Victor Davis Hanson

HANSON: Rhetoric vs. reality

American presidential election rhetoric always paints the incumbent as incompetent in foreign policy, the challenger insightful and skillful. A look at recent history, however, shows that once the opposition gains office, the world suddenly becomes not so black and white.

December 21, 2008

HANSON: Who’s to blame?

When someone screams about a terrible policy of the present administration, just pose four questions --

December 14, 2008

HANSON: Back to the past

For three days, Islamist gunmen nearly shut down Mumbai, the financial center of India. The terrorists - Pakistani militants, according to Indian authorities - murdered almost 200 innocents and left hundreds of others wounded, giving reprieve only to hostages they thought were Muslims.

December 7, 2008

HANSON: Baby boomers’ hysterical style

Politicians now predict the implosion of the U.S. auto industry. Headlines warn the entire banking system is on the verge of utter collapse. The all-day/all-night cable news shows and op-ed columnists talk of another Dark Age on the horizon, as each day another corporation lines up for its me-too bailout.

November 30, 2008

HANSON: Failure not an option

We all remember the advice about failure we received from our parents and teachers. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." "Learn from your mistakes." "Failure breeds success."

November 23, 2008

HANSON: Small change

We will likely see a lot of political "readjustments" come January, once President-elect Barack Obama and many new Democratic congressmen assume office, and the Republican administration leaves.

November 16, 2008

HANSON: Make haste slowly

Festina lente. Make haste slowly. That was the motto of the revolutionary-minded young Augustus who soon grasped that he needed to build upon Rome's past, rather than dismantle it.

November 7, 2008

HANSON: Comparing us to what?

After the September financial meltdown, many abroad, and some at home, immediately - and with undisguised glee - blamed U.S. problems on cowboy excess and forecast the end of American global influence.

November 2, 2008

HANSON: The Obama enigma

Lame-duck Republican President Bush's dismal poll ratings have descended to those of Harry Truman's when he left office. The Democratic majority in Congress will probably widen after the election. Republican nominee John McCain has not run a dynamic campaign. Gen. Colin Powell, George Bush's former secretary of state, has now enthusiastically endorsed Barack Obama.

October 26, 2008

HANSON: It’s the debt, stupid

Who caused the American financial panic and the wild swings in our financial system - and what are we going to do about it in the long term after the markets settle down?

October 19, 2008

HANSON: Correction: Wall Street 101

Until the last few weeks, the financial panic was still mostly far away on Wall Street. But not now.

October 12, 2008

HANSON: Global nervous breakdown?

Ancient thinkers from Thucydides to Cicero insisted money was the real source of military power and national influence. We have been reminded of that classical wisdom these last three weeks.

October 5, 2008

HANSON: Dr. Frankenstein’s Wall Street

When the mortgage bubble burst, Americans were "shocked" at how many Wall Street buccaneers had been gambling in a vast pyramid scheme with someone else's money. Paper fortunes were made buying and selling questionable subprime mortgages on the silly assumption that such gargantuan inside profiting would always expand - even as the number of homebuyers able to buy overpriced properties was shrinking.

September 28, 2008

HANSON: Obama proves all too human

Many things Barack Obama did to soar past Hillary Clinton during the primaries now cause him problems as the general-election race tightens.

September 21, 2008

HANSON: What was feminism?

The media went hysterical over Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska and Republican nominee for vice president. She may have appeared to the public as an independent, capable professional woman, but to a particular elite she couldn't possibly be a real feminist or even a serious candidate.

September 12, 2008

HANSON: Want a genuine change?

The 2008 presidential campaign is supposed to be a referendum on "change" — who brings it and who doesn't. Real change, however, hasn't yet proven to mean new politics.

September 5, 2008

HANSON: Blame everyone but Russia

Everyone is distracted by the Olympics. The squabbling here on the campaign trail consumes the media. Two presidential candidates and a lame-duck president all are weighing in on foreign policy. No wonder Vladimir Putin thought it was a good time to invade Georgia.

August 22, 2008