Victor Davis Hanson…
…on why he left National Review.
It’s really not all that hard to figure out, if you know much about National Review. But because it’s Victor Davis Hanson, it’s still an interesting story.
For example:
I think there were certain people in the Republican movement, or establishment, who felt it is their duty to internally police their own, and that’s kind of a virtue signal to the Left….
I think there’s an image that a lot of Republicans have, both in politics and they sort of represent a sober and judicious way of looking at the world, and we are the adults in the room.
And it’s more about a culture than it is an ideology.
In other words, they have been revealed to be snobs who are very full of themselves and not especially interested in events in the real world and their consequences for the average American.
National Review becomes less and less relevant with each passing day. When I was moving rightward, it was one of the first publications I sought out. I started reading copies in the library and was hooked fairly quickly. I subscribed with excitement and maintained my subscription and active readership for many years. I finally let the subscription lapse in 2016, around the time Trump’s ascendancy. I was quite skeptical of Trump myself, back then (having initially been a Rubio supporter, then to Ted Cruz, who I voted for in my state’s late primary). But I did not appreciate the vitriol directed at Trump from Conservatism, Inc. in general and NR in particular. Their elitism was palpable. Jonah Goldberg especially irritates me to no end.
Though I don’t always agree with VDH, I do love his style and appreciate that he’s one of a rare and dwindling breed…a conservative academic. I’m glad he left NR. He’s fair too talented and independent minded for them
There’s virtually no daylight in terms of policy advocacy between the National Review/Never Trump set and progressive coastal elite/limousine liberal set. Or at least it would be easier to list the ways that they may differ than where they’re in synch. I mean, think about it… what topics might you imagine that say… a Jonah Golberg might differ on from a John Kerry?
VDH is a always read, can’t say I agree always but his opinion is worth at least looking at. His recent article on our government leaders, especially on Gen Miley should be read by all.
” . . . it’s more about a culture than it is an ideology.”
I used to *love* how Jonah Goldberg would really give the left H-E-L-L, in no uncertain terms. His eviscerations of them and their totems, their idols, their gods, could be superb. Tasty, even.
I was totally gobsmacked when he came out for the other side (Hillary) — and it was all about the culture, plus an elitism of sorts. Was he really not all that disgusted with the left and their garbage, after all?
I don’t know and I don’t care. I don’t read him any more: whatever he has to say, he may not really believe it. I don’t deal with insincere people; I can monitor Jen Psaki for that.
” . . . it’s more about a culture than it is an ideology.”
I used to *love* how Jonah Goldberg would really give the left H-E-L-L, in no uncertain terms. His eviscerations of them and their totems, their idols, their gods, could be superb. Tasty, even.
I was totally gobsmacked when he came out for the other side (Hillary) — and it was evidently all about the culture (or was it??), plus an elitism of sorts. Was he really not all that disgusted with the left and their garbage, after all? After all those eviscerations?
I don’t know and I don’t care. I don’t read him any more: whatever he has to say, he may not really believe it. I don’t deal with insincere people; I can monitor Jen Psaki for that.
I had never been even remotely aware of how deeply the culture / elitism is ingrained in some of my erstwhile ideological allies. I could understand being repulsed by Donald Trump (who, after all, strikes me as a repulsive person), but I could not and can not fathom going over to the other side the way some of these people did.
I’ve been around the sun more than seventy times now, but I’m still learning.
I first read VDH’s books on military history, which is how I got hooked on him, and then discovered his essays on the Greek and Roman classics. I dropped National Review somewhere around 2010 and never looked back. It doesn’t surprise me that Hanson finally left NR; to be honest, I wonder why he stuck it out as long as he did.
For those who haven’t seen them, Hanson made a series of nine videos on the origins of Western civilization (each is between 20 and 29 minutes long, so binge-watching is doable!) somewhere around 2011. The playlist is here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdNW4mWfGCfxjFlruihqZRvg4wuGRsDoL
The most interesting thing about that interview, (I subscribed to Foxnation to watch Tucker’s interviews) is that NR is buying his syndicated column after he left as part of their stable of writers. I suspect he is helping keep a few readers at NR even if they have to pay him extra.
I was an active conservative/libertarian as an undergrad in the early 70’s. I published a v small newsletter which – I suspect no one except the school administration read. I know certain administrators did read it, because they tried to discipline me for not having their permission to publish and distribute my very meager attempts at journalism. This was made more offensive when Russel Kirk saw something I did, and reprinted me in one of his columns. Baaad dog. Grumble, threat, whine. But really not much they could do. (BTW — Kirk was a genuine prince/character. Enjoyed meeting him no end.)
My point being how quickly I was disillusioned by “professional conservatives. I found the people at FEE to be honest, authentic, and helpful. I had some hope for the Libertarian Party and actually signed its incorporation papers in my home state. Pretty much everyone else was playing a “culture game.” There was lots of posturing, politicking, and “being seen.” But limited belief in conservative principles, in the sense that an individual could articulate and/or wrestle with something he/she had read in Milton Friedman, much less Hayek or Von Mises. Maybe it was a fad for them, something to try on and run with. That’s unkind, more a groping for what I experienced. FWIW – the Randians were a different, more solid breed.
That’s a long way round to say that the degeneration of Conservatism hasn’t shocked me. They found SOME power in the 80’s and were more interested in maintaining it than they were in the principles of individual liberty and market economics.
“I used to *love* how Jonah Goldberg“
One of the hardest things facing Conservatism is acknowledging people like Goldberg or David French have ALWAYS been full of malarkey or just plain awful people. That doesn’t invalidate everything they used to say or write. After all, some Marxist criticism of capitalism can be quite accurate.
Mike
Neo’s right. Class snobbery defines most establishment intellectuals. I confess that I had to resist that tendency in my self. At first, during the primaries, I disdained Trump. We had such a crowded field of very good candidates and he seemed like a an interloper. I was certain he was a NY liberal like Bloomberg. Plus I was a Cruz guy. Although I liked Bush and still approve of our War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq (we needed a toehold in a region that spawns terrorism) i was tired of inarticulate conservatives. I voted for Trump in despair. However, he soon proved my misgivings wrong by governing as one of the most conservative president in my life. I found him to be one of the most honest, unfiltered President ever as well. Very refreshing. And to his credit he exposed not only the Fake News Media for the propagandists they are, but also the reality of the deep state. No one else could have done that. Intellectual snobs value style over substance. Trump’s style controlled the news cycle and smoked the establishment hypocrites out. I loved watching their meltdown. And Trump, like Reagan, proved to be a man of substance with respect to policy and judicial appointments.
It’s a shame about Jonah Goldberg. I enjoyed Liberal Fascism.
“Class snobbery defines most establishment intellectuals.” Davemay
That’s true for both sides. Compensation for an insecure ego lies at its heart. To protect that ego, authority is equated with legitimacy.
“There are two ways of forming an opinion. One is the scientific method; the other, the scholastic. To the scientific mind, experimental proof is all-important, and theory is merely a convenience in description, to be junked when it no longer fits. To the academic mind, authority is everything, and facts are junked when they do not fit theory.” ~ Robert A. Heinlein
Around 1800, Thomas Jefferson opined, “When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.”
In 2005 this insightful article appeared, ” The Real Engine of Blue America”
“There are no Blue states—only Blue cities, where tax eaters rule.” https://www.city-journal.org/html/real-engine-blue-america-12848.html
Just now I happened upon this excellent summation of the factors that have led to; “The 13 Colonies Started Freedom. Now They’re Destroying It” https://newswithviews.com/the-13-colonies-started-freedom-now-theyre-destroying-it/
Our current circumstances are not really a bewildering mystery, identifying and connecting ‘the dots’ brings the picture into focus.
I used to be avid National Review reader and I shared their misgivings about Trump in the primaries. It turns out I was wrong and I had to reevaluate my position on several issues. It has to be very hard for a public intellectual to admit that they were wrong about so many things. But it must be harder still to admit that someone like Donald Trump was right.
I also used to be a fan of Jonah Goldberg. How strange that when push comes to shove the author of Liberal Fascism would side with the liberal fascists.
When I was in college, I started reading National Review, as I wanted to get an idea of what the “enemy” was thinking. I got a surprise from a Letter to the Editor. It came from the brother of a high school classmate. He said that he was openly a conservative in political discussions at his Ivy League university, but got treated respectfully by his liberal classmates. (I doubt he would be so treated today in Ivy League bull sessions.)
This surprised me, given that he was Jewish and his parents had fled Austria before WW2. His parents had similar conservative politics. I never discussed it with him, but I finally figured it out. Before the 1930s, Austria and Germany and Austria may not have been perfect for Jews, but life was tolerable. Hitler came in and wanted to CHANGE things. CHANGE isn’t very conservative.
Over the years, I discarded the liberal narratives I grew up with.
Likewise, I didn’t initially like or support Trump. When I saw that instead of supinely accepting attacks from journalists and the like, like Bush and McCain, he attacked back, I warmed up to him.
I read very little of National Review these days.
I think some may be underestimating the pull of filthy lucre. Sure, Jonah G. never got along with Trump. And it was easy, early on, to write him off as a vanity candidate.
Most of these folks existed in genteel poverty. NR never made money, it only survived on donations. I suspect the pay at NR wasn’t great. That was okay, as long as the folks at The Nation and other publications of the type were also badly paid.
But now the people they hobnob with have sinecures at various foundations. Some have regular gigs on TV, and that always helps pay the orthodontal bills. There are very, very few politicians who struggle with money. The pay is good and nearly every expense you have can be paid out of campaign funds.
Along comes a wealthy lefty like Pierre Omidyar. He’ll bankroll a new magazine, and hey, you’re the editor now! Pay yourself that bonus. Oh, yes, the silent publisher does want you to write mean things about Trump and middle class conservatives. That’s not hard. They’re deplorables.
And cash those checks while they still clear . . . .
Goldberg is trying to reorient, again. He’s burned his bridges, though. Nobody’s going to trust him.
Jonah Goldberg defended Linda Tripp when no one else would, daily and several times a day on tv – very effectively. His mom’s website Lucianne.com was and is very friendly to Trump. His book Liberal Fascism is excellent. He wasn’t always “full of malarkey” Someone (many VDH) should do a thoughtful interview with him – not to change his mind or tell him off but to understand what he gets that we don’t get.
Then there’s Matt Drudge. Why isn’t there one reporter interested in what happened with Matt Drudge? If he won’t give interviews, then at least tell us he won’t do interviews. Drudge was fundamental to the 2016 election outcome and he could have made a difference in 2020. What fun he should have had with the screaming Hunter Biden headlines.
My third mystery man is Michael Medved.
None of these 3 are elitists. Yet they are still neverTrumpers. I don’t understand that.
… NR is buying his syndicated column after he left as part of their stable of writers.
–Mike K
I wondered what VDH’s relationship is to NR these days. I notice his columns at NRO receive many comments and usually in favor.
Then there’s Matt Drudge. Why isn’t there one reporter interested in what happened with Matt Drudge?
He sold his site to someone else. Students of Drudge maintain he never had an ideology. He was just amused by gossip of all kinds and in setting up an aggregator site had no inhibitions about linking to material that the mainstream media narrative-pushers would not touch. So, he had his price. I have a suspicion that behind the front men are the usual suspects, and the point was to take a troublesome impediment to narrative-pushing out of commission, even if you’re losing money hand-over-fist doing it.
Michael Medved is primarily a culture critic and has a distinct book of business. I cannot see him being consumed by topical political questions, much less the doings of one particular politician. Did the balance of content in his commentary change?
Michael Medved was invited to the GWB White House along with other conservative radio talk show hosts in thanks for his/their support.
Yeah, Drudge used to say that – the way Rush Limbaugh used to say he was just a “lovable little fuzz ball” – to get liberals off his back. But Matt was a friend of Limbaugh’s and Andrew Brightbart.
“He wasn’t always “full of malarkey” “
Yes, he was. He defended Linda Tripp because of her connection to his mom. If he actually meant any of that stuff, there’s no way he could have preferred returning the Clintons to the White House over Trump.
Goldberg doesn’t care about conservatism. He doesn’t care about you. He cares about himself. He’s an intellectual lightweight and if his mom had been a liberal, Goldberg would have become some fringe Democratic pundit or some middle-manager at an activist group.
But because he was “hip” enough to make Simpson’s references and was the right age to understand that new-fangeled Internet thing, he got elevated to a conservative thought leader. And when conservatives found his leadership wanting, he rejected them and just concentrated on keeping his bit part in Failure Theater.
Mike
In a population of ~350 million, there is a highly elite club close to the centers of Power, and its leadership is even more elite, numbering less than 500. It comes loaded with unfettered tools of wealth creation: A healthy sinecure, gold-plated health care, an abundance of trade-able insider information on corporations around the world, endless quietly-pitched business opportunities, flush-budgeted lobbyists eager to cultivate favors, and instant social access to the elites in society. Who wouldn’t want to belong, if you have a certain sense of status-seeking, a love of wielding power, and a desire to make yourself rich and your family members too? Once you have landed, you’ll have lots of people eager to help you out.
The price of admission is getting the funds to become elected, and if you’re in the Republican Party, you get to keep your dugout and everything that comes with it, as long as you agree to play ball. It beats sitting in the stands. And a seat in the Press Box, writing as the Boss directs you to, also beats a bleacher seat. There are quite a few in Washington that refuse to play this game, but – their isolation is painful to watch; it’s a Team Sport. To be effective by any useful measure, you’ll have to play.
Emerald Robinson did some digging and found out that a number of erstwhile conservative pundits are now receiving that sweet Big Tech cash. But I’m sure that has nothing to do with how those guys went from one side to the other in a day…
I’m amazed at how widely syndicated Jonah Goldberg is still as a “conservative” writer. La times, my post, etc.
I used to be a fan. Now, I can’t stand him. I’m not sure if I changed, or he did. His Brother died in 2011, which may have been a life changing event. David French is another nro alumni that just irritates me, the flip flopping and hypocritical views lost me.
I’ve never understood why “establishment” conservatives “virtue signal to the left.” Because I agree with VDH, they do. David French is an example of one who does it excessively. No point in it, really. When it comes to the left, you either play for their team or you’re a Nazi.
I’ll probably always like Jonah Goldberg, though. He’s too intelligent, and too good a writer, for me to give him up.
Emerald Robinson did some digging and found out that a number of erstwhile conservative pundits are now receiving that sweet Big Tech cash…
–I Callahan
Where did that land? Rich Lowry at NRO dismssed it in strong terms, but his language, as I recall, was a bit weaselly.
Here’s Robinson’s case on substack:
_______________________________
How The National Review Sold Its Soul to Google
And Why Jonah Goldberg and David French Got Thrown Out
https://emeralddb3.substack.com/p/how-the-national-review-sold-its
_______________________________
There’s a lot of he said/she said, with Goldberg getting more publicity than he’d probably like.
The entire VDH interview on Tucker Carlson Today is quite good and I thought it was interesting that he burned his bridge to NR during the interview. Like many of the commenters here, I was an avid reader and subscriber to NR for many years, having started reading it when in college, around 1980. I even attended the 50th annual dinner gathering in DC and met and spoke with Rich Lowry at a more recent event. Also like many of the commenters here, they lost me, sometime not long before Trump. The Never Trump issue certainly put a stake in their heart as far as I am concerned.
The thing that gets me about their snobbery is that it’s completely unjustified. Jonah Goldberg in particular, but Kevin “Daddyissues” Williamson is a close second. They want to be thought of as intellectuals, and have learned how to cobble together some snarky wordcraft, but they’re lightweights.
I’m convinced that Jonah Goldberg suffers from an inferiority complex because he’s nowhere near as credentialed as the intellectual cohort from whom he so desperately craves approval. Not only is Goldberg wrong about nearly everything, his attempts at humor reek of desperation.
VDH and Derbyshire were two of the only serious conservative intellectuals NR has had for the past twenty years. I said goodbye to NR when they said goodbye to Derbyshire so unceremoniously.
National Review fired the great John Derbyshire for this:
The Talk: Nonblack Version:
https://johnderbyshire.com/Opinions/NationalQuestion/talk.html
They are filth.
I look forward to another Hanson interview when he’s too old to receive a handsome stipend from the Hoover and is unlikely to receive any further appointments. Everyone in public life has to pull *some* punches.
Since it’s Dump on NR Friday (here):
https://thezman.com/wordpress/?p=25262
“Kevin Williamson is a good example of how the loathing of normal people is linked to a deep self-loathing. He is famously obese. He often looks like one of those people who paramedics have to use a flatbed truck to transport to the hospital. The morbidly obese are driven by self-loathing. They eat to get the momentary hit that comes from high calorie foods, but this also fuels the self-loathing. The more they eat the more they hate themselves for it. The morbidly obese have a death wish.
Another reason that guys like Williamsons and David French, another good example, are so blatant in their hatred for normal people is they have always had to play the role of the Dirt Person for their masters in the rackets. They used to make Williamson, for example, dress like a rag-picker when he went on television. You see, he was playing the lucky dirtball, allowed to live in the master’s house, as long as he was a good boy and did what he was told. It is a degrading existence.
This is why he is obsessed with hating Trump and those associated with him. The 2016 election put the lie to his existence. He was just a houseboy for mediocrities like Rich Lowry and Ramesh Ponnuru. Imagine having to call them sir when out in public and you can see why Williamson is filled with rage. You also see why he drowns it in processed foods and invective aimed at normal people. He hates you because you remind him of why he hates himself and why he should hate himself.
No life is without some purpose and the purpose of these people has been to open the eyes of normal people about the reality of conservatism. Millions of people have realized over the last five years that these people are liars and crooks. Conservatism was always just a con. Like all conmen, the various characters of Conservative Inc. were motivated by a deep hatred for their marks. Like the rest of the Cloud People, they are defined by their loathing for the Dirt People.
It is this awakening that has put those rackets into crisis. Rich Lowry was finally demoted from his position. Daily management of National Review has now been outsourced to Bangalore. Massive pay cuts and layoffs hang over the entire enterprise now that the suckers have smartened up. A big part of this great awakening is that people are figuring out that it all makes sense when you realize that the people in charge hate you. Your only choice is to hate them back.”
Victor Davis Hanson has created his own space at Blade of Perseus. Victor being Victor the name of his platform is quite appropriate. See Perseus. I was an early follower of VDH. He wrote in “Works and Days” about his family farm in central California and the influence of relatives who served in WWII. Those influences resonated on my own. I have been fortunate to join with other “Hanson groupies” on several history tours in Europe, and came to know him as a very wise scholar – who has not let it go to his head. Please support his new forum, where he won’t be constrained or canceled. We need his voice.
Once, about 20 years ago, I sent John Derbyshire a photocopied (because no copy was to be found online and I had the original magazine and still do) article that had been written back in the 70s and was about a subject he had recently written on. I got a handwritten thank you letter in return. That’s what gentlemen do.
The full interview is here but you have to sign up for a trial subscription:
https://nation.foxnews.com/watch/4bbbbfe397bf382f9bea59d77155f373/
Cap’n Rusty,
Thanks for the link to VDH’s new place. I used to go to his old blog (don’t know if it’s still there) and read him frequently. I must confess that I haven’t read him much the past few years because, while I’m sure it has happened, I can’t recall anytime I’ve disagreed with him. One thing I’ve always admired about his writing is that it’s intellectual, yet incredibly accessible.
I might have to start tuning back in, if for nothing else because his ability to express his views far exceeds my own.
One thing that Trump did was rip the veil from so many faces. For better or worse.
I may have already noted that last week my Pastor said that he hated politicians. All of them. Both parties. Conservative or Liberal. Because they lie consistently; they are corrupted by power; and they all try to control our lives. That may have slipped out, and he had to walk it back, and equivocate to some extent –being a Man of God. But not that much; and he never fully repudiated it. He is a very good man, an honorable and thoughtful man; so if he feels that way, is it ok for me to do so as well? (Actually, I assume that he meant as a class, and not as individual humans. Surely.)
I would like to ask him how he feels about certain other classes. You can fill in the blanks.
Zaphod:
So you write that Zman, whom you are so fond of quoting, says that Williamson “is famously obese. He often looks like one of those people who paramedics have to use a flatbed truck to transport to the hospital. The morbidly obese are driven by self-loathing.” Etc. Etc. Etc.
I have certainly read some of Williamson’s writings, but have no recollection of ever having seen a photo of him. So I was curious to see this human whale.
I found some YouTube videos. The first is from 2013 when Williamson would have been around 41 years old. Take a look (his body is most visible at certain points such as around minute 6:30).
Do you really think a flatbed truck would be necessary? What I see is not going to win any Beachbody prizes, but what I see is a rather normal-looking guy with a normal-looking, albeit slightly large body. Slightly overweight. Morbidly obese? Hardly.
Here’s another more recent video. This one’s from 2018, when Williamson would have been around 46. Same thing as far as his weight goes. You can see a good full body shot around minute 3:57.
The only thing I will add is that he appears to have a double chin, which makes him look heavier than he is if you’re just looking at his face (although again, hardly “morbidly obese” flatbed truck material).
And then there’s that “dressing like a rag-picker”remark of Zman’s. I did a search for photos of Williamson. He is quite well-dressed in a tailored suit or jacket and tie for the vast majority of them. Take a look yourself.
I’m not impressed with Zman’s penetrating analysis.
Oldflyer: Perhaps you could remind your Pastor that Jesus said “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” Jordan Peterson said those are the most powerful words ever spoken. The entire formal separation into church and state preceded from that statement and created Western Civilization. Psychologically there’s also a separation into the sacred and the profane. What we’re witnessing now, with the diminished role of religion, is that the profane has exploded into the sacred, and everything has become emotionally overwrought. See Neo’s post a few weeks ago of his video, or go here .
Disclaimer: I’m not a follower of any religious liturgy. But seeing the glow of the rising sun after a long dark night in a gale on a big sea on a small boat convinced me there is a god.
@ Oldflyer > “Because they lie consistently”
Actually, their lies are often very inconsistent, depending on the needs of the daily power grab.
However, they certainly lie constantly.
@ Geoffrey > “In 2005 this insightful article appeared, ” The Real Engine of Blue America”
“There are no Blue states—only Blue cities, where tax eaters rule.” https://www.city-journal.org/html/real-engine-blue-america-12848.html”
Highly recommend that post. It gathers together a lot of thing most of us here already knew, and almost totally predicts both the rise of Trump and the vicious campaigns against him.
And how Obama and Biden won.
@ huxley – I read Robinson’s post when it came out, as I am also one of the many disaffected with National Review after a long period of being a fan. I pretty much endorse most of what’s been said on the thread about NR, Goldberg, and French.
The red line for me was not their objecting to Trump, which was in fact a reasonable thing to do at the time even though they sounded somewhat hysterical in their coordinated disdain, but the jumping onto Hillary’s tumbrel and ignoring (if not actively repudiating) everything they knew and had said previously about her and Bill. Same with Romney and Bush: they had to know that neither Clinton (nor Biden) was a “fine upstanding wonderful person” perfectly suitable for the Presidency. Let’s go, guys!
I suggest that Hanson’s break with them comes from the fact that he actually does have bedrock conservative principles, inculcated because of his life-story and his academic scholarship; but the others really don’t.
Here’s Emerald’s latest post, which is coincidentally about other apparently faux conservatives on the Supreme Court: who, we were admonished, were The Real Deal, but who now don’t look like that at all.
Notwithstanding that they (like the NR crew) do occasionally support some conservative concepts, it’s more of the stopped clock and blind squirrel variety.
https://emeralddb3.substack.com/p/how-the-federalist-society-betrayed
I checked through some more of Emerald Robinson’s recent posts, and this ought to really go on the Angry Parents thread from 10/5, but it’s kind of a general all-purpose example of why we need VDH and others like him, and why NR & Co. are not helping the conservative public very much any more, if they ever really did.
AG Garland is just the latest in a long line of Democrats back in formal control of the Swamp, because they’ve never stopped being the ones in operational control.
https://emeralddb3.substack.com/p/chuck-grassley-just-told-you-the
The worst problem Trump had in his four years was in not being able to fire everyone he possibly could, and making miserable the professional lives of those he couldn’t.
During the campaign, and even much later, I don’t think he realized just how deep the Swamp draining would have to go, and most of us have only learned that because the crocodiles have increasingly revealed themselves (with some help from actual investigative journalists, who don’t work for CNN, MSNBC, NYT, WaPo, and that ilk, including NR).
And what he did attempt was being fought every inch of the way.
Refer back to the “Blue Cities” article from City Journal for some of the reasons.
And Neo’s post on Mass Psychosis for some of the consequences.
“Civility is gone.”
Senator Joe Manchin. 7 October 2021
https://nypost.com/2021/10/08/sen-joe-manchin-shows-frustration-during-chuck-schumers-gop-floor-speech/
Schumer and his fellow hooligans in the Democratic Party have killed it (though one could say, justifiably, that it was killed far before that).
I’m not impressed with Zman’s penetrating analysis.
A more astringent way of putting it is that Z-man’s an utter fraud (to the extent he’s not being grossly misquoted by Zaphod).
The oddest thing about Williamson as a physical specimen is that for much of his life he groomed himself so as to look like Anton LeVay. The next is that this man who grew up in Lubbock, Texas has a decidedly non-Southern way of speaking. It’s NOT the sort of generic accent native to Pennsylvania and Ohio that you might expect of a deracinated Southerner; there’s an element of Inland North in his voice even though he’s never lived in Upstate New York or in Michigan. (IIRC, he lived in Texas until around age 28, then decamped to Philadelphia, then to New York City).
Kevin “Daddyissues” Williamson
It’s his late mother he despises, and we know that because he’s sliced her up in print. I don’t believe he’s ever offered any commentary about his father or brother. As far as I can discern, his father is still alive. His mother died in 2003.
I like Charles C.W. Cooke of the National Review.
To quote Dennis Green, the former coach of the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings: “They are who we thought they were.”
I think many of us knew this for a long time, and continued to vote for Republican candidates, not because we believed what they told us, not because we thought they’d actually fight for America instead of the status quo, not because we thought they held fast to a sound philosophical base that we believed to be right. We voted for them because they were not Democrats. Period. End. For no other reason would I have ever voted for a John McCain, a Mitt Romney, a Bob Dole (for President?). This goes for every level, from national to state, and down to local.
Times have changed. I simply won’t vote for any party that has a hand in the destruction of our country that we see going on now. If Republicans today- with all that is going on around us- cannot take a stand now, both by actions and words, they should be removed. And continue to be removed until we get the leaders we want. From Mitch McConnell on down.
Re: Emerald / Federalist Society
AesopFan:
I gather there has been dissatisfaction with Trump’s Supremes, but I haven’t followed it. Are Gorsuch and Kavanaugh that bad? Understanding the Law, much less its Inside Baseball, is outside my wheelhouse.
I like the Federalist Society’s articles. It would be a shame if FS turned out to be better at looking good than doing good.
Frankns,
You may appreciate Dave Smith and his podcast, “Part of the Problem.” He is a devout Libertarian of the Mises, Rothbardt variety and cannot stand poseurs. He is taking them on in the Libertarian party and so far, has been successful in his coup to cull them from leadership.
Give “The Railroading of Caryn Ann Harlos” a try: https://gasdigitalnetwork.com/gdn-show-channels/part-of-the-problem/
This isn’t his best podcast, he doesn’t pontificate much on this one, but it runs down some of the inner dirt within Libertarian leadership.
He has some others where he talks with and about Randians.
Cap’n Rusty. I did not mean to imply that my Pastor made his statement as part of a religious liturgy. I think his personal feelings leaked out. As I said, he walked it back somewhat. I might add “sheepishly”. As far as the admonition to render to Caesar; that was good advice then, and it would be now if the modern Caesar wannabe would stay out of God’s business, not to mention yours and mine. The political class seems to forget that we are not ruled by Caesar; and they need to be reminded of that.
Aesopfan; duly noted and the point is well made. I agree that they are seldom consistent even as their transgressions are constant. I try not to be sloppy in my choice of words, but—alas.
I thought [National Review] would be champions of the middle class, but I don’t think they were. I don’t think they wanted to be.
–VDH
This line nails it for me.
Back in the 70s Gov. Jerry Brown ran an after-hours salon in which interesting thinkers spoke to his staff, Cabinet and friends. Stewart Brand published Herman Kahn’s talk and I found it the most prescient article on American politics I ever read. Kahn got to Codevilla long before Codevilla did.
_______________________________________________________
A war of the New Class against the middle class — when you look at American politics that way, everything falls into place.
–Herman Kahn (1977)
________________________________________________________________
By New Class Kahn means the upper/upper-middle-class people who go to good schools and don’t go into business or engineering but end up running almost everything.
I was a leftist hippie when I read that, but I never forgot Kahn’s New Class/Middle Class paradigm.
@ArtDeco
His father was staunch working class, hence Williams’s unhinged disdain for the working class that has been subject of many a column and even a book. Williams is like Goldberg in this regard – he desperately wants to be considered a part of the intellectual class. For Williams, that means distancing himself from his upbringing as forcefully as possible.
His hatred for his father oozes out of his writing.
Flyer: Point well taken.
However, I would note that the emperors back in those days were indeed messing in God’s business, e.g., feeding Christians to the lions. But the Christian morsels probably welcomed feeding the lions as a way to achieve escape velocity on the way up to Heaven.
Cap’n Rusty:
I immediately loved this early bit from St. Teresa of Avila’s autobiography:
______________________________________
[My brother and I] used to read the lives of saints together; and, when I read of the martyrdoms suffered by saintly women for God’s sake, I used to think they had purchased the fruition of God very cheaply; and I had a keen desire to die as they had done, not out of any love for God of which I was conscious, but in order to attain as quickly as possible to the fruition of the great blessings which, as I read, were laid up in Heaven.
I used to discuss with this brother of mine how we could become martyrs. We agreed to go off to the country of the Moors, begging our bread for the love of God, so that they might behead us there; and, even at so tender an age, I believe the Lord had given us sufficient courage for this, if we could have found a way to do it; but our greatest hindrance seemed to be that we had a father and a mother.
–St. Teresa of Avila
______________________________________
Parents ruin everything!
As to negative remarks made here about the GOP, consider this:
McConnell (R-KY) proposed the recent short term debt ceiling extension.To avoid a filibuster on the matter, these Republicans voted with Manchin, Sinema, and all the Democrats to raise the debt ceiling:
From NR, “Several [sic] Republicans joined Democrats to break a filibuster on the debt ceiling hike in a 61-38 vote on Thursday evening ahead of the measure’s final passage. GOP senators who voted to break the filibuster included Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and senators John Cornyn of Texas, John Barrasso of Wyoming, John Thune of South Dakota, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Richard Shelby of Alabama, Rob Portman of Ohio, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.”
Note McConnell led the charge. How hard is it to say, “Hell, no!” to the vile other side? I know it’s only $480 billion, but can’t these people ever draw a Colonel Travis line in the sand?
Rufus …
Thanks and will do. The shifts within the Libertarian Party disappointed me so it’s good to know someone has taken up the fight.
Much appreciated!
Most of these folks existed in genteel poverty. NR never made money, it only survived on donations. I suspect the pay at NR wasn’t great.
It’s a reasonable wager what they pay those on the contributors’ roster isn’t much. He was on salary. See their IRS 990 forms. Some people in a charmed circle were paid doctor’s salaries. That includes Richard Lowry and Kevin Williamson. John Podhoretz had a similar deal at Commentary. I think NR has about two-dozen staff, Commentary fewer than ten. You see these scandals from time to time. The corporation law and the tax regime governing philanthropic agencies requires an overhaul.
Also like many of the commenters here, they lost me, sometime not long before Trump. The Never Trump issue certainly put a stake in their heart as far as I am concerned.
They lost me, like others here, when they dropped Derbyshire and Mark Steyn.
Derb did not even write his offending article at NR.
His father was staunch working class, hence Williams’s unhinged disdain for the working class that has been subject of many a column and even a book. Williams is like Goldberg in this regard – he desperately wants to be considered a part of the intellectual class. For Williams, that means distancing himself from his upbringing as forcefully as possible. His hatred for his father oozes out of his writing.
I disagree. His contempt for the matrix in which he grew up is quite explicit. This includes invidious remarks that are simple to recruit. However, I do not believe he has ever discussed his father explicitly. He has discussed his mother and her social circle.
Certainly he’s not trying to appeal to his family (if they read his work at all), inasmuch as his animadversions are directed at vernacular white people living in provincial locations. Do not know what his father or brother have done for a living. His parents married at 18, but did not have any children until they were past 30; their marriage appears to have imploded when Williamson was a toddler. His mother was employed as a secretary at Texas Tech. AFAICT, his father is retired and living with his 2d wife in Amarillo. His niece and her husband appear to have settled around Amarillo as well.
They lost me, like others here, when they dropped Derbyshire and Mark Steyn.
The two incidents occurred about three years apart. Lowry appears to be the sort of manager whose MO is multi-directional placation. So, he allows Jason Lee Steorts to slam Steyn in print and cut him from the list of contributors for offending Steorts’ twee sensibilities. Lowry was content with Derbyshire writing vitriolic pieces in the New English Review denouncing the anti-abortion movement, but he tweaks the nose of black chauvinists at Taki’s and he’s out (a decision I’d wager was also driven by Steorts).
simple to recruit.
Simple to refute.
“By New Class Kahn means the upper/upper-middle-class people who go to good schools and don’t go into business or engineering but end up running almost everything.“
And that is the Achilles’ Heel of the whole project. A lot of those people, partly because of where and how they live, aren’t nearly as financially and personally secure as they think they are.
For example, DeBlasio in NYC is apparently eliminating the “gifted and talented” program for public school kids. How many New Class parents want that program for their kids because, while they make 6-figures, they still can’t afford private school in The Big Apple?
Mike
Zaphod @ 10:36pm,
VDH writes often about the immigrants in his county, both legal and illegal, and the pros and mainly cons of California’s awful policies allowing and addressing a massive influx of foreigners. He doesn’t appear to pull any punches from what I’ve read.
I’ve read a lot of his writing and listened to him speak many times. He takes the classical definitions of traits like virtue and courage seriously. Can you give an example in his writing or speaking where he’s “pulled punches?”
AesopFan @ 3:06am,
I think we are in agreement, but I think you are discrediting Trump by chastising him for not firing all he could. He didn’t do that much to overtly harm the Deep State and they began BURNING AMERICA DOWN, CITY BY CITY!*
Along with learning that there are/were a lot of traitors pretending to be Conservative and/or Republican, we learned the Deep State plays hardball. As Schumer said about the CIA (Or was it the FBI. No matter. Same thing. And throw in the NSA and State Department.): “They have six ways from Sunday to get back at you.”
*And they used a virus to wreak havoc and spread panic to delegitimize his administration.
Re: Jonah Goldberg
In addition to his total sycophantic cave to the left, there’s also his repulsive toupee to loathe.
@Art Deco
I’m not arguing that he doesn’t also despise his mother. But it’s clear, to me at least, that the psychology behind his explicit denigration of his mother and his refusal to mention his father by name (but by background and culture) reeks of daddy issues.
Art Deco,
Isn’t Podheretz an owner of Commentary?
Looks like Commentary is a not for profit, which means they likely pay a few folks, like Podhoretz, handsomely. Have to do something with that revenue that would, otherwise, be profits. Because of his father’s history there I assumed it was a family owned periodical.
Zaphod, Art Deco et al, regarding Williamson,
I agree he’s not really a Conservative. Can’t imagine he’d refer to himself as a Republican. But I do think he is a talented writer. He’s certainly written some pieces that have caused me to reconsider some things in new lights.
Regarding his disregard for his family and how he was raised; his mom and dad may not have been admirable people. It happens. Adam Carolla talks openly about his mother who spent most of his childhood chasing welfare checks. He has no respect for her, vis a vis home economics and politics. Although I get along very well with my father, I spent most of my formative years trying to do the opposite of what he was doing, and my father would be the first to agree that was a wise path.
Should we excoriate Kevin Williamson for not choosing more genteel parents, or admire his ability to grow in the rough soil he was planted?
Isn’t Podheretz an owner of Commentary?
If I’m not mistaken it’s a not-for-profit corporation set up under New York law in 2009 to receive the publication from the American Jewish Committee, which once owned it. In 2017, six people employed by the corporation received compensation in excess of $140,000 per annum. John Podhoretz’ was higher that i remembered at > $400,000 per annum. I haven’t looked up the members of the board. AFAICT, none are family members. (There is a Gary L. Rosenthal on the board and Rosenthal is one of the surnames in JP’s pedigree, but it’s not an unusual name among Jews so I wouldn’t wager this Mr. Rosenthal is a cousin of the editor; there are nine board members, all men, of whom 6 have surnames with a Jewish vibe).
Regarding his disregard for his family and how he was raised; his mom and dad may not have been admirable people. It happens.
Most of us aren’t admirable people. It’s rather poor form for him to be trashing his mother in print.
For most of the period running from 1972 to 2003, his mother was a secretary at Texas Tech University. The only time in her life when she was unmarried and had dependent children (and thus would have qualified for ‘welfare’) would have been the period running from about 1975 to 1980; I have no clue why you’d assume Williamson’s father was not paying child support during those years. Williamson’s complaint about his mother is that she married so many times (as did her husbands). Her 1st marriage lasted from 1958 to ca. 1975 and produced her two children; her 2d lasted from 1980 to 1983 and ended in divorce; her 3d lasted from 1983 to 1994 and ended with the death of her husband; her 4th lasted from 1996 to 2003 and ended with her own death. The 1st stepfather was a dozen years younger than his mother and childless; the 2d was 8 years older, widowed once, divorced once, and blessed with five children; the 3d had been married 3x previously and I think had children as well. He’s written about stepfather #3 and his legal tangles with the man’s subsequent wife. I don’t imagine he and his brother were pleased with this state of affairs.
Williamson’s father married a middle-aged spinster in 1979. AFAICT, the two are still married and living in Amarillo. Williamson has no uncles. He has two aunts, one a lifelong spinster and another who has been married to the same man since 1957. He has two 1st cousins, both recently widowed; they’ve each been married just once. Williamson is divorced and childless.
Art Deco, Wiki says 2007 for the changeover. 2009 was better than I’d have done if asked.
From Wiki.
“Norman Podhoretz, who served as editor-in-chief until 1995, was editor-at-large until January 2009. Neal Kozodoy, at Commentary since 1966, was editor between 1995 and January 2009; he is the magazine’s current editor-at-large. Since January 2009 the journal has been edited by John Podhoretz, Norman’s son.
The magazine ceased to be affiliated with the AJC in 2007, when Commentary, Inc., an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit enterprise, took over as publisher.”
Art Deco,
” I have no clue why you’d assume Williamson’s father was not paying child support during those years.
Is that directed at me? Where did I make that claim? I’ve read a fair amount of Williamson’s writing, but I don’t recall encountering anything about his father at all. I was reacting to what others here said about him.
I’m not arguing that he doesn’t also despise his mother. But it’s clear, to me at least, that the psychology behind his explicit denigration of his mother and his refusal to mention his father by name (but by background and culture) reeks of daddy issues.
His daddy issues are expressed by slicing up the woman divorced from his father 40-odd years ago, then slicing up her last husband, then slicing up the man’s subsequent wife, and then slicing up the children of that woman to boot. Quite a bank shot.
“Should we excoriate Kevin Williamson for not choosing more genteel parents, or admire his ability to grow in the rough soil he was planted?“
I read a story a few weeks ago about a father and stepmother who starved and beat the father’s eight-year-old daughter to death. Whatever their deficiencies, Williamson is lucky to have had his parents instead of an infinitely worse alternative.
It’s one thing for someone to not understand that if they’re a plumber or a farmer or a doctor or even a writer. But for a supposed public policy intellectual? That’s not just lack of intellect. That’s lack of character.
Mike
Regarding Williamson’s weight, here is a video of him from about five years ago when he looks to have weighed around 300 pounds. This coincided with his essay on how the white working class needed to die and peak Never Trump apoplexia, so his public profile was larger than normal and primed for ridicule from both the dissident right and “dirtbag” left. Alt-righter Zman is almost certainly thinking of this video when he refers to Williamson as obese. The very Trump-friendly veterans’ forum I belong to had quite a few laughs at Kevin’s expense when this was released to the public.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8rIgRuUFNA
When Williamson was fired from the Atlantic after one essay (in which he wasted no time criticizing longtime colleague VDH and longtime, very generous employer NR; illuminating in showing the kind of character Williamson possesses), John Derbyshire commented on the affair in VDare. One thing I remember him mentioning was his recollection of Williamson’s tendency towards extraordinary weight cycles; he’d see him a few times a year and Williamson would be either distressingly thin or grotesquely overweight or on his way to one or the other.
@Rufus:
Pulling Punches is also what you don’t write about.
I’ve followed Hanson, too, for 10+ years and found him pretty tepid during the Trump years. I don’t recall much if any Codevilla-style analysis from him. And there’s no doubt that Hanson could see just as clearly.
His Hang Dog Hesiod Musings about his rural neighbourhood being ruined by illegal immigrants and all the farms in the district being bought up by Punjabis are honest and depressing enough. Still, he never dares go near the third rail of stating outright that something out to be done about it. Never looks into how a bunch of Aliens could somehow magically find the finance to capitalize failing farms and run them profitably (Doesn’t take a brain size of planet to figure out that multiple immigration and labor scams and ethnic capture of some State regulatory bodies are likely involved… not just the fabled Immigrant Grit). Having a bit of an elegaic mope is still permitted in Current Year. Discussing How the Rancid Sausage is Made is not.
I have plenty of respect for him. He has to operate in the world he inherited and play the hand fate has dealt him. But I still look forward to the day he feels free to loose both barrels. I bet it would be a doozie.
Zaphod,
I obviously can’t speak for the man, but it is possible VDH is telling it like he perceives it. His opinion may differ from yours at times. Doesn’t make you, or him, any less readable. Also, he seems extremely considerate and gentlemanly. Maybe his mother told him the same thing my mom told me, “If you don’t have anything nice to say about someone, don’t say anything at all.”
he looks to have weighed around 300 pounds.
I think that’s an overestimate.
Whatever their deficiencies, Williamson is lucky to have had his parents instead of an infinitely worse alternative.
By that standard, none of us should be dissatisfied with any situation this side of vagrancy.
From the beginning of his life to age 22, there were three different men supervising the household in which he was reared (and five step-siblings to navigate). There’s a reason he didn’t respect his mother. However, he did not need to hang her out to dry publicly or to forget that his father, his aunts, and his cousins did not live that way.
Sometimes parents and their children just aren’t a match.
In my time listening to and reading Kevin Williamson, it eventually became clear to me that he was just play-acting as a new version of H.L. Mencken. Expressing contempt for the elitists as well as the grimy commoners.
I’ve never felt anything like that from Victor Davis Hanson. If he mentions what’s going on with his farm, he doesn’t do it to establish his common man bona fides, but to get his point across. If he talks about daily life during the Punic Wars, it’s not to show you how smart he is, but to draw an analogy.
Victor Davis Hanson is what George Will was all those years ago: effortlessly intellectual and conservative to boot. George Will isn’t that anymore, primarily because he doesn’t have to be. I suspect VDH will always be that, especially when he doesn’t have to be.
In my time listening to and reading Kevin Williamson, it eventually became clear to me that he was just play-acting as a new version of H.L. Mencken. Expressing contempt for the elitists as well as the grimy commoners.
Good point.
“I think that’s an overestimate.”
Quite possible, I can’t say I’ve knowingly met too many 300-pounders, I have a hard time believing they look much worse than that. For his own good Kevin didn’t progress to the “needs to be cut out of his house” stage of morbid obesity and hopefully peaked at the “loose dark clothes” stage in evidence here. Clearly his derangement at perceived white working class pathologies is powered to a great extent by extreme projection on his part.
Mr Snrub:
It is absolutely an overestimate.
I know many people of Williamson’s general heaviness, and unless he’s over 7 feet tall he’s not even all that close to 300. I’d estimate – depending of course on his height, which I don’t know – that he’s somewhere in the 240 to 250 range. If he’s short, his weight is less than that. To me, he looks like a fairly tall person, around 6 ft or so.
Whatever number the scale said (and 240 is a bit conservative), he was remarkably, grotesquely fat, and had clearly passed morbid obesity a way back. His weight was so out of hand that despite his clotheshorse tendencies he went to a political conference and allowed himself to be interviewed while dressed like a guy who works at a comic book store.
Mr Snrub:
I don’t know what world you live in, but in my world those photos and videos indicate nothing of the sort about Williamson. It is almost laughable to me that you consider him to be “remarkably, grotesquely fat…passed morbid obesity a way back.” I see him as somewhat overweight and perhaps even technically obese but certainly not morbidly obese, something between 30 and 40 pounds overweight. Which makes him sort of typical for an American male, including even some baseball players (see this). That’s especially true if he’s on the tall side, which I think is the case but I really can’t tell about that.
Why not just say you don’t like his writing or his attitude? Isn’t that enough?
Related –
Requiem for another revered classicist:
https://newcriterion.com/issues/2021/10/donald-kagan-19322021