Victor Davis Hanson: Our Reptilian Brains, When “Just Win, Baby” sadly trumps everything else.

NRO ^ | May 28, 2004 | Victor Davis Hanson

[Austin Willard Wright]

VDH in 2008. Sounds interesting. President Hanson can get us bogged down in futile Wilsonian cruades in the Sudan, Zimbabwee and all sorts of other fun places.

[Tolik]

Hanson, of course, is quite aware about the media bias, and he said it a number of times (his articles come out at least weekly, its impossible to repeat all the points and caveats every single time). We are loosing the propaganda war. And while it is an uphill battle, we must fight in anyway. Conservatives should not be on defensive in the ideological war, but we mostly are. Bill Bennett said it well (I love his morning radio talk show): democrats are skilled in the offensive game, and they CAN hit hard. We must get on offensive ourselves.

It is the President's job to articulate the vision and sell his program to the nation. I am his supporter, but know quite well, that articulation is not his strong point. Usually it does not hurt him a lot, and here is I think why:

He is by all accounts an average Joe who happened to be born to the powerful family. He is not a genius or a brilliant self-made man, but he is far from being dumb, he is smarter than he looks, and definitely above the middle. He was quite raucous, but then matured. He is a nice and engaging person. His heart is in the right place. He is sure of himself and is somewhat stubborn. He is loyal to his friends, up to the fault. He is good and decent. No doubt he endears to him so many Americans who by looking at him imagine themselves as having this terrible job and responsibility. He maybe was a spoiled brat long time ago as his birthright might have dictated but not anymore. Which is a very refreshing difference from Al Gore (shudder). 

He would make a good Freeper, I am sure! He is an Average Joe President! And he is a damn good President. That of course annoys elites to no end, because when we [normal people] imagine ourselves in his shoes, we sympathize with the enormous responsibility he shoulders on, but they, they look down on him, because they are so much above the average Joe, its just hurts them to look at him or, even worse, hear him!

SO, his usual lack of articulation is usually OK and annoys only the people who value words more than average. But there are moments, when the WORDS must be said loud and clear. And he is not saying them, and does not appoint anybody to say them. Blair or Churchill have/had their own weaknesses, but, gosh, can they speak! George W Bush is a good president, especially for these trying times, but we'd have much less problems inside and out, if he could add words to the action. The action takes time, some of the projects we face take lots of time, the words can buy the time for impatient.

You have, a message to the people, Mr. President. Speak out!

[RottiBiz]

Enthusiastic bump!

[RottiBiz]

("Allah FUBAR!")

LOL! Best tagline I've seen yet.

[JasonC]

The yapping jackals should not just be ignored. They should be loudly and publically ridiculed as yapping jackals.

[Gritty]

BTTT

[valkyrieanne]

Hansen gets it wrong on two fronts here. First of all, Kosovo was not a victory - instead, Slick capitulated to most of what Milosevic was willing to accept all along, and then declared victory.

I generally like Hansen's writing, but this struck an odd note w/ me as well. What "victory" in Kosovo? My impression from what I read is that the wahoobis are rapidly taking over, especially riling up the ethnic Albanians and others into killing Christian Serbs and Croats. To me, the Balkans look like a back-door window of opportunity for another Muslim "invasion" of Europe. Where's the "victory" there?

[valkyrieanne]

I agree that someday someone will pay for this down the road, but it may not be Americans. No reason the locals shouldn't fight some of their own fights.

Absolutely right, especially when *there are no good guys* to start with.

[Austin Willard Wright]

The trouble with Hanson is that he sees the world in black and white terms: Wilsonian Democracy (which he loves) versus "evil" with nothing in between. This is why he can't appreciate subtle situations, such as Kosovo.

[Madame Dufarge]

Bump.

[labard1]

"*there are no good guys* to start with."

Although our "friends" the Turks would probably disagree, to the best of my knowledge the Kurds have behaved faultlessly since the war began. Of course, they're a relatively small minority in Iraq, but they've proven to be "good guys" (at least so far).

And they seem to have developed a thriving market economy (by local standards) while protected by the prewar "northern no-fly zone."

[RAY]

Amen!

[RAY]

You are full of BS!

[gargoyle]

..."Judged by historians" I hope not. Present the facts, and as individuals, judge the results...

[lainde]

Thanks and bump!

[lainde]

I wasn't quite sure if was actually a proponent of "Bettered to be feared" military strategy. I'm relieved he is. Especially since he has the ear of the WH and military. How I hope they read this one.

[VOA]

IIRC, there will be a pre-recorded Victor Davis Hanson special airing on
The Hugh Hewitt Show on Monday.
This should air 3-5PM and 8-9PM Pac Time over the net at www.krla870.com or linked
at www.hughhewitt.com.

[Remember_Salamis]

Go back to the PaleoCon Playpen and stick your head in the sand. You isolationist wing of the party didn't even want to get involved in WWII. Wrong then, wrong now.

[prognostigaator]

hanson knows his stuff