I nominate Victor Davis Hanson to be White House Policy Director!

In American Greatness, Victor Davis Hanson writes in part,

…In truth, the media, the universities, and the Left by weaponizing plague, lockdown and riot had found a winning strategy. The mere threat of being called a “racist” in such a Reign of Terror climate could win over unlikely allies, abettors, and appeasers. Corporate America, the retired and serving four-star officer class, local and state government apparatchiks, and many terrified Republican politicians and pundits (hoping to be dismembered last by leftist wolverines) began pledging their allegiance to the Left or staying mum.

…Suddenly, American CEOs shined the sneakers of rappers, on video no less. There were to be “black” and “white” national anthems played at NFL games. “Diversity training” would be rebooted as segregated white reeducation sessions in full Maoist style. In New York, all protests were dangerous to public health, except those of Black Lives Matter, as if the virus was political in its targeting.

…What then was Trump to do? Three things.

Defend America
Trump already is starting to do the first superbly: stand up for America prior to May 25 (when George Floyd was killed), and tell Americans that in this 244th year of their existence, they will not cowardly renounce their heroes like Washington and Lincoln. Thomas Jefferson was not Jefferson Davis.

They will not topple statues, like frenzied Taliban, in the dead of night. They will not reduce their rich history and traditions to “racism.” And they will not embrace McCarthyism and destroy lives and careers.

But they will protect the Bill of Rights. They will honor dead Americans who bequeathed this current lucky generation the freest, the most secure, and the most prosperous nation in history.

He might also remind the country that the United States is the beacon of freedom and anti-racism. Try naturalizing as a black citizen in China or South Korea. Try to become a white Christian citizen of Pakistan. Try living as a Catholic Latino in Saudi Arabia. Try opening a private roadside canteen in Cuba or Venezuela. Try founding a Jewish or Buddhist temple or evangelical church in Iran or Turkey. Try dealing with the police in Somalia or Sudan. Try rallying against illegal immigration, radical Islam, the European Union, or wind and solar power in Germany.

A Contract, A Plan, A Blueprint
Second, Trump cannot just talk of his pre-virus administration. He can of course remind Americans that he knows how to resume the booming economy as the virus wanes. He is right to remind us that he did close the border and is now making good progress on the wall. Given China’s culpability, he is justified in reminding the country that his lone voice was prescient in warning of the multifarious dangers emanating from the Chinese Communist Party. He did deregulate and expand our energy resources. All that by 2021 will help restore prosperity.

But that is now, unfortunately, ancient history for a terrified public assuming a fetal position in the face of a public health threat. The swing voters, independents, and purple-staters are framing their 2020 choice in the stark terms of who will “make it all go away.” They want a magical end to the virus, the quarantines, the violence, the hate, and the division. And at this point, they want near-divine interventions to do all that and more.

But in November, less than four months from now, rightly or wrongly, they will see their choices both rationally and emotionally.

…A far better alternative is to diversify our demography and to reboot smaller cities and towns, along with reconnecting to rural living. America’s small towns are underpopulated, while big cities of plague, protests, and panic are overpopulated, overpriced, and overpopularized. We could start by ensuring rural spaces high-speed internet (still unavailable as I can attest in the rural center of supposedly high-tech California), a repair of our crumbling interstate freeway system, and completion of the long-planned highways, reservoirs, bridges and transmission lines that were canceled over the last 50 years in the elite green-era madness of “small is beautiful.”

…Trump need not be cruel but remind the country that Joe Biden is not really a candidate. He is a wraith, a specter. Trump must remind America he is not running any more against even the facsimile of Biden, but rather against an entire socialist cultural revolution—a pirate ship with Joe Biden no more than its carven wooden figurehead.

Restoration 2021
…In truth, he needs to eschew “I” and substitute “we.” A record low percent black unemployment rate? That translated into job seekers having leverage over employers and with it dignity and value. Gas prices falling due to expanded oil production? That means the minimum wage worker can afford her commute. Returning industry? That means more clout, honor, and a good living for an unemployed middle-aged worker in Ohio and Michigan, and less fuel for the Chinese Communist Party.

Tweeting cannot be about the past, but only the present and future. Trolls, washed-up celebrities, know-nothing pampered athletes, and hack leftists don’t deserve mention in the campaign’s final 100 days.

Ignore them all and focus on Restoration, 2021—and how the president has a detailed plan to focus on all classes and races, while reminding us of what we owe the dead and all that they have given us.

Read more here.