Victor Davis Hanson Ping !
Let me know if you want in or out
Posted on 10/27/2004 10:56:19 AM PDT by quidnunc
Are things really as ghastly as they appear this election year? President Bush is derided as a liar, brain-dead and a coward, not just by fringe groups but by prominent members of the Democratic establishment. Major intellectuals and artists lament that John Kerry won all three debates by skilled debating — and yet gained little ground.
Even the wives and children are involved now. Kerry and his running mate John Edwards gratuitously broached the sexuality of Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter; his wife fired back that Kerry is not "a good man." And just when we got a brief respite, Teresa Heinz Kerry derided Laura Bush as never having a real job — before apologizing that, yes, a decade at work in public school counts as real employment.
Third-party ads, fueled by the money of multimillionaires, imply that Kerry was also a coward and traitor and that Bush was AWOL. CBS News anchor Dan Rather is caught promulgating clearly forged documents, an ABC memo warns against the chimera of objectivity, and Sinclair Broadcast Group agrees to air only portions of a clearly partisan film after Democrats howled. There is no need to mention the conspiracy theories of "Fahrenheit 911," Teresa Heinz Kerry's "scumbag" and "shove it," or Dick Cheney's use of the F-word.
Meanwhile, the back-and-forth acrimony prompts thousands of lawyers to contest an election in advance, hoping to win through the courts should they fail in the popular vote or Electoral College. Unfounded rumors circulate about a renewed draft, the end of Social Security and even of big-shot conservative politicians crowding ahead of the more needy for flu shots.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
FYI
As usual, VDH is spot-on with his analysis. Average Joes ROCK!
Average Joe Bump...
He is spot on with his opinion of the divide. The real fact of the matter is that most of the average Joes are far smarter than the elites. They fail to realize this, that is why they are called elitists. Which is why they don't understand the simple irony of the term elitist.
Victor Hanson is a terrific source of information. I never miss his Friday column on NRO. Lately, he's become more productive and is commenting more freely about contemporary events without his customary references to historical precedents. His style is direct and biting. His anger with media elites is less camouflaged and it lends more energy to his text.
I've enjoyed his long view of politics and war, going back to the first democracies in Greece and Rome. The best part of today's piece is:
"thousands of lawyers to contest an election in advance, hoping to win through the courts should they fail in the popular vote or Electoral College."
It's what the Dems must do these days, isn't it? They can't win with logic or persuasion in spite of their control of the vast majority of all media. The courts are their only resort. It's no coincidence that the two Johns are lawyers. The federal courts are at stake in this election and it's the last liberal hold on power. They're desperate. Can't wait 'til Wednesday morning when I can listen to the wailing across the ever-narrowing land of the elite.
In the early nineties I took two classes from VDH while he was a visiting professor at Stanford. At the time I thought that he was probably a raging liberal (he was and still is a registered Democrat - though he may have become an independent in recent months). He certainly looked the part of a liberal college professor. Unkempt hair and clothes, wire rimmed glasses that were constantly sliding down his nose. But he always seemed fair and gave voice to both sides of any political argument. He was and remains my favorite professor from my college days.
Imagine my delight when I discovered him shortly after 9-11 on NRO. His insights are remarkable and, as a Democrat he has the ability to hammer away at the liberal positions like few of us on the Right. I love this guy! Thanks for the post.
We need continued decisive leadership that adapts well to the battle field(s)!
Victor should be in one of the think tanks for U.S. world policy. (Republican, of course!)
Like Julia "Republican comes in the dictionary just after 'reptile' and just before repugnant" Roberts.
"In the last three decades, there has been a steady evolution from liberal to moderately conservative politics among a majority of the voters,"
This is the part I like !!!!
I've got 5 kids who like it too !!!!
And, my wife had been a liberal school teacher for years. During Clintons Reign she flip flopped (a good flip flop)
She contends that about 40% of the teachers in her school are now not ashamed to announce they are Conservatives !! and we live in California.
She prints VDH articles and takes them to her school.
Oh yes, the times are changing.
bttt
Thanks for the encouraging insight...
VDH does advise Cheney, or at least he has on at least one occasion - at Cheney's request, I believe. I read it somewhere. Someone else in the Administration was there too, like Rumsfeld or Wolfowitz if my memory serves.
Let me know if you want in or out
I remember that V.P. Cheney and his wife had dinner with VDH, on one occasion. There probably has been more contact.
V.P. Cheney and his wife Lynn had dinner, at least once, with VDH. There probably has been more contact.
V.P. Cheney and wife Lynn once had dinner with VDH, and there has probably been more contact.
Or notoriety. Or simply that being an a-hole with a microphone obligates them to fart into it.
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