Eliminatus said:
Meh. I watched the whole thing live and it's the first time I feel like I he completely missed the mark of the forum. This was a sub par speech IMO and was all over the damn place and felt more like a campaign speech here in the US than a European security conference.
The only thing I felt like had true merit was the dangers of unfettered open immigration but it was a sub point that lasted a few minutes at best.
Just a very weird speech and honestly, felt like it was meant just for the GOP base here stateside. Which I know will be eaten up here but just felt largely out of place to me. Just my coupla cents though. Usually impressed with his stances and bearing but again, this just felt like an unorganized mess, given the forum he was at. And that Musk joke was awful and I winced when it fell so flat.
I couldn't disagree more with this take.
He was 100% correct in outlining the greatest threats facing European civilization.
The leftwing globalist leaders absolutely deserved to and needed to be shamed publicly that way.
It was essential and proper that he included the United States in the public shaming as well, as we also have a very bad recent history of backsliding on democracy and free speech. He wasn't just "lecturing" them, he was "lecturing" us as well as part of our shared Western Civilization; recognizing that it is a family problem.
And perhaps most importantly, it was a clear message to all of the millions of populists, nationalists, conservatives, other various "right-wingers," and just everyday people being persecuted, silenced, and illegitimately excluded from the "democratic" processes, that the United States of America hears you and stands with you on behalf of our common democratic values.
Regarding this last point, I see Vance's speech as very much like, and as potentially as significant as, President Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down this Wall" speech. Like Reagan's speech inspired and gave confidence to the democratic dissidents behind the Iron Curtain in the 1980s to redouble their efforts against their Soviet overlords... my hope is that Vance's speech will both inspire and give confidence to the everyday people of Europe and the nationalist and populist movements that represent them, to stand up to their own commissars today.
Vance in '28