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Victor Davis Hanson: Real Divide Is Only in Elitist Minds
The San Francisco Chronicle ^ | October 27, 2004 | Victor Davis Hanson

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Extended News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: kerry; vdh; victordavishanson
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1 posted on 10/27/2004 10:56:19 AM PDT by quidnunc
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To: Tolik

FYI


2 posted on 10/27/2004 10:56:49 AM PDT by quidnunc (Omnis Gaul delenda est)
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To: quidnunc
The actual real divide is with the women on the left and those on the right..

The right has multitude of women who are both brilliant and beautiful....

The left has....well...They have Helen Thomas, Billary, Cher, and the goodlooking ones are as dumb as stumps...any actress can be used as an example...
3 posted on 10/27/2004 10:59:58 AM PDT by DSBull (Liberal logic: the most mutually exclusive words in the universe!)
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To: quidnunc
In contrast, the universities, the arts, the major influential media and Hollywood are predominately liberal -- and furious. They bring an enormous amount of capital, talent, education and cultural influence into the political fray -- but continue to lose real political power. The talented elite plays the same role to the rest of America as the Europeans do to the United States -- venting and seething because the supposedly less sophisticated, but far more powerful, average Joes don't embrace their visions of utopia.

As usual, VDH is spot-on with his analysis. Average Joes ROCK!

4 posted on 10/27/2004 11:00:10 AM PDT by shezza
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To: quidnunc

Average Joe Bump...


5 posted on 10/27/2004 11:03:43 AM PDT by danneskjold (All balloons, what the hell! There's nothing falling! What the f%#@ are you guys doing up there?)
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To: quidnunc

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.


6 posted on 10/27/2004 11:05:47 AM PDT by mindburglar
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To: quidnunc

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.


7 posted on 10/27/2004 11:14:08 AM PDT by tommclaughlin
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To: quidnunc

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.


8 posted on 10/27/2004 11:22:24 AM PDT by Syco
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To: quidnunc
There are many elitist thinkers and big talkers, "the chattering class", and then there are men of action, and they tend to not be the same.

We need continued decisive leadership that adapts well to the battle field(s)!

9 posted on 10/27/2004 11:23:22 AM PDT by RAY (They that do right are all heroes!)
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To: tommclaughlin
"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:"

Victor should be in one of the think tanks for U.S. world policy. (Republican, of course!)

10 posted on 10/27/2004 11:28:48 AM PDT by RAY (They that do right are all heroes!)
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To: DSBull
The left has....well...They have Helen Thomas, Billary, Cher, and the goodlooking ones are as dumb as stumps...any actress can be used as an example...

Like Julia "Republican comes in the dictionary just after 'reptile' and just before repugnant" Roberts.

11 posted on 10/27/2004 11:33:44 AM PDT by Tamar1973 ("Voting For Democrats Is Like Electing Inmates To Run Asylum"--Ann Coulter)
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To: quidnunc

"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.


12 posted on 10/27/2004 11:34:17 AM PDT by jcon40
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To: quidnunc

bttt


13 posted on 10/27/2004 11:35:11 AM PDT by Christian4Bush (John Kerry betrayed this country as a young man and he will betray this country as president.)
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To: jcon40

Thanks for the encouraging insight...


14 posted on 10/27/2004 11:53:01 AM PDT by iopscusa (El Vaquero)
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To: RAY

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.


15 posted on 10/27/2004 12:09:06 PM PDT by tommclaughlin
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To: quidnunc; seamole; Lando Lincoln; .cnI redruM; yonif; SJackson; dennisw; monkeyshine; Alouette; ...


    Victor Davis Hanson Ping ! 

       Let me know if you want in or out

16 posted on 10/27/2004 12:39:34 PM PDT by Tolik
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To: tommclaughlin
"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."

I remember that V.P. Cheney and his wife had dinner with VDH, on one occasion. There probably has been more contact.

17 posted on 10/27/2004 1:09:28 PM PDT by RAY (They that do right are all heroes!)
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To: tommclaughlin
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.

V.P. Cheney and his wife Lynn had dinner, at least once, with VDH. There probably has been more contact.

18 posted on 10/27/2004 1:11:43 PM PDT by RAY (They that do right are all heroes!)
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To: tommclaughlin
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.

V.P. Cheney and wife Lynn once had dinner with VDH, and there has probably been more contact.

19 posted on 10/27/2004 1:13:50 PM PDT by RAY (They that do right are all heroes!)
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To: quidnunc
Elites from college professors and George Soros to Bruce Springsteen and Garrison Keillor believe that their underappreciated political insight is a natural byproduct of their own proven artistic genius, education, talent or capital.

Or notoriety. Or simply that being an a-hole with a microphone obligates them to fart into it.

20 posted on 10/27/2004 1:42:05 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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