Victor Davis Hanson: Better or Worse?--Should we believe the gloom of the Democrats?

National Review ^ | 1-24-04 | Victor Davis Hanson

[Tolik]

Victor Davis Hanson moral clarity huge BUMP  [please freepmail me if you want or don't want to be pinged to Victor Davis Hanson articles]

If you want to bookmark his articles discussed at FR: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/k-victordavishanson/browse

His NRO archive: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp

[goldstategop]

They don't care. They hate the current occupant of the White House so much they've convinced themselves the end justifies the means. If it takes stoking up anger against America or telling lies about President Bush's record, so be it. The Democrats are paranoid and no amount of reason will sway to divert them from their self-destructive course. Not even the meltdown of Nikita Dean's candidacy. Right now, the nation's oldest political party is aiming to run for Kooksville, in the process rejecting the embrace of normal Americans. Good riddance.

[GailA]

How much did those 'no fly' zones cost us yearly an in toto?

[Kryptonite]

If the Democrats would stick to fiscal propriety — along the lines of Walter Mondale's cries about Reaganomics and soaring deficits — they, like Mondale, would probably still lose, given strong Reagan-like incumbent leadership on national security. But they would lose without destroying the Democratic party for a generation, which may well be the case should they continue to be on the wrong side of history about Iraq.

Let 'em crash and burn.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Nothing comes cheaply in Iraq, and 500 Americans tragically are dead, a fatality rate as great as those murdered in either Chicago or Los Angeles last year. Perhaps over $100 billion has been spent already. Bombing and sniping continue. Yet is it really true, as the Democrats allege, that the United States is in a worse situation than before the March invasion? Indeed, if we look at the situation empirically, the very opposite seems the case.
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Repeat the truth often enough, VDH ping!

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[metesky]

VDH is always a good read.

Tolik, thanks for the ping.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Now we have to figure out how to quell the hate and negativity on this forum. The LP gang are more vicious than ever and it is taking it's toll on the rest of our FReeper's morale.

In fact, some of our best supporters are not coming back because of all the hateful "Immigration" threads that have branched out into just about every conspiracy theory they can dream up.

One poster claimed that the President was going to install his "Immigration" policy by executive order and circumvent Congress. It caused a fire storm of bitter hate and innuendo. (This is how their rhetoric has stepped over the line)

[jmstein7]

BUMP!

[expatpat]

Yeah, I've quit reading the Immigration threads -- the folks there seem to be mirror-images of DUnuts.

[Gritty]

BTTT for VDH!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for your post!

I've been around here for six years now and I always dread the lead-up to general elections. There are a disproportionate number of Constitutionalists, Libertarians, bizarre conspiracy theorists and minor candidate supporters who post here and make things more than a little miserable for the majority.

And, in support of minority views, dirty tricks abound. For instance, some have falsely claimed that they vote Republican but (with righteous intonations) will never again vote for [insert incumbent] - when a scan of their profile pages and posting history reveals a consistent minor party liaison. Sigh...

But being loud and angry is rarely persuasive (ask Dean) and thus, all that is accomplished is the anger itself and indeed, sometimes posters are "driven away" - hopefully, only temporarily.

Seems to me it usually boils down to some form of a "righteous indignation" argument with the dissenters claiming moral superiority. The counter plea of "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater" doesn't seem to gather steam until a month or so before the election.

I wish that everyone who is offended by all these squeaky wheels would please stand back, take a deep breath and look at the overall picture. A good measure is the last Freep-poll that 81% of the Freepers believe Bush’s State of the Union address was either Excellent or Good.

I also wish the Immigration threads were kept in the Smokey Backroom because the language reflects poorly on the forum and I suspect will be thrown back at us down the road with the usual false condemnations: Nazis, racists, etc.

[Valin]

Yet is it really true, as the Democrats allege, that the United States is in a worse situation than before the March invasion? Indeed, if we look at the situation empirically, the very opposite seems the case.


The president should bring some average Iraqis here for the campaign to tell people just why it was a goodthing that sadam's sitting in a prison cell today instead of running Iraq.

[Tolik]

He makes some many good points concentrated in one article. Would not want to miss it myself.

VDH BUMP!

[Valin]

The problem (with SOME) here is they live in a black and white world. You are either 147.983% with them, or you're a commie/pinko/treehugger/one worlder/arab/illegal lover. And should be shot.
The best thing you can do is laugh at them. At least that's what I enjoy doing.


GOD I really need a life!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for your post! Indeed, it is very difficult for some to accept that politics is all about compromise and babysteps. And I agree that keeping a good sense of humor really helps (especially in an election year).

[blackie]

The democrats are sad ~ very sad!

[NutCrackerBoy]

During a Republican administration making tough, statesmanlike decisions, the Dems - pols and media - highlight starkly any suffering due, or even seemingly due, to those moves. What they achieve is a feeling that Republicans bring misery. When things finally come out all right, they bury the good news. During the last Democrat administration, the President himself went with this flow, avoiding tough decisions as much as possible, fostering the appearance that everything hums along nicely with Dems in charge.

Unfortunately for the Dems, the American people are not stupid enough to fall for all the spin. Thank you, Victor Davis Hanson, for your perspectives.

[wayoverontheright]

the victory in Iraq emphasized that our greatest sin is in being cumbersome and often acting belatedly to stop autocratic killing — but this is a far different moral quandary than never acting at all.

What history will say and what history should say may be two different things, but IMHO the pre-emptive character of the removal of Saddam Hussein will one day refer much more to the interruption of the mass killings of his own people, instead of being associated in knee-jerk fashion with protection of our own.

Take heat for lack of WMD? There are a sufficient number of mass graves there for me to say "oops" with not a pang of guilt.