I have intimated this before, but it bears repeating after JD Vance's epic takedown of European powers, about which Beege wrote an outstanding post earlier today. 

Vance was, in swamp terms, not very diplomatic. In more colloquial terms he let them have it with both barrels, pissing off the Germans fiercely enough to earn a rebuke for the totalitarian leftists who run that failing country. 

Vance, channeling many of my posts I am sure, had this to say:

JD Vance slams Europe for retreating from its own values, allowing Western Civilization to lose itself. pic.twitter.com/dQxF56RIS8

— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) February 14, 2025

That is exactly right, and I would go a bit further (and have). Europe in recent years has become a greater threat to the United States of America, or at least the rights of American citizens, than Russia is. 

Short of initiating a nuclear war--which they would never do--Russia presents no military threat to our country. We could wipe out their conventional military power in a weekend. Russian influence in the United States is minuscule because, aside from oil, which we can do without, they have little that we want, and they are little more than a gas station with nuclear weapons. 

The Ukraine war shows that they cannot defeat a small country, no less the United States, and until we made Ukraine an issue of national importance, nobody in America, including business people, cared much about the country. The idea that Russia would invade a NATO country is a fantasy. They would get crushed. 

We do compete with them for resources, but let's face it: China is our main adversary, not Russia. 

So what about the Europeans? Over the past decade or two, they have become a massive thorn in our side. By pushing ESG, NetZero, and censorship that impacts American citizens and direct interference in our political campaigns, the Europeans have made a direct attack on Americans' rights. None of these is a theoretical threat. Americans' lives have been made worse, our rights have been restricted, and this is happening all while American taxpayers have been footing the bill for Europe's defense. 

I was an ardent cold warrior, and I still despise the current Russian regime. They are akin to a mafia and profoundly illiberal. But Russia presents no direct threat to the US, Europeans, and especially our rights. If Russia disappeared from the face of the Earth little would change for Americans. 

If the EU disappeared, however, Americans' rights would be more secure and our corporations would become far less woke. And while the disappearance of the market would cost us dearly, the reduced military expenditures would be a nice bonus. 

Censorship, in particular, would largely disappear. 

With great audience comes greater responsibility #DSA

As there is a risk of amplification of potentially harmful content in 🇪🇺 in connection with events with major audience around the world, I sent this letter to @elonmusk

📧⤵️ pic.twitter.com/P1IgxdPLzn

— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) August 12, 2024

The European Union literally tried to censor Donald Trump by threatening X and Elon Musk with enormous sanctions for...interviewing Donald Trump during a campaign. 

Election interference, anyone? They tried to prevent the former and future President of the United States being able to talk to Americans. 

That, to me, is essentially a declaration of war. 

...Vance is condemning those who want to defend Europe but not the defining right of free speech. He has called on these countries to stop silencing their citizens. The delegates do not appear happy, but those of us in the free speech community are perfectly euphoric.…

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) February 14, 2025

If I had my way Trump would sanction them harshly for their interference, demand resignations from the European Commission, and threaten to withdraw from NATO unless the Digital Services Act were repealed. 

Europe is no longer democratic in any sense. The EU cancels elections if they fear the "wrong" outcome. 

JD Vance: "If your democracy can be destroyed by a few hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising from a foreign country then it wasn't very strong to begin with."

JD Vance slams Romania for canceling its presidential election under pressure of its continental neighbors… pic.twitter.com/TdaQHmRvZT

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 14, 2025

Europeans are big mad at JD Vance for calling them out, but he was a lot more "diplomatic" than I would be. 

#CallAWaahmbulance

Somebody got burned badly https://t.co/lC1gCVz4Ly

— tree hugging s*ster 🎃 (@WelbornBeege) February 14, 2025

European countries are whining that they can't push us around anymore. But they only could do so because we let them. 

EU countries are no longer staunch allies. I hope they reform and become so again. But unless they do, I say screw 'em.