Victor Davis Hanson on French Riots
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James Joyner | Tuesday, November 8, 2005 |
Victor Davis Hanson is an excellent historian and an interesting commentator on world events. His background on discussing European affairs is superb. Still, I had to get a chuckle from this segment on the Hugh Hewitt radio program:
HH: I’m now joined by Victor Davis Hanson, military historian extraordinaire, and you can read him every Friday at National Review Online. Victor, good to have you back on the program.
VDH: Glad to be here, Hugh.
HH: You passed through Paris recently. When?
VDH: Yesterday.
HH: And did you get a sense of crisis as you walked around De gaulle Airport?
VDH: I did. I’ve never been through more security. It was…I think I had to show my passport on five different occasions.
HH: Did you go into the city at all, or was this just a change of planes?
VDH: No. I was on the way from Lisbon, so we flew over it in the morning, and then we landed. And I stayed two or three hours at the airport.
HH: What is your assessment of the significance of what is underway, the Francefada, or the intifada in France as we speak?
The man spent three hours in De gaulle Airport, so he’s got some especially prescient insights to share with us? WTF?
Now, I haven’t been to France in nearly 14 years and feel free to comment on the situation. Hanson is probably more qualified to comment than I am based on our respective academic expertise. But his three hours in an airport did not move the balance any further in his direction unless he spent them watching CNN, reading news reports, or interviewing leaders on the scene.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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Eh, I think that segment is more Hewitt's doing than VDH's. I think VDH might be one of the last to rely on his time in an airport as justification for whether France is in the pooper.
That being said, what WOULD VDH say to whether France is in "crisis"? No?
My assessment is that VDH was answering the questions on what he was seeing while in Europe--he references the papers, the French citizens he talked to, etc.
He talks about security in the airport.
It's not because of riots it's always like that.
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