Western Europe will double down on the policies that brought them to where they are. The US abandoning Ukraine to it's fate will, among other effects, cause the EU to try to cozy back up to Putin a la gas pipelines etc. Eastern Europe still remembers what being in the Soviet sphere is like so I expect great tensions between western and eastern Europe.
Unfortunately, I fear you're more likely to be right than wrong about Western Europe. I expect they will figure to "wait out" Trump and count on the next President (preferably a Democrat in their eyes) to resume bleeding America out for Pax Americana.
When these elites, leveraging illicit US taxpayer funds from USAID to propagandize and censor, cobble together a bare ruling majority among several parties to shut out populist liberty-seekers, then make their opposition "illegal" - I'd say they're "unburdened by what has been" in the field of ideas. VP Vance didn't say it, but I certainly feel it: these people no longer share our ideals. Heusgen was right, just in the wrong way. Remember when we asked how long this can go on in the US - the gaslighting, censorship, corruption? The answer is, until the free money runs out. And we just cut them off both here and over there. The show's over, they just don't know it yet.
I think Vice President Vance is a breath of fresh air! (Especially after the windbag we just got rid of). I doubt these elitists would agree. His words were a wakeup call and they don't like the light of day!
"I don't expect Vance's speech to impel the Best-and-Brightest on that side of The Pond to have a come-to-Jesus moment."
Nor do I. I'm so sick of the "old Europe" (i.e. the original Open Market) countries having gotten an almost free ride on our backs since the 40s not only vis-a-vi NATO but also with trade. The barriers they throw up through unequal tariff treatment and other BS regulations that prohibit our imports for whatever reasons they can conjure up are extremely one-sided. One can't help but wonder why we continue to tolerate this kind of disregard for the time and sacrifice we expend on their behalf in addition to the monetary impact of such an imbalance on the relationship. They've used and abused us far too long. I applaud the message Vance gave them and challenge them to try and realistically justify continuing to hide behind the fig leaf of their hypocrisy.
Europe should be policing European security, not the US. Europe should be examining their trade policies to determine why their economies are so sclerotic, not rely on the US to prop them up. Europe should understand the chaos their immigration policies has wrought for their societies and adjust them. Europe should take heed of the large percentages of their populations who question their current policies and stop trying to co-opt them. Europe should take a good honest look at where they're at and make course corrections to their direction because the path they're on has a dead end.
We're not moving in their direction on abrogating our freedoms. That's obvious. IMO, if they want us to continue to be partners, they're the ones who need to change. Sadly, I don't see them making such course corrections and fear they will further poison the transatlantic relationship. The ball's in their court.
It's not just their trade policies. It's their entire regulatory structure and mindset. I'm writing a bit on sugar protectionism in the US, and I learned that HFCS is very restricted in Europe... for economic fairness reasons.
Back in the early Obama years, a friend observed that if Obama pivoted America's economic focus to Asia (more specifically, India), that alone would be significant enough to mark success. It didn't quite happen, but there was some noise in that regard.
Europe's demographic trends make any Westernized notion of its future dead-man-walking.
Well said.
Western Europe will double down on the policies that brought them to where they are. The US abandoning Ukraine to it's fate will, among other effects, cause the EU to try to cozy back up to Putin a la gas pipelines etc. Eastern Europe still remembers what being in the Soviet sphere is like so I expect great tensions between western and eastern Europe.
Unfortunately, I fear you're more likely to be right than wrong about Western Europe. I expect they will figure to "wait out" Trump and count on the next President (preferably a Democrat in their eyes) to resume bleeding America out for Pax Americana.
When these elites, leveraging illicit US taxpayer funds from USAID to propagandize and censor, cobble together a bare ruling majority among several parties to shut out populist liberty-seekers, then make their opposition "illegal" - I'd say they're "unburdened by what has been" in the field of ideas. VP Vance didn't say it, but I certainly feel it: these people no longer share our ideals. Heusgen was right, just in the wrong way. Remember when we asked how long this can go on in the US - the gaslighting, censorship, corruption? The answer is, until the free money runs out. And we just cut them off both here and over there. The show's over, they just don't know it yet.
People seldom enjoy hearing malicious truths, and those are what Vance conveyed to the Euro masters who are the continent's enemy from within.
I think Vice President Vance is a breath of fresh air! (Especially after the windbag we just got rid of). I doubt these elitists would agree. His words were a wakeup call and they don't like the light of day!
"I don't expect Vance's speech to impel the Best-and-Brightest on that side of The Pond to have a come-to-Jesus moment."
Nor do I. I'm so sick of the "old Europe" (i.e. the original Open Market) countries having gotten an almost free ride on our backs since the 40s not only vis-a-vi NATO but also with trade. The barriers they throw up through unequal tariff treatment and other BS regulations that prohibit our imports for whatever reasons they can conjure up are extremely one-sided. One can't help but wonder why we continue to tolerate this kind of disregard for the time and sacrifice we expend on their behalf in addition to the monetary impact of such an imbalance on the relationship. They've used and abused us far too long. I applaud the message Vance gave them and challenge them to try and realistically justify continuing to hide behind the fig leaf of their hypocrisy.
Europe should be policing European security, not the US. Europe should be examining their trade policies to determine why their economies are so sclerotic, not rely on the US to prop them up. Europe should understand the chaos their immigration policies has wrought for their societies and adjust them. Europe should take heed of the large percentages of their populations who question their current policies and stop trying to co-opt them. Europe should take a good honest look at where they're at and make course corrections to their direction because the path they're on has a dead end.
We're not moving in their direction on abrogating our freedoms. That's obvious. IMO, if they want us to continue to be partners, they're the ones who need to change. Sadly, I don't see them making such course corrections and fear they will further poison the transatlantic relationship. The ball's in their court.
It's not just their trade policies. It's their entire regulatory structure and mindset. I'm writing a bit on sugar protectionism in the US, and I learned that HFCS is very restricted in Europe... for economic fairness reasons.
Back in the early Obama years, a friend observed that if Obama pivoted America's economic focus to Asia (more specifically, India), that alone would be significant enough to mark success. It didn't quite happen, but there was some noise in that regard.
Europe's demographic trends make any Westernized notion of its future dead-man-walking.