“Gas prices in many parts of the country are nearing $4 a gallon; it could get even worse as unrest spreads throughout the oil-exporting Middle East. Yet the Obama administration once again seems to see no crisis. It has curtailed new leases for offshore oil exploration for seven years and exempted thousands of acres in the West from new drilling. It will not reconsider opening up small areas of Alaska with known large oil reserves.” YearsCountrySeemsKnownMiddleAreasCrisisWestSevenSpreadOilEastOpeningAdministrationGasExplorationMiddle EastReservesSeven YearsAlaskaOpening UpAcresUnrestGallonsDrillingLeaseGas PricesOffshoreExporting Author:Victor Davis Hanson
“Offering 'comprehensive' reform usually means years of arguing and horse-trading among pressure groups to get anything done. By the time all the special interests are appeased or bought off, the resulting elephantine legislation typically looks nothing like what was intended. In short, big-government medicine usually doesn't work on big-government sickness. If President Obama wants 'comprehensive' change, it would be better simply not to spend any more money we don't have.” IfsWantYearsLooksMeanDoneBigsGovernmentWould BePresidentInterestGroupsSpecialHorsePressureMedicineArguingReformSicknessPresident ObamaOfferingMore MoneyLegislationTradingComprehensiveSpecial InterestsBig GovernmentPressure Groups Author:Victor Davis Hanson
“It's radical Islamic terrorism. And yet, when you see the last eight years, something's gone wrong to call it violent extremism or man-caused disasters. It would be as if we were looking at [Adolf] Hitler in the 1930s. And we were afraid to say that he was a Nazi.” IfsMenYearsWould BeLastsGoneEightTerrorismDisasterViolentRadicalIslamicNaziExtremism1930sIslamic Terrorism Author:Victor Davis Hanson
“Racial inequality has gotten worse in the last years because any time you have a moribund economy, the people who historically have had more problems getting jobs have suffered. And that, I think, is triggering a lot of the animosity.” PeopleThinkingYearsProblemJobsLastsEconomyInequalityLast YearAnimosity Author:Victor Davis Hanson
“If I talk to black students on campus, they're not sympathetic to the people who are not sympathetic with [Black Lives Matter movement]. The fact that you want to argue rather than find some common ground, I think, has gotten a lot worse in the last years.” PeopleIfsThinkingWantYearsMatterFactsLastsBlackCommonMovementStudentsArguingLast YearBlack Lives MatterSympatheticCampusCommon GroundBlack Lives Author:Victor Davis Hanson
“Western elites - the beneficiaries of 60 years of peace and prosperity achieved by the sacrifices to defeat fascism and Communism - are unhappy in their late middle age, and show little gratitude for, or any idea about, what gave them such latitude. If they cannot find perfection in history, they see no good at all.” IfsYearsLittlesIdeasShowsAgeHistorySacrificeMiddleGratitudeLatePerfectionWesternDefeatProsperityUnhappyCommunismFascismElitesMiddle AgesLatitudeBeneficiaries Author:Victor Davis Hanson
“Can-do Americans courageously go about their duty in Iraq - mostly unafraid that a culture of 2,000 years, the reality of geography, the sheer forces of language and religion, the propaganda of state-run Arab media and the cynicism of the liberal West are all stacked against them.” YearsStatesRealityRunningCultureLanguageForceCan DoMediaDutyWestIraqPropagandaCynicismSheerGeographyUnafraid Author:Victor Davis Hanson
“The American people are not naifs who yearn for isolationism, but they are starting to ask some hard questions about the way we have been doing business for 50 years, and it may well be time to grant the French, Canadians, Germans, Turks, South Koreans, and a host of others their wishes for independence from us: polite friendship - but no alliances, no bases, no money, no trade concessions, and no more begging for the privilege of protecting them.” PeopleWayYearsWellsMayHas BeensHardAsksWishBasesIndependenceTradeSouthStartingPrivilegeGrantsHostPoliteAlliancesBeggingNo MoneyKoreanConcessionsIsolationismHard Questions Author:Victor Davis Hanson
“The United States military is now evolving geometrically as it gains experience from near-constant fighting and grafts new technology daily. Indeed, it seems to be doubling, tripling, and even quadrupling its lethality every few years. And the result is that we are outdistancing not merely the capabilities of our enemies but our allies as well - many of whom who have not fought in decades - at such a dizzying pace that our sheer destructive power makes it hard to work with others in joint operations.” YearsWellsHardStatesSeemsFightingUnitedResultsEnemyTechnologyUnited StatesMilitaryGainsConstantDecadesEvolveOperationsDestructiveAlliesPaceCapabilitySheerJointsNew TechnologyUnited States MilitaryDestructive Power Author:Victor Davis Hanson
“I wish I could attribute the absence of any conventional Arab offensive in the last 20 years to a change of political climate or a willingness to abide by past accords. But unfortunately it is more likely that the Egyptians or Syrians concluded that the next time their tanks headed to Tel Aviv, there was nothing stopping the counterassaults from ending up in downtown Cairo or Damascus.” YearsLastsPastPoliticalNextWishClimateAbsenceWillingnessAttributesConventionalOffensiveNext TimeStoppingTanksAccordDowntownCairo Author:Victor Davis Hanson
“A country that cannot count its own illegal aliens - estimates range from 8-12 million - with a porous 2,000 mile border is not secure despite twelve carrier battle groups. We must accept that it is a cornerstone of Mexican foreign policy to export illegally each year a million of its own to the United States to avoid needed reform at home and to influence American domestic policy.” YearsCountryStatesHomeUnitedAcceptingMillionsUnited StatesGroupsInfluencePolicyNeededBattleMilesDespiteSecureAliensReformRangeBordersIllegalForeign PolicyTwelveMexicanCornerstonesCarrierIllegal AliensDomestic Policy Author:Victor Davis Hanson
“The fact is that we have been consistent in a predictable 60-year commitment to national security, while our friends and former enemies - by intent or default - have followed different paths since 1989. We stayed mostly the same as they became hypopowers that, to take a small example, would and could do nothing should a madman in Korea wish to kill millions.” ShouldYearsHas BeensDifferentFactsWishEnemyMillionsPathSecurityExampleCommitmentFormerConsistentNational SecurityKoreaPredictableMadmenDefaultDifferent Paths Author:Victor Davis Hanson
