The Obamas don’t seem too worried about the problem now that they’re out of the White House and in mid-2019 bought a $15 million mansion right on the… - Charlie Kirk

Despite all the efforts to terrify us about global warming, by the way, the fact remains that the Earth’s temperature, to the extent it can even be reliably measured, has gone up only about one degree Celsius over the past hundred years, and sea levels have risen about three inches, which appears to be about the same amount they rose the previous century despite increasing industrial activity since then — and in any case, leaving people plenty of time to move a few inches farther away from the shore if necessary.

As Politico put it, describing their own 2014 review of Trump’s predecessor, “The Obama administration has hired more than 70 previously registered lobbyists . . . and watched many officials circle through that revolving door, as Obama’s lobbying policy was weakened by major loopholes and a loss of focus over time. What’s more, the current laws around lobbying, which the administration measures were built on, simply ignore many instances observers would regard as lobbying — and the White House never pressed for changes to those laws.” Now look at the panic once an outsider — who did not regard the culture of Washington with cautious respect — came along. You’d think Trump was a horde of invading Vandals from the way the media, politicians, and D.C. interest groups reacted to his election.

Hanson sees a similar desire to boost national morale while also getting the biggest bang for your cautiously spent buck (or your solidus, in the case of the Byzantine Empire) in many great leaders of the past, including Pericles, Alexander the Great, Justinian’s predecessors Augustus and Constantine, the later Holy Roman Emperors Charlemagne and Joseph II, Queen Elizabeth I and Churchill of England, Catherine the Great of Russia, and Abraham Lincoln. They were important not just because of military victories, argues Hanson. They shared a similar nationalist conviction: “They have a historical sense that decline is not a matter of exhaustion of natural resources, or it’s not predicated on enemies over the next hill. Usually, it’s internal.