Loading summary
Transcript65 lines
- [00:00]
A
Do you ever just want to turn off the news and ignore politics? That's understandable. It's overwhelming. But here's the thing. We're citizens of a republic. The decisions made by our government affect our everyday lives. In order to be a good citizen, you have to read and understand the United States Constitution. And that's why I'm so excited that Hillsdale College is offering a brand new free online course called the Federalist. This course explains how the United States Constitution established a government strong enough to secure the rights of citizens and safe enough to wield that power. And today, it's our responsibility to pay attention, to be vigilant, they may say, in order to preserve and protect Republican self government. Hillsdale's online course, the Federalist, includes 10 lectures, each about 30 minutes long. You can take the course at your own pace. The there's no cost to sign up. I'm like many a college alumnus who's benefited from the Federalist course. It's filled those big gaps with exceptional and unbiased analysis that was all too often missing from our higher education experience. Go right now to Hillsdale Edu VDH to enroll. There's no cost and it's easy to get started. That's Hillsdale. Eduardo VDH to enroll for free Hillsdale Edu vdh.
- [01:40]
B
Hello, ladies. Hello, gentlemen. Welcome to the Victor Davis Hansen Show. Victor is the Martin and Ely Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hubert Institution and the Wayne Marshabusky Distinguished Fellow in History at Hillsdale College. And. And a man with a website. The Blade of Perseus. Its address is victorhanson.com you should be subscribing. It's 65 bucks a year, $6.50 a month if you want to stick your toe in the water first. And when you do that, you will be able to read the two weekly exclusive pieces. Victor writes for his website and he also does an exclusive weekly video for subscribers. So check that out. The Blade of Perseus. Hey, Victor. Hello, my friend. Apologize to my gr. Groggy, groggy ways. Got a little vertigo going on here. A little head cold.
- [02:29]
C
You got a head cold? Yeah, I got a head cold. Yeah. We'll change seasons. Yeah, yeah.
- [02:34]
B
There's a little mold in the air here, but we'll get through it. And we're going to talk. We're going to begin the show with your thoughts on the mockery of thoughts and prayers. And we'll get to that when we come back from these important messages.
- [02:55]
A
If you're running a business, you know that every Time you miss a call, you're leaving money on the table. When every customer conversation matters, you need a phone system that keeps up and helps you stay connected 24, 7. And that's why you need OpenPhone. OpenPhone is the number one business phone system that streamlines and scales your customer communications. It works through an app on your phone or computer, so no more carrying two phones or using a landline. With OpenPhone, your team can share one number and collaborate on customer calls and texts like a shared inbox. That way any teammate can pick up right where the last person left off, keeping response times faster than ever. Plus say goodbye to voicemail. Their AI agent can be set up in minutes to handle calls after hours, answer questions and capture leads so you never miss a customer. So whether you're a one person operation drowning in calls and texts, or having a large team that needs better collaboration tools, OpenPhone is a no brainer. See why over 60,000 businesses trust OpenPhone. OpenPhone is offering our listeners 20% off your first six months@openphone.com Victor that's O P E N P H o n e openphone.com Victor and if you have existing numbers with another service, OpenPhone will port them over at no extra charge. OpenPhone. No missed calls, no missed customers.
- [04:27]
C
Shopify helps you sell at every stage of your business.
- [04:30]
D
Like that.
- [04:30]
C
Let's put it online and see what happens. Stage and the site is live. That reopened a store and need a fast checkout. Stage thanks. You're all set.
- [04:39]
D
That count it up and ship it.
- [04:40]
C
Around the globe Stage this one's going to Thailand. And that.
- [04:45]
D
Wait, did we just hit a million orders?
- [04:47]
C
Stage Whatever your stage businesses that grow grow with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 a month trial@shopify.com Listen.
- [05:01]
B
We'Re back with the Victor Davis Hansen Show. We are recording on Saturday, August 30th and this episode will be up on Tuesday, September 2nd. So, Victor, I'm not sure I didn't get to listen. You and the great Sammy Wink discussed the killings, the murders in Minnesota by the transgender man who shot up that Catholic school, church and school children. But in the aftermath of it, let me just read this. Scott Jennings on cnn. He wrote, tragedy struck a Minneapolis Catholic school today and the very first thing Mayor Jacob Fry did was attack people of faith for calling for prayer. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. Whatever your political ideology, there are few moments where prayer is more appropriate. So he also, I think, was critical of Jen Psaki who mocked that. And then I'll Shut up after this. Gretchen Carlson, who's also on CNN a lot, she used to be on Fox. She was critical of Jennings saying something like, well, the point wasn't that people shouldn't pray. The point was that thoughts and prayers are not enough to fix this solely American crisis of allowing peoples to obtain quite easily war type weaponry to kill children who are praying. I don't know, Victor, Too cute by half on that. I think your thoughts on the critics of people who want to pray in the aftermath of tragedy?
- [06:42]
C
Yeah, I don't know why they, I mean they should welcome that. And it was almost. They always say that this is, this is just about guns, but it seems that it isn't that they always, they always champion the person. I don't mean champion, that may be too unfair to them, but they always sympathize or side with the victimizer and play down the victimize. I'm thinking of the trans shooter. Remember in Tennessee they suppressed the, remember the memoir or the manifesto supposedly. Why wouldn't they want. They didn't want to publish that, even though it was quite incriminating. And it was also apparently evident of the psychological turmoil this trans person had, which if you just take out the word trans and you say in America we are going to give very powerful hormones and hormone altering drugs to teenagers or even younger, then the left would say that's not right. No, no, no, no. That's why we have an fd. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's just big pharma doing this. No, no. But the problem with DEI is it always excludes people from rational thought. They always make exceptions. We saw that during the COVID demonstrations when people were telling us you have to have two masks. You have to social distance. But it's okay if you want to go out there 30, 40,000 strong and touch each other and yell and scream if you're on the right side of history by supporting George Floyd the agenda. And so the same thing with dei, it's. Well, we're just going to withhold all criticism of these drugs and these radical surgeries because it's a hot button issue. And when I say hot and button, the left is even weirder because there are always 30, 70 issues. Most people don't agree with that. And then what was also strange about it is that it was pretty clear cut. These were kids praying and they were being helped by adults and older kids and they were in a church and this guy was out shooting through the windows, cowardly fashion. And yet when you looked at Mayor Fry in Minneapolis or Gavin Newsom almost. Their first reaction was to worry about whether this stone cold blooded killer would be fairly. Remember Jake Tapper said I got to get his pronouns right. No, you don't have to get his. He's a killer, he's a creep, he's a monster, he's satanic. You don't have to worry about anything. You can call him anything you want. What you need to worry about are the poor innocents that were killed and maimed maybe for life by this satanic monster. But I don't get this. It's almost like they don't care about people in the flesh, but they care about them in the abstract. They're always looking for a victim. It's always Muhammad Khalil. Forget that he's an illegal alien, forget that he is anti Semite, forget he's incapable of criticizing Hamas. That's always a Brago Garcia, a wife beater, a human trafficker, an M13. He is the cause celeb. And then everything is suspended. Well, he's a person of color and he's a result of a xenophobic racist president. And we're going to go down to el Salvador like 19th century Yankee imperialists and we're going to tell the El Salvadoran government we have more rights to him than you do tin pot dictator because he's an illegal alien the United States. And that trumps being a citizen in your country. And the same thing with Juicy Smollett. He was a creepy, creepy person and they iconicized him. They just made him into this poor little guy. And we could say the same thing about Luigi Mangioni. He got the Sarnoff treatment. Remember Sarnoff, the handsome guy on Rolling Stone? Taylor Renz had that gushing interview with Luigi Mangione that the assassin killed Brian Thompson, CEO, the middle class guy who worked his way up. So they always side with the 30% of the crazy people and they always are looking for a victim, no matter how atrocious that victim is, of supposedly white, oppressive, nativist, racist, sexist views. And when they find that victim, they're willing to suspend all of the traditional DEI orthodoxy. So here you have a guy beats up his now wife and the feminists don't say anything, you know, not one word, not one keep. And then when you had same thing with Khalil, he got involved in all these anti Semitic. He was a spokesman for divest in Colombia and not one word about his ethnic chauvinism. It's really weird about these people. They have no moral bearings at all. And Trump has that unique ability to bring the worst out in them. They just hate him so much that they, they don't make any pretense of not being who they are. And the idea that these people were running the country for four years and you got a little taste of the border is being flooded now because of all the deport of the million and a half self deportees. The fence isn't finished yet and the bill augmenting the Border Patrol is not enacted yet. And they're trying to get across en masse now. And you can see that this is a, I hope that Republicans have a good commercial because this is exactly what will happen if they win the House and take over the House or if they win the 28 election. They're going to open that border white and all these Obuego Garcia people are going to be back. And that's what they want. They want as long as they don't go to Martha's Vineyard or they don't go up into Gavin Newsom's neighborhood or they stay away from Mayor Johnson's Chicago mansion, they're fine with everybody else's collateral damage.
- [12:53]
B
Hey, Victor, I just wanted to add one other thing regarding, you know, thoughts and prayers. The fact that Western civilization is based on Christianity and, and Judeo Christianity, and the thought that prayer, which is central to religious practice and worship, is something that is anathema to the Democrat Party in America. And their equivalence in Eastern Europe or Europe, by the way, is I don't think it's shocking anymore, but it's extremely discouraging. And I don't know how a Democrat party becomes a party that's representative of America. And even those who don't attend church still believe. Most people still do believe. And how they are, I don't know, clutchers and the like, it's very troubling. Well, Victor, I want to get to General Milley, one of your favorite people, and I want to read a little something before that about something important that Brooke Rollins has done. But first, I want to let our listeners know about how you often discuss how great civilizations fall when they debase their currency. Well, Donald Trump's warning about economic turbulence ahead sounds remarkably similar to your historical analysis. Our friends at American Alternative Assets have discovered something fascinating. Trump's been using a specific IRS strategy to protect wealth during times of upheaval. It's the same approach the Romans wish they had when their denarius collapsed. When nations accumulate $36 trillion in debt, currency crises flow and that's why so many of the world's successful investors are advocating for gold. The 2025 Wealth Protection Guide reveals how ordinary Americans can use Donald Trump's IRS strategy to safeguard their retirement before these patterns play out again. Call 888-615-88-8047 or visit victorlovesgold.com for your free guide. That's 888-615-8047. As you always say, Victor, those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. We thank the good people at American Alternative Assets for sponsoring the Victor Davis Hanson Show. Victor before we get to General Mili, I've mentioned before on our podcast, this terrific website, UN one that covers issues of the west and ranchers, farmers, et cetera. Today, or I should say yesterday, I think that would be Friday the 29th. One of the reporter, the architect of that unworn website, has been writing a lot about how PG&E out in California has shut off water to farmers in the Potter Valley, the irrigation water that they needed just before the harvest was going to happen. And she'd been writing about this. And Brooke Rawlins, the agriculture secretary for the Trump administration, just wrote today insane I'm on it. Which is not the first time that she has stepped up to push back against the insanity of the regulators against ranchers and farmers in the West. So I just wanted to make note.
- [16:20]
C
Of, of the problem is that we have two huge water projects. We have the Depression era Central Valley Project, and that's a federal entity that came in and built reservoirs in the north and started the system of transference. And JFK came in and dedicated to BFS the huge San Luis Reservoir. I know you passed it Pacheco Pass when you're in California, which by the way, I went by it yesterday, it's only about 60% full. And then we have the California Water Project, that was the state's effort to do the California Aqueduct and get more water down to Los Angeles and coastal communities and the San Joaquin Valley. And now they've kind of merged. But what that entails is the state is cutting off water to these farmers in this Northern California community and they're doing it all. I mean, if you look at the west side farmers in California and you look at the percentage of their water contracted allotments, it's only about 20 or 10%. This was an average year. It was not a drought year. And yet when you look at the reservoirs like San Luis, which is the pressure gauge on the whole aqueduct they use, they fill as 3 million acre footage reservoir up now, San Jose taps into it. A lot of other coastal communities rely on it when it's the one that regulates the aqueduct flow over the grapevine in the LA basin. But my point is they're letting water out into the delta before it gets into the aqueduct. And that's from the Sacramento and to a lesser extent the San Joaquin River. And why are they doing this? They're doing it as you know, you can't talk to them. They will tell you that the 20 or 30 Bay Area communities that dump their nitrogen water into the delta have no effect on the delta smell variation and oxygen level. They will tell you that evasive species like these striped bass species are not eating them. It's only because they're not getting enough water from Northern California to replenish the oxygen levels. Because these evil farmers are using their ancient water rights going back 60, 70 or more years. And they're evil because they're planting almonds and there's a million and a half acres of almonds. And they're ranching. We don't need meat, we don't need almond. So they don't know anything about farming. And it's a political decision. And 1% of the population are farmers and ranchers. So it's a very small community that feeds all of us. And they figure that if you have a PhD in, I don't know, environmental studies, that's studies course, then you're a PhD out of Berkeley or Santa Cruz or somewhere, and then you work with the state as a biologist or hydrologist and then you determine by fiat that you think, yeah, we don't want to give these people, just take the water from it. That's how they think. And they never make. It's never a cost benefit analysis. They never. If we do this, then this amount of land will go, oh, if we. But they think like this instead. If we do this and this amount of land goes out, let's say on the west side, oh, we can put thousands of acres of solar panels and we can generate electricity that we don't really need in a day. And we have no way of storing it, so we, we'll just do it anyway. We'll take some of the best farmland in the world out of production as the population keeps continuing to grow. The most dangerous person in America is a PhD, JD, MBA that lives in the bicoastal corridors, came out of an elite university and works in a regulatory agency. They are dangerous people because there's no connection with the productive classes. They went to undergraduate, they went Straight to graduate school. They got all these accolades. They were a students, they got this fellowship, they got this resume. They go to this agency and they love the idea that they can go out and tell some guy that's covered with dirt and his pickup and is ranching or they go out to some guy on the west side or some guy near the Sierras and say this is what you're going to do and I'm a PhD and I'm going to tell you to do this. And I have the full resources of the state of California behind me. So if you want to sue us, go ahead. But we have unlimited legal services and you don't. And we're judge, jury and execute. That's how the whole attitude. I've dealt with them before and I know them from both ends. Both from going to school for nine years on the coast and being at Stanford campus for 20 years and then on the other end as a farmer. And it's just, it's a war of different lifestyles and mindsets. On the one hand it's rugged individualism. And I'm going to get up every morning with no idea how much money I'm going to make, if any. And I'm going to fight labor problems, environmental problems, the weather, the crops, everything. And the other side is, well, I woke up today and I'm looking at my 401k and my guaranteed salary and my state car and I think I'll just, you know, get it in and just drive down over the Delta. Maybe I'll go down to the west side and check things out. There's no risk, there's no anything. The only time I've ever seen them panic is when you have these occasional state bankruptcies. I mean 91, 92, where the state spent so much money and there wasn't enough there. Then they're talking about layoffs. Then they go to, they cry. This is like the Antichrist. If you mentioned layoffs, that's the dangerous thing. Everybody about government, federal and state. When you get these huge numbers of people that are not accountable and they have legislative, executive and judicial power in one agency, one person and they have unlimited. They go after people, if nothing else to show who's boss. It's an ego thing. And they do not like the, they don't like the traditional conservatives self employed person. They just don't like them. He's antithetical to everything they value.
- [22:57]
B
Well, Victor, again that's unwon the website. I suggest folks check it out. Even if you're not on the west coast, you're not a rural person. There are great many issues of importance to America that are aloof to many of us on the East Coast. Water. We've talked about this so many times. You know, we turn on taps here. We don't think water's an issue, but water is an issue and a great issue for much of the country. Well, when we come back, Victor, from these important messages, we're going to talk about your favorite person, General Milley.
- [23:32]
C
We'll be right back.
- [23:37]
D
You might be wondering when is the right time to add collagen to my diet. How about today? Collagen production starts to dwindle in your 20s. By the time you've hit your 50s, decreased collagen contributes to wrinkles, sagging skin and joint discomfort. Native Path collagen can help. It's packed with only type 1 and 3 collagen fibers, the ones your body needs most for healthy joints, skin, bones, hair, nails and gut. Plus, it's third party tested for purity with no fillers, no additives and no artificial junk. Two scoops a day of native path delivers 18 grams of protein. Mix it into your coffee, tea or any drink. It's completely flavorless and easy to use. Right now. Get a special deal at a fraction of the retail price plus free shipping available@getnativepath.com with over 4 million jars sold, thousands of 5 star reviews and a 365 day money back guarantee, this is your moment to take control of aging before symptoms get worse. Go to getnativepath.com Victor now supplies are limited and demand is surging and we'd like to thank Native Path for sponsoring the Victor Davis Hansen Show. Cooler temperatures are rolling in and as always, quince is where I turn for fall staples that actually last. From cashmere to denim to boots, the quality holds up and the price still blows me away. Quince has the kind of fall staples you'll wear non stop, like super soft 100% Mongolian cashmere sweaters. Starting at just $60. Their denim is durable and fits right. And their real leather jackets bring that clean, classic edge without the elevated price tag. What makes Quince different? They partner directly with ethical factories and skip the middlemen so you get top tier fabrics and craftsmanship at half the price of similar brands. When the weather cools down, my Quint sweaters are a go to my cashmere short sleeve that works under any jacket, formal or casual, or my thick long sleeve go everywhere do everything sweater that pairs with any pant or jogger. Quint's products are my favorites. Which is why I went to Quint's to buy my recent very beautiful purse that leaves the house every time I do. Keep it. Classic. Keep it and cool this fall with long lasting staples from Quince. Go to Quince.comVictor for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I N C E.comVictor for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.comVictor and we'd like to thank Quince for for sponsoring the Victor Davis Hansen show.
- [26:55]
B
We are back with the Victor Davis Hanson show recording on Saturday the 30th. This episode is up on Tuesday, September 2nd. Victor there was an article in Just the News headline. Millie crafted Biden administration's fiction that Afghanistan fell in just 11 days. I think one of the points here in General Victor, is we thought they were aloof generals and Biden was just improvising this whole withdrawal from Afghanistan. Everyone was shocked. Joe did it. It's Joe's fault. It's only his fingerprints on things. But according to this article in Just the News, it's not the case. General Milley was quite involved in spinning the story of the it all collapsed in 11 days. Well, it didn't collapse in 11 days. Anyway, Victor, your thoughts on this, they're.
- [27:46]
C
Kind of in the Fauci position. I mean, whatever Fauci says about he has no involvement, to take this example with the Wuhan lab and the birth of COVID 19, the SARS virus. We know from his own written emails with Peter Dasak, but especially Francis Collins, et cetera, that they were terrified that their fingerprints were on transference of instrumentation, personnel and money to this virus. And the same thing is true of Milley. We know from what his own record, he and the other hierarchy of the US army in particular said to us all during June and July when some reporting said that they see, they, they fear there were large fissures in the American presence and the Taliban was gaining strength and they were not doing what Trump did. Trump basically wanted to get down to about 5,000 people and make Trump Fortress Bagram, you know what I mean, a big air base that was secure 70 miles or some from, from Kabul, biggest air base in Central Asia he could control. He could look at, you know, Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, everything. And that was his and it would be supplied by air and he was going to cut a deal with the Taliban. They, they didn't want to do that. So they told us in May, June and July that, oh, there's 350,000 troops. Oh, this. And they knew that was not true. They knew that it was a paper tiger like the South Vietnamese Arvin in 1975. And then when this, when it collapsed, as everybody knew it would, and they knew it would, then they either silently leaked and said Biden did it. And we know that Biden had issued an order or at least had spoken and said that he would wanted Everybody out by September 11th. And that was going to coincide in 2020 with the 911 20th anniversary. And in addition to that, the 20th anniversary a little later of the entrance into Afghanistan under George Bush. So Biden was going to say, well, you know, Bush got us in here 20 years ago and I'm the one that got us out. And Bush, you know, and 911 happened on his watch and on my watch 20 years later, on the same day we had an honorable withdrawal from Afghanistan. That was what he wanted to do and have a big parade. And it didn't work because the Taliban sized Biden and they sized the army and the military up and they said, you know what, these guys may have a pride flag, they may have a gender studies course, they may have George Floyd murals, but they want out more than anything. And we don't even have to cut a deal with them. We're willing to cut a deal with them because they thought that Trump said he was going to bomb them and he gave them the personal addresses of the Taliban kingpin. He said, if you don't, if you kill Americans, I'm going to bomb this, this, this. And gave them the addresses of their homes, reportedly. So they were not afraid. There were no, there was no deterrence. And they lied to us and said it was going to be orderly. And then during the whole debacle, Millie said it was a righteous strike. Remember that? When he hit the carload of innocent civilians and killed them? Oh, this is a righteous strike. And then the officer that was in charge of the airlift said that they had Mediterranean sensitive food on the plane and when they got home, they would be met with culturally appropriate everything. And there was no emphasis on putting the Marines in a very dangerous place. It was everything they said was untrue. And it was all geared to the perception that this administration was a multicultural, left wing, radical administration. And these generals had to toe the line if they wanted to, A, keep their top echelons and B, transition in the revolving door when they retire, as they all do, and go into the defense contracting lobbying business. And you know, Lloyd Austin, this was just a little side venture until he was going to Go three or four years later, three years later to Raytheon or wherever he came from. So that's where it was. And if they had to do that, if there were things that were embarrassing, like going before Congress and recommending that you take a look at Professor Kendi's work as anti racism, then they were willing to say that. They were willing to get up there and say there was a white cabal or white conspiracy in the ranks that they were going to investigate in the wake of George Floyd. So I don't want to be too harsh. I have the utmost respect for the military. But there's something wrong about a lot of these generals that are Washington Beltway creatures. They tend to be very left wing and they feel they're exempt from criticism and they feel they're exempt from statutes. So we've talked on this broadcast before. It's very clear that Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military justice says they're not supposed to commit to attack the commander in chief. They didn't say a word about Biden being senile. They didn't say a word about Biden destroying deterrence. They didn't say a word about looking at his watch when the bodies came home. But boy, during Trump, they called him a fascist. They called him Mussolini, they called him a liar. They called him analogous to the Nazis on the beach at Normandy. They called him analogous to the people who oversaw the Holocaust. They said horrible things about the commander in chief. And their attitude was, go ahead and see if you're going to prosecute me under that, even though I'm retired. I know that I'm subject to, to the statutes, but you're not going to do it. And that was their attitude. Yeah.
- [33:41]
B
A counterpoint to the Biden looking at his watch, Victor, is that Donald Trump has marked the fourth anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate. I again recommending websites people should check out on occasion. One is the White House website because the president's, the executive orders and the proclamations are well written and heartfelt. And every one of the 13 who were slain that day are mentioned by name and are not going to be forgotten by this.
- [34:19]
C
It was all preventable. It was preventable. They could have been out there to the degree they should have had a corridor. I don't know why they didn't just take everybody out from Bagram and have armed convoys up to a secure base and just use that for the evacuation. But anybody who looked at that thing and saw the inability to secure that and Afghans grabbing onto the wheels and Then you thought, wow, there's hundreds of these Afghans and we have no idea if they're Taliban, if they're antithetical. And there was no successful or even half hearted attempt to go through everybody and see who was audited and reliable. And it helped us as a translator or somebody. And did they get out first and who is on those planes that is a terrorist or means us harm. It was just a free for all. Lucha libre. Just get on. We're getting out of here, man. We're getting out of here by sunset. Get out, let's go. Bang, bang. We abandoned, I don't know if it's sergeant, you know, goes on a training patrol in the Sierra Nevada and some kind of, I don't know, deployment in training and he loses a clip to his M4 or something. He'll be, he will be cited. If A general leaves $50 million, $50 billion in munitions and airplanes and helicopters and Humvees, nothing will happen to him. Nothing. $50 billion worth and $300 billion dollar. $300 million retrofitted air base and a brand new billion dollar embassy. And that's what the Taliban inherited. And all that equipment has been dispersed. We know it's being dispersed all over the Middle east and we know that the Bagram was just refitted and the embassy was brand new. And we spent $80 million on a gender studies program. As I said before, at least the British imperialists with the PIP helmets and all that, when they got rid of suttee in India, at least they, when they were imperialistic and tried to force their culture down the throats, the culture was redeeming in some ways because it was personal freedom and constitutional government, rule of law. And they, they backed it up. We, we pushed a culture down on their throat that was trans gender studies. And then we were weak in the same process. So the Taliban said these people are decadent and they're weak and they didn't respect us. And so I don't know, it's weird that, you know, we, they all talk about settlers and colonialism and all that and the most imperialist group in America is the hard left diplomatic corps and NGOs. They go over to these traditional Islamic societies or in Africans and then they try to push this DEI down their throats and all of this postmodern trans stuff and gay stuff and feminist stuff, and yet they say we don't want to, we're not culturally appropriating them. We don't do this. But you are, you're just trying to say Our system is the only system and we're going to put it down your throat.
- [37:37]
B
Well, Victor, I want to say something to our many new listeners and viewers about our friends@besthotgrill.com Football is back. So is tailgating. And whether it's a Friday night, lights Saturday college or pro Sunday, Solaire Tailgate and Perig Grill set up fast. Heat up quickly. Only three minutes to searing hot temperatures just like the big backyard Solaires. A Solaire grill will make you the master of the tailgate with the juiciest, most flavorful food in the parking lot. And the fast grilling times leave you more time to enjoy the pre game festivities. They also cool down fast so that you won't miss a minute of the game. The USA made Solaire anywhere, everywhere and all about Infrared grills are portable and perfect for any grilling on the go from picnics to camping RVs to boating, but especially tailgating. Amaze your tailgating friends with the great food you grill with your Solaire infrared grill. And learn more about these, excuse me. Learn more about these fantastic grills and Solaire's try before you buy demo rental program@besthotgrill.com that's besthotgrill.com besthotgrill.com and we thank the good people from Solaire for sponsoring the Victor Davis Hansen show. It's a beautiful Saturday here in Connecticut, Victor. This is the perfect tailgating kind of day and I hope people are enjoying themselves doing such. We're going to get your take on a few more things, Victor, but first, how about I'm sure you saw that Donald Trump nixed the Secret Service detail for Kamala Harris. I guess she will not have that protection on her 107 day book tour.
- [39:20]
C
Yeah, I mean that was not, I don't understand the coverage of that because vice presidents are not really. Don't they just get, they get a temporary window like Mike Pence. They don't get, you know, they don't, they're not like a president. They don't get. And so I think her window was about up. So it wasn't that he canceled it. He just didn't renew it. And he didn't renew it because she was going on this book tour and she's very wealthy and you know, she went through, had a billion and a half dollars she went through and she owes 15 million to the DNC, her campaign. So I think he just thought that she could do what he did when he and get, you know, security detail or something. And it seems logical to Me and, you know, all these things that we, we witnessed the last six months when he cut the security for John Bolton, I don't, I have to be careful what I say. But from the evidence that has been leaked to the New York Times, it seems that John Bolton was, as the other leaks suggested, he was sending material for his notes for his book. And that material was somehow picked up by a foreign intelligence service. It wasn't secure. And apparently the crux is whether that material was classified or not. So when he was stripped of his special detailer, the world went crazy and said, oh wow, you can't do that to John Bolton. The Iranians. But actually at that time, they must have known. One of the reasons they probably stripped his security is they felt that he had been transmitting confidential dash classified information to friends or family to enhance his own career, whether that career was defined by books or research or articles or op eds or his constant appearance on MSNBC or cnn. And they just said, we're not going to subsidize this.
- [41:28]
B
Well, Victor, one other thing before we. I want to get your thoughts. A big topic we want to set some time aside for today is to talk about the Obama holder, a political reunion. So we're going to get to that. But bouncing off the first topic, the shooting at the school in Minnesota and the Democrat reaction to that, it's funny, not funny, but last night I was watching Fox and Tom Holman was on and he was talking about ICE's efforts to find over 300,000 children missing from the Biden era flooding of illegals into America. And ISIS found over 20,000 of them so far, which is terrific. It's also heartbreaking that there are that many children lost. God only knows what kind of horror some of these children are.
- [42:25]
C
The left not worried about it because they've idolized a human trafficker, Obrego Garcia. He was pulled over in Tennessee, speeding and going weaving in and out of his lane. And when Tennessee patrolman called back, he got it on high to let him go. But he did say that there was a hold on this person because he was a known M13 gang member, but he was a human trafficker. The car he was driving, the vehicle was driving, was associated with a human trafficker. So the left didn't get angry at that. And they never said a word during the Biden administration about all the, quote, children, Nancy Pelosi, who can't finish a sentence without saying for the children, she didn't mention it at all. And the left, everybody should realize that when you look at all these examples of hypocrisy, they don't see it that way. Their view is simply we are morally superior to you Neanderthals and we are smarter and we are better credentialed and we are more moral and, and therefore we can use any means necessary for our exalted ends. And if that means being inconsistent or not caring about, you know, children because it's the more important moral is to make the case that Donald Trump is evil and evil people. That narrative is incompatible with the idea that he's trying to help find children, that the noble saintly Joe Biden allowed children to be trafficked. And so that doesn't fit the narrative. I'm sorry, but we're not going to talk about the children that are missing under the Biden administration. We're just not going to talk about it. But we are going to talk about Donald Trump. And we saw that with the so called cages. Remember that Obama had made these detention centers during his eight years and suddenly they became I did an NPR and all of them, I never did an NPR after that. I did an NPR where I was trying to explain that these detentions, the facilities were inaugurated during the Obama and they did one of the most unethical things that a journalist should never do. And that is after the invited guest gets on to editorialize and attack him. And that's what the reporter did. And I, they called me up, the host and said I'm sorry, that didn't go well. And I said, you should be ashamed of yourself. You do not allow reporters to cowardly not ask a guest a question or disagree with them. And then as soon as the segment is over, then he post facto attacks them when they can't reply back. And that's what you've done. And I said, I'll never be on your show again. Any npr, right.
- [45:06]
B
I think the world would be shocked if they heard you on NPR.
- [45:08]
C
Now, Victor, I used to go, you know, there was a guy named Conan o', Brien, Talk of the Nation, remember him? He's a very nice guy, was man of the left, but I liked him and I would go on there maybe once a month and every time I had a book, I love Brian Lamb. I did, you know, all of his long interviews on C Span. He created C Span. He was a professional. I had no problem with people who might have been centered left as long as they were professional. And that early first generation of people on NPR were not bad. But then it just got taken over by Jacobins. And when Mr. Is it Berliner said that 87 people, the 87 people in the NPR newsroom were all Democrats or leftists. They made no pretense. And then they had that clownish woman who became the head of the pbs and she just kept saying they were, they were disinterested. There was no evidence that they were biased. So it's our generation. You know, this is really weird. The baby boomers are always bragging about, you know, we were the civil, civil rights people and all. They weren't. That was an earlier generation. This generation is going to have so much to answer for, from the homeless thing to DEI to racial tensions to postmodernism, to the destruction of the universities. They. I'm 71 and I'm at the middle of the baby boomers, but the people five years ahead of me and five years behind me. And at my age, if you look at the ledger, it's pretty negative. Yeah. Yeah. Well, a lot to atone for.
- [46:45]
B
We live in a world of posing.
- [46:47]
C
Right.
- [46:47]
B
So I'm fighting something by putting some sign in my. On my lawn as opposed to actually doing something. You like these videos?
- [46:55]
C
This house doesn't. This house doesn't.
- [46:57]
B
Yeah.
- [46:58]
C
Racism.
- [46:59]
B
Yeah, I like these videos. You see every once in a while, someone knocking on the door. Okay, oh, you want to help the homeless? Well. Or illegals. Well, I got three here in the car. So they're ready. Take them in.
- [47:11]
C
I love that Martha's Vineyards where they bust the illegals into Martha's Vineyard. And then these kind of Karen women in their puff jackets come and they have all these boxes of their former designer clothes. You know, Abercrombie and Fitch hand me downs and they put them neatly in a box and then they hand them to them and they point to a bus and say, manhattan is awaiting you. Right.
- [47:40]
B
Hit the road, Jose. Okay, well, Victor, we're going to talk about Obama holder and maybe tariffs, tariffs too, when we come back from these final important messages.
- [47:56]
D
If you're like me, you have a lot of product on your bathroom counter. Well, I have found the secret serum and it's vibrant Super C Serum. The ingredients in this one bottle can replace your day creams, eye creams, night creams, neck creams, wrinkle creams, and even dark spot reducers. Made in the USA with the highest quality ingredients including vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, vitamin B5, and vitamin E. Super C serum delivers noticeable results. Simplify your skin care routine, get a healthier complexion and minimize wrinkles and age spots with vibrance. I just began using Super C serum last week and I love it. My skin feels so much better. Soft, moist and fresh. And by the way, it smells beautiful, like the orange blossoms outside my kitchen door. Give it a try and you'll love it too. And if you don't find it better than your current skincare routine, you'll get a full refund. Go to vibrance.com victor to save up to 37% off and free shipping. That's Vibrance V I B R I A n c e vibrance.com Victor and we'd like to thank Vibrance for sponsoring the Victor Davis Hanson Show. What do you think makes the perfect snack?
- [49:17]
C
Hmm. It's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient. Could you be more specific when it's cravenient okay, like a freshly baked cookie made with real butter, available right down the street at am, pm Or a savory breakfast sandwich I can grab in just a second at a.m. p.m. I'm seeing a pattern here.
- [49:32]
B
Well, yeah, we're talking about what I.
- [49:34]
D
Crave, which is anything from am, pm.
- [49:36]
C
What more could you want? Stop by A and PM where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's cravenience am PM Too much. Good stuff.
- [49:49]
B
We're back with the Victor Davis Hansen show recording on Saturday 30th August as we head into here. Excuse me. Labor Day weekend. Of course, when this comes out, it will have been over, but so be it. Anyway, Victor, let's talk about get your take on. Here's a headline. I'm not sure of the source. Obama and Holder mobilized Democrats against GOP Redistricting. They're calling it an existential threat to our democracy. Former President Barack Obama, former Attorney General Eric Holder released a video Thursday calling on supporters to back the National Democratic Redistricting Committee ndrc, warning that Republican led redistricting efforts in states such as Texas, Florida and Ohio threaten to undermine minority voting power and reshape congressional control ahead of the 2026 elections, et cetera, et cetera. Projection. Victor, your thoughts?
- [50:50]
C
Well, they know that if they look at the 50 states and they look at the popular vote in the last election, both for president and for senatorial statewide elections. They know, depending on the state, that the Republicans in these districts of roughly 750,000 people, they are about 15 to 20 congressional seats short of what their their national vote would have justified if in a perfect world, congressional seats reflected the actual population breakdown. As far as political reflection. Republican, Democrat. Okay, they know that so why are they doing this? Because there are already 2015-20 seats. And in places like New York and Illinois, they're maxed out, so they want to take this thing. They can't do any more. In Massachusetts, they got zero Republicans, but they think they can get maybe five seats. Mostly in California, they can go from nine out of 52 seats down to four Republicans. But it's also predicated on that the Republicans won't react, that they will just say, well, I don't like this political redistricting. Because they know that if the Republicans react and they would do what the Democrats are doing and what the Texas people are doing, then they have the power to gain about 20 seats in redistricting. And they could do it before the midterm. And then. So they're playing with fire. But it's predicated on the idea that we're morally superior, so you wouldn't dare use the tactics that we're using. And then you get into this Obama phenomenon where he comes out, he flies out of his estates, his four states with his private plane, and then he weighs in on things and reminds me of the filibuster when he said it was a racist relic. Remember that? They had the majority and they were filibustering. I have a pen, I have a phone. I have a phone. I have a pin. I can just. That started the whole executive order rationalization. He did it, and then he said that the filibuster was a racist relic. And then he. People said, well, wait a minute. When you were in the minority, you tried to filibuster alleviate. You tried to stop his nomination vote. It wasn't racist then, was it? And so. And then Eric Holder, Remember we said that Jeff Chessing is too close to Donald Trump. Pam Bondi is. There's no firewall. As soon as I heard that, I thought, well, RFK was the brother of jfk and he was Attorney General and president. And then we, remember Eric Holder said, I'm the president's wingman. Wingman. And then when they put Bannon and Navarro in jail for refusing a congressional subpoena, and Eric Holder was the first attorney general in history to be held in contempt over Fast and Furious. And they sent him. They sent him a summons. He just, I'm not gonna come. No way. Just like Merrick Garland. No way. And then when the January 6th thing came out every day, Eric Holder, insurrectionist, treachery, treason, the whole thing. Both of them. And I just don't think anybody listens to either one of them. Especially Obama.
- [54:13]
B
That's not his name, by the way.
- [54:15]
C
Victor.
- [54:15]
B
He comes out in the video, he doesn't say Barack Obama. He says Barack. He is just a one word person that one name person now, like Prince.
- [54:25]
C
Maybe he's like beyond. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe that's what it's going to be now. But he didn't say, my name is Barry. Barry Sotero. I'm Barry Sotero. I've been in Indonesia. No, he didn't say any of that. But he's losing his capital. The longer his president's presidency fades. I think most people realize that all this division that we have on racial lines and the radicalization of the Democratic Party, it didn't start under Jimmy Carter. It did not start under Reagan. George H.W. but even George W. Bush, they hated. It didn't start. It didn't even start under Clinton. As Machiavellian as Clinton. It started under Obama. And he was the one that said, trayvon is a kid that looks like me, son I never had. He's the one that said, you know, everybody knows that police pull people away for no reason. The beer summit, Michelle. Downright mean country. Never been proud, that whole stuff. And then all the rappers on the White House with their ankle braces going off. He was the one, remember? What was his name? Love the guy that was the bag man for Trump up for Obama, that weirdo in a weird way and forgot about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that he, he just introduced racial, racialization and weaponized it. And we saw that in all of those things that came up, like the Trayvon Martin.
- [55:55]
B
Well, that's, that's what he's. That's the whole point of this redistricting thing. It's all on.
- [56:02]
C
Race. I'll tell you, the Republicans, be careful because this is what they're going to do. They're going to redistrict every Democratic majority purple state. And they're going to pick effective Republican Congress people and they're going to put them in a new district with their rivals, Republicans, and they were going to cut in half the number. And these districts are going to look like spaghetti noodles. And then when the Republicans retaliate, they're going to say, you're racist because you're eliminating gerrymandered districts for race. See, they don't believe that gerrymandering is bad. They only believe it's bad when Republicans do it. But they think it's very good to create automatic racial districts. The irony, again, as I said before, is that they have pretty much ensured that There will never be a Barack Obama national candidate again. And look at the black community and ask yourself how many black senators are going to make it to the presidency. Kamala Harris? I don't think so. You think that Jasmine Crockett spouting all of that hatred and racial crap is going to be a senator in Texas? I don't think so. So what is my point? When you put people into racially gerrymandered districts that are hard left, they play to their base and their rhetoric gets strident, strident, polarizing, off putting, racist, and then they emerge as a folk hero. But then every time they try to go national or statewide, they can't win. Where if you just made the districts 750,000 people under geographical concerns, then when you had black representatives, they would be polished and effective politicians. They would know how to appeal to Hispanics, Asians, whites, everybody. And they wouldn't, you know, double down on reparations and race erase. And they wouldn't have Al Sharpton pictures and Farrakhan, all that. And that's what the gerrymanding and the special districts do. They radicalize minority candidates and they effectively make them impossible to be competitive on statewide races. That's why everybody says, well, we've got to get the Senate, we've got to make the Senate more diverse. The Senate's a bunch of old white men. Well then if you want to do that, get rid of the gerrymanding racial districts and have a farm team of effective politicians.
- [58:36]
B
Never heard that before. That's terrific.
- [58:37]
C
Well, the only ones that make it are, you know, Cory Booker made it, but he didn't, he didn't start out as he got in as a mayor. And the guy in Maryland who's the governor, anybody who bypassed years and repeated terms in the House that was a, you know, Al Green like or Maxine Waters or those types of, of resumes, that's just a suicidal path to higher office. And nobody wants to vote for those people. And I say no one. I'm not talking about white people, I'm talking about everybody. And Republicans, I don't think they care anymore. I think they're willing to redistrict and just do it on geographical basis and just say, you know what, I don't really care. You can call me a racist and we'll see. Yeah, this will be good for everybody not to appeal to their base.
- [59:31]
B
Well, Victor, let's close out quick here with your final thoughts on the federal Appeal Court ruling that happened yesterday. Ruled that Donald Trump's tariffs aren't Legal under the current law, it allowed the tariffs to continue to stay in effect, giving the Trump administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court. Court this. I'm not exactly sure what court it was. It was 74 vote.
- [59:57]
C
Yeah.
- [59:58]
B
Allows the tariffs to remain in place through October 14th and effectively said that the president's use of emergency powers was not constitutional.
- [60:08]
C
I think what they're saying is that the president to set a tariff as a tariff needs congressional approval. But in the legislation, there are exceptions on various things. Like the president can issue an immediate tariff if a country is dumping and to protect a domestic interest, interest or company or corporation that's a victim of that dumping, or if a country is asymmetrical in their tariffs and is waging a trade war and joining up big surpluses. So what they're saying is that when Donald Trump issued these executive orders, his legal team came back and then tried to fit those executive orders into these various categories of exemption. And I don't think they think the exemptions were legitimate because they were just saying he wants to go after India, he wants to do this, and then he makes up that they're dumping or they're asymmetrical and he uses the exemptive clause and that's what they're doing. And he can't go to Congress and get a tariff because of the filibuster. They will filibuster every single thing. They will use what they call the racist filibuster. And they want to end it, but they do not want to end it if it's a weapon against Donald Trump.
- [61:31]
B
Well, Victor, we have a lot of new listeners and viewers for the Victor Davis Hanson show. Tremendous amount of comments for every episode. And I try to go through them. I know the great Sammy Wink does also. And here's a comment from Pretty sure this is off of YouTube from David Hill, 1911. He writes, and you were talking about this, I think, with Sammy the other day. I'm a truck driver myself. And while not every Indian truck driver I see, I imagine is a total jack wagon, a lot of them I see out here on the roads just flying down the highways. I just don't think they really respect our laws. I mean, why would they if they got their CDI illegally and didn't have to know English or pass any of the tests, I know that's not every one of them. And I'm sure there's some great Indian drivers. But on the whole, when I look over and see someone with flip flops on and his feet up on the Dash. You can bet your bottom dollar nine times out of ten, it's an Indian in the front seat Victor that was thinking of this.
- [62:47]
C
I just got back Friday, yesterday, and I drove 440 miles and I went on cross country, the San Joaquin Valley, where there's a lot of trucks that use Manning Avenue very fast. And then I went along a total of four hours on i5. And then I went through the 152, which is kind of dangerous, connecting to Gilroy. And then I went on the 101. Then I went on the 85. And then I went on the 280. And I saw a lot of truck drivers. And I'm not going to comment on their ethnic background, although statistically I think Indian truck drivers are about 40% of California truck drivers and 20% nationwide. But the ethos, as I said, with Sami, is completely shot. And what do I mean by that? I am going down Pacheco at a sharp turn at a very steep grade. And you're in the left lane and there's a whole line of trucks. And suddenly a truck gives you no signal and he cuts into the left on a hairpin curve, going straight downhill at 60, 70 miles an hour. And you're behind the second trailer and it's weaving like it's dancing. It's scary. Or that when you go around a corner and they're going at the same speed that you are and they start, they cannot hold that truck in that narrow lane. And they start to drift into your lane and you have a wall on your left side and you have to make a decision. Do I stop? Do I slow down and get rear ended, I'm going 65. Or do I get skid into the wall? Or do I just take my chances that I'll get bumped? And then you look into the truck driver because if you're in an SUV like I am, you can see and you look up and it's fascinating. One out of every four or five of these guys either has a cell phone in his hands or he has a little holder and he's hitting things right during the driving. And I don't know why the trucking industry doesn't self police because everybody knows this goes on, that the old idea that the middle lane and the three way freeway was a temporary passing lane for the trucks in the right lane and the left lane was an automatic ticket is out the window. You see people just stay in the middle lane no matter what. And then you see people in the left lane use the left lane for passing so when I this particular trip, I had to go down the 41 because I had to take a detour and I saw three trucks in a row. You know, they were like a phalanx, a Greek phalanx, three in a row. And then when you get on the i5 and you're in a long wagon train of cars with a speed limit of 70 miles an hour and you're going 55 to 45, and then you, you look out and you see trucks just going in the left, it's only two lanes each way and they just go in the left lane and they pass and they stay there maybe for three, for four trucks. A lot of them never signal, they just move out. And it's completely different than it was 10 or 15 years ago. And no one talks about it.
- [66:09]
B
Yeah, well, I agree with that.
- [66:11]
C
I wonder if I said, I'm going to, I'm victorious and I want to get a professional trucker's license. And I go into the DMV and they show me the signs and I said, I can't, I don't know what they are. I got one out of 12. And he asked me something and I can't speak English. Are they going to give Victor a license? No, they gave the license because what used to be a disadvantage of being an illegal alien is not. And if you can say, I'll be very frank, if you can claim that you're not white, then somehow in the diversity, the dei, equity, inclusion binary, you're on the right side of the oppressed ledger. And everything that's the worst thing about dei, it warps everything and it destroys merit. Because I just bet you if some guy came into California and his name was Jimmy Bob Smith and he had an Oklahoma draw and he was a 30 year trucker, but he went into that test and he did not recognize one, they'd say, Billy Bob or Jimmy Bob, you're out. And so everybody knows it. And yeah, no, the nature. You know, I've never criticized the Trump administration gratuitously, but why in the world are we going to let in 600,000 Chinese students when almost every day there is a story about active Chinese espionage, Say, on the Stanford campus today, there's an article in the Wall Street Journal about the recruitment of students who spy for China. And then when you look at their parades and you look at their aircraft, you look at their artillery, you look at their armor, you look at their Navy, it's all replicating the United States. Everybody knows that. And now with AI and robotics, why would you let 600. Why is Trump doing this? Is it a bargaining tool for a grand trade deal? I mean, they already have 300,000. There's 1 million foreign students here of all different background and what we see in the Ivy League about the anti Semitic, anti Israel from people in the middle. Why are we doing this?
- [68:32]
B
Well, I asked you to keep your powder dry on that, Victor, because we're gonna. When we record our next program, that's gonna be the lead topic to get your take on it.
- [68:41]
C
Yeah, I don't, I don't.
- [68:42]
B
It's really more than a head scratcher. Hey, Victor. We've come to the end of the show and I apologize to our listeners again for vertigo, cold and breakdown of my wi fi earlier. I do want to thank listeners and viewers who subscribe to Civil Thoughts, which is the free weekly email newsletter I write every week for the center for Civil Society. You go to civilthoughts.com, sign up every Friday. The email comes 14 recommended readings. I know you're going to like it. We're not selling your name. It's totally free. Civil thoughts.com Again, Victor's website, the Blade of Perseus, victorhansen.com, do subscribe there. Hey, if you're on X, Victor's handle, ISD Hansen. If you're on Facebook, there's Victor Davis Hansen's. The Victor Davis Hansen Fan Club. That's not anything affiliated formally with Victor, but Great People and VDH's Morning Cup. And check it out, sign up, follow Victor, you've been terrific as ever. Thanks everyone for listening and watching. We'll be back soon with another episode of the Victor Davis Handsome. Bye. Bye.
- [69:47]
C
Thank you everybody for watching and listening.