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Sammy Wink
Hello and welcome to the Victor Davis Hanson Show. This is the Friday news roundup and we've got lots on our schedule. We've got a terrorist attack in New Orleans and then also the Trump Towers in Las Vegas had a bomb explode right in front of it. So stay with us and we'll be right back with those stories. 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 Marsha Busky Distinguished Fellow in History at Hillsdale College. Please come join us at his website, victorhansen.com we'd love to have you. A subscription is $5 a month or $50 a year still. So come join us, Victor. So we've had a explosion outside of the Trump Tower in Las Vegas and then in New Orleans, a terrorist has killed 15 people in New Year's Eve celebrations. And I was wondering your thoughts on those things.
Victor Davis Hanson
There's two or three or four commonalities to these incidents both in Las Vegas and in New Orleans and what happened recently in Germany and even the demonstrations that were happening incredibly right after these.
Guest Speaker
Horrific attacks, people went to the streets.
Victor Davis Hanson
In New York to basically protest in.
Guest Speaker
Support of Hamas, a terrorist organization from the Middle East.
Victor Davis Hanson
But the first is this administration is not up to it, just like the Obama administration is not up to it. What do I mean by it? Policing our borders, deterring terrorists. Why do I say that? Joe Biden has been in the Caribbean. Then he goes back to Washington, then.
Guest Speaker
He goes right to camp David.
Victor Davis Hanson
He's 40% of the time he's not in the White House. He's on vacation. He comes forward with a statement. You think he's going to be able.
Guest Speaker
To finish the statement?
Victor Davis Hanson
Because we know that he can be semi coherent when he's angry. Usually that's when he's angry at Trump people, semi maga fashion, that kind of stuff.
Guest Speaker
But he lost his way.
Victor Davis Hanson
It was a tangled mess. He couldn't follow the teleprompter and we got nothing out of them. Nothing. And so other than, as you know, don't kind of little bit he man threats and all that. So this administration has open borders and we know that it has institutionalized dei. Now, what do I mean? Number two, the FBI is just not up to it either. One of the first reactions from the Federal Bureau of Investigation was this, by the way, Christopher Wray didn't say anything at first, nor did his assistant in Washington, which is another argument, by the way, why we should take that headquarters out of Washington and put it somewhere in the middle of the country. But the assistant Special Agent in Georgia, excuse me, in Louisiana, I guess that's where she was. Alethea Duncan.
Guest Speaker
The first thing she says, without any evidence, this doesn't seem to be a terrorist example.
Victor Davis Hanson
It's a matter of IEDs. So in other words, she's confusing causation with methodology.
Guest Speaker
We don't really care what terrorists do.
Victor Davis Hanson
Whether they blow up, whether they use DI or bullets or guillotines. They're terrorists.
Guest Speaker
And she can't even say.
Victor Davis Hanson
Can't even say. We don't know yet whether it is a terrorist. She says it is not a terrorist, though. Now, why did she say that?
Guest Speaker
And who told her to?
Victor Davis Hanson
And what kind of indoctrination has she been subject to that would make that her first response? I think I can answer my own question, rhetorical though it is. Do you remember the Major Hassan Fort Hood attacks?
Guest Speaker
Killed 13 people. Very similar.
Victor Davis Hanson
He was a US citizen. He had been in the military. And as he started to murder these people, what did he say? Allah Akbar. And what did the Obama administration, military and officials say? It's workplace violence.
Guest Speaker
Workplace violence.
Victor Davis Hanson
Then we go back to the Tsarnev brothers. Remember that they were tipped off by Russian intelligence that these immigrants who were U.S. citizens, I think at least in one case, were very dangerous people. They ignored that. In fact, the public thought he was handsome and put him on the COVID of Rolling Stone after he butchered people. I don't even need to get into the San Bernardino. But they were the same type of people, acculturated, either legal residents or American citizens. So what am I getting at is that there is a process where people come from the Middle east, immigrants, first or second generation, and they start to absorb popular culture.
Guest Speaker
And two things happen.
Victor Davis Hanson
Number one, they get a sense that in the DEI mentality that is prevalent throughout the country, that they are exempt. In other words, if 50% of all hate crime victims are Jews and that Muslims are overrepresented by 2 to 1 as the perpetrators, it doesn't matter that the official response will be we deplore antisemitism. What we say in Greek is men on the one hand and de on the other, and Isla Foma Islamophobia, even though there's very few cases in comparison with anti Semitism. So by trying to have it both ways or equivocate, you dilute the message.
Guest Speaker
That's number one.
Victor Davis Hanson
They understand that they have plugged into the DEI industry and they are victims. So you cannot criticize them on the basis of what they do. Number two, when people from the Middle east come over here, there is a subgroup that doesn't do well. I'm not saying that most don't do well, but whether the Sarnab brothers or Major Hassan or this Jabbar fellow or the people in Santa Barbara. And as they start to absorb American culture and Western culture in general, they start making excuses for the unhappiness in their own lives. We saw this trailer where he lived, right?
Guest Speaker
He had goats and sheep and chickens.
Victor Davis Hanson
It was a mess. And yet he had cut a video not long before about his real estate company. And yet we learned that something that does not happen in the Middle east, he had divorced twice, and he had to make alimony and child support payments.
Guest Speaker
So then he's getting very, very angry about that.
Victor Davis Hanson
So his attitude. I came over here, I joined the military. I'm not doing well.
Guest Speaker
Join the club.
Victor Davis Hanson
Everybody has that thing. I'm speaking to somebody who made $1.80 an hour for five years farming, I figured out. And one year I paid $10 an hour for the pleasure of driving an Oliver tractor for 12 hours a day. And yet I didn't become a fanatical religious zealot. But my point is that a lot of these immigrants, a lot, not the majority, but a lot when they feel frustrated or angry, then they start blame gaming. The system of America. Oh, it's pornographic, just like Mohammad Atta, remember? And they were all saying how decadent we are. And some of them were, what, at Stripso's in Vegas before they murdered 3,000 people? So they start to chronicle all the things wrong with America, and then they become, what, converts to what had been a latent Islam. In other words, they had been born Muslims. They are Muslims. They were Muslims in the extent that a lot of Christians are Christians, but they're not practicing. But once they start to see all these wrong things going on in their lives, then what do they do? They rediscover Islam as a crutch, as a refuge, as an escape. And then they start to channel jihad.
Guest Speaker
Against the system that welcomed them in.
Victor Davis Hanson
And no one, no one in the mosque, no one in the Islamic movement, none care. Nobody says to them, we are so.
Guest Speaker
Fortunate to be in the United States.
Victor Davis Hanson
Whatever claims are unhappiness or frustrations you have, it pales in consideration to where we came from. So just suck it up, buttercup. Don't go blame the system and don't go kill people.
Sammy Wink
Well, I hope. I wish they would listen. And all immigrants would listen to that, to be honest. All right, so, Victor, let's take a moment. I would like to welcome our sponsor back Lumen. Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach. It's a device that measures your metabolism through your breath. And on the app, it lets you know if you're burning fat or carbs and gives you tailored guidance to improve your nutrition, workout, sleep, and even stress management. Your metabolism is your body's engine. It's how your body turns the food you eat into the fuel that keeps you going. Because your metabolism is at the center of everything your body does, optimal metabolic health translates to a bunch of benefits, including easier weight management, improved energy levels, better fitness results, better sleep, and on and on. So if you want to stay on track with your health this holiday season, go to Lumen Me Backslash Victor to get 15 off your Lumen. That is L u m e n dot m e slash V I c t o r for 15 off your purchase. Lumen makes a great gift, too. And I love my lumen. It's been helping me every day get better and better at eating well so that my body is fat burning when it should be and carb burning when it should be. So I love my lumen. Well, Victor, we've had, in addition to that terrible terrorist attack in New Orleans, a woman that was burnt in the subway by an illegal alien. And we learned just recently this week that a cop was walking by without any sort of concern about what was going on in the subway. So that was very shocking to me. I was wondering your thoughts on that.
Victor Davis Hanson
Well, we're in the era, the aftermath or the exhaust of defund the police. We haven't gotten over the whole Covid. Defund the police. GEORGE Floyd, DEI WOKE so these police forces have suffered two or three things. Number one, they've been vastly cut back. Number two, under the Biden administration and the woke movement, and the woke movement in particular, I'm talking about the Soros elected district attorneys, Alvin Bragg in this case, and the mayor, Eric Adams and the governor, Governor Hochul. There is a sense that the policeman. If there is a two things. If there's a question whether they were slightly culpable, then they're going to be held responsible. Number one, there's no margin of error is what I'm saying. So if those policemen had jumped in there and grabbed him and pushed him away, he might have filed a claim just like the family of the victim of Daniel Penney. And he might have. They might have been prosecuted just like Daniel Penney was. So that's number one. There is a hesitation, a reluctance. And then in police and law enforcement that split second means everything and it's not there anymore. That split second ready instinctual reaction because of the possible consequences to your career and your person. That's number, number one. Number two is there's a sense that.
Guest Speaker
We don't know who's here. There are no borders in the United States anymore.
Victor Davis Hanson
We have no idea who these people.
Guest Speaker
We have a very vague sense that.
Victor Davis Hanson
We don't talk about illegal immigration because in this case he was a Venezuelan, I think, or was he a Guatemalan? There's a sense that we have all of these people coming from Latin America.
Guest Speaker
South America, all over the world here.
Victor Davis Hanson
They have all broken the law by entering illegally, they are residing illegally and they are being rewarded by a guilt, guilty.
Guest Speaker
Host that has no self confidence.
Victor Davis Hanson
In its values or tradition. They are being rewarded with free health care, free food, free shelter. And they formulate a conclusion. And the conclusion is, hey, I just broke their law. I just came across the border, I've got a felony record.
Guest Speaker
They didn't even ask me.
Victor Davis Hanson
They must feel guilty if they feel guilty. They must feel they've done something wrong. If they feel they've done something wrong. Gimme, gimme, gimme. And I can do something. Nothing's going to happen to me.
Guest Speaker
This is a society without consequences.
Victor Davis Hanson
I'm living proof. So if I want to let some, if I want to go drink and use drugs on the public dole, the taxpayers and I happen to get a little out of control and burn something, nothing's going to happen to me. Joe Biden just, I hear their president just pardoned what, 1500 people and he.
Guest Speaker
Commuted a death sentence.
Victor Davis Hanson
This is a society without consequences. This is a society who suggests that people of color, and I think it doesn't really matter whether you're a person of color, it's just if you fit into that category and when you have a Hispanic name, you do. So he feels that I'm, I'm part of the victimized binary and the victimizer.
Guest Speaker
Other half owes me something. So there's not going to be any.
Victor Davis Hanson
Consequences to my drug use, my illegality. And that's where we are right now. And so that makes it very hard.
Guest Speaker
Because the people who created this problem and are creating these situations about terrorism.
Victor Davis Hanson
And random violence, whether it's the person who Daniel Penney apprehended and accidentally killed or it's this fellow, whatever the particular circumstances is, it's permeating society that We Americans have given the message that we don't feel our country is unique. We don't think our borders should be there. We don't think that we have the moral authority, much less the legal authority, to say, you can come, you cannot come, you can't. We're all under the accusation that we're racist, sexist, transphobic, all of these isms and ologies. And that's the message to people who.
Guest Speaker
Want to take advantage, sometimes violently so, of our situation. Donald Trump's going to come in and I guarantee you he's going to start.
Victor Davis Hanson
To try to close the border, deport people like this latest murder. And you know what's going to happen from the left.
Guest Speaker
They are going to cherry pick justices.
Victor Davis Hanson
They're going to go to court.
Guest Speaker
They're going to have the New York.
Victor Davis Hanson
Times dig up people within the deep state that are Obama and Biden holdovers. They're going to print anonymous op EDS.
Guest Speaker
About how racist Donald Trump is and.
Victor Davis Hanson
How courageous they are.
Guest Speaker
You're going to get all, all of.
Victor Davis Hanson
The Democratic Congress people are going to go back and said we offered them comprehensive reform and they didn't take it. That bogus deal where they would have allowed 4,000 people to come in every year before they did, every day before they did anything. So my point is that it's going to be wild because we are so.
Guest Speaker
Inured to this lawless society and this.
Victor Davis Hanson
DEI doctrine that somebody's going to have to break it and that's going to be Donald Trump. And they're going to go crazy.
Guest Speaker
They don't care that this poor woman was torched. They do not care because they allowed.
Victor Davis Hanson
The system to torture. They really did. And we're going to have more stories, more publicity, more worry about the status of the murder than we are about the victim.
Guest Speaker
Just watch.
Sammy Wink
Yeah, I have no doubt about that. Well, Victor, let's take a break and come back after these mess.
Unknown Speaker
Welcome back. So we were just talking about some of the terrorist events in the United States. And also the poor woman that was in the, in the New York metro. We got another case, and that is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was entering in on a plea deal with the United States that he wouldn't have the death penalty. And the Biden administration commuted that and agreed to that plea deal. And a court just recently ruled that he can't, that can't be taken back. So, victory. I was wondering if what, what your thoughts were on that.
Victor Davis Hanson
Well, he was the architect. It wasn't bin Laden's group.
Guest Speaker
Were the people who carried it out, but the people who dreamed it up. He wanted to blow up a series of airliners in the Philippines.
Victor Davis Hanson
A lot of them, a lot more people would have died had he been able to do that. So here you have a mass murderer that is responsible, along with the al Qaeda people, of killing 3,000 people.
Guest Speaker
And he's been sentenced to death, he's.
Victor Davis Hanson
Had a fair trial and it's been what, 20, 24 years, and we can't.
Guest Speaker
Carry out the sentence. And then the Biden administration and the.
Victor Davis Hanson
Pentagon that's run by the Biden administration.
Guest Speaker
Decides that maybe they might plea deal.
Victor Davis Hanson
Commute it, let him. And there's public outrage that they have.
Guest Speaker
Done this and they've gone to court.
Victor Davis Hanson
And so then the administration panics.
Guest Speaker
And now the judge says, well, you wanted to make the deal. The deal is done.
Victor Davis Hanson
You can't tell us, you can't renege. So it's again, good riddance to these people. This is, I don't understand the, the psychology of it.
Guest Speaker
Why would you try to contextualize a mass murderer who incinerated 3,000Americans and worry, worry, worry whether you're moral or not, by putting this monstrosity to death after.
Victor Davis Hanson
He'S done all of this.
Guest Speaker
And he would do it again if.
Victor Davis Hanson
He ever got out.
Guest Speaker
And you're not talking to the same.
Victor Davis Hanson
Amount of time or labor about the.
Guest Speaker
People who were incinerated. I just don't get the left.
Victor Davis Hanson
I really don't.
Guest Speaker
Does it make them feel good? What is it about them?
Victor Davis Hanson
It's the same thing about why would.
Guest Speaker
You go after Daniel Penny when he saved people? This monster would have gone and attacked people, probably hurt them or kill them or why we were even talking about.
Victor Davis Hanson
This arsonist, this human arsonist that does these things and we don't.
Guest Speaker
This homeless person, you saw her school yearbook. Something happened to, it was very tragic. And she's just asleep, minding her own business. She may be homeless and they torture her. And yet now we have all of these convoluted stories about the arsonist while he was under drugs or he was.
Victor Davis Hanson
Drinking or people said that he was.
Guest Speaker
Angry, I don't care. He should have never been here. He should be brought to trial. And if there's the evidence that he is a pre planned first degree murderer, he should be sentenced.
Victor Davis Hanson
And if the penalty is in New York is life imprisonment without parole, he should be sentenced.
Guest Speaker
Done.
Victor Davis Hanson
And yet it's not done.
Guest Speaker
And that's why people voted for Donald.
Victor Davis Hanson
Trump, because they're tired of this. They're just Tired of this society without.
Guest Speaker
Consequences, society without rules, society without responsibility.
Sammy Wink
Yeah, I'm with you on the Just so sad. I don't see how anybody can be on the left with those types of ideas and entertain that kind of thing. But maybe we can turn to Israel. The IDF has renewed operations in Gaza and they are going to finish off in northern Gaza, the Hamas control there. And it's very strange. I think another thing that's problematic in our world is that the World Health Organization has weighed in on behalf of Hamas and said, oh, Israel or the IDF has attacked hospitals and so they're siding with Hamas. And I, they always do this. And I was wondering your commentary on it, that they always come in, everybody knows Hamas puts themselves behind these hospitals and these public areas, and yet we have to hear again and again from the World Health Organization and I was wondering your thoughts.
Victor Davis Hanson
Well, in this case, Hamas terrorists went.
Guest Speaker
Into a hospital and there were people in the hierarchy, of course, who welcomed them. Maybe they did it under duress, maybe not. But they didn't kill people. They emptied the hospital and they had.
Victor Davis Hanson
Everybody go out in supposedly single file.
Guest Speaker
Some of the terrorists scattered and were dispatched by drones. And then they went to another hospital and they transferred all the equipment and then they examined the hospital and rooted out the terrorists. No one else would have done that.
Victor Davis Hanson
They would have just bombed the hospital. But they're now being blamed by the.
Guest Speaker
World Health Organization for attacking a medical facility.
Victor Davis Hanson
Again, we wouldn't have this conversation if it hadn't been for October 7th. And what's strange about all this is there is a momentum in the Middle east that is not as radical or not as left wing or not as.
Guest Speaker
Pro terrorist as are international organizations. Are the people in the United States.
Victor Davis Hanson
Protesting on this, the part of Hamas?
Guest Speaker
I'll give you an example. The Palestinian Authority, of whom I'm not.
Victor Davis Hanson
A big fan, I don't trust they kicked out Al Jazeera because they felt that Al Jazeera was brainwashing their own people that is pro Hamas. And so when you have the Palestinian Authority saying to the world, we don't want radical Islam among our own people, now that we been defeated, we want.
Guest Speaker
To have some kind of reconciliation, maybe.
Victor Davis Hanson
Who knows, Maybe they think I don't believe it, but maybe they think they can be Dubai and they don't want Hamas there. So what I'm getting at is the.
Guest Speaker
Subtext of a lot of Palestinians they'll.
Victor Davis Hanson
Never admit, but those on the west bank are thinking, oh my God, I don't want to tell Anybody.
Guest Speaker
But I am so glad that those Hamas murderers are gone. I'm so glad that those Shia nuts in Iran are gone. I'm so glad that Assad and Hezbollah and Allah and the.
Victor Davis Hanson
I don't need those people. And I would rather be one of.
Guest Speaker
The 2 million people living as Arab Muslims under the protection of Israel as citizens, if they would extend, not citizenship.
Victor Davis Hanson
The same type of protection and security. And left.
Guest Speaker
Leave me alone.
Victor Davis Hanson
The west bank, and that's new. And it's not a part of the.
Guest Speaker
Camp David Accords or the peace talks.
Victor Davis Hanson
It's because Benjamin Netanyahu flattened Hamas, he's going to flatten the Houthis, he flattened Hezbollah and Iran has a rendezvous with a comeuppance. And so the whole thing is changing.
Guest Speaker
So the World Health Organization and the Europeans and the eu, who will arrest Netanyahu if he goes to Poland or if he goes to Canada or he goes to any major Spain.
Victor Davis Hanson
And by the way, just as a parenthesis, I think we should tell the Polish foreign minister that if you arrest an Israeli president or defense secretary, then.
Guest Speaker
We'Re not going to give you any military aid. Sorry. And send a sharp message to them.
Victor Davis Hanson
And I think one of the first.
Guest Speaker
Things Donald Trump will do is he'll say to the world how organization.
Victor Davis Hanson
You know what?
Guest Speaker
You go do it what you want.
Victor Davis Hanson
If you want to side with Hamas.
Guest Speaker
Or you want to go after the.
Victor Davis Hanson
Jewish state, you go ahead. But we're sick of you.
Guest Speaker
We gave you a chance under the Biden administration when they restored the funding, and what did you do? You went right back to form.
Victor Davis Hanson
Anti Western, anti American.
Guest Speaker
We're sick of you. And we understood that during the COVID It's not that you're independent and you're.
Victor Davis Hanson
Brave and you're speaking truth.
Guest Speaker
The power.
Victor Davis Hanson
No, you're obsequious and you're corrupt. Why do I say that? Because you knew that the Chinese had let out, maybe accidentally, who knows, a lethal virus out of a virology lab at Wuhan.
Guest Speaker
You knew it. You knew it was gain in function. And you lied. You lied, lied, lied, lied. And you carried water for the communist Chinese. And then you posed to your Westerners.
Victor Davis Hanson
Who fund you more than the Chinese.
Guest Speaker
Oh, you people are this.
Victor Davis Hanson
You always attack the hand that feeds you because you're terrified of the other hand, that communist Chinese. And they know that their basic argument.
Guest Speaker
To these international organizations is this.
Victor Davis Hanson
We're not going to give you what they do.
Guest Speaker
They're going to subsidize you. But we expect you in the International.
Victor Davis Hanson
Criminal Court and the World Health Organization and the UN Refugee Relief. We expect you to be politically on the same page as us.
Guest Speaker
And that means you don't criticize the.
Victor Davis Hanson
Fact that we have a million Uyghurs in camps. You don't criticize we have forced sterilization. But you go after the people in.
Guest Speaker
The west because they're guilt ridden and.
Victor Davis Hanson
They will take it seriously. And you're a valuable utility, a valuable asset for the Chinese Communist Party.
Guest Speaker
So go ahead.
Victor Davis Hanson
And that's where we are. So the only solution to it is.
Guest Speaker
For Donald Trump just to say he doesn't have to be combative, he does not have to seek confrontation. All he has to say is we love the World Health Organization. You do a lot of good things, but we're just going to have to pass.
Victor Davis Hanson
So sorry, we're just going to have to pass.
Guest Speaker
We're very sorry and we would like to help you, but we're just not in a position now. We have a deficit, we have other internal problems. Maybe we'll have a parallel course, but we wish you well.
Victor Davis Hanson
Just go ahead and help us out.
Guest Speaker
But we're not going to fund you.
Victor Davis Hanson
And that's what he needs to do.
Guest Speaker
He needs to have that attitude about all of these things he's doing. He should tell the Mexican government, we love the Mexican government, we love Mexico.
Victor Davis Hanson
We just can't, I'm sorry, we just, we just can't have you killing a.
Guest Speaker
Hundred and thousand people a day with fentanyl. That's import a year. Imported, can't do it anymore. Sorry. We can't send back $63 billion in remittances.
Victor Davis Hanson
We can't have your press, your media.
Guest Speaker
Trashiness the whole time.
Victor Davis Hanson
Why you violate our border and you allow people from Latin America to violate.
Guest Speaker
Our border and you think it's cute. So we're not going to do it anymore. We don't have any hostility. We're just not going to do it anymore.
Victor Davis Hanson
And that needs to be the attitude. Trade with China, NATO, defense, you name it.
Guest Speaker
Don't seek confrontation.
Victor Davis Hanson
Just say tragically get the tragic, maybe.
Guest Speaker
Even the therapeutic a little bit. We're sorry, NATO, we're going to be in the alliance, we're not going to.
Victor Davis Hanson
Quit, but that we're not going to.
Guest Speaker
Up our expenditures or come to the.
Victor Davis Hanson
Aid of all of your various causes.
Guest Speaker
Unless you pay your 2%. We don't want to be like this, but you forced us to. So please, please pay your 2%. And that's what his attitude should be.
Victor Davis Hanson
I think It'll be that way by Trump. Trump doesn't have to say, well, Mexico, you better straighten up, or world health, you're corrupt. No, just, you know, say, oh, we didn't fund you.
Guest Speaker
I forgot to fund you this year. I'll talk to the Ombud. You didn't write him a check. Oh, we're sorry.
Victor Davis Hanson
We just, we. Yeah, yeah, I think you're right.
Unknown Speaker
I hope that the Trump administration does listen to your advice. And then furthermore, though, on the Trump administration, they have the FBI director coming in, Ash Patel, and apparently there are staffers out protesting Kash Patel's appointment. And I was wondering your thoughts on that.
Victor Davis Hanson
Well, that is very funny, because these.
Guest Speaker
Incidents, and we're talking.
Victor Davis Hanson
On the second day of January and in the last week, given the things that have happened in Germany, the mass murdering terrorists, given the terrorist incident, New Orleans. I shouldn't say incident, murdering, given the cybertruck that blew out in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, given all these demonstrations, that is an argument that the people.
Guest Speaker
And where is Christopher Wray? What is it with these people? Their tenure is not officially over yet.
Victor Davis Hanson
You know what I'm saying? It's like a professor. If I was.
Guest Speaker
When I retired in 2004, I had.
Victor Davis Hanson
A final, but I had to give.
Guest Speaker
Them notice in January, the first week of the semester.
Victor Davis Hanson
Could I have just said, I'm Sorry.
Guest Speaker
I have four classes and 200 students.
Victor Davis Hanson
But I'm going to go up to.
Guest Speaker
The mountain, the Sierra, and take off.
Victor Davis Hanson
Because I'm a lame duck?
Guest Speaker
No. Well, where is Christopher Wray? He should be talking, talking about all of this. He should be telling us and reassuring us.
Victor Davis Hanson
Biden had, as I said, a two minute, garbled get off my grass rant. So my point is that this in a very, not deliberately, but in an ironic way has paved the way for the confirmations. I think Cash Patel at FBI, Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence, John Radcliffe was going to get confirmed anyway.
Guest Speaker
At CIA and Pete Hecseth at Defense.
Victor Davis Hanson
Because people are going to say, get rid of these people. They're incompetent, they're dangerous. They're going to get us in a war, a nuclear war in Europe.
Guest Speaker
They're restricting Israel.
Victor Davis Hanson
They won't let Israel win and they can't protect us.
Guest Speaker
We don't have an open border.
Victor Davis Hanson
Just get rid of them and bring in their antithesis.
Guest Speaker
And we mean their antitheses. What's the antithesis, the worst nightmare of Christopher Ray.
Victor Davis Hanson
It's Kash Patel. What's the worst nightmare of the Millie Austin type of defense. It's a Pete Hexa. What's the worst nightmare of Anthony Fauci or Francis Collins is Jay Bacharia. That's what we need. And that's why it wasn't intent.
Guest Speaker
I don't want to suggest that it.
Victor Davis Hanson
Was a fortuitous event.
Guest Speaker
I'm just suggesting that all of these.
Victor Davis Hanson
Tragedies have brought home to the American people, especially those in Congress who were going to vote against them, that they need an anecdote.
Guest Speaker
And the anecdote is there before them and I doubt that any of them now are going to be rejected.
Sammy Wink
Yeah. Well, Victor, we need to take a break and then we'll come back and talk a little bit about your California and Gavin Newsom work there. Stay with us. We'll be back. Welcome back. This is the Victor Davis Hansen show and you can find Victor at X and on Facebook his X handle is at VD Hansen. And Facebook has Hanson's Morning cup. So come join him there. Victor. So your Governor Newsom is planning on running again as for governorship and he still has a homeless problem that says bad if not worse than it was before. And yet he spent 27 billion on that and he is having some trouble politically because of that.
Victor Davis Hanson
In other words, California could have built two fleet carriers, 205,000 ton Gerald Ford carriers or could have built, I don't know, 10 nuclear submarines. And what do we do with it? We spend it on homeless people.
Guest Speaker
But we didn't spend it on homeless people.
Victor Davis Hanson
We spent it on my organization will come forward. We're a nonprofit and we will take care of the homeless problem and offer them warm meals or my company makes small little dwellings and that's what we spent it on.
Guest Speaker
And they were all cronies. If you want to know where the.
Victor Davis Hanson
27 billion went, just take go back.
Guest Speaker
In time and space and do a.
Victor Davis Hanson
Little time traveling to 2020 when we had the shutdown and Gavin Newsom was on TV every day in the state.
Guest Speaker
Mask everybody.
Victor Davis Hanson
Mask everybody. Meanwhile, Nancy social distancing shut down.
Guest Speaker
Nancy was sneaking into her hairdressers in San Francisco.
Victor Davis Hanson
Gavin was down at the super bowl without a mask.
Guest Speaker
But my favorite seen was at the.
Victor Davis Hanson
French Laundry where it's about $500ameal.
Guest Speaker
And who was he with? He was with health care lobbyists. Violating, masking, social distancing and quarantine.
Victor Davis Hanson
Those are the people. He just bought a $9 million home.
Guest Speaker
Does he, is he in touch with the people who pay $0.40 almost a kilowatt for no.
Victor Davis Hanson
So if you do the math and there's various estimates about how many homeless.
Guest Speaker
People, it's about 1, $150,000 per homeless.
Victor Davis Hanson
So if Gavin had just said, I don't have a clue how to stop the homeless, but I'm going to take $27 billion into these 200,000 or 300,000, I'm just going to, I'm just going to hand them, I don't know, $150,000 in cash.
Guest Speaker
You'd be no worse off.
Victor Davis Hanson
So everybody is sick of him. And they all knew that he was trying to run for president and he didn't. He was sabotaged, thank God, because he would have been even worse than Kamala Harris by this little coup that they.
Guest Speaker
Staged to put her in and get rid of Biden.
Victor Davis Hanson
But I think he's politically inert.
Guest Speaker
Everything he's touched has destroyed the state.
Victor Davis Hanson
I was driving on the 99, as I mentioned, the day after Christmas.
Guest Speaker
One hour stuck there, the same two lanes that I remember driving when I.
Victor Davis Hanson
Was a 18 year old. And I drove over from the farm.
Guest Speaker
To UC Santa Cruz, the same route. It has not changed in 55 years. And he's got this Stonehenge, $13 billion, $15 billion. High speed rail fiasco. We have the highest gas taxes, the highest gas prices.
Victor Davis Hanson
He's raised it.
Guest Speaker
The Air Resources Board without a vote, is going to raise it 60 cents. He shut down a nuclear power plant. Rancho.
Victor Davis Hanson
Said he was going to do another one at Diablo Canyon until finally they warned him. Highest income tax, highest sales tax. Among the highest.
Guest Speaker
Highest gas taxes.
Victor Davis Hanson
Income taxes, 13.3%, highest in the United States. And yet we're running a $70 billion deficit.
Guest Speaker
And our schools are rated in the bottom five of the 50 states. Our infrastructure is rated about 48.
Victor Davis Hanson
It's almost as if the more money they get and the more money that Newsom demands, the worse everything is.
Guest Speaker
So if we paid no taxes, these services would be better. So why is it, what's going on? Why did we spend $27 billion? I think the answer is who are.
Victor Davis Hanson
The culprits for this?
Guest Speaker
They're in a very small radius.
Victor Davis Hanson
Everybody just go over some names. Most prominent San Francisco in the federal government.
Guest Speaker
San Francisco. Nancy Pelosi. She and her husband made a fortune with insider knowledge.
Victor Davis Hanson
Second most powerful person in the Senate for years. Third head of the judiciary, Dianne Feinstein. Her husband was a billionaire governor.
Guest Speaker
Very wealthy. Gavin Newsom, his wife is very wealthy.
Victor Davis Hanson
He comes from the Gordon Getty Circle in San Francisco. Jerry Brown Governor for eight years, Oakland Mayor.
Guest Speaker
He's up at his estate and Grass Valley. He was from old, very wealthy political family.
Victor Davis Hanson
Barbara Boxer, she's down somewhere. I don't know where it is. Palm Desert, Manchu, I don't know, but she's on a golf course somewhere. Another Bay Area politician. And then we have Camilla Harris. So this area has overshadowed the Valley.
Guest Speaker
Of course, but it also took over from Los Angeles.
Victor Davis Hanson
And why?
Guest Speaker
Because it's right next to $9 trillion in market capitalization. And that has been permeated from La Jolla all the way to Berkeley along this coastal strip. And we create these politicians. They're very, very wealthy, they're very privileged, they're aristocratic, they're plutocratic. They never have to worry about their power bills, their gasoline bills, getting stuck.
Victor Davis Hanson
In traffic, going to one of their horrible airports. None of that. They've destroyed the state.
Guest Speaker
They have no borders in the state. And they're never subject to the idealism.
Victor Davis Hanson
Or the utopianism of their proposals.
Guest Speaker
So what do I mean by that? I mean, Gavin Newsom is not going to have homeless people outside his nine million dollar home. He's not. He's not going to drive down the 99 every week like some poor Joe who has to go from Fresno, you.
Victor Davis Hanson
Know, to Stockton every day.
Guest Speaker
He's not going to have to do that. He's not going to be broken in and robbed, as people are in Mendota.
Victor Davis Hanson
Not going to happen to him. He's not going to be some farmer.
Guest Speaker
Trying to make a living and provide food for us and have a state bureaucrat say, there's no water for you.
Victor Davis Hanson
We have to feed the fish.
Guest Speaker
None of that. And that's why they do it. If they were just subject to the consequences of their ideology, they'd stop.
Victor Davis Hanson
So what is the anecdote?
Guest Speaker
Because we're called we.
Victor Davis Hanson
The state voted for these people. I didn't, but I'm a member of.
Guest Speaker
The state that did.
Victor Davis Hanson
You can't vote for these people. As a general rule, anybody who is left wing, wealthy in the Bay Area, do not vote for, because they will.
Guest Speaker
Use you as a lab rat.
Victor Davis Hanson
And they will experiment on green initiatives, energy initiatives, DEI initiatives. He's now spending $25 million for, for.
Guest Speaker
A legal fund to stop Donald Trump.
Victor Davis Hanson
He gave away half a billion dollars to illegal aliens during COVID For him, it's not his money. The only thing that counts is that he's got somebody else's money to live.
Guest Speaker
In a $9 million home. He didn't make that money. I don't think he even inherited that money. It either came through some corporation that the Gettys fueled or joint venture he had or his wife's family.
Victor Davis Hanson
But the point I'm making is you can't vote for these people and expect that they're going to worry about people.
Guest Speaker
In Dinuba, California or Needles. They're not going to do it.
Victor Davis Hanson
They're never going to do it.
Guest Speaker
They don't care about your transportation, they don't care about your rising home insurance. They don't care that your insurance was canceled. They don't care about half the accidents in Fresno county are hit and run. They don't care about that because they never have to deal with it.
Sammy Wink
Victor, I'm almost afraid to ask you this. What do you think his chances are of winning governorship?
Victor Davis Hanson
I think they're very good.
Guest Speaker
I think they're very good.
Victor Davis Hanson
It's very important. The only thing I can ever remember is of a person who was recalled. And I'm sure that historians will, because I'm not prepared to go through the.
Guest Speaker
Whole history of California.
Victor Davis Hanson
But in my lifetime, the only time.
Guest Speaker
I recall it happening was, was when.
Victor Davis Hanson
They recalled Gray Davis and they successfully did.
Guest Speaker
And then in the special election, they.
Victor Davis Hanson
Elected a celebrity, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was.
Guest Speaker
His antithesis and who was good for a couple of years and then he ran into his wife's agenda and the.
Victor Davis Hanson
Unions and he was terrible. But the point I'm making is it's.
Guest Speaker
Very hard to recall a governor.
Victor Davis Hanson
And then we saw that when the first time they recalled Gavin and then.
Guest Speaker
Larry Elder ran, of course the LA Times said that he was a white.
Victor Davis Hanson
Person and even though he was black.
Guest Speaker
He reflected white supremacy.
Victor Davis Hanson
So that's the level of vituperation you earn. But the only thing that would work, to be honest, if Silicon Valley got behind someone other than Gavin Newsom, he's very close to them. And I don't mean Silicon Valley in.
Guest Speaker
Its totality, but I mean the Peter.
Victor Davis Hanson
Tyrell's, the David Sacks, the Ben Horowitzes.
Guest Speaker
All of those people said, you know.
Victor Davis Hanson
What, Elon Musk, I can't.
Guest Speaker
We can't. The state's destroyed.
Victor Davis Hanson
We can't. And then they got someone who was a working person, someone from Fresno, someone from Bakersfield, someone from Chico who was an immigrant, second generation Mexican American person that was running a labor crew, running a plumbing business, running a painting company.
Guest Speaker
Somebody who dealt with the real world.
Victor Davis Hanson
That they couldn't, they being the hard.
Guest Speaker
Left, say, you're a racist, racist, racist, racist. Not that they wouldn't they did that with Larry Elder.
Victor Davis Hanson
But I'm not optimistic because the state is almost completely dysfunctional. I just had somebody that wrote me.
Guest Speaker
And said they went to San Francisco.
Victor Davis Hanson
And they thought it was a dystopian moonscape. They could not all the places they frequented and they had happy memories, they were non existent. And my only comment is I don't.
Guest Speaker
Think you should drive in there because where are you going to park your car?
Victor Davis Hanson
Because if it's broken into, they're not going to do anything.
Sammy Wink
No.
Victor Davis Hanson
Maybe the new mayor or the mayor. You know, the only time things change is when the people who created the.
Guest Speaker
Problem suffer from the problem.
Victor Davis Hanson
Like the Martha's Vineyard ultra liberal philanthropic.
Guest Speaker
Goodwill left wing humanitarians. And then Ron DeSantis sends them some.
Victor Davis Hanson
Illegal aliens and they get their puff.
Guest Speaker
Jackets for them and their charity boxes.
Victor Davis Hanson
And then they say, see, you wouldn't want to be you get on that.
Guest Speaker
Bus and get to New York or Chicago. And then they secretly will not vote for that if it happened because they.
Victor Davis Hanson
Were afraid it's going to happen to them again. And I don't know, maybe it is.
Sammy Wink
Happening to the wealthier classes. There is a whole gang that seems to be invading athletes and media stars, houses now. And so maybe they will get more serious.
Victor Davis Hanson
Especially nobody's immune from what they created. It's eating.
Guest Speaker
It's a Frankensteinian monster that's destroying its creator. You can be in Beverly Hills, Pacific.
Victor Davis Hanson
Palisades, anywhere, Palos Verdes Estates, and they will find you.
Guest Speaker
In fact, if you're very, very wealthy and it's known, they'll follow your work.
Victor Davis Hanson
Schedule and go to your home. It's everywhere. That's the manifestation. As I said to Jack the other day, I walked out here three days.
Guest Speaker
Ago and I saw the most atrocious.
Victor Davis Hanson
Thing I'd ever seen.
Guest Speaker
It was an ancestral pond that first.
Victor Davis Hanson
Drew my great great grandmother Luciana Davis.
Guest Speaker
In 1870 to settle here. Because there was an artesian pond, a beautiful pond.
Victor Davis Hanson
One of my siblings sold it, that's his business.
Guest Speaker
But I still walk there every morning.
Victor Davis Hanson
The neighbor farms the almond orchard around the pond.
Guest Speaker
And you know what it's become? It's been become a receptacle for the.
Victor Davis Hanson
Local towns illegal aliens to come and dispense their crap.
Guest Speaker
And so there's a washer now on the inside the pond bank, there is a dryer. There is wet garbage, there's car seats, there's paint, there's toxic chemicals, it's all thrown there.
Victor Davis Hanson
And when you try to wade out like I did this Morning and say, I just want.
Guest Speaker
All I want is one.
Victor Davis Hanson
One bill with your name on it. You can see Mexican literature about, you know, soccer matches. You can see Spanish language. You can't see one bill. So the attitude is, I'm here from Latin America. I'm here illegally. I don't want. I'm out in the country. I'm not going. There's a law that every single person, whether you like it or not at a residence, has to have a trash receptacle. There are public landfills.
Guest Speaker
They cost about 30 or $40 to.
Victor Davis Hanson
Dump all this stuff.
Guest Speaker
But there's also these stupid people that live around and they have all this money and they're wealthy and they own land.
Victor Davis Hanson
And if you go out and throw.
Guest Speaker
All of your trash, nothing happens.
Victor Davis Hanson
So you call up the state environmental. They'll say, was it on the side of the road?
Guest Speaker
Do you have a witness? No.
Victor Davis Hanson
Well, we're not going to go on your property and remove it. That's not our fault.
Guest Speaker
You have to find the perpetrator. When you say, well, the perpetrator is not stupid. He goes through all of his garbage and he comes in at 2 in the morning.
Victor Davis Hanson
And then they'll say, well, you better get it off. And I've had this conversation before. Oh, by the way, do you have toxic substances there? Yes.
Guest Speaker
Well, you better be very careful because you're not going to be able to dispose of them.
Victor Davis Hanson
You're going to have to drive 100 miles to the toxic waste dump outside of Coalinga, California. That's what you get. And so you get punished for being a fool.
Guest Speaker
Isn't that weird and calm California?
Sammy Wink
Yeah, it sure is. And you know, you actually. That is a nightmare. And you actually just wrote a tweet, twit, Twitter, an X post called the National Nightmares Ending. And I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about that. That was for New Year's. So the optimistic victory.
Victor Davis Hanson
It was on New Year's Eve, and I was just. It was about nine at night, and I was thinking, I was just listening to some poetry. I was thinking of Invictus, that famous poem, bloodied but Unbowed. I thought about Trump. And then I remember that great line. I was thinking, I used to really.
Guest Speaker
Like to read Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at.
Victor Davis Hanson
That point when they said that he's come back after his victories and the Civil War is basically over now.
Guest Speaker
They haven't assassinated him yet, but he strides like a colossus and we are.
Victor Davis Hanson
Just pitiful between his legs and we have these unhappy Graves. It's a great quote. And then I kind of combine two as a title. Apremus les deluge. After me, the deluge. I didn't put the deluge in there.
Guest Speaker
But after me things changed.
Victor Davis Hanson
So I put apres moy and then I put la dulce, la dales encore la dulce toujour.
Guest Speaker
Adas la adouse. Excuse that horrible pronunciation. Audacity. Audacity. Courage. Courage. Resolve. However, translate adas.
Victor Davis Hanson
And that was the theme that we.
Guest Speaker
Don'T have to take it anymore. All of a sudden no one cares.
Victor Davis Hanson
That, you know, no one cares that you can't say this or you can't say that.
Guest Speaker
I think DEI is dead now.
Victor Davis Hanson
People are running away for it. And you can say, yes, the COVID came from the laboratory.
Guest Speaker
So what?
Victor Davis Hanson
I just said it. And there are only two sexes. And it's wrong to put a person with testicles and a phallus in with.
Guest Speaker
Young preteen girls or any girls in a locker room.
Victor Davis Hanson
I just said it. And you know what?
Guest Speaker
I'm not going to ever listen to Mark Milley again or Anthony Fauci again, or Andrew McCabe or James Comey or.
Victor Davis Hanson
John Brennan, any of them. They're done with. And we're not going to allow.
Guest Speaker
We're not going to allow to be intimidated anymore. It's a liberating feeling.
Victor Davis Hanson
We don't have to watch what we say or we don't have to apologize.
Guest Speaker
Or we don't have to lie. Nobody's going to say Joe Biden is fit as a fiddle.
Victor Davis Hanson
What?
Guest Speaker
Or Joe Scarborough. I just saw him.
Victor Davis Hanson
This is the most vigorous Joe Biden I've ever.
Guest Speaker
No, he's not. He's senile.
Victor Davis Hanson
He's demented. We can say it.
Guest Speaker
You lied. There's no more Rus anymore. It's all like some kind of south Southernly wind came in and blew it all away.
Victor Davis Hanson
I know you're going to say, well, Victor, wait, wait. You don't understand these people.
Guest Speaker
They're die hards, they're dead enders.
Victor Davis Hanson
I understand them.
Guest Speaker
I'm talking about the psychology of.
Victor Davis Hanson
But not the actual, necessarily the material action. So it was a poem of relief and gratitude for the new year and the idea that everybody seems to be upbeat and even people on the left.
Guest Speaker
That I talk to, it's sort of.
Victor Davis Hanson
Like, okay, you caught us lying. He was always demented. Yeah. Kamel Harris. There was no momentum, believe me.
Guest Speaker
And she was not joyful.
Victor Davis Hanson
We're kind of secretly happy that we don't have her there. And yes, Donald Trump is conducting foreign policy and his team has taken over and they're not yet inaugurated. But we're not going to mention the Logan Act. We did that with Michael Flynn, you know, when he called, talked to a Russian, we tried to do that.
Guest Speaker
We just can't do it anymore.
Victor Davis Hanson
There was a comedian today who apologized for having Trump derangement syndrome.
Guest Speaker
And we have a lot of that lately.
Victor Davis Hanson
Just like take him. Donald Trump, please get into office right now. Get into office. So that's new.
Sammy Wink
So that was, I thought that was a really great tweet and I think everybody should join X and Elon Musk and also come to Victor's at VD Hansen. So, Victor, this is the end of the show and I have a comment from what's so different this time about Trump's election on your website. A very nice comment. The commenter said, Dr. Hansen, you are the most erudite observer of every political ism of the 20th century. And then he says this. In your recent interview with the gentleman from the uk, I think it was the John Anderson interview, you expressed a reversal of opinion on the possibility of civil war in the United States since the re election of President Donald Trump. You now think not only not likely or even possible to occur. Alas, we do not concur on this subject. These coalesced extremist groups are going to re emerge as they did in the summer of 2020. Unfortunately, this time there will be millions of Kyle Rittenhouses to engage them. And I was wondering, Victor, are you optimistic on that?
Victor Davis Hanson
I never thought there'd be a violent civil war. I still don't. I'm not naive or Pollyannish. Just these people are in hiding. They're exhausted. They've been defeated. The left, they're not over with.
Guest Speaker
They're licking their wounds.
Victor Davis Hanson
They've gone back to their caves, their ideological caves. They're strategizing. They're going to move. They'll be back in, I don't know, early February. So what? The point I'm making is that the moment is not theirs anymore, that people rose up. And when I hear, well, he only.
Guest Speaker
Won by about 1.6 million votes.
Victor Davis Hanson
I know he got more electoral votes.
Guest Speaker
Than Barack did when we said it.
Victor Davis Hanson
Was a landslide, but now we don't.
Guest Speaker
Think it's quite a landslide. Doesn't matter.
Victor Davis Hanson
You had 95% of the media coverage.
Guest Speaker
On television and 95% of it was negative. Negative. You spent two and a half billion dollars.
Victor Davis Hanson
You tried to, you tried to take.
Guest Speaker
Him off the ballot.
Victor Davis Hanson
You tried to Put him in jail.
Guest Speaker
Under five different civil and criminal courtrooms, indictments. You indicted him 91 times.
Victor Davis Hanson
You two people tried to kill him. Him, possibly, probably, likely, because of the.
Guest Speaker
Rhetoric that suggested it would be okay.
Victor Davis Hanson
If you did that.
Guest Speaker
You impeached him twice. You tried him as a private citizen.
Victor Davis Hanson
You took him off the ballot in.
Guest Speaker
16 states and it didn't work. What more could you do to him you couldn't do anymore.
Victor Davis Hanson
You tried everything. You had all the money, you had all the media, you had all the.
Guest Speaker
Lawfare mechanisms, and you still felt failed.
Victor Davis Hanson
So you not only failed, but you.
Guest Speaker
Disgraced all the methods that you used. So the DOJ is disgraced. The FBI is disgraced, The CIA is disgraced. They're all disgraced. The Pentagon is disgraced. You did that. Now they're going to have to be rebuilt under different auspices. The media is disgraced. Silicon Valley people are disgraced.
Victor Davis Hanson
They know it.
Guest Speaker
They're joining their antithesis.
Victor Davis Hanson
So, yeah, we're not going to have a civil war. They're going to come back. But I think they're in retreat and they have a message that nobody wants. And there's going to be someone like a Bill Clinton.
Guest Speaker
It's not going to be sincere.
Victor Davis Hanson
Bill Clinton wasn't.
Guest Speaker
But he wants to win and gain power. And he's going to start talking, maybe.
Victor Davis Hanson
With a Southern accent, who knows, but.
Guest Speaker
He'S going to talk about solutions.
Victor Davis Hanson
And we're not going to worry about ideology. We're just going to do stuff from the middle class and balance the budget and have a strong defense, that kind of stuff, just like Bill did. And Bill kind of kept his word.
Guest Speaker
He balanced the budget two years.
Victor Davis Hanson
Haven't seen that since with Newt gain reach. So if they want to win, they're going to have to get someone like that.
Guest Speaker
Josh Shapiro, I think I don't.
Victor Davis Hanson
I'm not a big fan of Josh Shapiro. I think he's a leftist, but he's.
Guest Speaker
Very smart and he plays as if he's a moderate because he sees his.
Victor Davis Hanson
State, Pennsylvania, flipping, flipping, flipping red just like John Fetterman. Now everybody says, oh, John Fetterman, he.
Guest Speaker
Came to his senses. No, he didn't come to his senses. He looked at that vote and he looked at those county by county returns.
Victor Davis Hanson
And he said, I will not be.
Guest Speaker
Returned to the Senate if I go back to my earlier John Fetterman. So I've got to recreate the Bill Clinton Democratic Party in this state because the state is not conservative anymore. Pennsylvania is more conservative now than Wisconsin or Michigan. So they had an enormous Republican effort to turn out the vote and registered votes.
Victor Davis Hanson
And Fetterman understands he's, he's cooked unless.
Guest Speaker
He, he does it.
Victor Davis Hanson
So there is, there'll be somebody who.
Guest Speaker
Tries to reconstruct a. The old Democratic Party just to get power. I don't think the squad and Bernie.
Victor Davis Hanson
Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are going to be there.
Guest Speaker
The stalwarts. Nancy Pelosi's.
Victor Davis Hanson
She's thinking about Nancy Pelosi when she leaves.
Guest Speaker
The people in her own party are.
Victor Davis Hanson
Going to say, God, thank God. And then you're going to learn just.
Guest Speaker
About Nancy Pelosi just the way you did Joe Biden.
Victor Davis Hanson
You're going to hear just as Joe Biden is now politically inert. And everybody said that Matthew Iglesia said.
Guest Speaker
I should have known. I trusted the people when they said.
Victor Davis Hanson
That he wasn't mentally challenged, I. E I went after all you people and.
Guest Speaker
Called you names if you dared suggest.
Victor Davis Hanson
That and but he was demented. Well, they're going to say the same.
Guest Speaker
Thing about Nancy Pelosi when she's out of office.
Victor Davis Hanson
They're going to say, oh, we love Nancy, but yes, she made a lot of money and using that position and.
Guest Speaker
Her husband federal contracts to deals.
Victor Davis Hanson
And we're going to have to pass.
Guest Speaker
Legislation to stop people like her again.
Victor Davis Hanson
Because she was something else. She became a multi, multi millionaire on a House representative salary and a husband. That was an appendage of her inside knowledge.
Sammy Wink
Yeah. Well, Victor, thank you for all of your wisdom this afternoon. I know we're one once again on a hard break. So we're happy to have our audience as well where you guys make us. So thanks to you.
Victor Davis Hanson
Thank you everybody for listening.
Sammy Wink
This is Sammy Wink and Victor Davis Hansen and we're signing off.
The Victor Davis Hanson Show - Episode: "Terror Attack, Kash, and Homeless" (Released January 3, 2025)
In this compelling episode of The Victor Davis Hanson Show, hosts Victor Davis Hanson and Jack Fowler delve deep into pressing national security issues, critique current administrative policies, and explore the ongoing homelessness crisis in California. The episode, titled "Terror Attack, Kash, and Homeless," offers a robust discussion filled with insightful analysis, notable quotes, and thought-provoking conclusions.
The episode opens with Hanson and Fowler addressing two recent terrorist incidents: a tragic attack in New Orleans during New Year's Eve celebrations that resulted in 15 fatalities, and a bomb explosion outside Trump Tower in Las Vegas. Hanson highlights the similarities between these events and others globally, questioning the current administration's capability to effectively handle such threats.
Victor Davis Hanson [01:42]: "This administration is not up to it, just like the Obama administration is not up to it. Policing our borders, deterring terrorists."
Hanson criticizes President Biden's focus on foreign engagements over domestic security, suggesting that his frequent absences from the White House undermine national safety efforts.
Hanson further critiques the FBI's response to the attacks, pointing out the delayed and confused statements from FBI Director Christopher Wray. He argues that institutional policies, particularly those influenced by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, have weakened law enforcement effectiveness.
Victor Davis Hanson [03:17]: "The administration has open borders and we know that it has institutionalized DEI."
He contends that DEI policies dilute the FBI's ability to respond decisively to threats, citing the mishandling of initial terrorist classifications as evidence of systemic failings.
A significant portion of the discussion focuses on the link between immigration policies, cultural assimilation challenges, and the rise of radicalization among certain immigrant groups. Hanson posits that DEI's victim-centric approach inadvertently fosters resentment among immigrants, making them more susceptible to extremist ideologies.
Victor Davis Hanson [06:50]: "As they start to absorb American culture, they start making excuses for the unhappiness in their own lives... they rediscover Islam as a crutch, as a refuge, as an escape."
He emphasizes that frustration and lack of opportunity can lead individuals to blame systemic issues, ultimately channeling their anger into violent actions.
The conversation shifts to the impact of "defunding the police" and the broader "woke" movement on law enforcement's ability to maintain public safety. Hanson argues that reduced police budgets and heightened accountability concerns have created an environment where officers are hesitant to act decisively.
Victor Davis Hanson [11:06]: "We're in the aftermath of defund the police... hesitation, a reluctance."
He warns that this lack of confidence and support within police forces hampers their capacity to respond effectively to emergencies, as evidenced by a recent incident where a woman was attacked in the subway with little police intervention.
Hanson critiques the Biden administration's decision to commute the plea deal of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the orchestrator of the 9/11 attacks. He expresses outrage over the administration's inability to uphold legal commitments, arguing that it sends a dangerous message about accountability for mass murderers.
Victor Davis Hanson [18:13]: "Here you have a mass murderer responsible for killing 3,000 people, and we can't carry out his sentence."
He contends that such actions undermine the justice system and embolden future terrorists.
The hosts examine Israel's renewed military operations in Gaza and criticize the World Health Organization (WHO) for siding with Hamas. Hanson argues that international organizations often unfairly support terrorist groups, undermining global security.
Victor Davis Hanson [22:25]: "World Health Organization has weighed in on behalf of Hamas... they're siding with Hamas."
He urges stronger support for Israel and condemns organizations that fail to hold Hamas accountable for its actions.
Hanson discusses the controversial appointment of Kash Patel as the FBI Director, noting the protests from staffers and the broader implications for the agency's future. He anticipates that Patel's leadership will mark a significant shift towards more robust and uncompromising law enforcement strategies.
Victor Davis Hanson [30:38]: "This paves the way for confirmations... Kash Patel at FBI, Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence..."
He underscores the need for competent leadership to restore the FBI's effectiveness amidst rising security threats.
A substantial segment is dedicated to the worsening homelessness situation in California, despite Governor Gavin Newsom's $27 billion expenditure aimed at alleviating the issue. Hanson criticizes the misallocation of funds and the ineffectiveness of current policies, arguing that Newsom's approach has only exacerbated the problem.
Victor Davis Hanson [34:21]: "California could have built two fleet carriers... but we spend it on homeless people."
He calls for alternative solutions, such as direct financial assistance to the homeless, and highlights the political instability caused by Newsom's policies.
In the concluding sections, Hanson reflects on the broader political landscape, expressing skepticism about the left's continued influence and the resilience of extremist groups. He remains pessimistic about the likelihood of civil war but warns of the left's potential resurgence.
Victor Davis Hanson [54:25]: "I never thought there'd be a violent civil war. I still don't."
Hanson emphasizes the necessity for a balanced and pragmatic approach to governance, advocating for policies that prioritize national security, economic stability, and social cohesion.
[02:12] Victor Davis Hanson: "The first is this administration is not up to it... Policing our borders, deterring terrorists."
[06:07] Victor Davis Hanson: "They understand that they have plugged into the DEI industry and they are victims. You cannot criticize them on the basis of what they do."
[14:09] Victor Davis Hanson: "This is a society without consequences."
[22:46] Victor Davis Hanson: "They would have just bombed the hospital. But they're now being blamed by the World Health Organization for attacking a medical facility."
[34:21] Victor Davis Hanson: "California could have built two fleet carriers... but we spend it on homeless people."
Conclusion
This episode of The Victor Davis Hanson Show provides a critical examination of the United States' current challenges in national security, law enforcement, immigration policies, and social welfare. Through incisive analysis and pointed critiques, Hanson and Fowler underscore the urgent need for policy reforms to address these multifaceted issues effectively.
For more insights and detailed discussions, listeners can visit Victor's website at victorhansen.com or follow him on social media platforms like X and Facebook.