the other side of Maddow? You left out many facts in your article. You need to look in the mirror. You are old enough to know better. America\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11174,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/05-02-18-angry-reader\/","url_meta":{"origin":10008,"position":1},"title":"05-02-18 Angry Reader","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"From An Angry Reader: Fake Claims. WE HAVE A CONGENITAL LIAR AS A PRESIDENT. HE HAS SCAMMED THE US WITH TAXES AND BANKRUPTCY. HE IS A SERIAL ADULTERER AND SEXUAL PREDATOR. EVEN AS I TEXT HIS BUSINESSES ARE PROFITING FROM MY HARD EARNED AND MEAGER INCOME. HE IS A NARCISSIST\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11357,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/angry-reader-08-22-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":10008,"position":2},"title":"Angry Reader 08-22-2018","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"From An Angry Reader: Subject: Treasonous Historians You are liar like Trump and you and your fellow Comprotnik should be breaking rocks in Leavenworth... Trying to undermine Mueller won't work, the report will be devastating. You will be shown just as treasonous, and obviously racist, as the Putin puppet....For memory,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11000,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/02-16-2018-angry-reader\/","url_meta":{"origin":10008,"position":3},"title":"02\/16\/2018 Angry Reader","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"From An Angry Reader: Sir, Your piece on political scandals is totally skewed of facts. The only so-called FISA-gate has been created by Trump's lacky Nunes. Your writing of lies and inaccuracies only fuels the clueless base of this president. I don't need to tell you what the real information\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12002,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/09-25-2019-angry-reader\/","url_meta":{"origin":10008,"position":4},"title":"09-25-2019 Angry Reader","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"From An Angry Reader: Subject: Inciting ignorant violence \u201cIgnorance is bliss\u201d until your\/his followers are inspired to act violently due to to your\/ his misinformation\/lies Hiding your vitriol hate behind well written words does not excuse from inciting\/ propagating hate and discord John Lowery \u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013 Dear Angry Reader John Lowery,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9501,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/angry-reader-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":10008,"position":5},"title":"Angry Reader","author":"Megan Ring","date":"October 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Comment from a Reader: Dear Mr. Hanson; I left the Republican Party soon after watching eight years of ineffective \"leadership\" by Mitch McConnell, John Bohner, and now Paul Ryan. But the tipping point came when Trump was nominated for president. I cannot belong to a political party that would nominate\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10008"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10008"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10017,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10008\/revisions\/10017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}