02\/02\/17<\/p>\n
Dear Victor:<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0I have long been a reader of your essays. I am befuddled by your steady defense – or at least by your stayed hand of criticism – of Donald Trump.<\/em><\/p>\n I sense – and share – your glee about the comeuppance that the Democrats received in this past election.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0But the rotted and soulless character of Donald Trump concerns me far, far more than any feelings of schadenfreude I feel about the Democrats. His degree of intellectual incuriosity is alarming.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Your kid-glove approach to Trump (especially when those gloves are actually petting him) is surprising and disappointing.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Thanks.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Loren<\/em><\/p>\n Dear Angry (Sort of) Reader Loren Thacker,<\/p>\n Donald Trump was not my favorite in the primaries; but once he was likely to win the nomination (April 2016), I simply went to his website and collated his positions with Hillary Clinton\u2019s on sanctuary cities, illegal immigration, defense, foreign policy, taxes, regulation, energy development, the EPA, the 2nd Amendment, the wall, school choice, and a host of other issues. The comparison supported my suspicions that he was more conservative and would not lose the Supreme Court for a generation to progressive massaging of the law, which was inevitable under Hillary Clinton. I think his appointments, Supreme Court pick, and executive orders have supported that belief that he is far more conservative than Hillary Clinton\u2019s agendas. Oh, I came to another conclusion: I initially thought Trump might be the only nominee who would lose to Hillary Clinton; soon, however, I began to believe that he might be the only one who could beat her, given he was the first Republican to campaign in the Lee Atwater-style of 1988 and actually fought back against the WikiLeaks nexus of the media and Democratic Party.<\/p>\n As for his sometimes reckless tweets and outbursts, I calibrated three variables:<\/p>\n 1) Were they any different from past presidents\u2019? In fact, they were\u2014but not to a degree that I thought his behavior endangered the republic. For all his antics at rallies, he did not yet say \u201cpunish our enemies\u201d or urge his supporters to take a gun to a knife fight or to get in \u201ctheir faces.\u201d His silliness was similar to Joe Biden\u2019s (\u201cput you all in chains,\u201d or his belief that FDR went on TV to the nation in 1929). Yes, I wish Trump was more sober and judicious, but then again we have had very unsober presidents and vice presidents in the past (LBJ showed the nation his surgery scars and reportedly exposed himself during a meeting). FDR carried on an affair while president. No need to mention JFK\u2019s nocturnal romps. So far Trump is not using the Oval Office bathroom for trysts with subordinate interns. Much of Trump\u2019s oafishness is media created and reflects a bit of class disdain. We all need, however, to watch every president and call out crudity when it occurs. (I am still not happy with the strained explanations of his jerky movements as not an affront to a disabled person.)<\/p>\n 2) Did the media play a role in the demonization of Trump? I think it did. In the last few weeks we were told falsely that his lawyer went to Prague to cut a deal with the Russians, that he removed the bust of Martin Luther King from the Oval Office, and that he engaged in sexual debaucheries in Moscow\u2014all absolutely not true. Who would trust the media after all that?<\/p>\n So much of the hysteria is driven by a furious media that was not so furious when Obama signed executive orders circumventing the law or the Clintons ran a veritable shake-down operation (where is it now?) at the Clinton Foundation. Not wanting to take refugees from Australia that had sent back to sea arriving migrants and had them deposited them in camps in nearby islands is not exactly an extreme position (by liberal standards, Australia is the illiberal actor, not Trump).<\/p>\n 3) Do Trump\u2019s episodic outbursts threaten his agendas? I don\u2019t know, but the media will ensure that they will, if he is not more circumspect. So far he is by design creating chaos and has befuddled his opponents, but I think in the long run he must limit his exposure to gratuitous attacks by curbing his tweets\u2014and I have written just that in the past. Trump\u2019s agenda is fine; his pushback against an unhinged Left and biased media is healthy, but he must economize his outbursts given that the strategy of his opponents is to nick him daily in hopes of an aggregate bleed. We have four more years and he needs to conserve his strength and stamina and not get sidelined with spats with Merle Streep or Arnold at the Apprentice.<\/p>\n Remember, Obama was the revolution that sought to remake the country; the reaction to it is pushing the country back to the center\u2014which appears now revolutionary. Trump\u2019s stances on energy development, immigration, and foreign policy are not that much different from Bill Clinton\u2019s or George H.W. Bush\u2019s. They seem revolutionary because again he is correcting a revolution. Who had ever dreamed in 1995 of a sanctuary city, emulating the nullification policies of the Old Confederacy?<\/p>\n I appreciate your concern.<\/p>\n Sincerely,<\/p>\n Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 02\/02\/17 From an Angry Reader: Dear Victor: \u00a0I have long been a reader of your essays. I am befuddled by your steady defense – or at least by your stayed hand of criticism – of Donald Trump. I sense – and share – your glee about the comeuppance that the Democrats received in this past […]<\/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":[6,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-2y4","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10180,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/from-an-angry-reader\/","url_meta":{"origin":9800,"position":0},"title":"From an Angry Reader","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"DR HANSON. \u00a0TRUMP TRAITOR IS A RUSSIAN SPY. I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING HIM IN JAIL WITH THE ENTIRE ADMINISTRATION. THE TRUMP JOKE PRESIDENCY IS GOING DOWN IN FLAMES. TRUMP FIRED COMEY TO CONCEAL HIS RUSSIAN CONNECTIONS. DEMOCRATS WILL BE IN POWER FOR 30 YEARS AFTER THE TRUMP DEBACLE. \u00a0-HEIN\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":9954,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/9954-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":9800,"position":1},"title":"Academy Untoward","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"03\/17\/17 From an Angry Reader: Mr. Hanson. Don't know what Acadamy awards you were watching but my husband and I watched the whole show.\u00a0 There was no bashing of Mr Trump at all during the entire show.\u00a0 Jimmy Kimmel did some jokes but light weight.\u00a0 So please we are tired\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":11555,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/11555-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":9800,"position":2},"title":"Angry Reader 12-04-2018","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"From An Angry Reader: Since you never state that POTUS lies 80-85% of the time when he speaks publicly, what are some examples of his fake news. Who has discredited the main stream news other than POTUS? On a scale of 1 to 10 just how right wing is 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":11242,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/06-25-18-angry-reader\/","url_meta":{"origin":9800,"position":3},"title":"06-25-18 Angry Reader","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"From An Angry Reader: What is wrong with you? You see what Trump is doing over 3000 lies and yet you still can condemn Hillary! \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014 Dear Angry Reader Rhonda Welsch, First, congratulations. You get only a 1 out of 10 on the Angry Reader Scale (for silly exaggeration [e.g.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9561,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/9561\/","url_meta":{"origin":9800,"position":4},"title":"Comment from an Angry Reader:\u2026","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Comment from an Angry Reader: You\u2019re a civil guy, and it is appreciated. It would be a waste of time, however, for us to engage in colloquy. I can only hope that you are not spared the results of your short-sightedness, and cheerleading for Donald Trump\u2014the word is apt, despite\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":10322,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/10322-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":9800,"position":5},"title":"From an Angry Reader: Dr.\u2026","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"From an Angry Reader: Dr. Hanson, Years ago, especially right after 9 \/ 11, I enjoyed your essays on NRO. One piece I especially liked was your column, in late 2001, titled (if memory serves), \"I'm Glad We're Not Fighting Us.\" Pardon my brusqueness, but what the hell has happened\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\/9800"}],"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=9800"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9807,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9800\/revisions\/9807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Victor Davis Hanson’s Reply:<\/h3>\n