Best of Right Opinion

• Victor Davis Hanson: Rethinking the Geography of Power
• Ann Coulter: Democrats Boo America
• Cal Thomas: The State of President Trump
• Larry Elder: Had ‘News’ Media Done Its Job, Obama Would Not Have Become President
• Todd Starnes: Teacher Ridicules Students Wearing Marine Shirts, Curses Soldiers

For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion.

Opinion in Brief

Victor Davis Hanson: “Washington, DC, is often considered out of touch, both politically and geographically, with the rest of America. Given Washington’s huge number of federal workers, why not disperse at least some of its agencies westward to ensure demographic diversity? Transferring the Department of Agriculture to, say, Topeka or Fresno would allow bureaucrats far more intimacy with the farmers they regulate. Putting the Department of the Interior in Salt Lake City would make practical sense, given that the federal government owns about half the land of 11 coterminous Western states, including Utah. Either Houston or Bismarck would be a seemingly ideal spot for the Department of Energy. … Youngstown and Flint seem like perfect locales for the Department of Labor and the Department of Commerce. These Rust Belt cities played historic roles in America’s industrialization and are in dire need of outside investment and attention. Such moves would also reduce Washington’s congestion and the soaring cost of living in the nation’s capital. Moving the centers of federal power would defuse the populist rebellion by bringing the administrative state closer to those it administers — and by dousing bureaucratic fantasies with pragmatic realities. Breaking up Washington’s monopoly on power would also diminish the leapfrogging careerism of professional Washington bureaucrats and politicians. Often, they spend their lives crisscrossing capital boulevards between jobs at bureaucracies and nearby lobbying firms. Government certainly needs fresh faces and diversity.”