{"id":10367,"date":"2017-07-10T10:57:44","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T17:57:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=10367"},"modified":"2017-07-10T10:57:44","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T17:57:44","slug":"10367-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/10367-2\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

From an Angry Reader:<\/h3>\n
Mr. Hanson,<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

You seem intent on defining progressives as people who loathe Donald Trump, as clearly defined group who have a unified strategy of driving him out of office.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

The tactic of defining\u2014and dismissing\u2014all progressives with a broad brush is a convenient way to give Trump supporters a clearly defined enemy to hate. That style of rhetoric has more in common with Rush Limbaugh than a respected academician. It is also the type of divisive and overwrought discourse (from both sides) that we are currently awash in.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

I am a progressive, which to my mind describes what I am for, not against.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

I do deeply regret that, though fairly elected, Donald Trump is our president, but that is unrelated progressivism or conservatism.\u00a0 Even if I were apolitical I would find President Trump deeply lacking in so many non-ideological ways. He is thin-skinned, untruthful and doesn\u2019t seem to grasp the import of his position and seems to lack the character and intellect for the presidency.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

I agree that he is being relentlessly attacked from many quarters (not just progressives), but his detractors do not need a strategy to bring him down. The media does not need to constantly vilify him to destroy his credibility. Simply observing his behavior, listening what he says and reading his tweets is sufficient to irreparably damage his presidency. He will likely bring down his own presidency with very little outside help.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

Respectfully,<\/span><\/p>\n

Glenn Shellhouse<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Colorado Springs, CO<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Victor Davis Hanson’s Reply:<\/h3>\n

Dear Angry Reader Glenn Shellhouse,<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I do not think nor did I write that all progressives wish to drive Trump from office.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But what political rubric would you use for those who wished to subvert the Electoral College, or sued to nullify the voting results in three states, or boycotted the Inauguration, or seek to impeach Trump after 120 days, or to sue him under the Emoluments Clause, or to invoke the 25th Amendment, or seek to trump up false charges of collusion, or obstruction of justice, or demand recusals, or stonewall appointments? Are they reactionaries? Conservatives? Perhaps libertarians? Some generalized rubric is needed.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
And what do Madonna, Snoop Dog, Bill Maher, Steven Colbert, etc. have in common? A shared conservative vision?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cAn enemy to hate\u201d? Who is using scatology, and the f\u2014 word? Who videoed a ritual decapitation, or dreamed of blowing up the White House, or wanted to punch Trump in the face? Independents? Moderates? Palecons?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It seems the vast majority of threats are from the left and their target is Trump, in a way not true of conservatives in their opposition to Obama. I was very critical of Obama\u2019s policies and often polarizing rhetoric. I think he crippled the economy and left us vulnerable abroad, but I never translated that opposition to any personal hatred of the President, and most certainly I would never have gone the CNN or Chris Matthews route. Let us confess, so far the hate is mostly a left-wing phenomenon.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Trump is certainly flawed as you point out. But his agenda is far preferable to the Obama-Clinton trajectory. And we have had pretty creepy presidents in the past. So far Trump is not seducing and bedding 20-something interns as did JFK routinely, or as Bill Clinton frolicked with an unpaid intern of 22 (and then lied about it to the nation and under oath in a deposition). He has not tried to pack the Supreme Court as did FDR, or report book profits as capital gains to escape income taxes, as did Ike. We must in part see Trump\u2019s excesses in a context of past presidencies. I thought de facto suspending federal immigration law was revolutionary and harmful to the state.
<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n

Trump is the first president who has neither political nor military service, so obviously the landscape is very different, and of course Trump’s style is over-the-top and often ad hominem. All regrettable. But with Obama the venom was directed at entire groups (\u201cpunish our enemies\u201d, \u201cget in their faces\u201d, \u201ctake a gun to a knife fight\u201d, the clingers, the \u201clazy\u201d Americans, etc.).<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
As to your point of Trump\u2019s self-destructiveness, time shall tell. He certainly is diverted by the trivial, such as two failed morning hosts without an audience. But the Shorenstein Center noted that 80% of all media coverage of Trump was negative, and in the case of CNN, 93%. \u00a0We\u2019ve never seen that level of bias before. Nor the level of hatred and assassination talk: celebrities and public figures have variously talked of decapitating Trump, ritually stabbing him, hanging him, blowing him up, shooting him, beating him to a pulp\u2014all without consequences. So, yes, we are in new territory.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Finally the polls, to the degree they are credible after the 2016 fiasco, suggest Trump enjoys only 40%\u2014quite an amazing number actually when 80% of all news coverage is negative.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0Yet the media polls much lower, about 30-35% expressing confidence in journalists.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Trump has exposed the utter corruption of the media (Wikileaks did the same), but in the process he has diverted attention from the real issues at home and abroad. Tweeting is a wise way to communicate directly over \u00a0the heads of the media, but only if focused and confined to existential issues.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What you or I think about Trump won\u2019t matter in 2020: \u00a0if the economy hits 3% GDP growth, he will be likely reelected, if it does not, he may not even run. Let us wait and watch the issues play out and we will see whether a sharp decrease in illegal immigration, an increase in oil and gas production, less regulation, and lower taxes, \u00a0enrich the citizens or impoverish them. \u00a0If the former, a crude Trump will win; if the latter, even Trump an angel would still lose.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Respectfully,<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Victor Hanson<\/div>\n
Selma, CA<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From an Angry Reader: Mr. Hanson, You seem intent on defining progressives as people who loathe Donald Trump, as clearly defined group who have a unified strategy of driving him out of office. \u00a0 The tactic of defining\u2014and dismissing\u2014all progressives with a broad brush is a convenient way to give Trump supporters a clearly defined […]<\/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-2Hd","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9927,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/9927-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":10367,"position":0},"title":"\u00a003\/10\/17 From an Angry Reader:\u2026","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a003\/10\/17 From an Angry Reader: Mr. Hansen \u2013 In this commentary, you appear to be engaging in sophistry. In other words, you appear to be decisively imparting falsehoods. First you fabricate a definition of the \u201cAmerican elite\u201d comprised exclusively of progressives. Then you fabricate a reality where the mainstream press\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Angry Reader"","block_context":{"text":"Angry Reader","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/angry-reader\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9581,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/9581\/","url_meta":{"origin":10367,"position":1},"title":"From an Angry Reader: COULD\u2026","author":"Megan Ring","date":"November 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"From an Angry Reader: COULD THESE REALLY BE YOUR WORDS? \u00a0\"When Trump shoots off his blunderbuss, is it always proof of laziness and ignorance, or is it sometimes generally aimed in the right direction to prompt anxiety and eventual necessary reconsideration?\" \u00a0ITS IGNORANCE AND YOU KNOW IT. HAS HE ONCE\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Angry Reader"","block_context":{"text":"Angry Reader","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/angry-reader\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11654,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/progressives-bearing-gifts\/","url_meta":{"origin":10367,"position":2},"title":"Progressives Bearing Gifts","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ American Greatness Donald Trump in 2016 did not only run against the planted rumors of the fake Steele dossier, 90 percent negative media coverage, his own boisterous past, and the \u201cAccess Hollywood\u201d tape. He also was campaigning against Hillary Clinton\u2014and the nation\u2019s quarter-century weariness with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Trump"","block_context":{"text":"Donald Trump","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/donald-trump\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11817,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/progressives-face-a-bleak-post-mueller-landscape\/","url_meta":{"origin":10367,"position":3},"title":"Progressives Face a Bleak Post-Mueller Landscape","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ American Greatness Democrats have grown infuriated by Attorney General William Barr\u2019s indifference to their hysteria over the Trump-Russia collusion narrative. Barr recently released a brief summary of special counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s conclusions that Donald Trump did not collude with the Russians to warp the 2016 election.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Trump"","block_context":{"text":"Donald Trump","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/donald-trump\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11734,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/what-progressives-should-know-about-trump-voters\/","url_meta":{"origin":10367,"position":4},"title":"What Progressives Should Know About Trump Voters","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ CNN CNN)Progressives wonder how in the world could anyone still support President Donald Trump. So here are ten reasons why more than 40% of the electorate probably does -- and will. 1.\u00a0Voters appreciate that the economy is currently experiencing\u00a0near record-low peacetime unemployment,\u00a0record-low minority unemployment, and virtual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Trump"","block_context":{"text":"Donald Trump","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/donald-trump\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10470,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/10470-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":10367,"position":5},"title":"From An Angry Reader: To:\u2026","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"From An Angry Reader: To: Prof. Victor Davis Hanson \u00a0 At the end of your interview with Scott Simon on 8 July 2017 I heard this: \u201cAnd look how they took a good man like George Bush and turned him into a monster\u201d. It caught my attention. \u00a0 One of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Angry Reader"","block_context":{"text":"Angry Reader","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/angry-reader\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10367"}],"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=10367"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10368,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10367\/revisions\/10368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}