Mexico, MeToo No More, the Left’s Meager Pickin’s

Summary

The Victor Davis Hanson Show Episode: Mexico, MeToo No More, the Left’s Meager Pickin’s Release Date: March 6, 2025

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Overview

In this compelling episode of The Victor Davis Hanson Show, hosts Victor Davis Hanson and Jack Fowler delve into pressing political and social issues shaping contemporary America. The discussion navigates through the complexities of U.S.-Mexico relations, the ramifications of the MeToo movement, and a critical analysis of the current left-wing strategies. With incisive commentary and insightful perspectives, Hanson and Fowler unpack the challenges and dynamics at the heart of these contentious topics.

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U.S.-Mexico Relations and Pete Hegseth’s Stance Timestamp: [07:20]

The episode opens with an in-depth conversation about former military leader Pete Hegseth’s assertive remarks on U.S.-Mexico relations. Hegseth has been vocal about the need for America to take a firmer stance against Mexico's inability to control violent gangs and the influx of drugs, particularly fentanyl, crossing the border. Hanson draws historical parallels to the U.S. military interventions in Mexico during the early 20th century, highlighting the persistent challenges in curbing cartel activities.

Victor Davis Hanson ([08:00]): "The problem is Mexico is not in full control of their own country... Over the past decade, cartel profits have siphoned off nearly $270 billion from the United States."

Hanson emphasizes the economic and security implications, citing how cartel-driven drug trade and illegal immigration have strained U.S. resources and border integrity. The hosts discuss Mexico’s complex relationship with China, trade imbalances, and the political maneuvers that complicate bilateral efforts to address these issues.

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The MeToo Movement and Its Impact on Society Timestamp: [17:14]

Transitioning to the MeToo movement, Hanson critiques its influence on societal norms and the perception of masculinity. He argues that the movement has inadvertently contributed to a climate of distrust and fear among young men, leading to a decline in traditional courtship and family structures.

Victor Davis Hanson ([19:44]): "Young men are being told they're sexual assailants, toxic masculinity, and they've kind of dropped out."

Hanson discusses the broader cultural conflicts arising from the movement, including the tension between progressive sexual ethics and the traditional values upheld by many Americans. He also touches on high-profile cases and their ramifications on due process and personal reputations.

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Critique of Left-Wing Strategies and Democratic Policies Timestamp: [22:07]

The conversation shifts to a critical analysis of the Democratic Party’s strategies and policies. Hanson contends that the left lacks a cohesive alternative agenda, relying instead on partisan tactics and cultural warfare to maintain power. He references Mark Halperin’s observations on the inability of Democrats to grasp the widespread MAGA movement's motivations and the frustration stemming from perceived governmental overreach.

Victor Davis Hanson ([25:37]): "The current left is not left. They're Jacobin revolutionary people who want perpetual power."

Hanson outlines what he perceives as the left's transactional approach to governance, highlighting issues such as the filibuster, electoral reforms, and judiciary appointments as mere tools to consolidate power rather than genuine policy initiatives aimed at national betterment.

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Jeff Bezos and the Transformation of the Washington Post Timestamp: [38:26]

A notable segment discusses Jeff Bezos’s acquisition of The Washington Post and his subsequent editorial policy changes. Hanson praises Bezos for steering the publication towards a focus on free markets and free speech, distancing it from what he describes as "left-wing lunatics."

Victor Davis Hanson ([59:10]): "Jeff Bezos... changed the editorial policy. We're only going to talk about free expression and the wonderful capital system."

This shift has led to discontent among traditional pundits and contributors who align with leftist ideologies, causing resignations and controversies within the publication. Hanson views this as a positive move towards journalistic integrity and economic realism.

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Campus Activism and Anti-Israel Protests Timestamp: [67:00]

Hanson and Fowler address the escalating activism on college campuses, specifically highlighting recent incidents at Barnard College and Columbia University. They criticize the anti-Israel protests and the disruptive tactics employed by student activists, arguing that such actions undermine academic integrity and safety.

Victor Davis Hanson ([68:52]): "Anyone that thinks this BS happening on campus is over, that the anti-Semitic students on campus is over. It's not over."

Hanson underscores the importance of enforcing university policies and legal measures to maintain order and protect the rights of all students, emphasizing that passive tolerance of such disruptions only emboldens extremist behavior.

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Listener Feedback and Final Thoughts Timestamp: [75:54]

Towards the end, the hosts share listener feedback, highlighting appreciation for the show’s insights and its role in providing clarity amidst societal turmoil. They touch upon personal anecdotes related to fitness and pet ownership, adding a relatable and personable dimension to the discourse.

Listener Comment (Timestamps vary): "I owe VDH a huge debt of gratitude for keeping me sane during the incredible turmoil of the past few years... Today's episode about the complexities of the Ukraine war and the dynamics around Trump's efforts to end it was incredibly insightful."

Hanson echoes the sentiment, reaffirming his commitment to addressing critical issues and fostering informed discussions to guide listeners through complex political landscapes.

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Conclusion

This episode of The Victor Davis Hanson Show offers a thorough examination of U.S.-Mexico relations, the unintended consequences of the MeToo movement, and a sharp critique of left-wing political strategies. Through historical context and contemporary analysis, Hanson and Fowler provide listeners with a nuanced understanding of these multifaceted issues, encouraging informed discourse and proactive solutions.

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Notable Quotes:

• [08:00] Victor Davis Hanson: "The problem is Mexico is not in full control of their own country... Over the past decade, cartel profits have siphoned off nearly $270 billion from the United States."

• [19:44] Victor Davis Hanson: "Young men are being told they're sexual assailants, toxic masculinity, and they've kind of dropped out."

• [25:37] Victor Davis Hanson: "The current left is not left. They're Jacobin revolutionary people who want perpetual power."

• [59:10] Victor Davis Hanson: "Jeff Bezos... changed the editorial policy. We're only going to talk about free expression and the wonderful capital system."

• [68:52] Victor Davis Hanson: "Anyone that thinks this BS happening on campus is over, that the anti-Semitic students on campus is over. It's not over."

Transcript

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[Jack Fowler]

Hello ladies. Hello gentlemen. This is the Victor Davis Hansen Show. I am Jack Fowler, lucky man. I get to be the host. I get to ask questions. I kind of think the questions you'd like to ask of the star namesake Victor Davis Hansen, who is the Martin and Eli Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Wayne and Marsher Busky Distinguished Fellow in History at Hillsdale College and the owner of a website, the Blade of Perseus. You'll find [e-mail] I'll tell you why later in this episode. You should be checking that out and even subscribing. We are recording on Saturday, March 1st and this particular episode of the show will be up on Thursday, March 6th. As ever, Ton of things to talk about. We did not get time in our last episode to speak about a big issue. I think it's big. It's Pete Hegseth's comments and thoughts about what America should be doing with Mexico. Some really direct threats are not the wrong word. Just like tough, tough talk and overdue talk. I think, Victor. But you may have different opinion. We'll get your thoughts Victor on Hegseth in Mexico. What else? Inseminated persons. I know some guys who might qualify for that. Kamala Harris, Tim Walls still remain in the news. Jeff Bezos telling the Washington Post, telling people what he's going to do with the Washington Post editorial page make. Maybe we'll have time for something else. We'll get to all of that, Victor, right after these important messages.

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[Jack Fowler]

We are back with the Victor Davis Hansen show. There he is. Get your strength, Victor.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Get a little heavy to get my voice nice and warm.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah. You know, growing up we never everyone now like stay hydrated. Everyone goes out, they got 10 gallons of water on their backs. Growing as kids, we were lucky if we found a puddle on the street.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

I was that way till I got kidney stone.

[Jack Fowler]

Oh, you got 33.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

I believe I lost count at 33.

[Jack Fowler]

All right, Victor. Pete Hegseth has I don't know anything anyone that Trump cabinet secretary will say that will not cause a kerfuffle with what remains of the liberal media. But he had some tough talk related to the of course Mexico and the violent gangs that are have been part and parcel of the death of hundreds of thousands of Americans. With all the drugs coming over the border. Victor, what are your thoughts about Pete Hegseth warning Mexico about what they do? And the problem is reaction might be.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Yeah, the problem is Mexico is not in full control of their own country. So when he says that he might have to deal with the gangs, I. E like General Pershing and George Patton and people went in in 1916, they went into Mexico to stop via and banditry that had come across the border and killed American. They weren't very successful. It was very hard to find them. So I guess what he's saying is if you, if you just rethink our relations and don't have any preconceptions and just say this is a country, this is B country and they send in Chinese raw product fentanyl, have special cartel factories that process it into drugs that are disguised as methamphetamines, whatever, but laced with fentanyl. And out of that, 75 to 100,000Americans die per year and over 10 years, that's more than all of the American deaths and all of our wars in history. Then they're an enemy because they knowingly do it and that gives them some $20 billion into the economy. And then you also say that Mr. Obrador, remember he said, isn't it beautiful? 40 million people went into the United States from Mexico, meaning illegally. And then he said the Mexican prior President Obradar said he wanted all expatriate Mexican Americans to vote against Republicans and especially Trump. And then Mexico gets China around tariffs by having China send in computer parts, manufactured parts, car parts, and then they just assemble them and come in under NAFTA and they're running 178 billion dollar surplus with the United States. That is on top of $63 billion that expatriate Mexican nationalists, the majority of them here residing illegally and on some sort of health, housing, education, nutritional support from local, state and federal governments and that's 63 billion. You add the 63 billion with a 20 billion cartel profit and then you add the 180 billion and you're getting close to, I don't know, $270 billion that's coming out of the United States. And you would think that that would give us a little leverage, especially when they've destroyed our border. And every time we, we try to suggest something to them, they stonewall us or they, they threaten us or something. And I don't know. And they're very ups. I mean, if you think that this is a racial or ethnic issue, it's not. When Donald Trump got 46% of the Hispanic vote, most of it Mexican American vote. So what I'm getting at is he's trying to think out of the box and tell Mexico it's not going to continue any longer. You're not going to kill American youth and let these gangs come into our country. And that is a legitimate. We had a community, Mendota, not very far from where I lived. It was taken over by M13 by Mexican gang. Taken over. They had to get FBI SWAT teams to come in on my avenue. About two years ago, there was a shootout between Nortegno Sereno's people. One day I was driving into town and there was a, about 15 law enforcement cars. Most of the law enforcement people had bulletproof vest on, but they were in civilian clothes with the little insignia on the back, you know, of their various agencies. And they had maybe 10 people stripped down to their boxer shorts, handcuffed, sitting on the side of the road waiting for it to be processed. Right. I'd say it's a quarter mile, half mile from where I live. So it's everywhere. Gangs from Mexico here running very. And so it has to stop. And when Hexa says there's basically everything is possible, I don't know what that would mean. But we've never since 1916 really gone into Mexico territory without their permission. And maybe they would give us their permission because they're terrified of the gangs themselves. And one of the things that happened in Art of the Deal style, he's been talking about this for a long time, both before he was nominated as secretariat afterwards and now we find out that Mexico is allowed to extradite, what is it, 20 something gang members that were killers, including murderers of American citizens. And they wouldn't let us try them here in the United States and now they are. So they're trying to think of ways. There was another news story this week that Mexico suggested that maybe if the United States would invest money in it, they would be weaned off China and then they would allow American companies to assemble products and not Chinese and they wouldn't try to avoid the tariffs that China should pay. So they are thinking of ways. I mean they're not quite like the loony Canadian foreign foreign ministers. I said last episode where she was on record of saying the French and the British should give us a nuclear deterrent to use against the United States.

[Jack Fowler]

Victor, just to be clear that the elite of Mexico have you said they're terrified, I'll accept it. But they have in some way though accommodated themselves to the cartels, haven't they? Or not. I would think they'd want some kind of strong.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

The cartels will do anything. So here in the United States there are certain taboos. We rarely kill judges or politicians. They don't have that taboo in Mexico. Everybody is open game. And the other thing is there's also, I don't know what how to be sensitive. And there's also a ethnic racial component. And by that I mean much of the gang activity, not all, but much of it is in certain areas of Mexico south of Mexico City. Chiapas, Michoacan, Oaxaca, indigenous areas in which there's a much greater degree of poverty. And the Mexican elite in Mexico City and some of the northern states of Mexico, and I've talked to a lot of them, feel very proudly that they are more European than indigenous. In other words, they don't identify as mestizos as much as people in the south. And they speak, they feel the king Spanish. So there's a little bit of tension there that this elite has always Obradar was an exception, but until recently they were not representative of the majority of the population. At least there was tension there. They weren't Emilio Zapata type revolutionary via they were Kind of a recrudence of the old Spanish elite that ran the country for 400 years or the area.

[Jack Fowler]

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[Victor Davis Hansen]

It's very common. And then he got, he was one of the top notch pundits and then he was me too. And he apologized and things, I think.

[Jack Fowler]

I think Newsmax, Chris Ruddy, I think Newsmax picked him up a little and now he's doing his own, he's been.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Very successful with his own show.

[Jack Fowler]

Oh yeah.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

And he's, yeah, it's, there are, I think when you look back at me too, I mean, people even that I don't agree with politically were done a disservice. Some of them, I mean some of them. It's hard, it's hard in this society when radical feminism almost has a Victorianism about sexual contact and the protocols that are involved in it. At the same time, popular culture is more risque, promiscuous, provocative, sexually explicit and that those two don't mix. And so I think part of the reason that males, one of the many reasons that there's a problem with young males is they are, they have been told that they're sexual assaulters. They're, they're toxic masculinity and they've kind of dropped out they really have. I know in my immediate circle, my nieces, nephews, larger family and friends. The number of young men ages 25 to 40 who are not married or have not been married, they don't have children, they're not dating actively and they're not gay is quite large. And I think a little bit of it that is, they're just been told that you've got to be very careful that if you have a normal mating or courtship or whatever term you use that what seems to be part of the sexuality of the two of the two partners can be later reimagined as, as aggressiveness and you're just better. I've had a lot of young mothers tell me that they would not send their kids to a Harbordale prince and their male sons because they were afraid they'd have a couple of drinks and hook up with a young woman in a consensual fashion. And then the next day if they didn't call or they were considered a lout, L O U T that that would be then repackaged as sexual assault.

[Jack Fowler]

And in an environment where you don't.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Have there's no fourth, fifth or sixth Amendment. No, none at all. We had this very famous guy, you know, Joe Longsdale and he, he had a consensual relationship it and he was very, very wealthy. It didn't work out. The person, he was a part time teacher and he was doing it for free. And then where was he? At Stanford in the business school. And then one of the students that was, I shouldn't even say student, she was very, you know, she was an adult and they had a relationship and then of course it didn't lead to marriage or permanency and she began to say retroactively she was sexually assault and that and then he just released the, the emails and, and the, the email. But the point I'm making is they didn't give him any due process. They just banned him from campus. Even though he's alumni, he was a very successful entrepreneur, very wealthy and they tried to destroy his life. They being the university. Then all of a sudden when they had the he said, she said and he, he showed the types of emails he was getting from someone who was prompting him for this type of relationship. It blew up in their faces and he, they treated him terribly. They really did. And he's now at the University of Austin. I mean he's one of the backers. I think he has a Cicero Institute that he funds. I've met him. He's a useful person.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah, yeah, well, the Ford lady with Kavanaugh, Anita Hill, whatever, they, they have wrecked havoc through the culture.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

There are many more.

[Jack Fowler]

Back to Mark Halperin, doctor on the show. He says he and Sean Spicer and I forget the third guy, have a daily show. They've been terrific political analysis. And Mark's kind of a Democrat. He says, I really think the left does not understand what's happening all over the country. MAGA is on fire with a sense of retribution and a sense of opportunity to make big change. To pressure corporations, to pressure universities, to pressure the media, to pressure Hollywood to say, new sheriff in town always don't count. We are going to change it. And he goes on to say, and they don't. They, the Democrats, the left just do not get what's happening to them. And it is happening to them.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

They don't have an alternate. I know everybody says, well, they don't have an alternate plan, but they don't. All they have to do is say, this is our agenda. We want to cut a trillion dollars too, because you can't borrow $2 trillion a year when you owe 35 and your interest payment is your deficit's 2 trillion and 1 trillion of it is to pay the interest. And here's what we're going to do. Like Bill Clinton and Newtown, they don't do that. Or this is what we. It's unsustainable what we did. You cannot have 3 million illegal aliens coming into your country on audit for health reasons alone. But here's our plan. They always talk about comprehensive immigration. They had no plan. It was all amnesty. And what was it for? Oh, we'll only let in 4,000. You have to let in because it's too much pressure. Well, we're not letting anybody now and it's fine unless they're legal. So they don't have an alternate agenda. It's just we're going. They have a three point strategy. Say Donald Trump is Hitler screaming yell about he's the worst thing in the world on every single thing he does. Number two, mouth all of the I don't know what you. The propaganda of our base. So you have no room but to be an LGBTQ fanatic, a Green Deal fanatic, a critical race theory woke di fanatic. No apostate apostates allowed and drive down Donald Trump's ratings so that by the time of the midterms, no Senate candidate, no House candidate will want to associate with him in a purple district. We'll get back the House, we'll eat up two years like we did before with the Mueller investigation. We'll get a bunch of, we'll get a control of the Congress, we'll start subpoenaed people. They'll refuse, we'll put them in jail like Navarro and Bannon and we will eat up the end of the Trump. That's their plan. And that's why it's very important. If Trump just does two things by the time the midterm, if he is very close to a balanced budget somehow or showing that he's going to get there in two years and if the Ukraine war ends with a peace that's not fragile, he will win the midterms. And that's why I think they are so fanatic to stop the cutting of the waste and fraud. They do not want that to happen. They do not want him to claim that he got the first balance budget since Bill Clinton. And they're paranoid that he will say I solved the Ukraine, Stalingrad and there's no more killing and he will come off as a humanist in the peace. And they don't want that to happen. They really don't. Their idea was give, give Zelensky anything he wants, just enough so he doesn't win and doesn't lose, or put it that way and let it go on forever. Because you're bleeding, Donald. You're bleeding Vladimir Putin and will do this to the last Ukrainian. I think that was their policy. Did you ever hear Joe Biden say it was a humanitarian crisis? And the idea of 18, 19, 20 year old, 30 year old just being wasted on that battlefield, killed, maimed, destroyed, a million and a half of them, they never talked in those terms.

[Jack Fowler]

They loved the numbers game with Iraq war. Right. Wasn't there like a counter up there? And today?

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Yeah, every day. Every day. There was Iraq war. I haven't seen one, have you? Where is the Iraq Afghanistan war debt counter? They had it every single day. I used to look at it would get me very depressed. But I wanted to know how many people were being killed. They haven't had any of that. So they're not. Everybody should remember this. The current left is not left. They're not, they're not socialist, communist or anybody. These are Jacobin revolutionary people who want to get power and change the system so that they have perpetual power. That's all their ideology is. And that means if the filibuster is bad when they're in power, it's good when they're not in power. If you have a blue wall, the electoral college is wonderful. When it crumbles it's racist. If you need your back, you're behind in the Senate, then you want Puerto Rico and D.C. to come in to get four Senate seats. If you've got the Warren court and everything, you just damn the FDR 1937 court packing. If you're a minority on the court, you only have three liberal judges, then you've got to pack the court. It's all transactional. It's all about powers.

[Jack Fowler]

Well, just one last thing on Halperin, I think part of the, part of what he's spotlighting is the shock of the breadth, the breadth of assault counter revolution as you've written about Victor in, in so many various ways. But then the ideology has infected everything in so many ways. So it needs to be rooted out at the White House correspondence at the corporation.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

I wrote that article who caused the counter revolution. It wasn't Donald Trump, wasn't Marco Rubio, it wasn't Pete Hexath. They took the country so hard left by inventing a third sex, by inventing a new foundational date, 1690, by tearing down statues, by renaming things, by putting biolog men and female sports, by not a porous but a destroyed border, not a million a year but 12 million over four years. Not just a defeat in Afghanistan but an utter humiliation and turning over weapons to terror. It was something we'd never seen. And to correct that they're going frenzy but Donald Trump is not going to be Mitt Romney. I'm sorry, he's not going to say. Well, they've kind of been a little extreme and I've appointed six committees and they're going to report back to me in a year with commission results. It'll be bipartisan. We can work across the aisle. We'll have sober and judicious. Kamala Harris will be on the commission. She's very responsible person. And then they'll give us a set of recommendations and I will take them to the Congress and we'll see if we can address the. That's what they want. That's what a Republican would do. And so the other thing they're really angry about, they thought that after the first Trump term they had his number. In other words, they, they had the Mueller for 20. They went from the Mueller investigation and they waited about three months and then it was the Vindman impeachment and that went for another impeachment trial. And then they, they had all of the other little shenanigans disinformation lab and they had people in that administration there was anonymous for Saying that we have an internal coup and we're stopping all of that guy, whatever his name was, Low, low ranking Homeland Security official, the New York Times said, a high important official. He wasn't. Then they had people that, you know, Rex Tillerson's a nice guy, but he wasn't on the MAGA agenda. Jim Mattis is a nice guy. He wasn't on the MAGA agenda. John Bolton wasn't on the agenda. And they had the Omarosos and the Scaramuccis. It was chaos. If Trump gave an order to a cabinet official, they either would ignore it or they'd find ways to counteract it. And so he had four years in the wilderness to ponder all this, and four years of being. Five civil and criminal. 83 indictments. And when he came back out of the wilderness, kind of like with a bullet shown, Right? Exactly. He said, you know what? Instead of me arguing with my own cabinet, I want what Joe Biden once called ultra maga. I want them to make suggestions to me. So he picked this cabinet. And it's a revolutionary cabinet. It really is. And I think Elon Musk said that the other day. They're very good at what they do. They're fearless, they're competent. They have enormously successful communication skills. They've been in private enterprise, many of them. When you hear Tulsi Gabbard talk, she's eloquent, mellifluous. When so is Pete Hexseth, so is Marco Rubio. They all. They all are great. And they are. The difference is from 2017, Trump would get frustrated and give an order that wouldn't be followed. Now he's getting suggestions. Hey, President Trump, what do you think of this idea? And he is. It's not as much that he's got loyal people who are. I don't. Loyal's the wrong word. He's got compadres who agree with him and brothers.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Band of brothers. And they're starting to do. And they're gonna. They're not gonna stop. They're just gonna keep pushing to undo this madness and keep the. The left off base. And the left doesn't know how to handle it yet.

[Jack Fowler]

And which. So let's get some proof of them not knowing how to handle this yet. Victor, as the aforementioned inseminated person. Madness from Wisconsin. And wow. It's just, I. I don't know how they go next when that term doesn't qualify enough.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

What. What is that point of that? So biological men that take female hormones and haven't had corrective Sex changes. Are they inseminated in the fashion of gay men? And that's what they are. Is that what the, I don't understand what the term is supposed to indicate.

[Jack Fowler]

My mother. Your mother. That's what it's supposed to say.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

It must mean that people that are not biologically female or female because they receive things somehow in an orifice or something. I don't know what it is. But Rama Manuel was on Bill Maher, not the other day, the former mayor of Chicago. And he said basically what we're talking about. And he said the blue model doesn't work. The blue cities are run by Democrats because there's only three things you have to do. You have to control cost, balanced budgets, fiscal pension. You've got to, you've got to stop crime and you've got to have, you have to have safety. You have to have good schools. And he's right about that. And they kept. And then he said something was kind of weird and funny and he said our problem is we worried about the bathrooms at the schools, but not the classrooms. Yeah, you should have been talking about the low test scores, not whether you had tampons in the mail bathrooms.

[Jack Fowler]

One of his successors as mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, 79.9% of voters of Chicago disapprove of him. He holds just a 6.6% favorable rating. His net is at minus 73.3% on the favorability scale. Anyway, I don't know that he's old news, but he's running the second largest, or maybe it's the third largest city in America.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Hostage running into the ground. That's what he did. Yeah, it's dysfunctional. I know that Barack Obama doesn't go to his Chicago digs any longer. Well, I want to monolith that. Monolith that ugliest presidential. That's going to be his, his legacy that he, Barack Obama, the man who has the ugliest presidential library in history.

[Jack Fowler]

Well, when we, we come back from these important messages, Victor, we're going to talk, still talk about Democrats in, in California and in Minnesota. And we'll do that again when we come back.

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[Jack Fowler]

We are back with the Victor Davis Hansen show recording on March 1st. This episode will be up on Thursday, March 6th. Victor's website is the Blade of Perseus. Its addresses victorhansen.com if you're a fan of what Victor writes, I mean, you can listen to him here and many other places, but you will find links to his weekly essay at American Greatness weekly syndicated column. Victor also writes two exclusive quote unquote ultra pieces for the Blade of Perseus. And he also does an exclusive video once a week for the website. So if you're a fan of Victor, go there, subscribe. It's $6.50 a month, discounted to $65 for the full year. Plus you'll find a treasure trove of other links, Victor's other appearances, these archived podcasts, links to his books. The blade of perseusvictorhansen.com so Victor, you work at this place called Hoover and Hoover. Bill Whalen is one of the Bill.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Whelan, he's Pete Wilson, former chief of staff, very astute political mind, especially about California. Knows every little detail and cranny about California last half century.

[Jack Fowler]

He is the he he owns the California beat, so to say, for, for Hoover and, and there's a he's got a site there within the Hoover website called California on youn Mind, recommended to our listeners. And he just did a piece the other day. Is California is California. Kamala's is California Kamalas for the taking. And there's an Emerson poll, so he cites at some length. Even though the the primary for governor will will not 15 months away, Harris has 57% support, six times better than former Congressman Katie Porter and the rest. Everyone else is back, way, way back. And there's something here. If she didn't run, if she was removed from the ballot, undecided would become the front runner at 45%. So you know, Kamala Harris, I don't know, is Nixon. You want to have Nixon to kick around anymore?

[Victor Davis Hansen]

If you read the and you read the article, it wasn't suggesting that she's a powerful candidate. It was suggesting that there is no other candidate and she's the only person because of the 2024 election that has name recognition. So when you give a person that's being polled these names, they say porter, who is that? Or you know, any name. Nobody knows. The only other name they know is Gavin Newsom. And he, he'll be termed out and he may be recalled. I think Bill's trying, not trying. The subtext of his article is the days of Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and Jerry Brown. Nancy Pelosi, they're over with Willie Brown. The people that ran the country who came from the Bay Area, there is nobody else left. And so if she runs and the Republicans had a decent candidate and in this jungle primary where you could have two Democrats, you know, they could beat her. But she's the only one with name recognition, she's A lousy candidate. But we're going to be saved, as we talked last time, because Gavin has his own Sammy and I talked about. He has his own podcast. Oh. Where he can talk directly to people. He can endorse people with his clout and his leverage and his name recognition. Is it going to be filmed in the French. The high speed rail 300 billion dollar boondoggle. And he's going to solve the rebuilding of Los Angeles. Well, in time for the Olympics.

[Jack Fowler]

He'll need it. He'll need another. He'll need a job. Hey, Victor. Kamala's running mate, as we all remember. I did not want to forget. I kind of.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Mike and him Waltz.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah. I mean, he's. He was such a weirdo. And, you know, I kind of. I kind of relish his little hand flaps and all the strutting and the line.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Megyn Kelly, she had a brilliant comment. I was on her show not long ago and she said something about Tim Waltz and she asked me about him. And then she kind of broke in and had the perfect description. He's like, he's constantly trying to bat away a stinging bee.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah, that's true. Yeah.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Quirky jerky with his kind of too tight suits and ankles.

[Jack Fowler]

That's a little truth factor going on there.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

I just, I don't know what it is about it.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah. I wouldn't let him babysit the kids.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Tell the truth.

[Jack Fowler]

Well, that's where we want to get your opinion.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Yeah. He can't tell the truth. He lies. The first thing comes in his mind, he spouts off. He's herky jerky when he came out and he walks like he's on a fashion show. Walks out and he screamed and he's just not a very sympathetic character.

[Jack Fowler]

Well, he.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

I've never seen a debate. I do have a lot of empathy. I had empathy for Zelensky when I watched him. I thought, you know, I feel sorry for you. You're having trouble with English. You're here, you don't know what you're doing. You don't know the optics. Yes, it's playing well to your left wing audience in Europe. And yes, it's playing well to the left wing network news. And y. You think that Trump and Vance cough come off rude, but it's not what you think it is. I'm going to get down to the nitty gritty. And that's kind of what Waltz and all those people were. They think, you know, this is neat. They're Nazis, they're Hitler. But he, he almost. I Mean, they only won, what, Minnesota by six points? Minnesota, usually some elections. I think the. Mondale was the only state that voted for Mondale. It was so blue. I don't know why. It's a nation of Scandinavians, but they're social Scandinavians.

[Jack Fowler]

He, Tim Walls was giving a talk before a quote unquote, friendly audience of union nurses and he complained. I see the pundits on tv. What's wrong with the Democrat Party? What's wrong is our country is being stolen by fascists and Nazis and we're trying to do all we can. So our good friend at Power Line, Scott Johnson, has been all over this as he's been all over Tim Walls the last couple of years. And Walls was then pressed on this. Who. Who are the Nazis?

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Yeah. What does he define it? They always say that. Nazi. Just tell me. So Donald Trump has destroyed constitutional government with a crisis and he is not subject to oversight at all. And he's barred because he doesn't let some reporter have the privilege, the privilege of coming in and sitting where they're accustomed to. He's banned the media. What has he done? Does he have camp somewhere? Or maybe I could put it this way, Jack. Has Donald Trump sent SWAT teams to raid an ex president's house and then have the FBI come in with little guides that say top secret and sprinkle them all over the floor as they throw files on the Biden floor and take pictures of them? Is Donald Trump trying to get, I don't know, maybe Tim Waltz is going to run for president. Is he trying to get his name off state ballots? Is he getting a right wing local prosecutor, state prosecutor in Utah, Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas to file indictments and writs and on his political opponents a lot. Letita James, Fanny Willis, Eugene Carroll, Jack Smith and Alvin Bragg. Is he doing any of that? No, but they keep saying fascist. Fascists. They don't. Doesn't mean anything. They don't even know what a fascist is. They don't know what a Nazi is.

[Jack Fowler]

They don't know what an immigrant is either. I think they do. I'm going to throw this on you.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

It's called a migrant.

[Jack Fowler]

Oh, I'm sorry. I meant to bring this up with you before as we were preparing for the show, but I think I just have to bring it up now since we're talking about Democrats. This is Marcy Kaptor of Ohio and her comments about Elon Musk and she's questioning his loyalty. Mr. Musk has just been here 22.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Years, just been here, 22 years.

[Jack Fowler]

The brazenness of this party.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

What did he leave? He left the United. He went to Stanford. What was he, 19 years old? He didn't. And Walter Isaacson biography said that to the extent he knew much about. And who knows much at that. 19. I mean, he was an assistant, but he was opposed to apartheid. He's never spoken out in front of it. And K. What's her name? Behar. Joy Behar. She said that he was pro apartheid. Then she. They always talk in the views. A little earpiece. Hey, Whoopi. Hey, Joy. You're gonna get us sued again. We're gonna have to settle for 20 million. That. That. And we're gonna take it out of your salary. So the next commercial, you apologize. So she. I don't want to get sued.

[Jack Fowler]

I think that's the third time on that show that's happened. It happened once on Morning Joe, you.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Know, fourth or fifth.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

What they're trying to do, I guess they're trying to do because they had that. They had that crazy preacher in Tennessee, that African American preacher that said you have to use violence because of Elon Musk. And then they arrested somebody in Indiana that went online that he was going to kill him. And then they had those placards all over D.C. eliminate Elon Musk. They're going. They're lowering the bar and what's permissible. And Elon Musk had that interview I looked at with Joy Joe Rogan, and he mentioned that. That he has had to get a security detail much larger than one would think, and he thought that he was a target. And they were. He said something that was true of Donald Trump. They're trying to create an atmosphere in which a nut who shoots Elon Musk will be considered in his own mind, a legend and a hero. If you keep calling people Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, fascist, fascist. And you speak from a position of authority, then you are going to. It's like putting honey and seeing all the insects that come out of the wall. Termites, ants, roaches. They're going to come out and they're going to have that. And every nut who's on balance in the country will come out and think that I can shoot somebody because I'll be a hero because he's Hitler. I know the Reich can be pretty tough, but you don't see Republican politicians, mainstream republic, go out in front of the Supreme Court and say, like Schumer, course H. Kavanaugh, you sowed the wind. You're going to reap the world. You're not going to know what hits you in front of a mob while they're in session, calling them out or picketing their homes. And again, it's all predicated on the left thinks that they're utopian, moralist and therefore any means necessary or justified.

[Jack Fowler]

There might be some interesting justification behind that fear. I want to get to that in a second, but I just want to first take a moment for our sponsor, Factor. Factor has chef made gourmet meals that make eating well easy. They're dietitian approved, ready to heat and eat in two minutes. So you can feel right and feel great no matter what life throws at you. Factor arrives fresh, fully prepared, perfect for any activity and for your busy lifestyle. Eat smart with Factor get [e-mail] Factor podcast. Use the Code Factor podcast to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. That's Code Factor [e-mail] Factor Podcast to get 50% off plus free shipping on your first box. And we thank the good people at Factor for sponsoring the Victor Davis Hansen Show. And I must say, I've eaten some Factor meals and they're pretty delicious. They're, you know, really delicious. Victor There was a piece, you know, playing off the the energizing lunatics out there related to death and Murder this Kid at Stanford Review, which was the conservative publication of the College. Ian Dalmas wrote a, an op ed piece the other day. Stanford is making men without chests. And yeah, let me just read the beginning here. He says when polled, a staggering 4 in 10 young people said that the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was justified. And according to a poll on the Stanford internal social app Fizz, 6 in 10 believe that Luigi is a hero. That's I.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

What's the subtext there? That Luigi was a spoiled brat who wasn't really actively working. His parents were multi, multi millionaires. He grew up in extravagance and leisure and pampered. He kind of kicked around very nice places, Japan, I guess, Hawaii, whatever. And he is a kindred soul. He had a opportune left wing ideology based on his his own security. Never had to suffer any of the consequences of his boutique ideology. And that's what most Stanford kids are. They're pampered, they're wealthy, they come to Stanford, they feel guilty, they have radical professors that indoctrinate them and then they spout the same stuff. Sam Bankman Fried was a perfect example. And my point is that they don't ever look at class. So the person that Luigi shot was from a poor lower middle class and worked his way up to be a health executive. I happen to have a united health care policy. It's not exorbitantly priced. Compared to other policies, it's been pretty good. It serves a social, cultural, economic need. So you go out and shoot somebody who was aspiring to be successful in a way that you're successful only because somebody gave you everything. You didn't have to work for it. And that kind of romance appeals to students that are sent to Stanford not to be educated. The parents know they're not going to be educated because the curriculum is watered down. 80% of people get A's. There's so many therapeutic distractions there. But they're going to be branded with an S on their rear end like a cattle. Cattle. And when they have that S, they think they're going to go out and say, I'm Stanford, therefore I get to go to Harvard Law School, I get to go to, you know, Stanford Medical School, I get to go to Yale and then I get to get hired. And I'm very prestigious. That's what they think. But they're, they don't quite understand what they're doing to their own brand. And the brand is that you see with if you get 80% A's and you don't have SATs for four years for admissions, then the brand, you start to meet people with the brand. So if only 83% of the Stanford top law school in the nation can pass the bar in the first try, that was true. Why not hire somebody from San Joaquin College and law school in Fresno? They have a better rate usually.

[Jack Fowler]

Well, with this, with this kind of social mindset, I don't blame Ian Musk or Elon Musk or anyone of higher, higher, you know, more public visibility from worrying about their security and safety. And.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Well, I got a memo the other day that there's a hiring freeze. Stanford has about, I GUESS it's over $30 billion endowment, way over, maybe closer to 40. And do the interest, they're getting about 7%. They have to reinvest 2 or 3%. So probably getting, you know, on the 40 billion, if I were to take that just in the interest alone, they're probably getting two and a half, three billion and then they're probably getting, raising another two or three billion for their $6 billion. But they're, they're facing a double whammy because they were charging, I think, 54% overhead, at least on government NIH contracts. And Bill Gates was private. You go to Private Grant, maybe it's 15 or 20%, melt the government 54%, but that's going to change with 15%, and that is about $180 million. The second part of that double whammy is it the bill has passed the Senate that they're going to tax. I think if the endowment Is greater than 500,000 per student, then Stanford is. It has about 16,000 students, but it's got about three times that endowment. So it's got about, you know, 16,000 students, but it'S got a $40 billion endowment. And so they're going to have to pay some tax on that. The Senate lowered it, I think to 15 from 25%. But when they start paying 15% on when the state, when the university can only take 15% out of grants, public or private, and they have to pay income tax on some of their endowment income, they're not going to be able to have this huge dei. And just the mere thought of that, it hasn't been actualized yet. The mere thought of it has invoked a hiring freeze and we're also subject to it, Hoover Institution or not. And that's because they see what's coming and who's to blame. They are. Nobody said that. Nobody forced them to give 80% A's to everybody. Nobody forced them to have racially segregated dorms, racially segregated graduations, racially segregated safe spaces. Nobody forced them to go censor people like Scott at was RJ Bacharya. So they brought it on themselves and all these universities did well.

[Jack Fowler]

Victor, we just were talking about the richest man in the world. I guess we should find a few minutes to talk about the second richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos. And again, I'll throw a curveball at you, but I think I sent you a note about this. We should talk about activism on campus has not stop. There's crapola happening at Barnard College in New York. And we'll get to those two final topics when we come back from these final important messages.

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[Victor Davis Hansen]

We are.

[Jack Fowler]

Back with the Victor Davis Hansen show talking on the 1st of March. This episode is up on Thursday, March 6th. I've already told you about Victor's website. Hey, if you're on X, Victor writes there probably once a week. Writes a long piece, so check him out. Dhanson, if you're on Facebook, VDH's Morning Cup. It's a great group of friends not officially affiliated with Victor, but good people at the Victor Davis Hansen Fan Club. And I should mention that the mothership of this podcast is John Solomon's justthenews.com and wait, there's more. About a month ago, Victor started doing a daily five or six minute video for the Daily Signal and that you can find that on YouTube. And the numbers there are kind of staggering and it's an excellent production. Victor, your thoughts about bad, bad Jeff Bezos. He has said that the Washington Post editorial page will no longer be the province of left wing lunatics. It will be about free markets, free speech, etc. He's changed the editorial policy. The usual suspects have yelled and even some have resigned. Your thoughts about him or about this Victor? It doesn't matter.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Well, they kind of did on the left. What? I have to be very careful, Jack. I'll offend your sensibilities. What National Review did in 2016.

[Jack Fowler]

Oh, I thought you were going to say something about attack Italians. Go ahead.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

No, but I mean, yes, that is their constituency got smaller and smaller and smaller and they, and they were an echo chamber, so. And nationally view when I was there from two. I was there for 20, 20 years. 22 years. 21 years.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

The point I'm making is that when you keep saying that Donald Trump is a troll. No, no, he's a devil. No, he's Satan. I disagree. He's Lucifer and you're doing, oh, he's an ape in a helicopter, that kind of stuff, you don't have an audience anymore. It gets monotonous. So they just keep drumming that in, drumming that in this left wing stuff. And they got, you know, they first, he was reasonable. After the election, they got rid of Jennifer Rubin and they got rid of some of the crazier people there. But it was still, they were still doing it. And finally he had a Marc Andreessen come to Jesus moment. Remember that? We've talked about that so many times, Jack. That interview he gave where he said, I just realized these people wanted. He's talking about his CEO said to him, these people want to destroy us. In other words, we're capitalists. We like a free market and we have to have free inquiry and expression. That's part of how we do this important productivity. And they want to destroy it. They think we're capitalist insects and we're not going to do it anymore. And that's what made them flip over to Trump from Harris Biden. But the left has this idea that they're so brilliant and they're so creative and they're so beautiful people that they should be able, like people at the Huffington Post. I don't know what happened there, but they drove that into the ground and they should write this crazy stuff and that doctor soon in LA Times or Jeff Bezos. These billionaires who are capitalist insects and parasitical on society, all those ill gotten gains should subsidize brilliant people like ourselves. And we, you know, we're not greedy. We think we should get, you know, modest sum, four or five hundred thousand dollars a year to write one of our recycled columns each week. And then Jeff Bezos, he didn't do this. Jack, this is funny. He didn't say, I think that we need to have more columns stressing two things, freedom of speech and free market economics. He said, we're only going to do that, we're only going to do that. It's almost implies you're not going to talk about anything but free expression and the wonderful capital system. And they. It's very different than Lisa Jobs. She runs Atlantic. But see, she's, she's not in the productive. She's on the money interest investment. She's a receptacle of the money from her husband. She never created any money. So she doesn't care that, you know, and maybe in an abstract she wants Apple to keep giving her these great returns on the stock or interest, but basically she's got so much money she doesn't care. But if she was actually out there as an Apple CEO trying to do business when your employees are trying to undermine it and the Bay Area is hostile to you, it's hard to be liberal anymore.

[Jack Fowler]

Excuse me. It's also applicable to Bezos's ex wife who has been giving billions of dollars.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

She's done a lot of damage. So the two of them, isn't that funny? We live in this society where white males are so demonized and they're toxic. And so we have these two liberal left wing white males who are, whatever you think about Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos, they are authentic American, original geniuses and they revolutionize their field and then they marry and then one of them dies and one of them gets divorced and Then the spouses who are not tainted with the scent, the odor of the marketplace, they just get the money, the fruits of their labors through alimony or inheritance. And then they become very, very left wing and they fund all these policies that if you follow them through their logic conclusion Would destroy the chicken that's laying their golden eggs. But not after they're gone. It takes a while.

[Jack Fowler]

It's interesting, Victor, you work for essentially for a nonprofit. I work for an entity that helps nonprofits, not against non profits. They are there for a reason, to help civil society and to engage in charitable activities, et cetera. But I don't think somebody that comes out of conservative home or school thinks as they are looking for employment. I want to work for a nonprofit. But if you're a kid of the left, you do you. I've. I've heard from so many who know use nonprofits to get into school. They create these things and then that's what they want to do. But who the hell makes the profits to allow them?

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Well, that's not subtext. That is the subtext of the entire furor over cutting the LGBT 10 million grant for drag queen shows in Congo. The whole USAID, the whole EPA, the whole Stacey Abrams 2 billion. What am I saying? I'm saying these people are being turned out from these universities with. I have a minor in ethnic studies. I have a major in feminist studies. I have a major in black studies. I have a number in peace studies. I have a minor in confrontation study. All of these worthless degrees, but they have a BA and some of them are a Duke ba, the Georgetown ba, Columbia. And then they go into these places where they'll hire them because where else would anybody hire them? Nonprofits, government programs, they are the grub. You know who's written very persuasive. It was Joel Cotton, the other very gifted observer. I'm sure you would disagree with me on a lot of thinks. He's a man of the left, but he's a very fair man of the left. He's empirical and he's written about what he calls. And I think a lot of other people have used the word clerisy. It's not an ancient word. It's 18th century. It's not just clerics, but it's the people who feel in the same fanatical. Not fanatical, but religious sense. They're not religious orders, but they are religious in their adherence to big government and redistribution. And they run. Run these things and they make, you know, two or three. No salaries were released you see what Sheldon Whitehouse wife had got. And so she's Ms. PhD oceanic something, giving money to the oceanic something and then raking her cut off while her husband voted for it. And that's what, that's what these universities do. They turn out these worthless degrees, these left wing soldiers in the army of progressivism, and they get hired by NGOs, non profits and the government. And nobody who's got an architectural firm or no one's running a fleet of taxicabs, or nobody who's on a, you know, Alice Chalmers tractor all day would hire these people. But that's why they're angry. They're trying to dry it up. They're trying to move these people to the private sector.

[Jack Fowler]

Bad chance. Hey, Victor, let's get us here over the finish line today. One last topic. Activists, I won't say the bad word. At Barnard College in New York, anti Israeli protesters seize academic buildings after two students were expelled. Folks should look it up. And then there was a related.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

My gosh.

[Jack Fowler]

This Columbia University spokesperson enters the building. Here's a breaking a Columbia University spokesperson. Yeah. With a pathetic megaphone.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Would you allow me to use my own restroom?

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah. Anyone that thinks this BS happening on campus is over, that the anti semitic students on campus is over. It's not over.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

The critics of this whole MAGA enterprise are the people like that and they don't believe in deterrence. All one administrator has to do is if she just said no, you're going to let me get out of the way. I'm using the restroom. And oh, by the way, you're here against state and city laws and the laws of the university. Many of you may be unfortunately on a green card or should say a student visa. Therefore, when I come out of the bathroom, we have security cameras all over. I know you're wearing masks, but we'll find out who you are. And if you don't leave, you're not gone. When I come back, you're going to be suspended, expelled. And if you, you resist that, we are going to have filed criminal charges against you with the prosecutor. And more importantly, if you're on a student visa and you're here from a different country, see, you wouldn't want to be.

[Jack Fowler]

That's what she said.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

That would not happen. That would be it. And it would be calm. We had the same thing happen at Stanford. We had Larry Summers, speaking of all people, he's not a conservative. And we had this group, it was alleged that they were mostly outsiders, not students. I don't know but they disrupted the. And they just were allowed to disrupt it. I thought, why don't the police come in here and arrest them? And these are very cowardly people. They're very pampered, they're very wealthy. They feel that they can say or do anything. And because of the mere fact that they occupy a campus for a transitory four years, they think they own the campus. Not the faculty, not the administration, not the donors, not the alumni, not the board of trustees. They own the university. You're just passing through like ships in the night. You don't own it because you have. You're like a renter. It's like a person renting an apartment for four years and he tells the landlord or the person who has the paper on it, this is my apartment.

[Jack Fowler]

No, it's not a subsidized renter in most cases.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Yeah, we're always waiting for that one rare man or woman that says, no, Moss, we're not going to do it anymore. I'm sorry. We're going to.

[Jack Fowler]

We have the former senator from California.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

As I hire co work. Yeah, he, he just got his scissors, his little gardening shears and he went out there and they said in very, he had a very funny accent. This is the law. And there is a regulation of no megaphones in the speech. So I cut the cord. And then he became famous. He was, he's actually a very gifted linguist. Wrote a book on introduction to linguistics.

[Jack Fowler]

Did you ever meet him?

[Victor Davis Hansen]

No, but I knew a person that knew him and he had that little tatter sham or that little thing he wore on his head. And then he became a senator. They called him Sleepy Sam because he falls. He was about 75 when they elected him as a one term senator. And his mother lived to be 95. I think he did too. But he was just, he was an old fashioned Roosevelt liberal and he just looked at these snotty, pampered, wealthy kids. And I think his family had suffered in the deportations and you know, during the Japanese, so called relocation where they put people in, you know, in Manzanar and places in the Sierra, Sierra plateau lands. Anyway, he just thought this is a circus. These people are not formidable. They're just. All you have to do is kick out a few of them and the rest will fold. And that's what he did. It's kind of like those old western movies where the guy, you know, they all get all worked up in a bar. Then they, they all get, they go to the, to the jail and they say we're going to Hang that SOB and then you get John Wayner. Somebody comes out on the porch with a double barrel, you'll get me. But I'm pointing right at you, Mr. Loudmouth. Before I go down, my scattershot will kill four of you. And then they all look at each other and they put down their guns or they. They go drift, go back home. And that's what students are. They're bullies. All you have to do is arrest two of them and they. They'll dissipate. But they won't do that at Columbia because they sympathize with them. That's the subtext, isn't it? They want them. They don't like Israel. They do not like Jewish professors and students. Let's be honest, they don't. Yeah.

[Jack Fowler]

The polls reflect that the governor of New York was still waiting for her to work up that law to take to outlaw masks, which is fine. If there was a kkk, why is it not.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

I never thought I would say that. I never thought I would say what I'm going to say. Jack, go ahead. But after watching her. Yeah. Andrew Cuomo looks.

[Jack Fowler]

Oh my gosh. No question.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

He looks like he has a halo and angel wings.

[Jack Fowler]

She's just a horror show. Terrible.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

I mean, I didn't like a lot of the stuff he did, but the way they got rid of him was they railroaded him and he was kind of a randy figure, but again, they just demonized him and got rid of him. And they put this functionary who never was intended anything other in her life to occupy a, you know, a minor office, Lieutenant governor of New York. And then you. Once she became governor, you thought, wow, no wonder she was never intended to be governor.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah. I think if there's a prime. I think Cuomo will probably run for mayor in New York. There's a good chance he might be it. If people don't forget all the dead bodies coming out.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Everybody should remember that. When you're a man of the left or a woman of the left and the left goes after you like the. Is it Weinstein? The professor was at Evergreens in Washington or Oregon. And when they go after and try. He was the guy who called up and said he was scared they were after him because he didn't cancel his class or you're Mark Halpern and they go after and try to destroy you, that's a different thing. And they become apostates.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah. Well, Victor, we have come to almost the end. I do want to thank our listeners and we have a lot of listeners before the show, Victor and I were looking at the great Sammy Wink shared some information with us. So there's lots and lots of new listeners and greatly appreciate you coming and hope you stay. Those who listen on Apple can take the opportunity to rate the show zero to five stars. And practically everyone gives Victor five stars. 4.9% average people leave comments there. Also on Audible and on Victor's website. We read them and I have one comment from somebody off Apple. It's very nice. It's titled Exceptional show and it's from Tula and Sal and it's. And I don't know if Tula's. I'll just say Tula's writing this. I owe VDH a huge debt of gratitude for keeping me sane during the incredible turmoil of the past few years. I felt like we were losing America to a bizarre, twisted, corrupt sect force feeding us lies through a complicit media. My fear was that America could down the same broke, go down the same broken path as California. VDH provided the clarity, truth, and insights that gave us hope. Today's episode about the complexities of the Ukraine war and the dynamics around Trump's efforts to end it was incredibly insightful. President Trump and his team would be wise to take counsel from VDH to help them navigate through the complexities to end this war. I also find VDH's World History Teaching fascinating, like listening to a storyteller that ties us all together. I'm a California expat. Grew up in Modesto when we could safely ride bikes all over town as kids in the mid-1960s.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

City.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah, sadly, that is not possible now. And I appreciate VDH sharing his perspectives on California's path to social insanity. Finally, I want to thank VDH for helping me with my fitness. I found it easy to increase my daily walks from 3 to 5 miles while listening to this show.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

I've increased mine from three to five. No, excuse me, three. Yeah, I was doing a mile and a half milling the perimeter, right? Yeah. And then now I've added two miles. So I'm doing. I'm doing. Excuse me. I went from one and a half and one at three to. I guess it's only three and a half. I do a day almost four.

[Jack Fowler]

You and the. And you have two dogs with you? One dog, four dogs.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

We had. We. At one point we had six, but they've all dropped off to old age. And the one of them is decrepit and the other one is insane. And so the one could walk with me, but he's insane. He would just wander in this, you know, he would wander out in the mountain view and look at a car that plowed over him. And the other one is a brilliant dog, but he. She's, I think, 15, and she can hardly. She. She's like a bunny rabbit. She's big, but she hops up on steps because she can't bend her hips or knees. I don't know what we're going to do when they pass away because we'll have to choice because there were such great watchdogs. But I have all these beware of the dog signs. But now you could leave because before you couldn't leave because they had to be fed on the hour.

[Jack Fowler]

You know, you're a dog person. And I know Mrs. Hansen's a super dog person. Right. I don't know. I talk about this with Sharon. What happens when George goes and I've.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Never bought a kennel dog, you know, because I've always been. We were always brought up. You have. And they're more expensive to get a pound dog because you have to pay for the Spain and the vaccinations. They're just as expensive sometimes. But next time, if I do, I like to get an actual pedigree dog because the dogs that we've gotten, every single one has either come through a pound or somebody threw out their car door. And they're nice dogs and we're doing a good thing to give them a home, but some of them have been so damaged, you know what I mean, by being maltreated. And they're just, you know, Sport was a great dog. He would just smile at you, but he was so paranoid. He'd bite your leg and then Spotty would just come up to you and just bark at you like she. You were a scarecrow or something. Just not just keep barking.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah, that's you. You watch that guy Cesar, whatever. The guy is supposedly able to train. Train dogs. And you don't try this at home because it doesn't necessarily work out. But we've had five or six dogs. One was a one we had to give back, but same thing. All. All are from the pound. Well, anyway, God is dog spelled backwards or dog is God spelled backwards. One or the other. Victor, you've been terrific. I want to thank finally the folks that subscribe to what I do. Once a week, I write Civil Thoughts, the free weekly email newsletter. It's produced by the center for Civil Society, where we are determined to strengthen civil society. And when you get it, you'll find 14 recommended readings here's an excerpt, here's a link, a stupid joke at the end, and it's free. And, you know, go to civilthoughts.com, sign up. We are not selling your name. There's no ulterior motive other than to share wisdom. So please do that again. Victor Victor's website, the Blade of Perseus. Sign up there. Vic, you've been terrific. Thanks for everything. Sharing all the wisdom. Folks, thanks for listening. We will be back soon with another episode of the Victor Davis Hansen Show.

[Victor Davis Hansen]

Thank you everybody for listening again.

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