Victor Davis Hanson: Glib Barista AOC’s Ignorance Front and Center at Munich Security Conference

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words
Host: Victor Davis Hanson with Jack Fowler
Episode: Glib Barista AOC’s Ignorance Front and Center at Munich Security Conference
Date: February 19, 2026

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Overview

In this episode, Victor Davis Hanson provides in-depth commentary on several current political and cultural events, focusing especially on the recent Munich Security Conference. Topics include Marco Rubio’s speech on Western alliances, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (AOC) appearance at the conference, the phenomenon of ‘birth tourism’ and U.S.-China relations, California’s billionaire exodus, and the impact of anti-Semitism controversies in conservative circles. Hanson's signature blend of history, personal anecdote, and plainspoken critique is on display throughout.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Victor’s Health and Listener Support

• Victor reflects on his recent surgery and extended recovery, sharing appreciation for supportive messages from listeners and fellow conservatives like Jon Voight and Mark Levin (04:45).
• He jokes about an "angry reader" wishing him dead and finds strength in the community’s encouragement.

2. Marco Rubio’s Speech at the Munich Security Conference

• Summary of the Speech:
  • Rubio emphasized national sovereignty, Western exceptionalism, joint mistakes on policies like open borders and energy, and called for Europe to rearm and reinforce free speech.
  • Hanson praises Rubio’s tone and content:

    “I thought it was a brilliantly crafted speech… one of the best any American had said in Europe in the last 10 years.” (12:28)

• Key Points Highlighted:
  1. Shared pathologies in America and Europe (open borders, green energy at expense of security).
  2. Deep cultural ties—reminding Europe of transatlantic commonalities despite his own Cuban heritage.
  3. Need for European military and border confidence so the U.S. can focus on Asia-Pacific alliances.
• Contrast with Trump and J.D. Vance:
  • Rubio played "good cop" compared to Trump and Vance’s overtly confrontational approaches.
  • Hanson notes Rubio’s marked growth since being derided as "Little Marco" (12:30).

3. AOC at the Munich Security Conference

• AOC’s Presence Questioned:

  “Why would AOC be invited to an international security conference? It boggles the mind.” – Jack Fowler (15:26)

• Victor’s Critique:
  • Argues AOC lacks the expertise and gravitas for such a forum.
  • Criticizes her for being “glib and cute” with little depth, emphasizing she “never did any homework” (15:38).
  • Mocks her non-answers on issues like Taiwan, contrasting her lack of knowledge with the expectations of an informed audience.
• European Attitudes:
  • Despite anti-Trump rhetoric, Europeans privately respect U.S. strength and recognize Trump’s pressure on their defense spending worked.
  • Warns that European leaders are sophisticated and see through shallow political posturing (17:10).
• Memorable Line:

  “The problem she has is twofold. She knows nothing. Nothing.” – Victor Davis Hanson (15:36)

4. The Call to Prayer in Manhattan & Secularism vs. Religion

• Reports of Islamic call to prayer on New York streets spark debate.
• Victor predicts city officials won’t enforce noise ordinances equally:

  “If it’s Billy Bob Baker and the evangelical church down the street... they will shut him down. That’s just a fact.” (23:09)

• Links the event to a broader decline in Western confidence and identity, as referenced in Rubio’s speech.
• Argues that the West’s tradition of self-critique and freedom can slide into self-destructive loss of values (25:12).

5. Anti-Semitism, Conservatism, and the Carrie Prejean Bowler Incident

• Discusses the controversy involving Carrie Prejean Bowler’s statements on Israel and anti-Semitism at a religious liberty commission meeting.
• Critiques “internet influencers” who lack substantive experience:

  “They’re all hat, no cattle. There’s no there there.” (33:38)

• Expands on antisemitism’s historical roots and persistence:

  “All the prejudice... envy. ‘The Jews killed Jesus,’ all these different blood, guilt, all of this stuff.” (39:51)

• Argues that contemporary attacks on ‘Israel’ are often veiled attacks on Jews more broadly.

6. U.S.-China 'Birth Tourism' & Academic Reciprocity

• Discusses figures suggesting tens of thousands of Chinese nationals travel to the U.S. yearly to give birth, creating birthright citizens.
• Victor calls for reexamination of the 14th Amendment and reciprocity in U.S.-China relations:

  "There’s nothing in the Constitution that says you are a citizen when you are born." (44:36)

  • Criticizes the large proportion of U.S. university engineering degrees going to Chinese nationals, arguing it’s not in America’s interest.
  • Warns: "If we don’t have reciprocity with them, we’re doomed." (47:58)

7. California’s Billionaire and Millionaire Flight

• Discusses reports of California’s wealthiest preparing to leave the state en masse if a wealth tax passes (51:22 on).
• Explains the impact of leftist policies and cultural climate:

  “Gavin Newsom makes Jerry Brown look like Socrates. He really does.” (58:57)

• Describes aggressive state tax enforcement, resentment toward wealth creators, and a political climate that’s hostile toward the tech and finance elite that long funded the Democratic Party.
• Predicts further decline and exodus from the state.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AOC:

  “She was a barista that was kind of cute and glib and she got elected in a surprise win where nobody really took her seriously… She knows nothing.” – Victor Davis Hanson (15:36)

• On European Leaders:

  “Their boilerplate about Trump is not the same as their subtext about Trump. Deep down inside, they know that Trump was right.” (17:37)

• On Anti-Semitism:

  “When Israel does it and retaliates, nobody says, ‘I wish they had done this, this was preferable.’ They don’t, because there was no other choice.” (35:52)

• On China and Birth Tourism:

  “There’s nothing in the Constitution that says you are a citizen when you are born. It’s an interpretation of the 14th Amendment.” (44:36)
  “If we don’t have reciprocity with them, we're doomed.” (47:58)

• On California’s Future:

  “1% of Californians pay 50% of the income tax. … That 5% is leaving even faster than the 1%. … They hate these people and insult them… and I don’t think it's — I think the state is headed down… rapidly.” (58:45)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:45] – On personal health struggles and supportive community.
• [06:28-13:31] – Analysis of Marco Rubio’s Munich Security Conference speech.
• [15:25-21:17] – Critique of AOC’s role at Munich; European attitudes; Hillary Clinton anecdote.
• [23:09-25:12] – New York’s Islamic call to prayer and Western cultural confidence.
• [33:38-42:32] – Anti-Semitism debate and the limitations of social media "influencers."
• [44:36-49:12] – China’s birth tourism, student visas and university policies.
• [51:22-59:48] – California’s fleeing billionaires/millionaires, aggressive tax policy, and loss of political identity.
• [61:49-end] – Listener mail, community reflections, and closing

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Tone & Language

Victor Davis Hanson’s tone remains trenchant and direct throughout, often laced with sardonic humor, historical references, and extemporaneous narrative. He is unapologetically critical of political and cultural trends he sees as damaging to American civilization and democracy, but also expresses deep gratitude for listener support, and ends the episode on a hopeful (if battle-weary) note toward communal solidarity.

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Useful for:

• Understanding the intersection of U.S. domestic and foreign policy through a conservative historical lens.
• Getting direct, critical takes on high-profile politicians and policies.
• Grasping California's demographic and political shifts.
• Context regarding the ongoing debates over anti-Semitism, immigration, and identity in America.

Transcript

[Jack Fowler]

I have a few questions for Victor. I have a lot of questions, but we won't try to tax them too much today.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

But tomorrow is seven weeks since I had the four hour lobe and tumor removal. And then another kind of a misadventure when I went back in. I guess call it an aneurysm, but I'm still here.

[Jack Fowler]

Why would AOC be invited to an international security conference? It boggles the mind.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

She's going to run against Chuck Schumer for Senate and she thinks she's going to win. And then she thinks she's going to either in 2028 or in 2032. She thinks she's going to run for president. There's about 1 trillion, trillion dollars that have left. Gavin Newsom always goes around the world and says, oh, everybody bashes us, but we've got the biggest tech sector. We've got the fifth, sixth largest economy in the world, Silicon. He's done nothing for Silicon Valley. Gavin Newsom makes Jerry Brown look like Socrates. He really does. Mark Zuckerbr has left. Peter Till has left. Marc Andreessen has left. They're all leaving. The whole power of that state politically is left wing, Democratic and Bay Area and it's all based on the wealth of Silicon Valley. They outspent all of their candidates. They had the agenda and then they turned on them.

[Jack Fowler]

Well, hello ladies and hello gentlemen and welcome to Victor Davis Hansen in his own words. And yes, Victor Davis Hansen is here himself to give his own words. I'm Jack Fowler, I'm the host. We are recording on George Washington's birthday, which is not the real birthday, but the federal holiday, Monday the 16th, and this episode will be up on Thursday the 19th. I'll explain why that in a minute. Victor is the Martin and Neely Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and he's a senior contributor at the Daily Signal, which is the happy home of this podcast. And Victor's got a website. Thebladeofperciusviktorhansen.com thanks to those of you who subscribe. Those who don't, you should. 65. I've lost the. I've forgotten these numbers, Victor. $65 for the year. 650amonth. So it's discounted if you take the full year. And when you do that, Victor writes two pieces a week and does a video a week exclusive for the Blade of Perseus. So if you're a fan of Victor's writing and his wisdom, check it out. Links galore to so many other things. I have a few questions. For Victor, I have a lot of questions, but we won't try to tax him too much today, but tomorrow is

[Victor Davis Hanson]

seven weeks since I had the four hour lobe and tumor removal. And then another kind of a misadventure when I went back in 30 minutes later for I guess, call it an aneurysm, but I'm still here. Yes, somebody. I have an angry reader coming out where somebody said he wanted me dead and he. I should walk off the end of the pier. And I said, not yet and not today. Stealing those quotes from Das Boot and Game of Thrones and.

[Jack Fowler]

Or was it. What was the other movie we talked about a lot recently? Not yet. Oh, no, that was another. No, that was another quote. It was Jon Voight in. In the. The. The other movie. Oh, my gosh.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Heat, heat, heat. Yes. It's a free country, bro.

[Jack Fowler]

Well, it is for the time being, anyway.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Well, first, I like John Voight a lot.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah, you know him?

[Victor Davis Hanson]

He called me after the surgery and he was the sweetest guy in the world. We talked for 25, 30 minutes about everything. Yeah, he's just a wonderful guy. I've known him a little bit. He was very sweet to my late daughter. So that's why I have a special. He and Mark Levin, both of them were. Yeah. And they didn't know that necessarily at the time that we were related. In other words, they met Susanna at a event that I was speaking at and she just happened to be in a different room. He didn't know who she was, but she was all alone, so he moved in that. Into that cubicle to talk to her. And next thing you knew, you had a whole trail of people following him into the other room. And Mark knew her. Bumped into her at the Kirby center when she was an intern and in Washington. Yeah. Yeah.

[Jack Fowler]

Well, John's a good guy. I reached out to him last year for something and he barely knows me, but he's like, here's my number, here's my, you know, give me a call. He's very, very accessible man. Well, I'm gonna ask Victor about Marco Rubio and AOC and maybe what's going on in New York City. And a few other Californians fleeing billionaires, their plans to flee, all that and maybe some more when we come back from these important initial.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Since the founding of America 250 years ago, many things have changed, but some things never do. The commitment of husband and wife, the importance of passing along our values to our children. The faithfulness of God. Some wonder how we can ensure America will Continue to thrive as long as we keep first things first. We've only just begun. America the Beautiful.

[Jack Fowler]

We are back with Victor Davis Hanson in his own words on the Daily Signal. Victor, here's a question. At the Munich Security Conference last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a speech that is being heralded for its call to national sovereignty, for reciprocity, for its call for Europe resuscitating itself. He said, the fate of Europe will never be irrelevant to our own. He attacked unfair trade. He attacked China's practices and growth. He attacked the climate cult and the disaster of mass migration. He asked, what are we defending? Would you give us your thoughts, Victor, about Rubio's speech and Marco Rubio himself?

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Yeah, it was a brilliant speech. And I don't know if Marco Rubio wrote it all or part of it, but he has some really good. If he didn't write all of it, usually Secretary of States are so jammed with things to do that he probably didn't, but he must have very good speechwriters. I thought it was a brilliant crafted, brilliantly crafted speech. And, you know, it was sort of the good cop version of Trump's harangue about Greenland, which set the Europeans into orbit. And then last year at the same conference, JD rightly, you know, he was very confrontational, and there was the Zelensky incident as well. But he reminded me the Europeans that, you know, they have, if they're going to be allies, they're going to be Democratic supporters, supporters of free speech, and yet they're arresting people arbitrarily. Really. I think he, you know, he was basically saying they're arresting people from one side of the political spectrum. And that didn't go over well. And Trump, of course, you know, talking about Greenland's need to accede to American security interest, and it didn't go over well, but this did sort of. And he made, you know, three, I thought, three really good points. Number one, he said, you have pathologies, and I know you. I'm extemporaneously summarizing, you have pathologies. And I know them because they're the same ones we have. And we had an open border. You had an open border. We flirted with climate change mandates, EVs, solar, wind at the expense of fossil fuels, why our rivals got rich off of them, whether exporting Russia or China, who was building coal plants, two a month. So that took the sting out of it because he was basically saying, we're wising up to our mistakes and because we're a common culture, you share Those two. Those mistakes, but you haven't wised up. That was the first thing he said. The second is, you know, he said, we're children of Europe. New Amsterdam was our oldest city, and it became New York. We have all these cultural ties. And this was very magnanimous because he's Cuban American, and his lineage comes from the Spanish diaspora, not the British diaspora, the Northern European. But he had a good point, because Spain, of course, was a great power in Europe. But what he was trying to say is, we're not going to forsake you. The reason that I'm talking to you is we want you to be strong. And that would be a partnership. And then he went into the third element. He said, we want you to be strong so you can stand up to Russia. And as people pointed out, they have a much bigger 500 million people versus Russia's 140, the EU and NATO nexus. And they have a GDP that's comparable to China. That's huge, not as big as ours, but they have the wherewithal. As Sturmer keeps saying, we're the sleeping dragon. Well, if you sleep all the time, you're not really a dragon. Who cares if you don't wake up? But then his point was that if you'll rearm and look at alternate fuels. What? They're not alternate fuels, but they're mainstream fuels. But for you, they're alternate now. Nuclear, coal, natural gas, which you have in plenitude, and you will control your borders and you will let people speak freely, then you know, you can avoid the pathologies that we saw under the bot. Basically, I'm extemporaneous, but he was saying under the Biden administration. He didn't say Sleepy Joe and all that stuff, but that's what he was talking about. We dodged the bullet. And if you do that, then you can handle the European crises, like Russia or any other, or China or Iran bullying you in trade or anything. And that will free us up to help the broader Western front in Asia, which is very distant from you, not so much from us, given our West Coast. So we're not going to forsake you. We're going to keep troops there. We're going to get back up. We have the nuclear deterrent, but if you will just rearm, you will be surprised about your power. And that will allow us, with NATO, but also with Japan, Australia, the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan, stop the Chinese aggression. And the problem with. They gave him a standing ovation, but they didn't really. They were bothered because there was no readily available target. He didn't say anything that they could demagogue. Everything he said was in some way praising them, but they don't want to be praised because when he kept saying that we can't attack our legacy, we cannot diminish the exceptionalism of Western. They believe that, and that's why they're socialists and that's why they have open borders and that's why they've destroyed their energy grid and they're not competitive, and that's why they have no security, because they have a fundamental loss of confidence in their culture, their legacy, their history. And he was defending what they wouldn't defend and saying, we are Europeans, too. And that took a lot of courage because we have the whole DEI here in the United States, and that's the Democratic Party now saying that that's a despicable legacy. And we're now all children of Asia and Africa and Latin America, and Europe is blank, blank. So it was a very carefully, it was like through a minefield that he tiptoed, but it was very powerful. I thought it was one of the best speeches any American had said in Europe, spoken, given in the last 10 years. And it's going to be a little problematic because it's going to be juxtaposed to JD Vance's speech, which I thought was very good, but it was confrontational. And maybe this is the idea that he's going to be the good cop, Rubio, Trump, and As I said, J.D. the bad cop. But what it shows is that he's a very different person when he was in the 2016 primary, when he kind of froze with a water drink or he gave the alternate version of the State of the Union when he had to drink water. And when Trump called him Little Marco and Chris Christie attacked him. And a decade later, my gosh, he is, I think right now really the most effective Republican voice that you have. And he's a huge asset for the Trump administration.

[Jack Fowler]

There were other people at that conference, aoc, and I'm going to ask you about her in a second. But first, Victor, Every day Americans make choices that shape our country's future, right down to which cell phone provider we support. And here's what most people don't realize. Patriot Mobile isn't just a wireless provider. It's an activist organization funded by selling top tier phone service. They've been on the front lines defending our freedoms long before it was cool, standing in the gap where others wouldn't. The best part is they deliver prioritized premium service on all three major USA networks giving you the same or even better coverage, backed by 100% US based customer support. Get unlimited data plans, mobile hotspots, international roaming and more. And when you switch to Patriot Mobile, you'll help grow a movement that fuels the Christian conservative cause. Every bill you pay helps it advance the values of faith, family and freedom. Switching is easier than ever. Activate in minutes. Keep your number, keep your phone or upgrade. Take a stand today. Go to patriotmobile.com VDH or call 972 Patriot and use the promo code VDH for a free month of service. That's patriotmobile.com VDH or Call 972 Patriot and make the switch today. And we thank the good people from Patriot Mobile for sponsoring Victor Davis Hanson in his own words. Okay, who else was at that Munich conference? Aoc. Victor. You know, one thing I don't get is you have these military forums you run at Hoover and I can see you inviting hypothetically someone from Congress who is. I'm not saying you do, but some.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Yeah, I have.

[Jack Fowler]

Why would AOC be invited to a, to an international security conference? It boggles the mind for what she, what she gravitas.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

She has because she's going to run against Chuck Schumer for Senate and she thinks she's going to win. And then she thinks she's going to either in 2028 or in 2000, I don't know, 30, 32. She thinks she's going to run for president. And moreover she thinks that the Europeans after the Greenland incident are angry at Trump and therefore they're going to be very receptive to someone like her who's going to come in like Hillary did there and trash him. But the problem she has is twofold. She knows nothing. Nothing. She doesn't know anything. She was a barista that was kind of cute and glib and she got elected in a surprise win where nobody really took her seriously. And then she went into the Latina DEI and the squad and she never did. And she never did any homework. She doesn't know anything. So when they ask her a question about the defense of Taiwan, how long would we have an audience? If you asked me just now about AOC and I act and I answer you like AOC did, I would say Jack. Well, of course, as you know, it's a very important question you asked, you know, Jack and I've been thinking about the conference and it's important and we worry about it and it's something, you know, you know, that, that I've Thought a lot about, well, we wouldn't have an audience and we shouldn't have an audience in about 24 hours. Well, that's what she did. She didn't know anything about Taiwan. She knows nothing of the history of Taiwan. She doesn't know the history of the Korean War. She doesn't know the Nixon administration's crisis with the islands off. She didn't know anything about that. And so she thought she was going to have a presence. And she, it kind of boomerang the other problem. She had the twofold. The second was the Europeans are foxy, cagey, they're not stupid people. They're some of the smartest, most skilled, self interested people in the world. Every time I talk to, you know, I think, I've been to Europe almost every summer for 40 years. And every time I talk to a European, I always say to myself, this guy or this woman is the most, I don't mean sneaky, but the most sophisticated, complex, careful, 500 alternate agendas subtext. Why aren't these people running the world like they used to? Because they're very educated, you know what I mean? But the point I'm making is their boilerplate about Trump is not the same about their subtext about Trump. Because they know deep down inside that Trump was right. That they, as Obama called it, they leech off us. He said they were freeloaders, to be specific. And they have more people than we do. They have about 150 or more million people than does the United States. And yet they have no armament. And this was the embryo of the Western military tradition. And they destroyed Europe twice. And they probably. And when a Western army fights a Western army, it's horrific, as they reminded us. So they understand that they need deterrence. They understand that what Merkel did in Germany ruined the continent almost. They understand that Islamic populations are not acculturating, assimilating, integrating. They know all that. They know that you don't really base an economy on Germany, in Germany, on solar power. Every time I'm there, I clap my hands when I see the sun, you know, for five minutes. So my point is that when she went over there and schmoozed with everybody and thought she was gonna get, all she appealed to was the far left and maybe some opportunistic Europeans that would like to use her and say, yeah, you know, but deep down inside, the idea that Trump is creating this huge economy that he's gonna build up, the. He's going to confront China and that for all of his talk about backing out of Ukraine. He's still there. They understand that. And what he did with Iran, they approve. And if he takes out that theocracy, they will talk about imperialism and undeclared wars and, you know, brinksmanship, but they will like it. And she doesn't understand that. Well, Hillary too. Hillary was there and she attacked a Czech diplomat and said that she got

[Jack Fowler]

into it with her.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Yeah, yeah. And he said, you don't like Trump? He said, no, I don't. And then he was really good. And he was an illustration of what I'm talking about. It was much more nuanced. He understood that there was a reason why the head of NATO called Trump daddy. Yeah.

[Jack Fowler]

Well, we saw again why XI was unelectable. Also unelectable. What a heartbeat.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

It's a euphemism. Well, harpies were mythological creatures, you know, at Lake Stymphalus.

[Jack Fowler]

I'm sorry to detract the Stymphalian birds.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Comparing them to her. Yeah, that's what I meant. I've been to Lake Stymphalus and the Stymphalian birds, remember one of the labors of Hercules, and you see them on red and black figure contemporary pottery of the fifth century. And they're grotesque figures. But I would say that it's unfair to them to compare them with Hillary.

[Jack Fowler]

My apologies.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Well, Medusa is a better mythological.

[Jack Fowler]

Well, we have some questions about what's going on in New York City and then what's going on in birth tourism. So two important matters. And I will ask Victor these questions when we come back from these important messages. We are back with Victor Davis Hansen in his own words recording on Monday the 16th. The reason, by the way, folks, this is up on Thursday and not tomorrow Tuesday, although that will be in your

[Victor Davis Hanson]

rear view mirror by the time you

[Jack Fowler]

look at this, is that the Daily Signal takes the holiday. It's a federal holiday Monday, so we couldn't get this edited in time for it to be up on Tuesday, but we're going to, as Victor gets back, improves, gets better, gets better recuperates. We will try to be closer to the actual date. So, Victor, here's a. I'm quoting from an X post and my question is, was it only a matter of time this week? Quote, residents in this area of Manhattan, New York are completely shocked to hear an Islamic call to prayer blasting on high volume speakers as they walk down the streets. Quote, I never thought in my life I'd hear this in the middle of New York. Some. He says, unbelievable. Victor, is it believable?

[Victor Davis Hanson]

I Think it is. Yeah. You had the right word. It's a matter of time. Everybody knew that he had given a soapbox lecture about Islam, was, you know, he was sworn in, I think, with a Quran, and he gave a stump speech not too long ago how we all had to consult Islam for meditation and comfort in our prayers and our reference to the deity. So everybody understood that. And then the second piece of evidence was it's very hard to find any of his appointments. I mean, there must be a lot of anti Semitism checkers, because almost every day there was a story. Today, almost every one of them has a history of saying something on social media about Jews that they don't like or da, da, da, da, da. Part of that is baked into the fabric or woven into the fabric of dei. But nonetheless, we all expected it. And he's not going to do anything about it. If there's a noise ordinance that a. And I think there are in New York, they will not enforce it, believe me. And believe me, if there is Billy Bob Baker and the evangelical church down the street and he says, ah, this is a good idea, and he puts a big bullhorn on, says, I want you all to come in here. And he has a perfect right to do so, they will shut him down. And that's just a fact.

[Jack Fowler]

I can't see a Catholic parish doing it, but I could see maybe if there is an evangelical parish in Manhattan and that happens to have a church that has bells in it, can you imagine if some church tried to play church bells very loud to drown out the Muslim prayer call? I wonder what the mayor of New York would do in that situation.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

It gets back to what Marco Rubio, the subtext of what he was saying, because when he talked about this pathology of the west in Europe and in the United States, and he was very candid about we had done the same things foolishly that they did, We're a graveyard of bad ideas. The trans idea has been buried. I think the open borders idea has been buried. I think the BLM critical race theory, critical crime has been buried. They don't work. And. But what Rubio was trying to say was that these are innate to the west because when you provide everybody with freedom under a consensual government and market capitalism, where you get. It's much more efficient than any other economic system and you get all this money and consumer goods and what the Romans called luxus, then you have to have religion or you have to have some type of moral order to tell people that they should not do what they're legally able to do and which they're materially able to acquire. Otherwise you have a whole bunch of people sleeping all day and watching Oprah on food stamp. Not Oprah anymore, the View. So what I'm getting at is, and this self criticism which is so important in the west, it always goes to the next level. And you know the best example, if anybody wants to read the historian Thucydides, right in the middle of the expedition to Sicily, which may have been ill thought out, but they were attacking the generals who were trying to conduct the operation that they authorized, or after the battle of Arganusi when they had an incredible victory over the Spartans and some of their survivors were in the water and the generals did not pick them up rapidly enough to save them. They executed most of them. And so what I'm getting at is we have to be very careful. And that's what Lubio was trying to say when he said about our legacy, our history. We don't go back in time and fault people. And so that's very important. And if you don't do that, then all cultures are equal in Obama's terms. We're not exceptional. And I can tell you that there is a reason why today the Islamic world does not have as many Nobel Prize winners as the Western world. I can tell you there's a reason why people are immigrating en masse to Europe, to the United States. And we are not going, you're not going to tell me tomorrow that you've decided to move to Libya or Egypt or Jordan. And that's just a fact. But baked into that is that that our leisure and freedom makes us, I don't know, slothful or not vigilant. And then when this nobody has the intellectual courage or the historical acumen to say to Mondami, we're not going to have any religion. If they're going to play this and disturb people on the street with a minority religion, then we're not going to have anybody doing it. We'll just make a law that you cannot disrupt people and that's going to apply to them as well. But we're not going to allow them to do it and not other people to do it. And if you think that that's Islamic phobia, that's your problem. And I think everybody's getting to that point now on everything. I know that here in California we're broke, we're going to have a millionaire's tax. And Gavin Newsom, he spent billions of dollars on health care for illegal aliens that he couldn't afford. He authorized reparations high speed. Everybody's just I think you're going to see a big reaction to that. And I think that might help Trump in the midterms because for all the anger at Trump and the media bias, people are going to say, well, what's the alternative? More trans 10,000 people crossing the border, more BLM fakers that have big homes and ransack the money? A more Somali fraud, a Tim Waltz? Is that what you want? Yeah, that's the alternative.

[Jack Fowler]

I think we yet to see a focus on the fraud that will come out. And we're going to talk about California later. But a spotlight on the fraud there like there has been on Minnesota. And I assume the numbers will dwarf what we've seen Somalians. Hey Victor, before I have to raise another topic with you. But first, if you've studied enough history, dear readers or viewers and listeners, you start to see a pattern. Nations don't lose their way overnight. They drift through debt and division until one day you realize the foundations you thought were permanent were never permanent at all. Today, America is spending at levels once reserved for wartime. We've normalized deficits that would have stunned earlier generations. And policymakers now debate whether the only path forward is more intervention, more printing, more distortion. But here's the historical Every society that pushed its currency beyond discipline eventually paid a price. The wise never waited for collapse. They prepared for the correction. And that's why so many thoughtful Americans, especially those nearing retirement or in retirement, are reallocating part of their wealth into something that has outlasted every paper experiment in human history, physical gold, not as speculation but as insulation. Now our reputation matters here at Victor Davis Hansen in his own words. Which is why we're partnering with Allegiance Gold, a company distinguished by integrity, reliability and an A rating from the Better Business Bureau. For years, they've guided Americans through transparent education and long standing relationships built on trust. And right now, they're extending a special liberty offer for our listeners to help you get started with real gold, whether your funds are in a retirement account or sitting in the bank. So if you believe as we do that the best time to reinforce your position is before the storm becomes obvious. Call 8447-909191-84479, 09191 or visit protectwith evictor.com that's 844-7909-191879-09191 or visit protectwithvictor.com History rewards those who Take the long view. And we thank the good people at Allegiance Gold for sponsoring Victor Davis Hansen in his own words. Victor, I'm going to save the end of the show for your focus, if you don't mind, on California. But speaking of Californian, let's talk about this Carrie Prejean Bowler, who the former Miss California who gained some great national attention and acclaim in conservative circles about 15 years ago, plus when she spoke out against same sex marriage, well, she was recently appointed to President Trump's Religious Liberty Commission. They had a meeting. I'm sure most people who are watching this or listening to this episode have seen or heard the battle that went on at that hearing between Bohler and Meir Soloveitchik, a rabbi from New York. And there was another rabbi. And it was all the question about what is anti Semitism, what is anti Zionism? There's some claims that Bowler was in cahoots with a Muslim person, a scholar who was sitting behind her, feeding her questions. I don't know. Anyway, she's been fired from the commission. And this gets back to Victor, to what we're seeing on the right, conservatives ensnared in this making claim anti Semitism was something that stinks of antisemitism or something that points in the direction of antisemitism. So, Victor, we had this controversy. What are your thoughts on it?

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Well, she's a very beautiful young woman and she's very charismatic and she unlike most celebrities and she's a semi celebrity, I suppose she was outspoken and she was conservative. So that kind of skyrocketed her career. But she really wasn't vetted and people really hadn't seen. Had she written columns, books, gone in debates? No. The problem with all this Internet influencers are it's very easy to get on and just talk. It's very hard to formulate your ideas and write a column and get horrific feedback. It's very hard to write a book and have it reviewed or even before it's accepted to publication to have blind readers see if it's worthy of publication. It's another thing to go into a debate with somebody. Even when I debated Arianna Huffington, which I thought was kind of a joke, she's a very bright person, so you have to be on the top of your. But these new faces don't do that. It's either their looks or their impression on social media or their two line X's. And so they get enormous amount of clicks and views and attention. But then there's, there's no, I mean, they're all hat, no cattle, there's no there there. So when she started talking about, you know, it's always Gaza and all of this stuff, I think she had a pin on too, I'm not sure. But none of these people say this. You're Israelis. On the morning of October 7th and 3,000 terrorists come across this. Basically, if anybody's seen that border, it's unfortified they would have been a lot better, as I said once, to have the theodason malls at Constantinople than that fence and censor. And they just went right through it. And then it was just open season on Jews. And they killed and they raped and they tortured and they dismembered and they did all of the things that we associate with the medieval period, unfairly to the medieval period probably. And they killed 1200 people. They took over 260 hostages. And then what the worst thing about it was there were five or six hundred people that got, you know, hey, they're killing Jews or raping Jews or stealing. They just tagged along citizens or if you think that I'm unfair. When they brought back hostages, did anybody say, don't kick them, don't spit on. They tried to kill the hostages right as they were being transported. Then they put them in medieval dungeons and tortured them basically, or killed them. And so when you do all that, and then it's one of the most densely populated areas in the world on top of a subterranean, I don't know, 500 mile labyrinth that they absconded with UN and foreign aid money and built this multi billion dollar deep city under Gaza. And then the exit and entry points were under mosque, hospitals and schools. Would somebody tell me what Israel was supposed to do? Well, they said, they said we were not going to invade. I think they waited 21 days, maybe it was longer. 28. So we're not going to go in there. We just want all the people responsible for this. And they wouldn't do it. So then they went in and they took care of business, sort of like we took care of business in World War II or Korea. People forget in Korea, B29s had more missions than they did in World War II. We destroyed the Northern Korean landscape and no need to get into Vietnam. Barack Obama, when he found that there were people coming across the border from Pakistan and attacking US troops, he just said, I don't care if they're US citizens. He killed two US citizens. He killed almost, I don't know, 3,700 people in drone attacks. Nobody said a word. No Israelis said, oh my Gosh, you're just assassinating people. Are you sure that they're terrorists? So my point is that when Israel does it and retaliates, nobody says, I wish they had of done this, this was a preferable method. They don't because there was no other choice once they decided Hamas, that they were not going to give up the people responsible. And so the only thing that, and what most people say is like her, well, it's Israel, it's not Jews, It's Israel, it's not Jews. Okay? And then sure enough, we start to hear about World War II and Hitler and the Axis weren't really guilty. These are the people who eliminated half the Jews of Europe. And then we start to hear about Jews are harassing Christians in Jordan and it's much better to be a Christian in an Arab country than it is in Israel, which is demonstrably untrue. And then we hear from Cain west, the Jews run all everything and he likes Hitler. And then we hear from Farrakhan, it's a gutter religion. And then we hear from Jesse Jackson, it's Jaime Town. And you know, so it's not just Israel. And this latest look at what Fuentes says, he doesn't just confine his remarks to Israel, he talks about Jews. And do you think that the people who say they're just mad at Israel were chasing Jews into the Cooper Union Library because they were Israeli supporters? There's a lot of Israeli supporters. I'm one that's not Jewish. They were going after Jews. And you think that that law student at Harvard that tried to rough up a Jewish person didn't know that he was Jewish? And you think at Stanford when a professor looked at a lecturer. I can't say he was a professor, but when this lecturer looked at a student and he said, all you Jews put your stuff on that side of the classroom because you're going to learn what it's like. Was he talking about Israelis? No. So there you have it. Okay. Yeah. And she knows that. And why is this? Because I couldn't. I mean, our late friend Norman Porthowitz wrote a whole book about why there's anti Semitism. Part of it is historical because of the Diaspora after the destruction of the Second Temple. Part of it is that they were excluded in Europe from not having land, much less getting into the aristocracy. And they had to do things that other people felt were beneath them. Money lending, usury, whatever the majority called them or demonized them for. And they had names like Satin and Silver and Goldsmith, all that and then when the economy became monetized in the Industrial Revolution and earlier than people who had those financial skills, no longer land was the currency of wealth. And people who knew something about currencies and money and investment were very successful. And this very successful group was highly educated, very unapologetic about their religion. You add in the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Pharisees, and you have all the ingredients for not liking Jews. And all of the prejudice, I should say, I don't mean the ingredients were justified. I mean, this is what these people draw on, envy. You know, the Jews killed Jesus, all of these different blood, guilt, all of this stuff. And they just can't admit that. You know, here in the United States, if you want to look at a particular religious group or if you define it as an ethnic minority that has a phenomenal rate of education, a phenomenal rate of nonviolent crime, everything that you would want in an early immigrant group. Many Jews came in the 19th century, although there were people here in the revolution and during the Civil War then it's an ideal group that's benefited the United States in so many ways. And yet for people to say things like she did, it's just. I don't know. It's crazy.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah. I recommend folks Google search Washington letter to the Hebrew congregation of Newport and find out the relevance to our brothers and sisters in Abraham and their fundamental role in this great republic. Hey, Victor, we are going to. If you still have the stamina here, I have two questions. I want to ask you about something from Peter Schweitzer's book. And then we'll take a break and then we'll ask about California. So if you're up to that, well, let's do it. And Peter was on the other day pinch hitting an episode of the podcast. We talked about his book the Invisible Coup, and he talked about this. It's not a claim, it's justified. I'm going to read a little bit from the book about the number of Chinese who are birthed tourism babies born here. Let me just read this again. This is from the Invisible Coup. Chinese officials estimate that the number of kids born here by Chinese who are just flying in, having the baby and going home is a staggering 50,000 of their own citizens a year. Scholars who have studied the subject in depth put the figure even higher, perhaps twice that, with up to 100,000 Chinese babies being born US citizens every year. This is Professor Salvatore Babones says he writes birth tourism may result in millions of new elite Chinese Americans some place the numbers higher still. Media Research, a Chinese data analysis company, says that in 2018 alone, 150,000 people came from China to the United States to practice birth tourism. Victor, this is really, I find personally, like, really troubling and wonder what you might think about, you know, since I would say, since the Constitution is not a suicide pact, should Congress do something to strip away this?

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Well, I mean, they're trying, aren't they? Because there's nothing in the. I mean, there's nothing in the Constitution that says that you are a citizen when you are born. It's an interpretation of the 14th Amendment whether your parents are subject to the laws of a sovereign, separate state other than the United States. And I think you could make an argument here that they are, because when they fly in to have a baby, China is one of those few nations that doesn't allow dual citizenship. They're not dual citizens. That came up in the Olympics. When is her name Gu Chiyu, the skier, the model that has made $23 million, the bulk of it through Chinese sponsorships and now is sponsored by China. And she would not ask answer. She grew up here in the United States. She was born in the United States. Her mother married a US Citizen, as I understand. And the question is, then, Is she a U.S. citizen? And she didn't want to answer that because obviously she says Chinese citizen. But China doesn't allow people to have dual citizenship. And so we have 300,000 Chinese. Why do we have 300,000 Chinese? Why don't we have 300,000Americans in China? Universities? They would never allow that to any. They would never allow that. If you just reverse the situation and say, oh, China found two bio labs by American entrepreneurs that had vials of deadly viruses, one in Wuhan, one in Shanghai. And they had ties to the Trump administration. Well, they would execute them. Oh, wow. 20American entrepreneurs have bought farmland next to a Chinese submarine pen, a air force base, and a military. That would be the end of it. Wow. American students were caught downloading Chinese sensitive material. That would be the end of it. And so until we have a reciprocal foreign policy with them. And I don't understand why Trump wants 600,000 Chinese students. If it was me, I would not have seven. I mean, why are we paying all this money to American universities, especially the elite? Billions of dollars in federal support, especially for science, when 60% or 70% of the engineering PhDs, computer or mechanical or any type of engineering are not Americans. And most of them are Chinese. So we are training the elite of China. And what Are they doing well? They're ripping us off. They're running surpluses. They're trying to take over Taiwan. They're not our friends until we make that clear. And they're building two new nuclear bombs a month. They got a long way to go to catch up with us. But yeah, it's scary. And we have to have reciprocity with them. If we don't, we're doomed.

[Jack Fowler]

That's pretty direct.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Well, I think we are doomed because they've got 1.4 billion people and they don't like that. They're not Taiwanese. They are Communist China. It's not a government that's an ally of ours. And they're very adept. They're absolutely brilliant. When the COVID crisis came, nobody could fly out of Wuhan to any city in China. But you could go to JFK, you could go to SFO, you could go to LAX for 10 days all over Europe spreading the virus. If anybody objected to that, they were racist. They said, this is like the yellow peril. This is like what you did to the other Asians during World War II. This is, this is, this is. Their only problem was that we had a special relationship from China as being a non imperial power. We were missionaries, but we didn't do what the Europeans did. And so they always had this nice relationship with us which we don't enjoy anymore after the communist revolution of 46, 7, 8, 9. So I don't know, I think it's, it's a very dangerous precedent.

[Jack Fowler]

Well, we are going to get to California and potential billionaire flight. And we'll do that right after these final important messages. We are back with Victor Davis Hansen in his own words on the Daily Signal. Victor, I was reading an article by Mike Solana in Pirate Wire and it's titled the largest wealth 12th flight in California history. And I beg the indulgence of our listeners and viewers. Let me just read this. But first, are these guys staying and fighting or are they leaving and how many have left? While there's been a great deal of reporting on the matter, nobody seems to agree on the number. Three men I spoke with in the largest Billionaire Signal chat said they ran an informal poll and 70% of the chat, around 60 people, not all of whom are billionaires, indicated they would leave the state if the ballot proposition passes. According to the same poll, around 15% have already left the state. I've spoken with about 10% of billionaires in the state myself. Of the 21 men I interviewed, 20 said they have been impacted by the ballot measure. All 20 of them, including the Democrats, as well as several of the most committed die hard proponents of revitalizing San Francisco are now developing an exit plan. Three have already left. Almost all of them have either purchased property out of state or are in the process of buying property out of state. Now almost all of them have engaged lawyers to help them navigate what they see as a potentially years long legal battle. And among the men I spoke with whom are presently running companies, almost all of them have deployed business ops leaders to focus on opening offices out of California. One last thing, Victor. The super bowl last week, 10 days ago, listening to a sports radio station. Do you know if you played in that game and the week you spent, you lost money if you were a player? Yeah. Crazy. Anyway, Victor, your thoughts?

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Well, everybody knows what's going on. There's about $1 trillion trillion dollars that have left. Gavin Newsom always goes around the world and says, oh, everybody bashes us, but we've got the biggest tech sector, we've got big fifth, sixth largest economy in the world, silicon. He's done nothing for Silicon Valley. And they wised up in the last election when they started, then the Biden administration started picking winners. And you can be an AI, you can't da da da da. So you know, Mark Zuckerberg has left, Peter Till has left, Mark Andreessen has left. They're all leaving. And I think people say, well they're billionaires, yeah, but if you have a billion dollars, most of these guys have it in ST stocks. How much cash do you need? Maybe 100 million cash. They're looking at not the cash you have, they're looking at your assets. And so if you're taking 5% of a billion dollars, it's $50 million. Right. So you're telling a billionaire, I need $50 million right now. And he's going to say, well I have four homes, I did it. And they said we don't care, you've got to come up with it. And they, if you vote on stocks, that's going to be. There's a formula where you're going to be assessed on your wealth by the amount of influence you use in the company. Stock options and things, unrealized actual cash. So it was drawn up by a bunch of Berkeley left wing professors and then all of the government employees, the teachers unions, the health union. Nobody ever said why don't we first look at all the scandals that are going to dwarf Minnesota. We have a hospice scandal, we have a housing scandal, we have food stamps, we have entitlements they don't ever say that. Why do we give full health care to illegal aliens as a magnet to bring people here? They don't talk about that. Not at all. Why are we even talking about high speed rail? That's $30 billion and we haven't had one foot of track. They don't talk about that. Why are we doing this solar wind stuff when we're sitting on a natural gas Extravagant. They don't talk about that. It's always more, more, gimme, gimme, gimme. And now they're deep. It's very weird, Jack. This happened after. They would have never done this four years ago because got to remember, Mark Zuckerberg gave what $400 million in the 2020 election to augment the registrars in key swing states. Probably helped them win the election. Biden. But then they got to see the one eyed Jack flipped over and they saw the other face of the Democrats and they heard AOC and they heard the squad and they heard all Ms. Crockett and they heard what they were saying and they don't like these people, they don't like the billionaire. So then they turned on them and they went full Bernie Sanders. The problem is that, that these people were the bread and butter of the Democratic Party, the wealthy. They said that they, you know, act blue, small and small donors. Yeah, that was true partly, but it was the big, big money. It is what changed California. If you were talking to me in high school and you said well where's the money? I would have said la. It's la, it's Hollywood, it's oil, it's defense contracting. That's where all the power in California, the May of la. Sam Yordy wasn't George Christopher. Those people, San Francisco and the Bay Area were nothing compared to la. Bigger population, a lot more money. And then all of a sudden around the millennium or earlier, it was, you know, it was Apple, it was Google, it was Meta Facebook, it was everybody there, it was Oracle. And it wasn't just a billion dollars, it was 5, 10. Now it's much, much, much bigger. And that created what? That created Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Jerry Brown and Willie Brown. The whole power of that state politically is left wing Democratic and Bay Area and it's all based on the wealth of Silicon Valley. They outspent all of their candidates. They had the agenda and then they turned on them and they said, you know what we want to grab, we have DEI now. We've had all this Illegal immigration. We've had change in democracy. The middle class, independent and Republicans are leaving. And now we got our base, that's California. And they want your money and we're going to take it. And they're going to say, see, you wouldn't want to be. I'm leaving. And now they're making it very hard. 3 years. I talked to a lot of donors in various. I get calls about. They want to give to particular entities that I know. And I always ask them when they left California. And the stories, Jack, are just. I mentioned a couple of them. They audited them for three years and somebody goes back to his business and flies. They subpoena their credit cards and they look at see if half of the 365 days they can find a credit card expenditure or if they don't have that, they subpoena their power bill in say state line Nevada or in Phoenix or some lower income tax. And they want to see if their power was on. Oh, you have a big 7,000 square foot home. Your power bill's only 400amonth. That means you were in California more than half the time. They do anything. They're so hard for money. They're just desperate. Not like the IRS. They make the IRS. The state franchise tax board makes the IRS look like pikers. And they need this. 1% of Californians pay 50% of the income tax. 50% of it. 1, 5% pay about 75% and that 5% is leaving even faster than the 1%. And you know when you have a state that 27% of the population was not born in the United States and you're not being taught to acculturate, integrate or assimilate. But they're hearing how awful the old white population was and how racist it was and sexist and it's all going to be di. And you can have your own Latino community, black community, Asian community, gay community, trans community, then you send a message and a lot of people are saying, I'm done. I think people don't understand. It's not just they're taking their money, they are humiliating them. They are saying, we hate your guts and you owe us. You look at every single one of those activists for this proposition. They all say, you owe us. You made your money here as if they made it. It's kind of like Elizabeth Warren. You didn't build that. Or Obama.

[Jack Fowler]

Yeah, Obama.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

And these billionaires. And there's going to be a millionaire from every billionaire tax. There always follows the millionaire tax. The problem in California, you can Have a bungalow in Berkeley suburb or outside somewhere in San Jose, a bungalow, and you're a millionaire. It's worth a million point five or something. And so they got to be very careful because that's most of their constituency. But. But it's the idea that they hate these people and they insult them when these people carry the state. And I don't think it's. I think the state is headed down. I mean, it has been, but I mean, rapidly. And Gavin Newsom makes Jerry Brown look like Socrates. He really does.

[Jack Fowler]

Jerry Brown's going to call you up, Victor.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

I talked to Jerry the other day. Jerry called me up and we talked a lot about things and why we did disagree politically. He's very. He's a native Californian. He's been. His family was here. His. His father, Pat Brown fought the Sierra Club and got the California Water Project. And I think what I'm trying to say is a liberal Democrat like Jerry Brown has been overshadowed, superseded it by something differently. I don't know what you call it. A Marxist, a neo Marxist, A racist. These people are racist. They're Marxists and they're crazy. And they're running the state and they're running the state into the ground. Louisiana used to be. Gosh, you go down there. And I spoke right after 9 11. A naval group alumni asked me to give a lecture. I think it was 2001, maybe in December. I could not believe it When I went there, Jackson. I had not been to downtown la. It was lit up like it was New York. And I walked out, it was just jammed at 5 o' clock and it was vibrant and it was clean and everybody was up and upbeat and they said, this is the new downtown, Victor. Have you seen it? These skyscrapers. And it was just. It didn't remind me of LA and it was just booming. And my wife and I went down there about two years ago. It looked like a ghost. It looked like Bodie, California ghost town, town. There was nobody there and there was a bunch of canteens and half of the stores were empty and there were homeless people everywhere. They destroyed it. Karen Bass, who, you know, spent her summers working, cutting sugar cane in Cuba. In Cuba, yeah.

[Jack Fowler]

Well, Victor, we've come to the end. I'm going to do something we haven't done in a while since you've been recuperating. And there are so many reader comments and viewer comments, especially on YouTube.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

So I've picked.

[Jack Fowler]

I have a bunch, but I'm going to just read two. And one is from Mark Sutton 5540 who writes, shall I join in being angry with you for not getting better faster, or should I be thankful to God for your life? Pretty well questioned, Mark. Thank you for that.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Well, I asked them that. I asked the wonderful surgeon, and he said, if you have a large mass and inside that large mass, you have a cancerous tumor, but we have to take the whole mass out, and we can't just take that because we can lessen the chance it's going to come. It's a tumor that comes back. So they took the whole lobe out, and the right lower lobe is the big one. It's half year long. And that in itself would have been about a month. And here I am at six weeks. But when 25 minutes later, where you have very low blood pressure, you're coughing and there's an aneurysm, and you lose half your blood supply either in the ICU or during the surgery. And then I had this brilliant surgeon that went right back in. He didn't hesitate and he found the three bleeds. But the point is, when you have six transfusions, if you count platelets and anemia and afib, it takes enough, another three months. That's my problem right now. I mean, I'm supposed to be concentrating on the cancer. The purpose I was in the hospital, but I haven't thought about it lately because I can't even think about it until I get, you know, I can walk without being dizzy or get out

[Jack Fowler]

of bed, get past the transfusion, the

[Victor Davis Hanson]

transfusions and the anemia and the loss of blood volume because I almost bled out, out. So. And, you know, when you're eight hours under anesthesia, or seven or eight, it's. It's harder. So a lot of people say, you know, when you take out the whole lobe and even on a normal, you're not going to feel well for three to six months. But then I. There's some surgeon, you know, some people say, you know, two weeks, three weeks, I was back at work. I had people call me and say that, what's wrong with you? I was out of work,

[Jack Fowler]

you laggard, you. Hey, one more. One more comment. This is from Martin Stern, who writes, I discovered Victor around seven years ago. I cannot even begin to describe the joy and comfort he has provided me through very hard times in my life. Just listening to him talk about current events and also hearing about his trials and tribulations in his own life has brought so much joy. And I'm so happy that he seems to be doing so. Well, I don't know. Well, that's one man's opinion. I really hope that he will be with us for many, many, many more years to come. Don't we all agree?

[Victor Davis Hanson]

You know? Yeah, that's very nice. I'm out here at Rural. I have a wonderful assistant, Megan Ring, and she sends me. She sends me a packet every week of letters, and I go out to our mailbox every day, waddle out, and I look at these letters and, well,

[Jack Fowler]

okay, go ahead, waddler.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Yeah, I gained three pounds since when I went in. But anyway, I think I told you they have these weird characteristics. They're all written in cursive from a generation that knew how to write. And they're beautifully. That's almost like calligraphy. And then they're very. They believe in something. They say, we've been praying. Everyone says pray. And I can feel it. I think it's one of the reasons that I survived the bleed was prayer. I really do believe that. Not that I'm arrogant enough that God wants to save me, but I think I could feel people were helping. And then the next thing is about every third one is a tragic cancer story that, oh, my husband, my son, it's just everywhere, cancer. And I can relate to that because my mom died. Died prematurely of a brain cancer, and my aunt and her two sisters had kidney and breast cancer and died very young. And then my daughter died of leukemia at 26. But to hear all these stories and don't give up. Fight, fight, fight. I'm on stage four, Victor. I just had my third operation. I've had my 12th chemo. You know what I mean? It was just heroic. And so the sense of a brotherhood. Yeah, I think the left doesn't understand that. They think that everybody identifies by ethnic or race. And I'm talking about people from all different races. I got somebody who was writing me from the Philippines, who's an American citizen there. I got Filipino Americans this week. I got two Chinese Americans. It's everybody but the people who are traditional and believe in the United States, its history. They're religious. It's much bigger than the left. It really is. I don't think. Sometimes I get depressed. I know our listeners do, but I don't think, you know, that you're the majority, is what I'm trying to say. Even in these times. And I don't know how many times some person who I've known in high school or, you know, was a laborer, I was out not too long ago walking the Vineyard as a Mexican American guy. I didn't know him very well, but he came up to me and said, you got to get over that lung. Get it over. Get over. You know, it just. It's a wonderful country. It really reminded me of that. And I had been kind of depressed and skeptical about it, but just the overwhelming. Not about me, but just the idea of writing a letter to somebody who was ill and then writing about yourself, that was very fascinating, revealing, and helpful, you know? Yeah.

[Jack Fowler]

So I've had so many people write me. How do I write? I want to write to Victor. So I tell. I tell them right to Cara Hoover. And they do. So it's you. You've. You've. Well, you're a beautiful man, Victor. And people.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

People. I don't know about that, but I really.

[Jack Fowler]

Well, from the. From the viewers and the listeners perspective, they feel a connection with you that. That is truly profound and deserved. So deal with it. Deal with it.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

I'm dealing with it. Okay.

[Jack Fowler]

All right.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Well, I've got about three rendezvous coming up. Okay.

[Jack Fowler]

Hey, I'll just close.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Go ahead, Rupert. Well, murder. I'll forget that poem. I have a rendezvous. Oh, all right.

[Jack Fowler]

Hey, folks, if you. If you just go to civilthoughts.com, sign up for the free weekly email newsletter I write. I'd greatly appreciate it. Civilthoughts.com thanks, Victor. You've been terrific, really, as ever. Thanks, folks, for listening and watching. We'll be back soon, whether with Victor or some pinch hitters, but we will keep doing Victor Davis Hansen in his own words. Bye. Bye.

[Victor Davis Hanson]

Thank you, everybody. Thank you for tuning in to the Daily Signal. Please, like, share and subscribe to be notified for more content like this. You can also check out my own [e-mail] and subscribe for exclusive features in addition.