Dear Friend,
I’ve been writing
for National Review
and NRO since Rich Lowry first asked me to become a regular columnist
a few hours after the terrorist attack on New York City on September
11, 2001.
Through the ensuing
nearly 17 years, I’ve never missed a week of writing. I don’t
say that as a point of pride as much as an admission of the obvious:
that the National Review enterprise is a critical voice and forum to
expound upon the principles we hold deeply and defend vigorously. I
enjoy also the diversity of opinion and freedom of expression. In
over the 800 consecutive weeks of writing on a wide range of topics
and themes for National Review ,
I have never once had my thoughts edited or silenced.
Bill Buckley, whom I
had the pleasure and honor to know, believed that the forces of
terror and murder deserved our vigilance and focus, and merited an
unwavering strong response. He understood that we are engaged in a
fight for civilization. So I was pleased to become a fellow of
National Review Institute to
anchor, along with Andy McCarthy, NRI’s Center
for the Defense of Western Civilization. It is a testament to
conservatism’s immense obligation, as Bill famously put it, to
stand athwart history and yell stop. To combat those forces which
yearn to destroy this nation and what it stands for – freedom.
As a historian, I have
the specialty’s affliction: I see current events through past
ones, and thereby am attuned to the infamous warning: that history,
if ignored, will repeat itself—albeit not always quite in the
manner we expect.
NRI, through its many
programs, through the gifted writers it supports, stands watch on
behalf of our core beliefs. If you are a friend of freedom, if you
are a believer in the fundamental principles of this Republic, of
this great experiment founded on unalienable rights, if you desire to
see our enemies fail, then I encourage you to also be
a generous friend and supporter of National Review Institute. Our
society, our beliefs, and our times, now and coming, depend on such.
Sincerely,
Victor Davis Hanson
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