Putin’s Dilemma, Rubio’s Cuts, and France at Ebb Tide

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Victor Davis Hanson Show Episode Title: Putin’s Dilemma, Rubio’s Cuts, and France at Ebb Tide
Release Date: July 19, 2025
Hosts: Victor Davis Hanson and Jack Fowler

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1. Introduction and Overview

In this episode, Victor Davis Hanson and co-host Jack Fowler delve into a range of pressing political and historical topics. The discussion spans from the current geopolitical tensions involving Russia and President Putin, domestic political maneuvers such as Senator Marco Rubio's budget cuts, to the historical analysis of the French colonial empire's decline in Algeria and Vietnam.

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2. Putin’s Dilemma and International Sanctions

Timestamp: [05:25 – 10:55]

Victor and Jack explore the intricate situation facing Russian President Vladimir Putin amid escalating sanctions imposed by the United States. Senator Marco Rubio has introduced secondary boycotts targeting Russian oil, aiming to pressure Russia into negotiating a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Key Points:

• Secondary Sanctions: Rubio's strategy includes imposing secondary sanctions on entities that continue to trade with Russia, which is viewed as "very dangerous" due to potential global economic repercussions.
• Economic Strain on Russia: Reports indicate significant distress within Russia’s wartime economy, with inflation soaring between 15-20% and shortages of essential goods (07:13).
• Putin’s Predicament: Putin is portrayed as being trapped in a "dilemma," likened to a dictator on a tiger that is turning hostile. He fears that any deal with the West may not adequately compensate his administration for the ongoing losses in the conflict (09:55).

Notable Quote:

"Putin thinks he's on the back of a tiger, like all dictators, and the tiger is starting to scratch him and turn his head and bite him, and yet he can't get off because if he gets off, he's dead." — Sammy Wink [09:36]

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3. Jeffrey Epstein and Alan Dershowitz Controversy

Timestamp: [14:05 – 17:33]

The conversation shifts to the recent statements by Alan Dershowitz regarding Jeffrey Epstein. Dershowitz, Epstein’s former attorney, defends his client vehemently, denying the existence of compromising evidence and suggesting Epstein’s suicide might have been orchestrated.

Key Points:

• Dershowitz’s Defense: Dershowitz claims there is no substantial evidence against Epstein and criticizes the handling of the case, implying possible foul play in Epstein’s death (15:14).
• Conspiracy Theories: The hosts discuss how Dershowitz’s statements contribute to ongoing conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein’s activities and death.
• Impact on Public Perception: The discussion highlights how high-profile figures like Dershowitz influence public opinion and perpetuate distrust in the legal system (17:33).

Notable Quote:

"Given where he was going to go as a pedophile into a prison, and we know what that's like. A wealthy white pedophile into the federal or state prison system, that's a death sentence." — Sammy Wink [17:07]

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4. Marco Rubio’s State Department Cuts

Timestamp: [19:37 – 25:04]

The hosts analyze Senator Rubio’s proposal to reduce the State Department’s budget, countering the Democratic narrative that such cuts threaten national security.

Key Points:

• Historical Hiring Patterns: Over the past 16 years, the State Department has expanded by 23,000 jobs. Rubio’s proposed cuts would reduce this by approximately 1,300 positions, a fraction of the overall growth (19:37).
• Left-Wing Critique: Democrats argue that these cuts could undermine U.S. diplomatic efforts and national security, framing Rubio’s actions as detrimental.
• Republican Strategy: Rubio and Republicans view these cuts as a necessary step to reduce government excess and the national deficit, challenging the long-standing left-wing expansion of federal agencies (23:18).

Notable Quote:

"This has been the left playbook for 50 years, 60 years since the Great Society. ... The Democrats are being taught that this is neo-colonialism, that we don't really own America." — Sammy Wink [20:01]

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5. Immigration and the Democratic Party’s Strategies

Timestamp: [21:05 – 31:01]

Victor and Jack delve into the Democratic Party’s immigration policies, arguing that the left relies on demographic changes to secure long-term electoral dominance.

Key Points:

• Immigration as Voter Base: The Democratic Party is accused of deliberately increasing immigration to build a diverse voter base that would consistently support left-wing policies (28:44).
• Impact of ICE Raids: Recent ICE raids in blue states have reignited debates about illegal immigration, with conservatives arguing that Democrats have historically neglected border security (26:24).
• Cultural Shifts: The hosts suggest that ongoing immigration has led to cultural and social changes that alienate the traditional white middle and rural classes, fostering a backlash against the Democratic Party (30:14).

Notable Quote:

"The Democratic Party has been the best description of the border is the Democratic Party has deliberately been importing voters with a surety that they were going to vote left wing forever." — Sammy Wink [30:43]

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6. Historical Analysis: Decline of the French Colonial Empire

Timestamp: [33:10 – 47:03]

In a historical segment, Victor and Jack examine the decline of the French colonial empire, focusing on Algeria and Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia). They discuss the geopolitical dynamics post-World War II that led to France relinquishing its colonies.

Key Points:

• Algerian War (1956-1962): The intense conflict in Algeria, where over a million French nationals lived, highlighted the difficulties France faced in maintaining its empire. The Battle of Algiers exemplified the military and political challenges (42:10).
• Vietnam War (1946-1954): French attempts to retain control over Vietnam were ultimately unsuccessful due to rising nationalist movements and external support from China and the Soviet Union. The decisive Battle of Dien Bien Phu marked the end of French colonial ambitions in Indochina (36:53).
• Economic and Social Factors: The hosts emphasize that post-war economic strains and ideological shifts towards decolonization contributed significantly to the collapse of the French empire (46:16).
• Legacy and Modern Implications: The fallout from these colonial wars left lasting impacts on France’s domestic politics and its immigrant populations, shaping contemporary societal dynamics (44:31).

Notable Quote:

"The irony is that those same people want to come back to the mother country, not assimilate, not impress their culture. And instead of using guns and cannon, they want to use demography and fertility to take over your country." — Sammy Wink [46:50]

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7. Public Opinion on Russian Collusion and Political Polarization

Timestamp: [47:03 – 60:22]

The discussion shifts to recent polling data from Rasmussen regarding public beliefs in the Russian collusion narrative. The hosts argue that despite extensive investigations like Robert Mueller’s, a significant portion of the American populace continues to believe in the collusion claims.

Key Points:

• Rasmussen Poll Findings: 69% of liberal voters believe in the Russian collusion hoax, compared to only 27% of conservatives and 45% of moderates. Additionally, 53% view the collusion as worse than Watergate (47:03).
• Media Influence: The hosts contend that media narratives have perpetuated distrust and misinformation, making political scandals more impactful than historical precedents like Watergate.
• Mueller Investigation Critique: Argues that the Mueller investigation was politically motivated, aimed at derailing Donald Trump's presidency by exhausting his administration’s time and resources (50:13).
• Ongoing Political Manipulation: Highlights how partisan figures continue to exploit scandals to bias public opinion, maintaining a divided and polarized electorate (53:16).

Notable Quote:

"The point I'm making is the Russians and the Chinese always try to get interference. So they just took that fact and said, well, they tried to collude and maybe or maybe not, Donald Trump was involved." — Sammy Wink [49:00]

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8. Education Department Cuts and Federal Mandates

Timestamp: [61:12 – 71:30]

In the final segments, the hosts discuss recent efforts to cut the Department of Education, framing it as part of a broader Republican strategy to reduce federal bureaucracy and restore state control over education.

Key Points:

• Cuts to the Department of Education: The Department has been significantly reduced in size, with Senator Ann cutting half of its employees. The Supreme Court has upheld these cuts, amidst Democratic lawsuits.
• Impact on Education Quality: The hosts argue that federal involvement has led to lower educational standards and increased politicization within schools. They criticize federal mandates such as affirmative action and changing curricula to reflect cultural Marxist ideals (65:25).
• Historical Context: Traces the creation of the Department of Education to the Carter administration and discusses subsequent expansions under Democratic leadership.
• Future Implications: Suggests that reducing federal oversight will empower local states to improve educational outcomes, countering what they perceive as federal overreach and inefficiency (68:29).

Notable Quote:

"The Department of Education has a record of failure... Most of the stuff that the federal government does from the Department of Education is simply, we can't address the fundamental problem of inequality in education because it depends on not racism, but culture and single parent families and illegitimacy." — Sammy Wink [68:12]

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Conclusion

Throughout the episode, Victor Davis Hanson and Jack Fowler provide a blend of current political analysis and historical context, arguing against liberal policies and emphasizing the need for conservative strategies to address both domestic and international challenges. Their discussions on Putin’s strategic predicament, the fallout from historical colonial wars, and contemporary political polarization offer listeners a comprehensive view of the complex interplay between history and present-day politics.

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Notable Quotes Recap:

• "Putin thinks he's on the back of a tiger...you stay on, you're going to be maimed." — Sammy Wink [09:36]
• "The Democratic Party has been the best description of the border is the Democratic Party has deliberately been importing voters with a surety that they were going to vote left wing forever." — Sammy Wink [30:43]
• "The irony is that those same people want to come back to the mother country, not assimilate...they want to use demography and fertility to take over your country." — Sammy Wink [46:50]
• "The Department of Education has a record of failure...we can't address the fundamental problem of inequality in education because it depends on...culture and single parent families and illegitimacy." — Sammy Wink [68:12]

---

This episode offers a critical perspective on current political strategies and their historical roots, making it a valuable listen for those interested in understanding the underpinnings of contemporary political discourse and its historical parallels.

Transcript

[Victor Davis Hanson]

This is unconstitutional. Have you heard some biased journalists, maybe on a podcast or a YouTube show say this?

[Sammy Wink]

Probably.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

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[Unknown]

Edu VDH hello and welcome to the Victor Davis Hanson Show. This is our Saturday edition and we do something a little bit different. In the middle segment, Victor talks about history or a historical topic. And we're looking at 20th century great moments in history and today it will be the French colonial era when they lose Algeria and Vietnam. So stay with us for that. But first we'll start start with some stories, news stories and the most recent ones. Victor wanted to talk a little bit more about the 50 days given to Putin by President Trump and then also Jeffrey a little bit about Jeffrey Epstein. So stay with us and we'll be back with those stories.

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Welcome back to the Victor Davis Hansen Show. Victor is the Martin and Neely Anderson Senior Fellow in Military History and Classics at the Hoover Institution and the Wayne and Marcia Buskey Distinguished Fellow in History at Hillsdale College. Please come join him at his website. The URL is victorhanson.com and it is called the Blade of Perseus and it has just about everything Victor does from his articles to his podcasts to interviews that he does out there broadly. And you can join the Blade of Perseus for $6 a month or $65 a year and get articles, two articles a week and a video on Fridays for ultra material. So Victor, I know that you wanted to talk a little bit more about President Putin and his 50 days, so I'll just go ahead and let you take it from here.

[Sammy Wink]

Well, Donald Trump issued a warning to Putin that if he did not cease and desist and enter serious negotiations aimed at a ceasefire and a settlement, he.

[Unknown]

Was going to up the sanctions to.

[Sammy Wink]

Secondary boycott, which is illegal in the United States.

[Unknown]

I grew up in the age of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.

[Sammy Wink]

I lived on a small farm.

[Unknown]

We didn't grow cable grapes.

[Sammy Wink]

But he issued a secondary boycott against anybody who bought grapes. Now what does that mean? It wasn't that you were supposed to.

[Unknown]

Boycott grapes in Safeway. To take an example, you were supposed to Boycott Safeway for everything. It was a violation of antitrust or labor relations board.

[Sammy Wink]

Anyway, that's what we're doing internationally in the next 50 days. That anybody who buys Russian oil, by.

[Unknown]

The way, that's European states too.

[Sammy Wink]

I don't know if he has a plan, but to supply Europe with sufficient natural gas and there's going to be.

[Unknown]

Enough petroleum in the Middle east or.

[Sammy Wink]

We'Re going to do it.

[Unknown]

But they have been stealthily buying Russian oil and natural gas.

[Sammy Wink]

The same people who are supposedly berating.

[Unknown]

Us for not doing enough for Ukraine.

[Sammy Wink]

When he announced that, the Russian foreign minister and Putin just shrugged and said, it's Trump.

[Unknown]

Basically, they said, it's Trump again, meaning.

[Sammy Wink]

Donald says this, Donald says that Donald doesn't care. But in the last 24, 48 hours, there have been rumors emanating from Moscow that the oligarchic elite and top members.

[Unknown]

Of the Russian military are very disturbed.

[Sammy Wink]

Because this economy is about 60 to 65%, munitions related.

[Unknown]

It's a wartime economy. Inflation is about 15 to 20% in.

[Sammy Wink]

Russia and there are shortages of key.

[Unknown]

Drugs, pharmaceuticals, essentials, staples.

[Sammy Wink]

And the economy, according to these reports coming out in the news wires, cannot sustain this. So there will be increased pressure. So the question is, well, why didn't.

[Unknown]

Putin make a deal when he had somebody who was willing to negotiate?

[Sammy Wink]

Trump didn't say, I'm going to give Ukraine as long as it's whatever it takes to get back to Donbass or Crimea. And we all know now that the.

[Unknown]

Europeans, the American Democratic Party, the Republican Party, everybody has the formula for a.

[Sammy Wink]

Ceasefire to stop this slaughter.

[Unknown]

Slaughter.

[Sammy Wink]

A million and a half casualties and it's simply Crimea, Donbass, they were in.

[Unknown]

Russian for a long, long time. They're disputed.

[Sammy Wink]

They stay Russian. Putin tells everybody that we would have lost them, there would have been a war.

[Unknown]

We institutionalize that.

[Sammy Wink]

That's why I had the special military operation. And then he says, they would have been in NATO, I stopped them in NATO, and then that's it. And then the only negotiating, remaining disagreement.

[Unknown]

Is where is the 38th parallel type ceasefire line, the demilitarized zone, as we saw in Korea? Is it where Putin is right now.

[Sammy Wink]

Or do you push him back?

[Unknown]

And the sticking point is that Putin, in reference to what I just said.

[Sammy Wink]

About dissension among the high ranks, is afraid that if he cuts a deal with Trump, he did not get enough.

[Unknown]

From this special military operation.

[Sammy Wink]

Because after all, when he invaded Ukraine, Ukraine was not in NATO. And there were people in NATO themselves saying they didn't want Ukraine, most prominently the United States, to be in NATO. When he started this, they had occupied Crimea and Donbass, and there was no way militarily that the US Backed forces, NATO forces, the Ukrainian, would ever get it back. So basically he's saying to the Russian oligarchic cadre, I'm 30, 60 here, 90 miles in. That was worth it. And I don't think they're going to buy that, but they want to end it.

[Unknown]

And so Putin thinks he's on the.

[Sammy Wink]

Back of a tiger, like all dictators, and the tiger is starting to scratch him and turn his head and bite him, and yet he can't get off because if he gets off, he's dead. Anybody who rides a tiger knows if you jump off, you're dead. You stay on, you're going to be maimed. And that's his dilemma.

[Unknown]

And we'll see what happens as the pressure mounts.

[Sammy Wink]

But I have a feeling that before.

[Unknown]

The 50 days are up, he'll cut a deal.

So you think these secondary sanctions are going to be very effective then, which is, I'm happy about dangerous.

[Sammy Wink]

Because the people who are selling Putin things and buying things are not all enemies, at least de Urea enemies. For example, India is buying oil. If we cut off all trade with India, that's going to be serious. Turkey is selling them military parts.

[Unknown]

If we cut off all trade with.

[Sammy Wink]

A NATO, it's going to be serious. So it's a very dangerous thing to.

[Unknown]

Do, a secondary boycott.

[Sammy Wink]

But then on the other hand, it's very dangerous for two nuclear powers to be in a proxy war. And that's what's happening.

[Unknown]

We should say that we're in a.

[Sammy Wink]

Proxy war against Russia and Russia's in a direct war.

[Unknown]

To be more specific, we've never seen.

[Sammy Wink]

Anything like this since 1962 with the.

[Unknown]

Cuban Missile Crisis when Nikita Khrushchev broke the rules of the Cold War and.

[Sammy Wink]

Directly aided and armed a proxy to attack the United States. That is, Castro was going to have nuclear tipped missiles pointed at us and we had nuclear tipped Atlas missiles from Turkey pointed at Russia.

[Unknown]

And so we all said, we don't do this anymore. You do not use a proxy to existentially threaten your superpower nuclear rival.

[Sammy Wink]

So we've got to be very careful about this.

[Unknown]

Yeah, it seems like you've got a pit bull in a corner with Putin as well. But the other good news this week, just to both together, secondary sanctions and the fact that NATO is starting to be drawn in and the Europeans are committing more to this NATO project.

[Sammy Wink]

Because when he asked for a ceasefire and he says I've got additional territory in the special military operations, people are going to say to them it's not enough military additional territory to justify. And remember, These casualties are 70, 65 to 70% Russian. So when you say a million and a half casualties, you're talking about a million dead maimed Russians. And they're going to tell him it would have been worth it had you taken Kiev and we had all of.

[Unknown]

Eastern Ukraine from Kiev eastward.

[Sammy Wink]

But you didn't do that.

[Unknown]

You humiliated us, number one. Number two, this additional territory is not enough.

[Sammy Wink]

And Vladimir, we had NATO in disarray. We had them mad at the United States, we had the United States mad at them.

[Unknown]

They were all in dissension. Now 23 nations already have met the 2%.

[Sammy Wink]

That's a 400 billion dollar increase in munitions. And it looks like at the end of 20, 24, 25, all but Canada and Spain will probably meet the 2%. Now they promised within five years to get to or five to 10 years.

[Unknown]

To get to 5%.

[Sammy Wink]

And worst of all, we're on the front lines looking at Finland which we attacked in 1939 with a million soldiers.

[Unknown]

And could not defeat for six months, four months.

[Sammy Wink]

It's got the best artillery, the best.

[Unknown]

Army per person in all of NATO.

[Sammy Wink]

We've got Poland in extremists mobilizing for war at 3% GDP. And they've got a huge army. Germany has promised to have a 500,000 man army. That'll be interesting, won't it? To see, remember the NATO keep America in, Russia out, Germany down. Well, Germany is going to be really up. And then of course we have Sweden.

[Unknown]

Kind of prejudice as a Swedish American.

[Sammy Wink]

But they have a very sophisticated arms industry. They make wonderful armored vehicles and they make the Gripen Euro fighter.

[Unknown]

It's pretty good.

[Sammy Wink]

It's not as good as the F35.

[Unknown]

But it's getting close.

So the other topic that you were looking to talk about was that currently recently in the Wall Street Journal, Alan Dershowitz wrote an article on Jeffrey Epstein and basically said there's nothing here to see. And I was wondering your take on that.

[Sammy Wink]

Well, Alan Dershowitz, for a little background was on the jet with Jeffrey Epstein.

[Unknown]

One of the underage girls, a couple of years ago came forward and made allegations against him that he had been involved with her. He denied that and then sued her.

[Sammy Wink]

For defamation and as I remember, she.

[Unknown]

Withdrew that false accusation.

[Sammy Wink]

So he is writing as somebody who was Jeffrey Epstein's Lawyer and had a.

[Unknown]

Perfect legal right to be on that airplane.

[Sammy Wink]

And he says, and this is tricky.

[Unknown]

Because he's the attorney of a deceased.

[Sammy Wink]

Client, but he says, even though my.

[Unknown]

Client is deceased, I honor the, the attorney client relationship. So I can't tell you everything, but.

[Sammy Wink]

I can tell you some things that are in the public domain that I can elaborate on.

[Unknown]

One of them is there was never.

[Sammy Wink]

A list of clients of Jeffrey Epstein. There were never published videos in the bedrooms in the Caribbean or the New York penthouse of prominent people engaging in.

[Unknown]

Sex that he knew of.

[Sammy Wink]

I don't know how he knows that, but he says that the cameras were surveilling the premises. Outside are common use rooms. He did say that there were a number of people who visited these houses.

[Unknown]

Where these things were going on.

[Sammy Wink]

And they are mentioned by Jeffrey Epstein.

[Unknown]

So when Pam Bondi said she had.

[Sammy Wink]

A list she was surveilling messages, emails, texts, maybe some camera that saw somebody going in a door.

[Unknown]

And there were mentions of all these people, but he said there was no.

[Sammy Wink]

List on Jeffrey Epstein's end. The list is just in court trials, prosecution, federal government had bits and pieces.

[Unknown]

That they've cobbled together against a case.

[Sammy Wink]

Then he said, I think they should release those names and let those people, on an individual basis make the case.

[Unknown]

That if you are going to accuse me as Alan Dershowitz was accused falsely, I'm going to sue you for defamation.

[Sammy Wink]

But I didn't do anything.

[Unknown]

And that would dispel all the conspiracy theories.

[Sammy Wink]

As far as his suicide, he says he clearly committed suicide. However, he did say there is reasonable.

[Unknown]

Doubt about the role of the guards and the video monitors.

[Sammy Wink]

And he suggests that it's not impossible and perhaps even likely that Jeffrey Epstein.

[Unknown]

Given where he was going to go.

[Sammy Wink]

As a pedophile into a prison, and we know what that's like. A wealthy white pedophile into the federal or state prison system, that's a death sentence.

[Unknown]

He committed suicide and he either paid.

[Sammy Wink]

Off or he made arrangements that the.

[Unknown]

Guards would not monitor him as he prepared for his suicide. That was pretty much his disclosures.

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[Sammy Wink]

Everybody should remember that this has been the left playbook for 50 years, 60.

[Unknown]

Years since the Great Society. At least there was an aberration during.

[Sammy Wink]

The Clinton years when Bill Clinton for four years collaborated with Newt Gingrich and they were able, through moderate tax increases.

[Unknown]

And moderate cuts, to balance the budget and hold. That was an aberration.

[Sammy Wink]

So what I'm getting at is what the left does is they, when they come into power, they turn on the spigots and start hiring in mass for bigger government. And then when they go out of power, these are these additions in the Pentagon, in, in the bureaucracy, in the Pentagon, in DOJ and the irs. And all of these, especially though in hhs, are so large and they're so.

[Unknown]

Accustomed and you have so many people.

[Sammy Wink]

In Washington working, many of them poor people, people of color, for example, in.

[Unknown]

Washington, D.C. so then the Republicans come.

[Sammy Wink]

In and say we've got a cut, but they're afraid to undo the entire cuts.

[Unknown]

So they start making 10 or 15 or 20% cuts.

[Sammy Wink]

Not in the actual agency as it.

[Unknown]

Was before the Democrats started adding, starting.

[Sammy Wink]

To cut the level or rate of additional hiring. And so, and that sets off alarm bells.

[Unknown]

It's a larger problem.

[Sammy Wink]

It's, I don't know how to put it, but it's like Trump's chemotherapy versus Biden's cancer. And that messaging or that formula works across the board.

[Unknown]

Here's what I mean, it's very easy.

[Sammy Wink]

To let in 12 million people across the border. All you have to do is say, come in, just go in, I don't care.

[Unknown]

And then you can pose as being very humane. Look at these poor people from Guatemala.

[Sammy Wink]

They've never seen a Western doc come on in. And then you. That's the immediate photo op.

[Unknown]

The guy in Visalia, California that's taking.

[Sammy Wink]

His mother for chemotherapy on medi cal and she goes into the oncologist and there's a big line of people from, you know, out of, out of the.

[Unknown]

United States that have never seen a doctor and she get her care.

[Sammy Wink]

Nobody sees that. The idea of how do you get rid of the 10,000, 10 million people who came in illegally? Well, we all love that.

[Unknown]

Optics on the left. Left, loved it. All the people coming in.

[Sammy Wink]

But the second half of that equation.

[Unknown]

Is the chemotherapy to treat that cancer. It is a cancer to let 12.

[Sammy Wink]

Million people unaudited in the age of COVID to come in with no background check.

[Unknown]

But it's very, very hard, just like.

[Sammy Wink]

Chemotherapy, to start rounding them all up.

[Unknown]

10 here, 100 here. This country went crazy over 360 people.

[Sammy Wink]

Being deported from a platform that included.

[Unknown]

Child laborers and felons.

[Sammy Wink]

But that's Nothing. There was 12 million of them. Not all like that, but. So it's very easy just to tell.

[Unknown]

People there's white privilege, there's white supremacy.

[Sammy Wink]

There'S white rage in the ranks. If you don't want to get a, a Covid shot, even though you've had natural immunity, you've had Covid twice. Get out. Get out.

[Unknown]

It's very hard to go back in.

[Sammy Wink]

And say, we're very sorry. You, the white middle class, rural class.

[Unknown]

Largely are the people who were kicked.

[Sammy Wink]

Out or forced out by di or vaccine.

[Unknown]

Would you please come back? Because you die at twice your numbers.

[Sammy Wink]

In Afghanistan, Iraq, we need you.

[Unknown]

That is a hard sell.

[Sammy Wink]

The corrective is much harder than the crime. So Biden, he just let everybody be happy and just open the gates.

[Unknown]

He borrowed $7 trillion.

[Sammy Wink]

It's kind of funny that all these people are yelling at Trump right now. Big, beautiful bill is going to add $3 trillion over 10 years.

[Unknown]

We don't know if that's true or.

[Sammy Wink]

Not, but we do know that they.

[Unknown]

Borrowed $7 trillion in four years and.

[Sammy Wink]

Nobody said a word.

[Unknown]

I don't remember the Wall Street Journal writing as many articles about Joe Biden's.

[Sammy Wink]

Reckless spending over four years as they have over Trump's in the last six weeks. I don't remember saying that Joe Biden's.

[Unknown]

Going to destroy the country with 9% hyperinflation. I don't remember the Wall Street Journal.

[Sammy Wink]

Saying in their news articles he's going to destroy the country by letting in.

[Unknown]

10,000 illegal aliens per day.

[Sammy Wink]

I do not remember the Wall Street Journal said it is unsustainable to have a $1.1 trillion deficit every year. It's unsustainable when you have a North American free trade formula, whether reified or de uri or de facto, to have.

[Unknown]

One partner in the north running up.

[Sammy Wink]

A $63 billion trade deficit and your.

[Unknown]

Partner to the south who's getting 63 billion in remittances running up 171 billion.

[Sammy Wink]

I didn't hear anybody talk about that. And now they're all screaming and yelling.

[Unknown]

Because Trump is the chemotherapy and his.

[Sammy Wink]

Rhetoric matches the medicine. He's saying, I don't care. You know, Adam Schiff is all of that.

[Unknown]

It's very easy to go into the.

[Sammy Wink]

White House under Obama with Brennan, Clapper.

[Unknown]

Comey, and say, hey, Donald Trump is an existential threat. I got this guy named Steele that Hillary Clinton's paying through three firewalls.

[Sammy Wink]

We got a little thing in there that he pissed.

[Unknown]

Excuse me.

[Sammy Wink]

Everybody urinated.

[Unknown]

That was one of the words they were using, the dossier. He urinated on bedsheets in a hotel in Moscow with prostitutes. Can you imagine if we leaked that.

[Sammy Wink]

What it would do to Donald Trump? And that's what they did. It's very, very hard to go back and prove that that Clapper and Comey.

[Unknown]

And Brennan conspired to rig an election by producing false information, disseminating it, while.

[Sammy Wink]

Barack Obama knew everything that was going on. If you look at the chemotherapy, the corrective, then people say you're vindictive, tit for tat. You're just weaponizing the government, and that's what they're doing.

[Unknown]

And to add to your list, there's been recent stuff out on the ICE raids in California. And a lot of the commentators on the right are saying, well, they had very similar ICE raids even in the Obama and Biden years. And the left wasn't doing anything then, right? So there you have it, right?

[Sammy Wink]

There's a whole potpourri trafficking on the Internet of quotes, and they are from Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and they run the gamut of illegal immigration. They are, we are a nation of laws, not illegal immigration. If you come in illegally, it's as simple as that. You gotta go back.

[Unknown]

We are going to deport people. We are going to beef up ice.

[Sammy Wink]

This was constant from about 1980 all.

[Unknown]

The way to about 2014. What changed? The number of illegal aliens increased. And the radicalization of the universities trained a quarter a half of the population.

[Sammy Wink]

In all of these.

[Unknown]

Settler theory, neocolonial theory, imperialistic.

[Sammy Wink]

So you had a nexus where there was now representatives of the illegal immigrant community that said, we've got 10 or.

[Unknown]

12 or 15 million people here and we're a political constituency.

[Sammy Wink]

You add into the equation that the radical change to mail and early in balloting in 2020, and we know that.

[Unknown]

There were a lot of ballots that.

[Sammy Wink]

Could not be verified, put all that together. Schumer, the Clintons, Pelosi, they said, you know what? This is stupid for a Democrat.

[Unknown]

The Democratic Party is going far left.

[Sammy Wink]

They're being taught that this is neo colonialism, that we don't really own America.

[Unknown]

That Latinos really own all that stuff.

[Sammy Wink]

And incrementally, insidiously, they flip.

[Unknown]

And they said to themselves, they put their finger up in the air and.

[Sammy Wink]

They said, our old constituency of the.

[Unknown]

White working class with lunch buckets that.

[Sammy Wink]

Go to the factory, there are no factories anymore. We outsourced it, we offshored it. Look at Ohio or look at rural Michigan, they've all been wiped out.

[Unknown]

They're all on fentanyl.

[Sammy Wink]

Just, we'll just have a new name for them. Deplorables, irredeemables, clingers, dregs, chumps, garbage. That's who they are.

[Unknown]

The new constituency are people of color.

[Sammy Wink]

Coming across the border and let's get.

[Unknown]

As many as we can. And that was a radical shift.

[Sammy Wink]

And the irony of it, because I.

[Unknown]

Believe there is something called divine providence.

[Sammy Wink]

The more they brought in, the more.

[Unknown]

Short term was their solution. So when these people brought in, they.

[Sammy Wink]

Were coming from socialist failed states.

[Unknown]

And it looked really great at the beginning. If you come from Oaxaca or Chiapas.

[Sammy Wink]

Or Micho Khan and you're starving or.

[Unknown]

You have parasites in your gut or.

[Sammy Wink]

Whatever, and you come to this beautiful.

[Unknown]

New country and you get everything free and your kids, and maybe you too.

[Sammy Wink]

If you're young, are going to get affirmative action DEI on the idea that.

[Unknown]

You were, the moment you put your.

[Sammy Wink]

Finger or your foot in the United.

[Unknown]

States, you were a victim of white oppression.

[Sammy Wink]

However, after that all settles down and you get a job and you start.

[Unknown]

To look and you look at the.

[Sammy Wink]

Crime and you look at the radical.

[Unknown]

Abortion policies and you look at DEI for other groups other than yourselves.

[Sammy Wink]

And then the Latino community says half these people aren't even from Spanish speaking.

[Unknown]

Countries are from Asia or Africa.

[Sammy Wink]

We have no allegiance to you put.

[Unknown]

All that in a mix. They're overrunning our social services. People start to get conservative.

[Sammy Wink]

So the Democratic Party has been the.

[Unknown]

Best description of the border is the Democratic Party has deliberately been importing voters with a surety that they were going.

[Sammy Wink]

To vote left wing forever. And the fact is they only vote.

[Unknown]

Left wing for about 20 years and.

[Sammy Wink]

Then they flip and go conservative. And that's why the majority of Hispanic men voted for Donald Trump and almost 50, 50 Hispanic.

[Unknown]

And they had huge losses among Asians and among blacks.

[Sammy Wink]

And I don't think they're going to get them back.

[Unknown]

That's what this is all about.

[Sammy Wink]

The ice raids, the screaming and yelling.

[Unknown]

Hikem Jeffries with a bat, Karen Bass.

[Sammy Wink]

Giving two the whole subtext is we've got to get the Hispanic vote back.

[Unknown]

For the midterm so we can impeach Trump.

[Sammy Wink]

And we can't do it unless we.

[Unknown]

Convince the Latino people they are victims of a gulag or Nazis.

That is a grim tale you weave, Victor, but it's probably, yes, very true. So let's go ahead and take a break and then come back to talk about the French colonial dismantling of the French colonial empire, at least its two big Algeria and the Indochine or the Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia region. So stay with us and we'll be right back.

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Welcome back to the Victor Davis Hanson Show. If you want to find Victor on social media, you can find him at X. His handle is Hansen and he's on Facebook at Hanson's Morning cup. So come join him there if you are interested. And that's your medium of getting news. So Victor, I'm excited to hear your take on the fall of Algeria for France and Vietnam as that's part of the post World War II experience, this dismantling of empires, especially the French and the British.

[Sammy Wink]

But the French were in rivalry with the British Empire and the Germans were.

[Unknown]

Almost went to war over North Africa.

[Sammy Wink]

They had no colonial presence. But generally, with the exception of the French and British, the colonial empires were proximate to poor European states. What do I mean by that? So Libya was right across the Mediterranean from Italy and it was an Italian colony. And Spanish Morocco or Mauritania or right across from Spain was an imperial protectorate or colony.

[Unknown]

In the case of France, though, they.

[Sammy Wink]

Made the argument, they were trying to.

[Unknown]

Make the argument that they were going.

[Sammy Wink]

To bring a holistic culture, the cuisine, the life of France, the Napoleonic glory and that way.

[Unknown]

And the British were more.

[Sammy Wink]

We're going to get railroads and administration and create British efficiency and make this colonial system work in India, in Egypt, in Africa.

[Unknown]

This whole system blew up in World.

[Sammy Wink]

War II because the Germans and the Japanese and the Italians were very clever.

[Unknown]

Even though they were racist, all racist nations. They said to these third world colonial.

[Sammy Wink]

Subjects, we're going to try to liberate you.

[Unknown]

So the Grand Mufti, for example, who.

[Sammy Wink]

Hated Jews and was wanted the Holocaust, was a German, basically a German agent in what is now in the West Bank, Jerusalem. And you could make the argument that the Germans tried to take over Iraq.

[Unknown]

And its oil from Britain.

[Sammy Wink]

Same thing with Iran. And so the war, the second part of the war was once the Allies were victorious, they had made a trap.

[Unknown]

For themselves a contradiction.

[Sammy Wink]

They had put themselves in a bind.

[Unknown]

Because the four freedom, freedom of religion.

[Sammy Wink]

Freedom of association, freedom to vote, etc. The, the Atlantic Charter was so idealistic, remember that they made allowances for the Soviet Union, which was a criminal state. But my point is that after the.

[Unknown]

During the war, as these, as the.

[Sammy Wink]

Allies got successful, the colonial people said well, you guys were liberating everybody in Europe from the liberate us. And so almost immediately there were the French were the.

[Unknown]

Were weaker as far as their ability to maintain colonies.

[Sammy Wink]

So for example, most of Indonesia was.

[Unknown]

Taken over by the Japanese during World War II. And why was that?

[Sammy Wink]

Because the Vichy government, let's be frank, France ceased to exist about June 22nd.

[Unknown]

Of 1940 and the colonies had no.

[Sammy Wink]

Mothership, just like the Dutch ceased to exist.

[Unknown]

And the Dutch East Indies had no. And the Japanese absorbed that.

[Sammy Wink]

When the Japanese were defended, then there was a defeated, there was a vacuum. So most of Indochina was freed or was run by the Japanese. And then France tried to reassert control.

[Unknown]

That the Vichy French had lost. That was a losing argument because you.

[Sammy Wink]

Were saying, well, we were on the.

[Unknown]

Side of the Nazis, the Vichy's.

[Sammy Wink]

And then Japan kicked us out and now we're kicking the Japanese out and we want to bring back French glory and all this.

[Unknown]

And it didn't work very well.

[Sammy Wink]

So there was a war in Vietnam essentially from 1946 or 7 all the way to 1954. And it started out at first that the Japanese in 1946, there were still Japanese there. And there was a lot of goodwill.

[Unknown]

Toward the new French government, not the Vichy. And they were.

[Sammy Wink]

They.

[Unknown]

We had alliances, remember, it was no.

[Sammy Wink]

There was no such thing as south or North Vietnam. It was all Vietnam. And the problem was that under the.

[Unknown]

Yalta Conference, they had invited the Soviet Union into Asia, which had not wanted to do it.

[Sammy Wink]

Said, no, no, no, no, that's your sphere. We want to concentrate on Europe. And that's where the money is.

[Unknown]

That's where the war is.

[Sammy Wink]

That's where the Nazis are. We're not going to help you.

[Unknown]

As soon as the Nazis were defeated.

[Sammy Wink]

May 9th and 10th, the Soviet Union said, ah, all these places are closer.

[Unknown]

To our border, Korea, Vietnam.

[Sammy Wink]

So they. And then they overthrew Chiang kai Shek.

[Unknown]

By 1949, Mao was in control. So you started to get Chinese advisors.

[Sammy Wink]

Russian arms pouring into Vietnam, pouring into Korea to try to create a Soviet.

[Unknown]

Puppet state or a Chinese puppet state.

[Sammy Wink]

And the French then tried to stop that. So from 46 to 54, they thought.

[Unknown]

They could do it. And they did it pretty well from 46 to about 50.

[Sammy Wink]

And then certain things started to happen. One is that that generation that Patton in the 3rd army had armed Tassigny and Leclerc, all of those great generals.

[Unknown]

Some of them were aging, some got killed. But the World War II veterans.

[Sammy Wink]

Were spread pretty thin all over Vietnam. It wasn't us fighting to save Vietnam. Huge juggernaut.

[Unknown]

It was a thinly deployed French force trying to cover all of Vietnam, north and South.

[Sammy Wink]

And a couple of things happened at the same time.

[Unknown]

In 1950, the Korean War broke out and France gave troops as part of the UN mission. And so the world's attention turned to Korea, not to the French effort.

[Sammy Wink]

The French de Gaulle came to Ike and said, if you don't give US Help.

[Unknown]

We're going to lose this war.

[Sammy Wink]

And we need troops, we need air support. The Russians are doing it. The Chinese, your credibility.

[Unknown]

And Ike said, we will give you some money and a little bit of legit.

[Sammy Wink]

We're not going to get involved in Vietnam. It's just a. You're a colonial power. We've never been a colonial power.

[Unknown]

We're not going to be on the side of colonials.

[Sammy Wink]

That's what we said. And after that, after the Korean War.

[Unknown]

Broke out, if you look at 51, 52, 53, the French were gradually losing.

[Sammy Wink]

Control as Ho Chi Minh and General Giap got all of this aid and sophisticated arms, World War II arms from China and Russia. So in 1954, way up north, way up in North Vietnam, near the Chinese border at Dinh Bien Phu, the French.

[Unknown]

Thought that they were going to make a caisson.

[Sammy Wink]

They were going to go into a kind of an uplift, upward plane, put.

[Unknown]

All their troops there.

[Sammy Wink]

And then all of the North Vietnamese and Chinese advisors would coalesce. And then they would have World War.

[Unknown]

II planes and artillery.

[Sammy Wink]

And they didn't realize that the North.

[Unknown]

Vietnamese had Soviet artillery, which was better than their own. They were outnumbered 10 to 1. They fought heroically.

[Sammy Wink]

They killed 10 North Vietnamese for every Frenchman. They were wiped out and surrendered. I think 11,000 were captured. It was a disaster. And after that, de Gaulle would cede.

[Unknown]

Get out of Vietnam.

[Sammy Wink]

And then there was a UN agreement to divide the country between a communist country. Most people in North Vietnamese had any sense fled southward.

[Unknown]

And then the war started to take the South.

[Sammy Wink]

And at that point, by 1957, 58, 59, we were sending advisors in to.

[Unknown]

Arm the Diem government.

[Sammy Wink]

Catholic, pro American, pro Western, dictatorial perhaps.

[Unknown]

The problem with all this is that.

[Sammy Wink]

The real thing that mattered was Algeria.

[Unknown]

It was very different.

[Sammy Wink]

It was right next to France. Morocco had not been a problem. They had a kingdom.

[Unknown]

It was stable. The French gradually allowed the King of Morocco to take place.

[Sammy Wink]

He had been involved in World War II.

[Unknown]

It was stable.

[Sammy Wink]

But Algeria was very different because there was over a million Frenchmen. And they had. They had Napa Valley, like vineyards.

[Unknown]

They controlled Algiers, the major cities.

[Sammy Wink]

In some of the cities, there was.

[Unknown]

As much as 30 or 40% French.

[Sammy Wink]

The Pied noise and the dark feet, I guess it is, or night feet or whatever it's called. And they were some of the toughest.

[Unknown]

French people in the world. A lot of them were military veterans.

[Sammy Wink]

From the Free French Forces. Some of them had been the Mackis, the Resistance.

[Unknown]

And they did not want to give.

[Sammy Wink]

Up 150 years of French development. So there was an effort. They thought they were outnumbered about 9 to 1, 10 million or 9 million.

[Unknown]

To a million point three or something French.

[Sammy Wink]

But they were right next to France. And so that war, the battle for.

[Unknown]

Algiers, went from 1956 to 1962.

[Sammy Wink]

And the French actually, if you look at some of the documentaries, the Battle of Algiers, they did pretty well. And some of the most famous French Camus was an Algerian. There was a lot. Some of the intellectuals and the most prominent people in France were Algerians, but they didn't say they were Algerians. They were the same.

[Unknown]

And they were subject to discrimination too, because they.

[Sammy Wink]

And that were. The other thing was there was wealth.

[Unknown]

In Algeria that was comparable to France because of the development of vineyards and industry.

[Sammy Wink]

And so there was a big discussion.

[Unknown]

Whether they should carve out a Mediterranean.

[Sammy Wink]

State, that is take the million and.

[Unknown]

A half people, combine them maybe 50.

[Sammy Wink]

To 80 miles and then make a purely French state. But at this time, the fourth and what would be the fifth republics were pretty much socialist. And there was so much opposition of.

[Unknown]

Being a colonial power. After World War II, they'd seen what.

[Sammy Wink]

Was going on in Vietnam. They saw that they had colonial wars in some places in Africa and the British were giving up India. So there was an idea to get out. And then they made a fatal mistake. And they said, when we get out, people who have been Algerian can apply for French citizenship, loyal Algerians, etc. So basically a lot of French thought.

[Unknown]

They could stay under this revolutionary.

[Sammy Wink]

And it became almost an outright Stalinist state. So they fled.

[Unknown]

All of that wealth was confiscated.

[Sammy Wink]

It was destroyed under socialism. They went into France.

[Unknown]

They were very embittered. They formed a lot of the right wing parties.

[Sammy Wink]

There were attempts to kill de Gaulle for that.

[Unknown]

They hated de Gaulle for selling them out. Camus was very sophisticated.

[Sammy Wink]

You have people like Sartre, who was pro revolution and all that stuff.

[Unknown]

But Kamu tried to point out he was trying to find a midway position.

[Sammy Wink]

He was actually advising the de Gaulle government.

[Unknown]

Is there a way that we could.

[Sammy Wink]

Allow them to be a semi protectorate?

[Unknown]

Could it be something like Greenland versus Denmark?

[Sammy Wink]

Something like that.

[Unknown]

And there was no solution.

[Sammy Wink]

And what we see today in France.

[Unknown]

With a large number, 16% of the.

[Sammy Wink]

Population, are North African Muslims and increasingly from the Middle east, but mostly from the Maghreb, comes from that colonial legacy. It's sort of like the British legacy.

[Unknown]

In the Caribbean with Jamaicans coming.

[Sammy Wink]

And it's very funny. There's two ways to look at that.

[Unknown]

The Finnish, the colonial wars.

[Sammy Wink]

One is.

[Unknown]

That this is their just.

[Sammy Wink]

Deserts, that they tried to colonize indigenous people in their territories.

[Unknown]

And for all the railroads they build in industry and communications and ports and.

[Sammy Wink]

Airports, they basically thought they were doing.

[Unknown]

It not to create civilization as they.

[Sammy Wink]

Claimed, but to make money. I think now recent scholarship shows that it was not a money making deal.

[Unknown]

That the colonies cost more than they did.

[Sammy Wink]

So there's a revisionist study of colonialism that said actually it was naive and misguided do the right thing, Kipling stuff.

[Unknown]

And it didn't make economic sense, it didn't help the mother country.

[Sammy Wink]

And that's one thing that the people from these colonies who migrated back to.

[Unknown]

Europe, into the Netherlands, into France, into.

[Sammy Wink]

Italy, but especially, especially into England and France, they got what they deserved, kind of schadenfreude.

[Unknown]

The other is this is hypocritical. Once you make the argument that it's.

[Sammy Wink]

Wrong for people from a different country.

[Unknown]

To go into your country and try to dominate it and keep their own.

[Sammy Wink]

Culture and impress it on the Algerians, on the Vietnamese, then it's very ironic.

[Unknown]

That those same people want to come back to the mother country, not assimilate.

[Sammy Wink]

Not and impress their culture. And instead of using guns and cannon.

[Unknown]

They want to use demography and fertility.

[Sammy Wink]

To take over your country. That's the other view. And so it's a mess. And the only thing you can say about the United States, except for the.

[Unknown]

Philippines, it really was never a colonial power.

All right, Victor, so let's go ahead and take a break and then we'll come back to talk a little bit about Rasmussen Poles. Stay with us and we'll be right back. Welcome back to the Victor Davis Hanson Show. Victor is on YouTube and on X, sorry, and on Rumble. And so you can find him there for these video podcasts. So, Victor, we had a Rasmussen poll on the Russian collusion hoax, and to what extent people believed it or not, some of it was no surprise. So, for example, 69% of liberal voters still believe the Russian hoax is true. Only 27% of conservatives and 45% of moderates. And that did not surprise me. But then there were other questions. 53% of voters broadly said the hoax was greater than Watergate, 53%. And then 57% of voters said the Russian hoax instigators should be prosecuted. And my thought was this, that seems very low. It's only 53 and 57%. And so this Russian hoax for the Democrats, it still worked. It worked in the sense that it had turned the minds of 47 and 43, 3% of the people still believe things about it.

[Sammy Wink]

In this sense that after Robert Mueller for 22 months and $40 million found.

[Unknown]

That Donald Trump did not collude with.

[Sammy Wink]

The Russians, his left wing legal team inserted into that report, well, the Russians were trying to interfere with it. Yes, they were. The Chinese were too. On behalf of Hillary Clinton and behalf of Joe Biden, they did. They tried to get into everything. The Russians did that as a chaotic stuff. I think you could make the argument the last person that the Russian wanted was Donald Trump because you can say he was Putin's puppet, but if you look at what he did to the Russians, get out of a missile deal.

[Unknown]

Sanction oligarchs, send offensive arms to Ukraine, wipe out a whole battalion of the.

[Sammy Wink]

Wagner group in Syria, etc.

[Unknown]

Etc. Etc. Tell the Germans to stop Nord Stream. He was a lot tougher than any Biden or Obama presidency.

[Sammy Wink]

But the point I'm making is the Russians and the Chinese always try to get interference. So they just took that fact and said, well, they tried to collude and.

[Unknown]

Maybe or maybe not, Donald Trump was involved. They found no evidence that he was. But that wasn't the point of the Mueller investigation. The point of the Mueller investigation was to eat up 22 months of Donald Trump's first term. And it worked perfectly.

[Sammy Wink]

And note the moment that it ended, it was about 30 days later than Alexander Vindman, a leftist, was listening to a classified phone call with a President of the United States to Mr. Zelensky, and he leaked that call against the.

[Unknown]

Law to Eric Serramella, who never heard a word. And then he hid his own involvement.

[Sammy Wink]

Saramela then said, I am a whistleblower. You can't identify me. And they both went to Adam's ship and organized an impeachment writ that Donald Trump was interfering in the internal affairs of Ukraine. No one ever said, well, I guess Devin Nunes surely did. He asked point blank, Mr. Vindman, would you tell me who you called? He said, I can't do it, I can't do it. He said, whistleblower. So in other words, you're not the whistleblower. So the person who's the whistleblower had no knowledge of the call. How do you find out anything about it except you violated the law by leaking it?

[Unknown]

And he became a hero.

[Sammy Wink]

Then Adam Schiff lied under oath and he said that he had no knowledge of either one of these people and.

[Unknown]

He was the one who cooked it up. And then he kept saying Trump was involved.

[Sammy Wink]

That's why Trump is so angry at Adam Schiff, because he lied, lied, lied. And he was the engineer of the section impeachment. And so what was Russian collusion? It was Hillary Clinton taking an old dossier, an old wash up British spy from some Republican anti Trumpers and paying him to reboot it and get Decinko and all these people and write this stupid dossier. It was full of lies. There was a consul, Russian consul in Miami and there's this and that and, and that crazy Cohen, that was Trump's somewhat lawyer, was supposed to be abroad negotiating. He wasn't even that liar had to admit that he wasn't and then to hide it. So Hillary said to the dnc, you.

[Unknown]

Can use my campaign money allotment. The DNC said to Perkins Cohey, you guys handle it. Perkins Cohey said to Fusion gps, you deal with and you transfer the money. And there was no way to find out that Hillary Clinton was behind the.

[Sammy Wink]

Whole thing, especially when she said collusion, collusion. I'm in the resistance, Trump.

[Unknown]

And so it wasn't just that they.

[Sammy Wink]

Tried to throw an election, it was they tried to destroy administration. And it worked. Yes, it worked.

[Unknown]

And today these misguided people like Joe.

[Sammy Wink]

Scarborough or Rachel Maddow or any of these people that are on television, on msnbc, CNN or the network, did any of them apologize? No. Not one person said we said that.

[Unknown]

Donald Trump was a Russian. Did Clapper apologize?

[Sammy Wink]

No. Did Brennan apologize? No.

[Unknown]

Did Comey apologize? No.

[Sammy Wink]

Comey looked up to Donald Trump and said, you are not the object of an investigation about collusion, I can guarantee you that. And then he went back and said, let's press ahead with Operation Crossfire Hurricane.

[Unknown]

So he was completely lying to Donald Trump.

[Sammy Wink]

And then he went outside as soon as he talked with him, he what did he say? Memorialized it on an FBI device and then he used it as insurance policy.

[Unknown]

And then he leaked it to the.

[Sammy Wink]

New York Times via a third party.

[Unknown]

Total scoundrel.

Yes. And just the way the questions asked. Was it worse than Watergate? I think that Americans will all agree and you'll get a huge percentage of people that Watergate was bad and was corrupt. And they would, you would, your vote would be 80, 90%. But here with Russian collusion, it's only 53% worse than Watergate. And it was a lot worse than Watergate. Yeah, but the people don't know that.

[Sammy Wink]

Watergate was about a president not telling the truth about a minor break in.

[Unknown]

That he didn't know about or authorize.

[Sammy Wink]

Once he knew about it, he felt.

[Unknown]

He couldn't come clean and he was therefore culpable. The COVID up.

[Sammy Wink]

This was about falsely trying to swing an entire election and getting the FBI not on the COVID up, but on the actual crime. The FBI looked at that dossier and said to Steele, whoever's paying you, we will pay you a million dollars if.

[Unknown]

You can verify that.

[Sammy Wink]

He couldn't.

[Unknown]

They were involved.

[Sammy Wink]

The CIA under Brennan was taking that dossier material and presenting it as valid.

[Unknown]

Intelligence to Barack Obama so that he.

[Sammy Wink]

Would spread it with Bruce Ohr and James A. Baker. The FBI and James Comey Baker and.

[Unknown]

Clapper were doing this to throw an election.

[Sammy Wink]

The second thing, why? It was much more dangerous. It involved a nuclear rival of the United States.

[Unknown]

Russia is culpable 100%.

[Sammy Wink]

But one thing it did not do was try to throw the election by deliberately working with Donald Trump. Maybe it tried to screw up the election like a. The Chinese, like it does everything. But it did not pay Donald Trump or Manafort or any of these people to beat Hillary Clinton because he was there. And so when you start to tamper with a nuclear rival and you make these charges against it, even if it's a rogue, horrific regime, you are rising tensions.

[Unknown]

It's going to rise. And that was one of the reasons.

[Sammy Wink]

That eventually we had no credibility. For the one time in his life, Putin was probably right when he said, I don't know what's going on. I mean, basically he said, we all have espionage, but we did not create this dossier. And then we had this. We went from Russian reset, Russian reset. We're Democrats, we're Hillary Clinton, our ambassador in Russia and Moscow. We're going to make it a democracy. We're going to make Yeltsin ism permanent. We're going to get rid of Putin, we're going to have a democracy. And then all of a sudden it's, oh, we hate the Russians. They're horrible people because they support Donald Trump.

[Unknown]

And that was horrible what they did.

[Sammy Wink]

Adam Schiff. So everybody I know that Donald Trump.

[Unknown]

Is wildly using capital letters, exclamation marks, Shifty Schiff.

[Sammy Wink]

Adam Schiff is this.

[Unknown]

He's a mortgage fraud.

[Sammy Wink]

Yes, yes. Maybe that's loose talk, but he has a legitimate grievance and that is these people did it two times at least.

[Unknown]

They did it in 2016 and the.

[Sammy Wink]

Same cast of characters, most of them came back in 2020 and this time it was Russia, Russia, Russia, laptop disinformation. They said to themselves. We ate up 22 months of his first term. It worked. So you know what? He's got this laptop with all this pornography on it.

[Unknown]

All these admissions of Mr. Big Guy.

[Sammy Wink]

Mr. 10%, that Joe Biden and the whole family's a crook. Hunter says, I paid the bills for Joe.

[Unknown]

He doesn't appreciate me.

[Sammy Wink]

This family doesn't basically appreciate that I'm.

[Unknown]

Shaking down foreign governments and making them rich.

[Sammy Wink]

And they thought, oh my God, what are we going to do? We have the last debate coming up in a week. I know what we do. Hey, Anthony Blinken, he wasn't Secretary of State then. He was a campaign hack.

[Unknown]

Could you call up, remember Mike Morale? He was CIA director for a while.

[Sammy Wink]

Call him up and say that we need to round up every fraudulent paid off person we can.

[Unknown]

That's a retired intelligence authority. Half of them probably weren't.

[Sammy Wink]

They were still secretly contracting with the CIA.

[Unknown]

But they all signed that letter.

[Sammy Wink]

Clapper, Brennan, Morale, Leon Panetta.

[Unknown]

Ooh.

[Sammy Wink]

And then what did Biden do in the debate?

[Unknown]

You're a liar.

[Sammy Wink]

Donald Trump, 51. He didn't even get the 51. 50 authorities said this and they said that and that was the end of it. And then they, you know, a conservative group, just because it's conservative doesn't mean it's inaccurate. I think it was called Technometrica ran.

[Unknown]

A poll and 79% said, hey, if.

[Sammy Wink]

We had known that the Biden campaign made up all this and planted all.

[Unknown]

These lies and rounded up these 51 people to lie.

[Sammy Wink]

So everybody said, why is Trump taking.

[Unknown]

Now taking their security clearances? First of all, they should have never.

[Sammy Wink]

Had them or if they're really out of government, that many people. But they deserve what they got. I don't know why they're not legitimately investigated for deliberate. I mean, if you can sue the media and they will settle, why would.

[Unknown]

Those 51 people on the EVA debate.

[Sammy Wink]

On an even election promulgate a fake letter that was demonstrably untrue and think they could get away with it by saying has all the earmarks of Russian.

[Unknown]

Information now they should all go after them.

Yeah, and those things seem to still be working. I guess perhaps in the broader span of history as we get further along, they'll be understood. And as similar though as we understand Watergate, I mean I pretty much people are agreed. I know it is much worse than Watergate, but the fact is that the people are still 47, 48, 49% thinking that the Democrats have been honest with them. And that's not true.

[Sammy Wink]

That's because 75% of the Democrats believe this.

[Unknown]

And that makes the country about 48% and about 15. There's got to remember there's about 15% are never Trumpers.

[Sammy Wink]

And this dossier did not originally the form was was hired by a Republican.

[Unknown]

Donor to destroy Trump.

[Sammy Wink]

Got to remember that you could make.

[Unknown]

The argument that people like Bill Kristol or Charles Sykes or the whole Bulwark.

[Sammy Wink]

Crowd or David Frum or John Bolton.

[Unknown]

They hate Trump more than the left because in their way of thinking, Trump.

[Sammy Wink]

Was the one that disconnected them or.

[Unknown]

Severed their conservative money streams.

[Sammy Wink]

And they found out when they woke up and they bet on the wrong horse. They had no speaking fees. They had no book big contracts.

[Unknown]

They had no private phone numbers to the White House. They had no job for their kid. Nothing.

[Sammy Wink]

Nothing. And they blamed Donald Trump for that.

[Unknown]

Well, Sammy's not going to be happy until it is treated like Watergate is treated these days. I'd like to take a moment for our sponsor. Open. OpenPhone is the number one business phone 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. So whether you're a one person operation drowning in calls and text texts or have a large team that needs better collaboration tools, OpenPhone is a no brainer. See why over 60,000 businesses trust OpenPhone. OpenPhone is offering listeners 20% off your first six months at openphone.com Victor that's o p e n p h o n e dot n and if you have existing numbers with another service, OpenPhone will port them over at no extra charge. Open Phone, no missed calls, no missed customers. And we'd like to thank OpenPhone for sponsoring the Victor Davis Hanson Show. So Victor, let's go ahead then and turn to the Education Department. There are blue states that are suing the federal government for $6 billion in education grants. And there's two things about education. Ann is doing cuts just like Rubio, only she's cutting half the Education Department. And the Supreme Court upheld her right to do that. My observation is this, that the left is trying to prevent all of these things, the government, from being changed and cut back as though all of these things are entitlements, even grants. And that's what really is disturbing, I think, for all of us. Because how are you going to cut back and reduce the deficit and debt if the left sees everything as an entitlement. Your thoughts?

[Sammy Wink]

Well.

[Unknown]

This was, as I remember, Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter added the Department of Education.

[Sammy Wink]

And I think the Department of Energy. So you have to ask yourselves, once we made this huge federal bureaucracy and.

[Unknown]

We redefined public education, said it's no longer the sole domain or even the primary domain of the states.

[Sammy Wink]

But we're going to have federal directives.

[Unknown]

This is where we got all of this interference into Title ix, all of this stuff. The federal government could issue edicts, and if the schools or even college did not obey them, then they could go.

[Sammy Wink]

In and cut off funds.

[Unknown]

But the real question is, let's say.

[Sammy Wink]

From 1980, when it was created, to.

[Unknown]

2025, we've had 45 years of it. So let's just say this.

[Sammy Wink]

Oh, we got. We finally went into these backward places.

[Unknown]

Like the San Joaquin Valley, where Victor went to school at Selma High School, and he didn't have the same opportunities as kids in Carmel or La Jolla.

[Sammy Wink]

So we were going to regular. We were going to make federal mandates.

[Unknown]

So that all these teachers had to.

[Sammy Wink]

Be trained at a certain way and they had to have a certain curriculum, and we would oversee it. So guys like Victor at Selma High School would have a competitive advantage. No, Selma High School, I can guarantee.

[Unknown]

You, has lower SAT scores for those who take it.

[Sammy Wink]

And the general level of knowledge is.

[Unknown]

Much lower after 45 years.

[Sammy Wink]

I can tell you that if you.

[Unknown]

Look at the rankings of Americans abroad.

[Sammy Wink]

In math, science, analytics, our global ranking has gone down. Now you can say there was all, well, we have 50 million people who came in the United States.

[Unknown]

16%, they don't all speak English.

[Sammy Wink]

27. Okay, okay. But the fact is it didn't. Remy made things worse now.

[Unknown]

So the question is why? What was it doing? Was it interested in ensuring that kids.

[Sammy Wink]

In the inner city were going to have a competitive parody with kids in preps? No, it was.

[Unknown]

Let's promote the teachers union, let's promote.

[Sammy Wink]

Affirmative action, let's promote a culturalist, a cultural Marxism socialism. Let's get therapeutic things, let's get gay stuff. Let's get all of these mandates. And we're going to determine how. What, what textbooks are going to be. It was an intrusion to local education.

[Unknown]

Do you really think some person with an EDD in Washington knows better what's going in southwest Fresno county than a principal of school?

[Sammy Wink]

He knows what's wrong, she knows what's wrong. So it has a record of failure. And so what Donald Trump is doing. Ronald Reagan said he wanted to get rid of the Department of Energy and.

[Unknown]

The Department of Education.

[Sammy Wink]

And we can remember in almost every Democratic Republican primary debate, Almost everyone since.

[Unknown]

1988, it was all a contest.

[Sammy Wink]

Republicans got up there and they said, I'm going to cut energy. No, I'm going to cut hhs. No, I'm going to cut education. They were all arguing, it was like, who can brag about? And then we get a guy that finally does it. Let's just go back to the nominees. Would in 19, let's say, excuse me.

[Unknown]

2016, would any of the primary people.

[Sammy Wink]

Have cut had they won?

[Unknown]

Tried to.

[Sammy Wink]

Trump tried to.

[Unknown]

In 2017?

[Sammy Wink]

I don't think so. Ron DeSantis is the only other Republican I think that would have done it. But if you go back to when Obama was elected and the election, would.

[Unknown]

Mitt Romney have cut?

[Sammy Wink]

No, he wouldn't have done it. He wouldn't even dare do it in 2000.

[Unknown]

That was 2012.

[Sammy Wink]

In 2008, would McCain have done it? No.

[Unknown]

George Bush had a perfect chance after 2004. Would he have done it?

[Sammy Wink]

No.

[Unknown]

Would he have done it after 2000? No.

[Sammy Wink]

Would George H.W. have done it in 1988? 9.

[Unknown]

When he took what he won the.

[Sammy Wink]

No. Would Ronald Reagan?

[Unknown]

He tried.

[Sammy Wink]

He couldn't do it. So my point is no Republican would ever do it. And they all said they would or that it would be a good thing. Now he's actually doing it and everybody's going hysterical.

[Unknown]

But it has no record of success.

[Sammy Wink]

It has a lot of damage. And most of the stuff that the federal government does from the Department of Education is simply, we can't address the.

[Unknown]

Fundamental problem of inequality in education because.

[Sammy Wink]

It depends on not racism, but culture and single parent families and illegitimacy. And if we were to address that, we would be considered racist or intrusive. And we don't want to suggest your.

[Unknown]

Culture needs to do this or that.

[Sammy Wink]

Culture needs to do this or everybody should have English only.

[Unknown]

And that was therapeutic.

[Sammy Wink]

And it didn't help the people at all. It made it worse.

[Unknown]

And then this is just the K12 you're talking about, higher education.

[Sammy Wink]

Does anybody believe right now that if I took a Stanford graduate and I.

[Unknown]

Graduated with a PhD from Stanford in.

[Sammy Wink]

1980 and I took a classics major.

[Unknown]

To take one example, because I taught.

[Sammy Wink]

Classics as a graduate student, I can.

[Unknown]

Guarantee you that the students that I had at Stanford at 1980, in my.

[Sammy Wink]

Class in Greek, I taught intensive Greek, they were 10 times better than the students right now that are graduating from.

[Unknown]

Stanford in class which many of whom don't know a word of Greek. And that was true across the curriculum.

[Sammy Wink]

And so did the Department of Education have anything? No.

[Unknown]

They basically greenlighted anything these people wanted to do.

[Sammy Wink]

Did they stop anti SEM? No. Did they ensure that speakers were not.

[Unknown]

Harassed and hit and roughed up?

[Sammy Wink]

No. Did they say, did the Department of Education come in and said, why are.

[Unknown]

You charging 60%, you don't need all.

[Sammy Wink]

This equipment or you don't really have it all?

[Unknown]

Why not just do 50, 15 like private foundations?

[Sammy Wink]

No. Did they say, well, wait a minute, we oversee campuses and you say it's a theme house, but 99% of your LA Raza theme house is Hispanic.

[Unknown]

You don't have any so called other races there.

[Sammy Wink]

You say that graduations are auxiliary. But I've gone to the Chicano graduation.

[Unknown]

I didn't see any white faces at the graduation. If I did see white faces, they.

[Sammy Wink]

Were basically white people that were with a Hispanic last name from Argentina or.

[Unknown]

Somewhere, or people of mixed heritage.

[Sammy Wink]

But the point was the whole intention.

[Unknown]

Of all this was racist. It was to champion a particular tribe or race. And that was contrary to the Supreme Court and civil rights. Did the Department of Education.

[Sammy Wink]

No.

[Unknown]

It has no records of sex anywhere. So to get rid of it is not just to save multibillions of dollars.

[Sammy Wink]

But to free up and liberate these.

[Unknown]

Individual states to do things.

[Sammy Wink]

And does anybody think that the backwards south and its racist heritage will be injurious to people in Florida, in Texas versus Minneapolis? You really think that kids are going to get a worse education in Orlando than they are in Minneapolis? I don't think so. It's going to be a lot more racist in Minneapolis.

[Unknown]

Well, Victor, I know that you're up against a hard stop here, so this will be the end of our show. And we'd like to thank everybody for joining us on this Saturday edition. And we hope you enjoyed it and we're glad to have the entire audience. And thank you, Victor, for all your.

Wisdom and thank you. I'll be out of the hotel and.

[Sammy Wink]

Back home next time I see you all. Thank you. Awesome and watching.

[Unknown]

Yeah. This is Sammy Wink and Victor Davis Hansen and we're signing off.