I want to point out my title is unfair for two reasons: unlike the communists who separated East and West Germany so they wouldn’t lose their (literally) captive population to the free side, Mr. Musk didn’t put up this wall, nor is he the inheritor of those who did. Second it’s not necessarily his to tear down, but we know he has the ear of president Trump and who knows? it just might work.
We’ve been watching in horror as Britain and Germany tumble deeper and deeper into censorship and various forms of totalitarian nonsense. (The British confiscation of guns, knives, screw drivers and anything else capable of taking human life — we wait with bated breath for their confiscation of broomsticks, chairs and frozen legs of lamb — is part and parcel of this nonsense.) And we haven’t heard about the rest of Europe simply because we pay less attention to them. The things I heard people in Portugal think was wonderful being mandated by the EU would chill your blood. They chilled mine.
But, oh, they are independent and sovereign countries, and we can’t do anything about that, right?
Well, screw that. The US is the closest thing to a theocracy as you can get for a country that insists you should be able to worship whomever we want and almost demands its citizens have a religion. (Not really, but the whole thing works better when we do.)
BUT we are founded on our CIVIC RELIGION. We believe that the bill of rights are rights given to us by G-d (or derive from our G-d given rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.) We believe it is the duty of governments (All governments) to secure them. So why are we letting them get away with this nonsense of violating the G-d given rights of their citizens?
But Sarah, you say, what do you suggest we do? Invade them and impose our law from above?
No, though if we hadn’t had a practitioner of ANTI-American arts in the White House at the end of World War II more might have been done to encourage them to adopt our bill of rights as part of their constitution.
However we don’t need to do that. One of the items I linked at instapundit last night was about Germany trying to recruit troops they can’t afford to defend themselves about Russia. All of Europe is like that, eaten up with fear of the men of the steppes.
I think it is mental, because Russia has revealed itself to be a toothless dog, and I suspect always was, just using its information control to disguise it during the time it was pretending to be the Soviet Union.
But they’re scared. Terrified. So are a lot of people here, to be fair. I don’t get it, but I’m missing a lot of normal human reactions, and maybe this is a subconscious attavistic fear of the region that has spun up wave after wave of invaders. And heaven knows that Russians themselves believe they should conquer and rule the rest of the world. (Can we lay the new Rome nonsense to rest already?)
Anyway, the point is that of course Trump isn’t going to completely withdraw protection from Europe. It is also the point that for the last several decades American boys have stood on foreign land, ready to bleed and die to protect that land from the Russians and other unfree people.
… but why should we if Europe themselves are a population of slaves whose governments have placed themselves outside the bounds of legitimacy by denying, instead of promoting and facilitating the G-d given rights of their citizens?
Mr. Musk, please whisper in President Trump’s ear that he make it a condition to stay under the umbrella of American protection — an umbrella for which we’ve spent treasure and time, and lives, and bled and sweated — that the EU adopt the bill of rights and make it operative in every country in its jurisdiction. Then make the UK adopt it too: at frozen leg of lamb point if needed.
But Sarah, you’ll say, that means the Germans will have to drop their prohibitions on disseminating Nazi propaganda!
Yes, it sure does. Look, whose idea was it to make it forbidden anyway? I’ll note the Germans have a lot more serious Neo-nazis than we ever will, because they forbid talking about it openly.
Stupid murderous ideas should be openly discussed and PARTICULARLY mocked and ridiculed. In the US communism has become more attractive to the extent that, due to the speech controls, real or implied, in college campuses people were afraid to tell the practitioners of the idiocy how stupid it was. (I will not take a side excursion into what we should do about our colleges. Let that come later.)
Let the Nazis preach Nazi nonsense. And let free people point out their stupidity and, particularly, laugh and point and make duck noises. (No collection of stupidity such as Nazism or communism for that matter can stand the duck noises.)
LET EUROPE BE FREE. Really free. Let the European people talk and defend themselves from each other sure, but particularly from overarching, overbearing government.
No darkness of totalitarianism can stand the force of the first two amendments, let alone the others.
Tell the tyrants of Europe: “If you want our protection, let your people go. If not, well, you’re on your own and we wish you well. We’re even willing to send you shipments of frozen legs of lamb.”
Mr. Musk, Mr. Trump: Tear down that wall. You didn’t build it, but it is in your hands to wreck it. And it is time.
If freedom isn’t the answer, the question is probably stupid. The bill of rights will stop all the stupid social engineering Europe has been trying to do since WWI including the misguided, counterproductive globalism and internationalism.
It’s time to stop it. They want to be safe? Make them swallow the medicine of freedom.
Make them let their peoples go.
According To Hoyt 
Amen!
LikeLike
Would probably be beneficial for our Asian protectorates too. Especially before they’ve wandered into totalitarian insanity.
Ounces of prevention vs pounds of cute and all that.
LikeLike
I get the impression the Asian people think we’re nucking futs on this stuff, with little danger they will pick any of it up. Not sure what has them inoculated against the mind-virus, but I think they have exceeded herd immunity on this one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
True on that count. They’re vulnerable to other, different things, however. Due process does sometimes seem to be a bit of a suggestion there.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Japan’s divided. Part of the country keeps finding legal loopholes to allow greater rearmament (“Izumo isn’t an aircraft carrier. It’s a multi-purpose destroyer, and one of those purposes is to launch, recover, and rearm F-35s.”). Abe was part of this group. Part of the country thinks this is anathema, going so far as to advocate for complete disarmament. China and Russia are likely backing this part.
The ROK is building up its native arms industry with modern designs, to the extent that the Poles are licensing a Korean MBT design. There has even been talk of Korean aircraft carriers, though I don’t know how serious these conversations are.
Vietnam is caught between a rock and a hard place. It was supported by the USSR, and then Russia. Now Russia is looking like a paper tiger, and not likely to even offer arms if Vietnam goes to war. The Vietnamese want American support, but the US has no strategic interest in Vietnam. The Japanese are building an anti-China coalition. But it’s primarily a naval coalition. If Vietnam were to join, it would be the only member that China has non-naval access to. If the PRC invades Taiwan, and Vietnam goes to war alongside a coalition to support Taiwan, it’s the only country that will need deal with a ground invasion. Not exactly a good prospect for Vietnam. But that leaves China as the only prospective support for Vietnam, and China is why Vietnam wants support…
I not entirely sure what the Philippines and Taiwan are doing regarding their militaries, even though both countries have frequent tests from the Chinese.
LikeLike
The last time China invaded Vietnam, the CCP got their asses handed to them, gift wrapped. They were -humiliated-. They are still suffering loss of face for that debacle.
Better to f(HONK!) a hornets’ nest….
LikeLike
Viet Nam and China are analogous to France (or Russia) and Germany, but they’ve been at (cool, sometimes hot) war for longer than France, Germany or Russia have existed as modern states. Don’t expect either to make “kissy-face”; the rivalry goes way too deep.
LikeLike
The Reader notes that that was only 4 years after the fall of Saigon. Vietnam is a far less capable country militarily than it was in 1979 and also has no great power to provide support the way the West has supported Ukraine. The Reader doesn’t think a Chinese invasion of Vietnam would be a cakewalk, but it would be far easier than an amphibious invasion of Taiwan. China’s strategic position in the South China Sea and access to oil there would be much simpler if it controlled Vietnam.
LikeLike
Which makes the US rapprochement with the Philippines and access to the naval bases there once again quite valuable.
Note also that there have been multiple port visits to Vietnamese ports by US warships as part of the continuing effort by Vietnam to convince the US of the utility of closer ties. Last June the entire Reagan carrier strike group made a port visits to Da Nang:
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2023/06/26/us-aircraft-carrier-makes-vietnam-port-call/
LikeLike
Except for the Vietnamese.
Neither Imperial Japan, nor the USA, nor the CCP thought the Vietnamese had a chance.
They simply won’t quit. It’s that simple, and obvious in hindsight. They simply will out stubborn anyone stupid enough to invade.
It’s so freaking obvious, yet folks can’t seem to see it.
And all sorts of folks will aid them in fighting whatever idiot sticks their (HONK!) in that craycray. Too easy.
Never Quit. It’s the key to victory. And they ate the whole dang pot of stubborn stew, heavily dosed with Nouc Mam.
LikeLike
Indeed Vietnam seems to be the East Asian Equivalent of Afghanistan. Stick your nose (or other body parts) in there at risk of having it ground up and handed back. As pointed out the last time China tried to force its dominance onto Vietnam it got whacked hard. Of course as noted this was a mere 4 years after Saigon fell and in the same time period the Vietnamese decided Pol Pot’s Cambodia was a particularly dangerous neighbor so their military was at least well blooded and probably similarly equipped to their Chinese opponents. It is not clear if the materiel support of the Vietnamese army is much different than it was at the last go round. And as for the Vietnamese joining up with Japan, NO ONE in Asia really trusts Japan even nearly 80 years after the end of WWII. Not sure who the Vietnamese hate more China or Japan.
.That said the PLA tends to be a bit of a paper tiger. India has sent them running at least once. I suspect (as we may well find out with our flag officers) chosing officers by political connections makes for a very poor military. The only thing that may help us is our non commissioned officers who are VERY senior. I think China uses a model similar to Russias where the lower non coms (Up to say our E5-E6) are basically “top” recruits shoved through a quick noncom course. Of course here again political correctness rules much of the selection process.
LikeLike
The Han were able to control about half of Vietnam, and the governor is well-liked in modern Vietnam, iirc.
Things have changed since then, obviously.
As for Vietnam and Japan – the Vietnamese experience wasn’t as bad as it was for other nations the Japanese occupied during WW2. The Japanese initially moved in with the “permission” of Vichy France. The French administrators were still nominally in charge, but were effectively powerless. Then about a year before the end of the war (IIRC), the Japanese murdered all of the French administrators, and formally took control. As a result, I don’t think the Vietnamese dislike the Japanese like the Chinese and Koreans do. There was less time for local atrocities, and the Vietnamese *really* resent the French colonial government.
Amusingly, Thailand joined the Axis, and grabbed part of French Indochina early in the war. Then the Vichy government joined the Axis, and Thailand was forced to give the territory back.
LikeLike
We are sending good training aircraft to Vietnam.
https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/us-vietnam-military-aircraft/2024/11/23/id/1189160/
LikeLike
Keep in mind that most of the resistance against the PLA invasion wasn’t performed by Vietnamese regulars. The Vietnamese army was in Cambodia at the time, which was why the PLA invaded in the first place. The Khmer Rouge had been making trouble along the border with their supposed communist brothers in Vietnam, and – fresh from their victory over the South – the Vietnamese army went into Cambodia to perform a permanent solution to the troublemakers. However, the Khmer Rouge was an ally of the PRC, and the Chinese invasion appears to have been an attempt to support their Cambodian allies
Because the Vietnamese regulars were in Cambodia (and presumably having a much easier time of things than they did against the South and the Americans), it was largely left to the poorly equipped and poorly trained local militias to stop the Chinese. IIRC, the PLA invasion didn’t actually start until after the Khmer Rouge had been removed from power. The Vietnamese pulled some regulars back to deal with the Chinese, but my recollection is the Chinese were already declaring a victory and withdrawing by the time the regulars arrived.
So the PLA invasion was largely stopped by the local militias, and not by the better equipped veteran units of the army.
If the PLA invaded today? Chinese troop quality is still a big question mark, but historically they’ve done poorly whenever they’re outside of China (for basically the entirety of Chinese recorded history). The PLA is equipped with modern equipment that largely has not been tested on a battlefield. However, the Vietnamese are armed with a mix of left-over equipment from the War (their tank force is all T-55s with some updated technology, and they have a large number of captured M-48s in storage), and stuff that they subsequently received from the Russians. The primary Chinese tank for decades was a copy (presumably license-built) of the T-55. So the PLA are familiar with it, and it’s likely that their current tanks are better – assuming that they don’t suffer from technical problems due to shoddy Chinese construction. Much of the rest of the equipment is likely the same. The Chinese are likely familiar with everything the Vietnamese have (except the old captured American stuff), and likely built copies of most of it in the past. And they’ve since designed their own equipment that performs better.
The Vietnamese air force is in much better shape, with fourth generation Russian fighters. Unfortunately, the PLAAF has fifth generation fighters. And unlike the Russians, the Chinese have managed to build a number of them. Even if they don’t perform up to spec, they’re still likely better than what the Vietnamese are operating, particularly since – once again – it’s equipment that the Chinese are intimately familiar with as they license-built quite a lot of those planes themselves. There’s also the detail that the Vietnamese air force simply isn’t large enough to mount an effective resistance against the massive number of combat aircraft that the PRC has.
My suspicion is that the PLA would probably make better headway. But the Vietnamese basically wrote the book on modern large-scale guerilla tactics. I would not want to be in one of the PLA units tasked with occupation duty.
LikeLike
“Wont quit”
Either CCP goes extinction-level event on Vietnam, or they lose. Again.
..
If the ChiComs attack Taiwan, it is either a punitive raid, or a quick coup-de-main. Because if the fight lingers, -way- too easy for someone, say the USA or anyone with decent submarines, to mine the various harbors of China, at which point their economy collapses. Not to mention the potential for a “Taiwan Straight Turkey Shoot”, the mere thought of which gave epic woodies to our attack sub fleet folks. Absent perfect surprise, the invasion force can get massacred. Note that Japan has a bunch of very capable submarines. And quite the tradition of knowing how to use submarines.
Otherwise, presuming the Taiwanese decide not to quit, it is a thousand day slog and trying to get everyone else to convince the locals “they cant win”. Ukraine for example. Russia lost on day 3, when they failed to decapitate the Ukraine government. By week 3, it was obvious the Ukies wouldn’t quit and Russia couldn’t force them to do so. Now it is coming up on year three and the Russians “inevitable victory so you must quit” is as bogus as ever. Russia is counting on everyone else to force the Ukies to give up. And if folks would just realize that, it would be game over. For Russia. Putin can feed his entire military age male population into that sausage grinder, and not win. Then Russia is extinct in 20 years.
This may already be the case. They lie about their numbers so much no one really knows where “barrel bottom” is. That the Russians, who take “racist pride” to heights the Klan wish they could dream, are now using Norks as cannon fodder, well, that is what you call “a sign”. If they haven’t already done so, expect Russia to start awarding the old Soviet Motherhood medals for 8+ kids. Because it is going to take 8+ to fill in the void they have created. And probably -way- too late.
LikeLike
Not to mention the chagrin when we learned the Russian government had poured money into suborning Ukrainian mayors….oh, the Russian generals pocketed the bribe money and the mayor’s weren’t suborned. Uh-oh.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They remembered to pay someone in the south to let them roll in. Maybe I missed it, but I still haven’t seen any general officers relieved-and-charged in the Ukraine military who were supposed to defend the front facing Crimea.
LikeLike
If an invasion of Taiwan drags on, and the US is involved, expect the USN to interdict oil tankers heading to Chinese ports. And there’s very little that the PLAN can do about that. An oil blockade would reduce the Chinese to whatever the Russians are piping to them.
LikeLike
In such an instance I doubt Chinese ports would have much infrastructure standing after US cruise missiles have had a while to blow stuff up. And the U.S. has air-deliverable mines that are basically JDAM-kits with mine fuses which can be dropped quite a ways away to mine those harbor approaches.
There might still be something still running for the bubbleheads to shoot, but it would be trying to sneak into smaller and smaller ports.
LikeLike
The Reader notes the Chinese also assume another risk if they try Taiwan – that the Taiwanese could decide to take China with them by destroying the Three Gorges Dam. That would literally decimate China’s population and wipe out a significant portion of its economy. The Reader has always puzzled over why the Chinese created such a large vulnerability.
LikeLike
Because it’s not a vulnerability if your opponent is too squeamish to strike it. That’s the bet China is making.
LikeLike
I believe current “law of war” says “no dambusting”.
And any attack that wipes out 100-300 million people in an afternoon is “strategic” and “mass destruction”, so expect the ICBMs to be volley-fired.
Although if someone -mines- the dam…..
LikeLike
Judging by some of the “expert” reports on the dam, the simplest strategic policy would be “wait until it collapses.”
LikeLike
The Japanese have been pursuing rearmament much longer than most people in this country realize. Back in 2011, a delegation from Toshiba visited the division of the Great Big Defense Contractor where the Reader worked. While the formal presentation was very vanilla, during a break on of there executives approached the Reader. He knew who I was and what my technical role at the division was. He made it clear to me (so I could convey it to my executives) that Japan was set on a large expansion of their military and that there would be opportunities for us in that expansion. Every thing he told me has come to pass.
LikeLike
Back when my husband and I were stationed in Japan, it was very clear the “self defense force” was in contrast with a “take over the world force,” not a “be able to fight effectively” force.
LikeLike
That doesn’t surprise me. When China started playing aggression games, anime started bringing out some interesting takes, as early as 2009 or so. It was like, suddenly, Japan was willing to be honest and admit some of the evil it had done, and then to clearly seek a better way to be a military peer in the free world.
And that was about the same time that their diplomats started getting serious about cooperating with the neighbor countries that they had historically done wrong.
LikeLike
“The Izumo is a destroyer. With a big flat deck, that just happens to be ideal for conducting air ops.” :-P
LikeLike
USS Enterprise (CV-6) was also a “Destroyer”
of fleets
and of dreams of Empire
LikeLike
Also, Imperial Japan concealed construction of the two largest battleships ever to sail. Yamato and Musashi were absolutely the Monster-class of the battleship type. And we had no clue they existed as such until we found ourselves facing them.
If the CCP invade Taiwan, the JSDF will likely intervene if only to preclude a subsequent fight with the PLAN. And that intervention is likely to shock the snot out of a whole bunch of folks.
LikeLike
Which was unbelievably easier to do in an era with no spy satellites, of course. Not sure you could pull that off today. Some of the details, possibly. But that they were being built?
LikeLike
No need to – they just announced another destroyer class. A really big 690ft long 20,000 ton AEGIS missile defense destroyer. With 128 VLS launcher cells. And antiship cruise missiles. And self defense against air threats and hypersonic missiles. Just a destroyer, though.
LikeLike
”…ideal for conducting air ops with F-35B supersonic stealth STOVL fighters.”
LikeLike
So, we need to spread the Usaian religion across the globe is what you’re saying.
I agree that any country wanting our aid or protection should be worthy of such aid and protection, and countries that throw people in jail for what is effectively Thought Crime are not worthy of such aid an protection.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m tempted to point out that we’ve got our own totalitarian movement here in the States. It calls anything it disagrees with things like “offensive”, “racist”, “sexist” and “misinformation.”
I feel bad for Europeans and what they’re going through. I really do. Combine the facts that the original belief in Free Speech in the Thirteen Colonies was based on their rights as Englishmen and the fact that people IN ENGLAND are being arrested for posting memes and my brain explodes.
But until we can put our own house in order, Europe needs to go its own way.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We do have our own home grown idiots. I have no problem with any and all federal dollars being withheld from the areas that are festering pockets. Difficult because would hate to withhold from an entire state when it is a majority sliver (see map of Red VS Blue by location, not state) causing the problem. If the federal money goes to the state to be “properly” distributed, withhold. If federal money goes to counties or a specific function within a state, then apply the test. (Help rural. Major cities can go hang.)
Countries? All or nothing. In addition if the US does stay and keep bases, troops, and supplies, located there? The US owns the land. No payments to the country for the privilege of staying there, at a minimum. I’d even advocate the country pay the US to have the base located there.
Not an isolationist. That got us into trouble before. But dang it, tired of countries taking advantage of US.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This, tbh. There’d be collateral damage no matter what (Bellingham, WA, aspires to be Seattle; 15 miles away in the same county, the town of Lynden is so MAGA it might as well be a different country), but if it starves the woketards out, it’d be worthwhile. On the other hand, I’m not sure there’s any polity in the King County/Seattle Blob area that wouldn’t benefit from being hung out to dry.
LikeLike
Tell me about it. Our address is Eugene (even if we are still county, 61 years, and counting, and still Eugene has failed to incorporate this area). Eugene is about as liberal as Portland, Seattle, etc. But Springfield, one I-5 separation to the east, is not. Further west, section between Eugene and Florence? Further east, section between I-5 to Oakridge? MAGA all the way. Oakridge and Florence proper? IDK. South? Pleasant Hill? Creswell? Cottage Grove? Well I know my cousins, two generations worth, and their parents/grandparents, are MAGA. Pleasant Hill in general? IDK. A lot of farmers so probably. I suspect Creswell and Cottage Grove are primarily MAGA too, but will defer to JohnS on them. None the less, Lane County shows blue on all the maps. All I can say is we do our part to vote GOP, even if it is only to add to Trump’s popular vote.
LikeLike
Sigh. You stepped right in it, but you didn’t smell it. See, here’s the thing:
‘FEDERAL DOLLARS’ IS THE PROBLEM!! The details of how they are (mis)managed are irrelevant. THERE SHOULD BE NO ‘FEDERAL DOLLARS’!!
What are ‘Federal Dollars’? Where do they come from? Why, they are extorted from the states’ own citizens, marinated in politics and bureaucracy, and then doled out with chains and shackles attached. Here’s an idea; how about the federal government doesn’t steal that money in the first place so the people, and the states, can use it as they see fit?
‘Federal Dollars’ provides a mechanism of coercive control completely outside the structure of the Constitution and anathema to its principles of liberty, one never envisioned by the Founders. If they had, they would have instituted measures to prevent it.
As long as there are greedy people in government, ‘Federal Dollars’ will remain irredeemably corrupt. Only if we institute a government that will be eternally free of greedy people can the notion of ‘Federal Dollars’ be anything other than a short ugly road to tyranny.
If President Trump really wants reform, his most effective measure would be to blow up the whole Federal Money Machine, dump the pieces into one of those giant hammer mills that reduce entire cars to fist-sized chunks, melt those down and make something useful. He can start with the IRS.
LikeLike
Pretty much this. But the only way to do it is to repeal the 16th Amendment (which I fully support, but I don’t think it’ll ever happen).
LikeLike
No it’s not. The 16th amendment authorizes the federal government to collect income tax; it does not require it to do so, nor does it specify how the tax is to be collected. There’s no legal impediment to enacting legislation to abolish the IRS. Indeed, the Cullen-Harrison Act of 1933 partially negated the Volstead Act 9 months before the 21st Amendment was ratified.
LikeLike
The whole idea of making government a charity that we choose to support is very attractive. Crowdfund stuff.
LikeLike
Not wrong. Did miss it.
I do have a problem with selling all national assets back to the states the assets reside in. National Forests, BLM, yes, these land assets should be managed by the states they reside in. If the state wants to lock them up (cough CA), fine (that whole 50 experimental thing). If the state asks for help, that is on the state.
National Parks? No. National Monuments, those anointed by presidential decree, either get the congress and senate to get them to national park status, or turn them back to the states (Montana makes a lot of money off Custer State Park, as many visit there as the Custer/Little Big Horn National Monument). Neither should more be locked up. Money from fees should be split with the state residing in. Not a percentage go back to the general national park fund.
Not sure how to handle the whole predator controversy. Kind of against extinction of any species, even rattlesnakes, let alone grizzlies, wolves, or bison. All should be included in the cost of business should business reside in their current or traditional range. Yes, I am for relocating grizzlies, etc., back into mid and southern Cascade, Rocky, Sierra, western coastal, mountain ranges.
LikeLike
I’m not saying the federal government shouldn’t be able to pay its bills, but the practice of sucking $trillions into the DC sewer and then pissing it all over the states to control them has to end. Take away Congress’s pork budget.
Abolishing the IRS would also put the kibosh on a lot of corrupt ‘nonprofit’ organizations by making their tax exemptions meaningless.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kind of like my: ONE item on budget gets voted on. No add on. No vote it in to find out what is in it.
Department of Interior Budget Line item: National Parks & Monuments
Department of Interior Budget Line item: BLM
Budget Item: FEMA (by all accounts – worthless, so voted down).
etc.
LikeLike
Every bill has to be read aloud, in full, without interruption, by one of its sponsors, before it can be voted on. Only those Congresscritters present for the entire reading can vote in favor of the bill.
Anything that takes more than an hour to read out loud is unlikely to pass.
LikeLike
Along with the deduction for charitable donation of any description to anything. That might be an unintended consequence.
LikeLike
If the government doesn’t steal half their money, people will have more available to donate. Plus, why should we all have to subsidize rich people’s donations to charity?
LikeLiked by 1 person
But until we can put our own house in order, Europe needs to go its own way.
Amen!
Other nations have to resolve their own darn problems with the evil elite, as painful as it may seem.
Maybe Europe should “grow up” and pay for their own freakin’ defence instead of mandating 8 weeks of paid vacation for everyone, importing low trust cultures, and depend on Russian gas. Some of us are tired of losing relatives and tax money to their stupid wars just to have have them poop on our values.
America First, m’f’ers!
LikeLike
No. If they want to defend them, we can put conditions. And no, we don’t have to be perfect to put conditions. Imperfect as we are we are MILES better than Europe. MILES.
LikeLike
This.
As I have said about the Founders: They were flawed men, certainly. However, flawed as they were they established the systems that led to the greatest birth of Freedom the world has ever known.
And for the Christians among you, look at the flawed men that God chose as his instruments. Certainly He can use a flawed nation just as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, no. No no no no no. It’s best to put it all in order at the same time. We’ve started.
And we never fell that far.
You’re doing the equivalent of “until the Earth is perfect we can’t go to space.” Hell NO.
LikeLike
Amen.
LikeLike
Yes, this!
It doesn’t say “a perfect union” ; instead it says, “a more perfect union” which is a humanly approachable, practical thing.
And it could start slow and subtle.
“Our country was founded on a recognition of certain inherent human rights — which, I’m sorry to say, your countries are trampling on more and more routinely of late.
“Of course you’re sovereign nations and can choose to go your own way.
“But so are we, and our principles are dear to us. If your regimes keep on veering toward tyranny, expect us to support you less and criticize you more. Yes, that means you can pay for NATO for a while, if you choose. And our citizens are not to be made sacrifices to your strange new political gods.”
Also interesting how Eastern Eurpoe seems immune to many of the symptoms of this disorder…
LikeLike
We, us folks, because want less Charlie Foxtrot…..
Yang sacred saying
LikeLike
I think we need to remind the people of Europe (mostly Germany and points West and South, the old ex communists seem to be quite able to find their backsides without detailed instructions) of this part of our Declaration of Independence
In particular the bolded section. It’s up to them to act. Should they act we should certainly consider helping as France, German principalities and others helped us well nigh on 250 years ago. Until then any aid we give must be primarily encouragement. Why? I think 2 reasons apply. Our own Monroe Doctrine (which we have been particularly lax in enforcing) asks them to stay the hell out of the America’s issues. Turnabout is fair play. This bullshit behavior of Obama’s interfering for example in Israel’s elections must stop. Secondly, trying to impose this from outside will fail, they must choose this path for themselves. Some parts of Europe’s populace (the Farmers for example in the UK and on the Continent, as well as the truckers) have had quite enough but have not yet “gone Galt”. Education here and decent information would help. We somehow seem to be seen as a gun laced hellhole by the Europeans, both hoi polloi and aristoi , This is in part from our media (tons of crime drama which bear little resemblance to even to our most horrific spots like Detroit or Baltimore) and our own news folk leading with utterly unbalanced information.
Should we put conditions on NATO other than already exist? Certainly we should hammer them for the 2% of GDP commitment. I think also we need to reduce our active presence in Europe in order to fund things that have gotten very weak (Naval, and small scale over the shore invasion capacities needed to do things like make sure annoying terrorist don’t FUBAR the worlds. I’m not sure that the existing governments would respond with other than two middle fingers to our requiring free speech let alone 2nd amendment rights. Again the ex Warsaw pact folks are likely to be rational partly because they remember Russian/USSR domination, partly because they are the front lines.
For the present I think we need to work on getting our own ducks in a row and then work with governments of a similar bent like Argentina and Hungary. We need to return to the position of a city on a hill, a lamp on a lampstand, for as my maternal grandmother said you catch more flies with sugar than vinegar. I doubt we can convince the existing aristoi of Europe. Rather we need to show a stable reasonable society without the ridiculous restraints to the Hoi Polloi such that they force change. This will be a LONG and tortuous process and with the inflow of folks that think blasphemy laws are a good thing Europe has only a short window to save itself before it bears a strong resemblance to Mr Hratmans Caliphate.
LikeLike
We go to space because it is there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hogan’s Heroes used to be a very popular rerun on West German TV, with any of the forbidden heil youknowwho replaced in the German dub with the equivalent of “upsydaisy!” The mockery did them much good. I don’t know if such is still allowed on German TV in these more enlightened times.
And re the Germans worried their undermanned and underarmed Heer would be insufficient in the face of a pack of Girl Scouts, let alone the Formerly Red Army, they should remain calm, as the Poles will protect them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
OOO. Your last line. Burn. I admire that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
would the Poles want to protect them?
LikeLiked by 1 person
They have to, as, given Northern European topography, Poland is the freeway between the Formerly Red Army Looting Team and all that German loot.And the Poles seem to be standing back up to the traditions of the Winged Hussars these days.
Germany’s remaining claim to dominance is economic, and by dismantling their own energy grid they are voluntarily giving up the industrial power that built that economic dominance.
LikeLike
To get a chance to shoot at Russians, the Poles would defend just about anybody.
LikeLike
So you’re saying they should wait for the Winged Hussars?
LikeLike
Let’s see if this works, WP:
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nope. WPDE.
LikeLike
Go to Reddit to see the Leopard 2PL with the wings installed, at:
LikeLike
Dear Sandy Paws,
I have been a very good kitty this year, pinky-claw swear. Please oh please oh please bring me one of those, with spare parts, and a tank hauler, pretty please with tuna on top!
LikeLike
Oh, that’s just glorious! Please tell me that’s not a Photoshop.
And to echo Ms. Red, I want one too…
LikeLiked by 1 person
One can’t be sure these days, but if it’s a photoshop it’s a really good one, as I don’t see any artifacts.
LikeLike
I had heard the Poles had kept the name of the Hussars for calvary (which is either armor or helicopters in the modern world). I wonder if Poland flies the Apache…
LikeLiked by 1 person
They bought 96 Apaches this year. Not sure about first delivery:
https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2024/08/13/poland-buys-96-apache-helicopters-to-boost-attack-capabilities/
Also not sure where they’d paint the Hussar wings. There’s a photo of one of their Mi-24s with wings painted on the side, which I will put in the next comment because WPDE, but that is a much larger canvas.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LikeLike
That must really gall the Russians. Well played, gentlemen, well played. Kitty golf clap.
LikeLike
Most Euros will happily kiss Putin’s ass to avoid freedom. The former Soviet slaves are about the only freedom advocates left. Even the Swiss are going wobbly.
When we once again (and we will) have to wade back in to a Eurowar to avoid something worse, this time -conquer- and -colonize- the place.
LikeLike
But I don’t want to colonize it. Make them swallow the Bill of Rights, whole without sugar and walk away.
LikeLike
The Baltics might be “a speed bump” but it will hurt Russia dearly to get over that speed bump, based on the people I talked to this past summer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Given Finland and Sweden are now in NATO, if I were Russia I would look more to the defense of St. Petersburg than any “roll into the Baltics” plan, especially if Russia is thinking they have the measure of NATO from their “learning experiences” fighting Ukraine armed with a pitiful scarcity of NATO weapons and training.
LikeLike
And with Finland and Sweden in NATO protecting Kaliningrad for Russia just got hard. It also restricts getting ships out of St Petersburg. And Kaliningrad’s people might just decide maybe returning to their Hanseatic roots might be a good idea.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What roots? The institutions were destroyed when the Soviets founded Kaliningrad, and the Germans who once lived there were expelled and replaced with Russians. The only ‘root’ is the land itself, and it tends not to worry about what the silly ape-things are up to.
That doesn’t mean the people of Kaliningrad wouldn’t decide they’re done with Moscow, of course, but connecting that possible realignment to ‘Hanseatic roots’ seems as bizarre as an Elamite or Olmec resurgence.
LikeLike
True, but it might prove to be a useful fiction if Kaliningrad ever decides that Poland or Lithuania are better options than Russia. “We’re returning to our historic pre-Wilhelmine traditions and nation, yes?”
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Baltics may be a speed bump, but the Reader believes that if the Russians hit it they will bring the Polish bulldozer into play.
LikeLike
Poles from one direction and Finns from the other.
LikeLike
The sad thing is that the EU claims to support “Freedom Of Expression” but if “your Expression” is seen (by governments) as “supporting hate” then the governments are allowed to suppress “your expressions”. [Angry]
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep.
LikeLike
Reports this morning that Russia fired an “ICBM” into Ukraine. Obviously not a nuclear-tipped one.
Some early reports suggested it was a “launch,” video in reverse, not sure what Ukraine would be launching. Also that it was the next smaller size missile, not an ICBM. If it was a missile, it appears to have held multiple explosive warheads, but no reports on damage.
Seen as an “escalation,” of course.
As for why so many people are terrified of Russia, well, almost a century of anti-nuclear, anti-nuclear war, unilateral disarmament, etc. propaganda has to have aftereffects. Especially when so many people accept it uncritically.
LikeLike
Some sources are denying its an “ICBM.”
Those things are fiendishly expensive, and a launch will send all sorts of monitoring systems bat-guano, followed by possibly counter-strike.
So we have elaborate agreements to say “hey, upcoming bigthing launch, with planned trajectory (thusly)….”
So -highly- skeptical.
With -Biden- on the button, an ICBM surprise would be -stupid-. With an -unknown- Biden-substitute? Insanity.
LikeLike
It’s Social Media Intern Suzy’s turn to babysit the mil guy with the football. She’s pretty stable. We’re just lucky it’s not Social Media Intern Bobby’s turn. He’s nuttier than Brandon.
LikeLike
The things I saw were referencing IRBM. So longer range than the SCUD class things. More like the old Pershing II and similar that we got rid of back in the Reagan/Bush I period. Seems like a new variant of one of their shorter ranged ICBM including a MIRV warhead (multiple warheads). This is a really expensive toy to play with. Also with the AEGIS ashore that is coming online in Poland it could possibly be intercepted (also an expensive toy).
Why the heck Putin is flexing like this other to threaten UK/France/Germany to back down in providing aid to Ukraine is unclear. Maybe this is also a warning to the current administration? Honestly they seem to have no clear strategy or plan with respect to Ukraine.
LikeLike
Last I heard, the Russians confirmed the launch. They also claimed that they didn’t bother to alert the US beforehand, while the US is reporting that we did know beforehand.
Draw your own conclusions, but someone mentioned a warning from our embassy in Ukraine yesterday.
So, best guess is that the Russians probably gave our military a warning. “We’re launching, but it’s one missile and not aimed at you. Don’t invoke MAD over it.” But the Russian government is denying it warned, primarily for image reasons.
LikeLike
I don’t know about Russia “warning” the US, but they did announce that the missile was a new “Medium Range Missile” not an ICBM.
LikeLike
Current reporting seems to be pointing towards what they fired being an experimental depressed-trajectory IRBM.
”Hypersonic” is the latest weapons buzzword, but any reentry vehicle is going hypersonic as it initially reenters, so technically the V-2 was a hypersonic vehicle, and every ICBM RV has been as well. There’s things that are new are hypersonic maneuvering to not be mathematically predictable, and hypersonic propulsion to keep going that fast.
So since almost any ballistic missile is ”hypersonic”, and they have been lobbing ballistic missiles at Ukraine for a long while, it has to be a technical variant to be a scary “escalation”. They said it was “hypersonic”, and the hypersonic missile that is easiest if you already have ballistic missiles is to alter the missile’s flight path by depressing the flight trajectory from pure ballistic, which while fast, is very easy to predict once detected. By flying a lower powered flight trajectory, the warhead is both harder to detect and harder to predict its flight path. To do this they would by necessity extend the burn time of the rocket motor, to push it through the thicker lower atmosphere, which also makes it hard to predict since it’s not just coasting along a parabolic arc.
This thing could also use a boost/glide flight sequence, where after boost phase a hypersonic glide vehicle is released, which could maneuver a little on its own while it is slowing but still hypersonic for further unpredictably.
The harder way to do a hypersonic weapon is via hypersonic air breathing propulsion, where the vehicle is boosted to Mach 3+ and then a hypersonic jet motor enables it to continue its high speed to the target, also letting it maneuver freely. There’s no indication that is what they fired, though from the Putin statement that’s what he wants everyone to think it was.
They said it was experimental, so it’s likely a prototype, and they probably don’t have a lot of whatever it was.
LikeLike
We have had “hypersonic” weapons since the 1960s. “Hypersonic” is Mach 5 or faster.
For example, the old “Phoenix” missile used by the f-14 hit mach 5. So does any modern ballistic missile over a certain range.
Buzzword. See “Shock and Awe”, also “dazzle them with bull”.
“OMG the Russians have a (new gadget)!!!11!!”
“We have a (buzzword) gap!”
I do not believe I am sufficiently mocking this latest “dire threat”. (grin)
LikeLiked by 1 person
We also had hypersonic aircraft vis the X-15, Although it was rocket powered and had to be carried aloft by a B-52. One of the large engined models exceeded Mach 6. and Shuttle was also hypersonic in some regimes of flight.
As noted the tricky part is air breathing hypersonic.
LikeLike
Some of the Eastern Europeans have been spending in their military. At least one or two of the Balts (one of them might have been skimping, though, last I checked). Poland (licensing building a Korean MBT). Romania, though that country’s so poor that I’m not sure how far the money goes. I think the Czechs.
My recollection is not the others, though. And the bits I’ve seen suggest Hungary might be moving toward Russia’s camp.
LikeLike
The expression they support is
“Back to your toil, serfs. When you betters want to hear from you, they will beat you harder.”
LikeLike
C and I like the idea.
I’ve looked at some of those countries’ rules on freedom of expression. The standard form is to say that you have freedom of expression as defined by the national legislature. They don’t seem to have the concept of placing limits on the national legislature, or grasp that if there are no limits, than what you have is not a right but a privilege.
We should stop trying to impress the self-elected Cool Kids of Europe, and go our own nerdish way.
Oh, and Canada is the same way. We ought to invite provinces like Alberta to become American states . . .
LikeLiked by 1 person
The issue is one of which way things flow.
Over there the “rights” are privileges granted, and thus de-grantable on whim, by the legislatures, executives, and bureaucracies. Over here, at least in theory, rights are limits placed by the sovereign people on what the legislatures, executives, and bureaucracies can do.
Sure, in practice things fall short, but the basic concept here is rights are, hey, let’s say inalienable.
No such concept over there.
LikeLike
Heck, I have trouble pounding it through the pop-culture shell on some people that “rights in the US are not given. Power is loaned from the people to the government.” Even with a captive group, who agree with what the founding documents say, the default is “the government gives us freedom of …” Arrrrrrgh.
LikeLike
Yeah – “the government grants the right to…” vs “the government cannot eff with the people’s preexisting right to…” is something that should be clear early in the primary education process, and held up as the difference between us and them. Clearly, however, over in government schools, it is not, for what should be obvious reasons.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Slightly off topic but there was an idiot reporter whining about the so-called “Christian Nationalist” because “they believe that rights come from G*d not the State”.
Of course, she got whacked because (among other things) Thomas Jefferson talked about Rights coming from “Nature’s God”.
Of course, Martin Luther King Jr talked about “Natural Law And Rights”.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amen on that last.
LikeLike
Quack!
One can dream, hope and pray it will come to pass,
LikeLike
Interesting timing you had with the title subject. The UK is reportedly preparing to “summon” Elon Musk to explain his X/Twitter policies to Parliament. This is the same country where members of the government have been threatening to charge Musk with incitement to insurrection after he posted the forecast “Civil war is inevitable” regarding the spate of unrest they were having a few months back.
A real no-win scenario, no? If he goes, likely as not he’ll be in handcuffs twenty seconds after de-planing, as some functionary bids to become a hero to the global elite. If he refuses, he’ll be treated as a coward and as effectively having admitted guilt. If he offers to teleconference in, they’ll contemptuously refuse and set the choice back to the preferred binary, if not just peremptorily declaring him guilty for not putting his head in the noose.
If this were happening two months later, I’d be much more sanguine about the outcome, given who’d be able to enforce a vigorous American reaction should the Brits gets sporty. (Imagine half a dozen SpaceX Starships landing in metropolitan London, loaded with Space Marines, to bust Elon out of the Tower. I almost want Starmer to try it now.) For today, though, I’m very worried that Musk may not realize the peril he would be in.
Hopefully he tells them he’s way too busy with his new job in the States to give them any of his time. But if he’s feeling particularly energized and invulnerable, uh oh.
The times, they remain interesting.
Republica restituendae, et, Hamas delenda est.
LikeLike
Not so sure about the cowardice part. Running off a cliff does not prove any bravery.
LikeLike
Well, if they did arrest him, he could always arrange for the next Starship to land atop Parliament and rapidly deconstruct.
LikeLike
Oops. Missed.
LikeLike
I rather expect that a.) Musk wouldn’t care one whit if they call him a coward (and would, I have no doubt, mock them relentlessly), b.) if they get too noisy, he can just refuse to have X/Twitter, or Starlink, or anything else over there and tell them they’re welcome to block it (and then make sure ordinary folks over there are made aware of how to get around certain blocks–at their own risk, of course, but I expect a great many would do it anyway), and c.) has all kinds of F-You money, and they’re not the boss of him. Even if they *can* put the hurt on him financially, the guy is innovative and ridiculously good at success. He’ll just make more money doing something else.
(Also, I expect he’s going to be quite busy for a few years–one hopes–dismantling large parts of the federal bureaucracy. I, a fedgov drone, am over going “Ooh!! Oooh! I’ll take the workforce reduction thing!! (which entails a pretty generous severance so I can find a new job–enough time to finish learning stenography, for me) :D)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Musk just might fart in their general direction and tant them a second time.
LikeLike
lol, you know that was the EXACT scene I was thinking of. I was originally going to put “You know, he’s like the French Guy in Monty Python and the Holy Grail” :D
LikeLike
The only way to win is not to play.
Or maybe instead to play the eff-off card: “I am an American citizen, X is an American company headquartered in the USA. We are subject to the laws of this country alone, and the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America protects the absolute right of all who use our platform to speak their mind, no matter how objectionable you may find their speech. We do not acknowledge your demands as legitimate and will be ignoring them completely.”
This is what the folks behind Gab do to all the foreign governments that send similar missives (or have their lawyers do). They have a similar GFY response to all the legacy media outlets that contact them for interviews or comments, too.
Of course this gets a lot more complicated when you have significant business assets in a country that’s getting its tyrant boner on, and they can do serious damage not merely to your finances, but to a bunch of innocent people who work for you.
LikeLike
Ever consider the result of a GPS guided reentry vehicle in the 10 ton range? Just a big slug of rigid metal, tungsten would do, or good steel.
Thor’s new hammer….
LikeLike
I’ve believed since I was ankle-high to a tadpole that no “United States of…” ANYTHING should be allowed without they adopt AND ENFORCE our Bill of Rights. The Soviet Union had a constitution, myriad kleptocratic oligarchies have bills of rights. I’ve also long believed that it was the Founders’ original sin that our Constitution does not include enforcement mechanisms. But I guess we maybe don’t have the power to demand it.
LikeLike
The Constitution does have an enforcement mechanism. We just used it. Elections have consequences.
If that’s not sufficient, the Constitution also includes the Second Amendment, which is among other things an enforcement mechanism. I certainly hope that one doesn’t come into use.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The Soviet constitution was surprisingly similar to ours…..except that every enumerated right within it was granted by the State and could be withdrawn at the State’s command.
LikeLike
Which is why the Declaration of Independence is an absolutely critical legal document. It provides the context, with the “We the people” in the preamble of the constitution to make it clear that the government cannot taketh away because the government does not giveth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Funny how the most ostracized nation on Earth is the only one in the mid-East that promotes freedom of religion and open citizenship regardless of religion. I mean, Israel.
LikeLike
“Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice?” – George Washington’s farewell address.
The Reader stands with George. We should undo the mistake of the 1990’s and dissolve NATO. Let the Europeans find such alliances as they need. There is no chance we could impose the concept of natural rights on such a diverse group of peoples and cultures. The Reader understands that this will likely result in one or more new nuclear powers and is okay with that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think so long as the nuclear powers understand what “FAFO” means–ie, you nuke ANY part of us, and we will nuke you right back. And remember: the US is so big, you’re not gonna take us all out in one go–in fact, you won’t even get close.
I more than half suspect this is going to be Trump’s big stick in dealing with Putin (and to a lesser extent, the Ukraine): “Knock it off, right now, or I really WILL go after Moscow. (Or Kyiv)
LikeLike
This was the big missed opportunity after 9/11, with or without nukes (an argument can be made that they are too expensive to waste on such, as HE works just as well on mud brick and cinderblock), just go over the Afghanistan and break everything, literally flatten any signs of civilization past stone tools, as an object lesson on what the FO part looks like.
Given the obvious fact that we would not stay forever, and the finite probability bet that the Taliban might regain power when we left, making life harder for them as payback for harboring AQ without wasting time on hearts and minds crap is the obvious answer.
Which is an historical lesson that informs how to deal with the Houthis now: The “illustrate FO” strategy.
LikeLike
Israel is providing an excellent example of the “FO” part.
But yeah, we should have done that, but of course, the problem is we were trying to be “humane.” And this is where a failure to understand the other culture comes in (a common lefty problem in particular): tribal societies tend to only understand war to the knife. Mercy is perceived as a weakness, and treated accordingly. It sucks, but…in the long run it would have saved a great many American AND Afghani lives. (Not to mention Iraq)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Okay, then limit it to any non-urban paved road, electrical infrastructure, bridge, dam, railroad, or canal, along with anything vaguely military or industrial, or governmental.
That’s humanitarian restraint.
And tell the ICC in advance to F right off.
LikeLike
Paint large letters on our bombers “FAFO”
Ditto the missile silo covers. Make the cover the “O” in a large FAFO
Ditto the “sails” of our boomers.
Engrave FAFO on every bayonet.
etc
Once we have the DoD unf(HONK!)ed, put giant letters “FAF” next to the slimmed down Pentagon. Sucker might be visible from orbit.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“LET EUROPE BE FREE. Really free.”
Um, no.
Europe is the friggin’ dwarves or whatever at the end of The Last Battle who won’t open their eyes and see Heaven. They are the obstinately ignorant, the ones who MILITANTLY will not see where their own best interests lie, because they’d sooner be slaves than be like the Americans. Ew.
Have you seen Jeremy Clarkson out at Farmer Revolt meetings this week, decrying the (utterly insane) inhertance tax being proposed by #Starmer’sLabor? He’s -raging- at them. And he’s right, of course, because it’s -madness- what they’re doing. Theft. Straight up.
And who’s being slagged up one side and down the other? Clarkson. Because of course he is. This is Britain, not America you stupid fat man. We do things the British way, by taxing everything to death and letting the Saudis buy it for a buck fifty at auction. Shut up, peasants.
France, Belgium, Germany, much worse. So much worse. I can only imagine Spain and Italy. Does Portugal still have private property? Scotland doesn’t even have free speech anymore, much less private property.
Let them all, for once, fight for their own f*cking freedom. Let the USA stay the f- home this time. And let #OrangeManBad make it a clause in the tariff laws that if a nation’s media talk a bunch of sh1t about America, their tariff doubles until they apologize. Officially, and publicly.
Except Canada. I’m a Canadian, and I want a Special Deal for this great nation.
For Canada the tariff should go up FOUR TIMES, 4X, until the president of the offending media company goes down to the Rainbow Bridge across the Niagara river, right to the middle where the line is painted, apologizes fulsomely and bows to America three times on his/her/its knees. Forehead on pavement. And if #ShinyPony is still PM, he has to go there too and bow right next to the media dork. No entourage, just the two idiots. Televised.
And let it be raining.
It isn’t like they don’t deserve it, and I very strongly doubt anything less will even get their attention.
LikeLike
Keir Starmer seems to be uniting all the sane Britons — against him and all his works.
He is just total trash. Even things he did years ago, seem to have been bad for the UK. And now they are coming home to roost.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yup. I didn’t think English politicos could get worse, but he’s lowered the bar into a trench.
LikeLike
he almost makes Red Ken and the current Mayor of London look nearly competent.
almost
He does make Boris look like a genius in comparison.
LikeLike
When you start to sound like a Bond villain and yet you’re the British government…
LikeLiked by 1 person
On doubling their tariffs if their media badmouth the USA, I’m a qualified oppose. If an element of their press that is actually free does so, do nothing. We’re not in the business of opposing actual freedom, after all. To fight against that would be to make the same mistake other countries make when they take something said in our press as government sanctioned, rather than what a free press can actually say and do. (Leaving aside, for the nonce, the question of how free our press is.)
But if a government-owned or -controlled organ delivers the defamation, that’s another matter. The BBC saying horrible things about our mothers can be considered equivalent to Two-Tier Keir, a/k/a Starmer the Farmer Harmer, saying them. Likewise for the state media of France, Germany, et al. (I don’t know offhand whether they have state media, but it’s hard to imagine that they do not.) I’m not saying the tariff jack-up would be good policy, but it would not be an offense against free speech.
Republica restituendae.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“If an element of their press that is actually free does so…”
Is any element of the European press “free” in the way you mean? As in, free from harm if they don’t do what they’re told?
In Canada, that does not exist. Genuine press outlets, being newspapers, magazines, television stations, radio stations, book publishers are all, wait for it…
…subsidized by the Federal government. If CTV, a supposedly “private” company puts something on the news, the Prime Minister’s Office either told them to run it or allowed them to run it. Global, CITY-TV, etc. all the same. CBC of course is the official government broadcaster, to the tune of $1.5 Billion with a B dollars every year, and they do exactly as they are told.
Currently there is one (1) outlet doing news in Canada that does not take orders from the PMO, and that is Rebel News. Internet only. Everything else is random web sites, like Small Dead Animals or Blazing Cat Fur. We used to have Kathy Shaidle at Five Feet of Fury, but she has passed beyond the Rim.
According to Sarah, Europe doesn’t really do these pirate web sites like SDA, ATH, Timcast, Rogan etc. They do what Canada does. That’s why the only place you hear about British farmers spraying Parliament with manure is YouTube.
So yeah. Double tariff, because f- those guys.
LikeLike
Mr. Musk is not a free speech absolutist. He’s getting closer to a free speech friend. But twitter still has “hate speech” rules and he’s still backed down in plenty of countries. I would suggest sending this article straight to Mr. Trump or Mr. Ramaswami.
LikeLiked by 1 person
TBF he SORTA backed down, but not really in the cases I tracked. As for the hate speech what we heard is that it’s legacy programming they can’t get rid of.
LikeLike
Off topic, but I just had to post this. Sorry, Moose and Squirrel made me do it.
LikeLike
I’ll have to wait. I’m at work all it does is give me multiple USAA ads:
ad, [press skip] different USAA ad, [skip dammit] middle of vid during sponsor portion, [click to the beginning], ad again, [skip]. [pause, skip to past intro], ad [give up, while noting the thing started in the sponsor portion].
But it reminds me I forgot to watch JuLingo’s latest, and she is far finer on the eyes:
LikeLike
Sorry, that link seemed to go to the middle of the video for some odd reason. Just poke it back to the beginning.
LikeLike
Sarah, aren’t you glad you left Denver?
TTTO “Banned from Argo”: 🎶And now they’ve got a Falcon 9 on the roof of City Hall.🎶
https://twitchy.com/justmindy/2024/11/21/denver-colorado-mayor-will-fight-trump-deport-n2404078
LikeLiked by 1 person
🎶And now they’ve got a Falcon 9 on the roof of City Hall.🎶
That be Sofa King cool!
LikeLike
Hmmm, if they launch east out of Vandenberg, don’t do the normal deceleration burn for hitting the drone ship, would the booster reach Denver? Something to ponder…
LikeLike
Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph in Britain has brought in a “body language expert” to opine on how Trump and Musk have a strained relationship…..
I thought we gave up phrenology. 🤦🤦♂️🤦♀️🤦🤦♂️🤦♀️
LikeLike
TSA spent tens of millions on a system that was going to identify potential hijackers and terrorists by their facial expressions.
Apparently their chosen subcontractor wasn’t able to pull that particular rabbit out of their hat.
LikeLike
But they’re not allowed to do ‘racial profiling’ — concentrating their attention on the only group that has perpetrated terrorist attacks using our public transportation. Instead, they treat Grandma and her 7-year-old granddaughter like terrorists while ignoring the actual terrorists. Yet Another typical government fustercluck.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Do the Europeans even want to be free? If they don’t, then we’re left with “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink”.
LikeLike
You can lead a horticulture, but you can’t make it think.
LikeLike
A lot of them do. But they’ve been lied to and spun so much they don’t know in which way to strike.
LikeLike
Most of them think they *are* free. They don’t understand that most Americans have a substantially different definition of the word.
LikeLiked by 1 person