A shot heard 'round the world
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The US vice president dropped a stun grenade on European Union elites at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
JD Vance's historic speech lambasted smug EU apparatchiks for the threat they themselves pose to freedom in Europe.
Attendees – members of the EU's military and political elite – had expected a polite speech full of nostrums about President Trump's plans to end the conflict in Ukraine; instead, Vance delivered a stunning admonishment – akin to Jesus' rebukes of the Pharisees – warning that the greatest threat to Europe comes not from outside forces, but from an "enemy within."
Indeed, Vance's speech was an appeal to the historic values and sacred principles of freedom shared among the nations of the west. It was a call for Europe, as well as the United States – still reeling from the damage wrought by the Biden-Harris regime, to undo the shackles of censorship, social control and open borders.
Despite Vance's fundamental appeal, European elites are reacting with indignation and displeasure at what many around the world are calling "a speech for the ages."
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius whined about the address, saying it was "not acceptable":
Ex-adviser to globalist Tony Blair, John McTernan described JD Vance's talk about free speech as "monstrous" and "insulting."
"It's extraordinary to me he wants to come to Europe and start lecturing the UK on which laws we should have. Deeply, deeply insulting!"
A nervous Donald Tusk, Poland's current leftist prime minister, urged European players to revise their modus operandi after Vance's address.
"Europe urgently needs its own plan of action concerning Ukraine and our security, or else other global players will decide about our future. Not necessarily in line with our own interest. This plan must be prepared now. There's no time to lose."
Sky News Australia reacted with more balance pointing out that Vance's speech was not a rebuke for the sake of rebuking, but a sincere call to Europe to mend its ways. The media outlet described the purpose as "an intervention":
While Europe's elites complained about the dose of reality Vance administered, populists around the world applauded it. British Reform UK politician and member of parliament Rupert Lowe, for example, called it a delivery of "Truth, after truth, after truth."
Indeed, Vance spoke frankly about recent examples in Europe when the state has cracked down on civil liberties against the people, emphasizing that such actions are reflective of Soviet-style, anti-democratic tactics.
He pointed to the British government's charging a 51-year-old physiotherapist and an army veteran, Adam Smith-Connor, "with the heinous crime of standing 50 meters from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes" for his aborted baby son.
Vance made clear, for anyone thinking this is "a one-off crazy example of a badly written law being enacted against a single person," by citing the Scottish government's recent distribution "of letters to citizens whose houses lay within so-called safe access zones, warning them that even private prayer within their own homes may amount to breaking the law."
He referred to the Romanian state's "straight-up" canceling of the presidential election of anti-establishment candidate Calin Georgescu in December, "based on the flimsy suspicions" of "Russian disinformation infecting" the outcome.
Vance said he was appalled that "a former European commissioner went on television recently and sounded delighted that the Romanian government had just annulled an entire election," also warning that "if things don't go to plan, the very same thing could happen in Germany, too."
Vance leveled a double whammy in one masterstroke against the European establishment's fixation on climate control, as well as its recent criticisms of Elon Musk's X posts encouraging the European people's sense of liberty. The vice president said, not without measure of characteristically American humor,
MASS MIGRATION
Vance acknowledged that the "most pressing" and "urgent" issue facing the nations assembled at the conference is "mass migration," alluding to the terrorist attack in Munich the day before which injured dozens of people.
Vance did not let the attendees off the hook for their role in the assault, spelling out the the truth of the origin of mass immigration in one fell swoop:
"How many times must we suffer these appalling setbacks before we change course and take our shared civilization in a new direction?," he asked.
Despite the dire examples, Vance, a Catholic convert, gave some hopeful news:
"[T]he good news is that I happen to think your democracies are substantially less brittle than many people apparently fear, and I really do believe that allowing our citizens to speak their mind will make them stronger still."
'THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE MATTERS'
Vance ended his speech by encouraging European leaders to overcome their fear of the people's voice by heeding the words of a great European saint.
"We shouldn't be afraid of our people, even when they express views that disagree with their leadership," he said.
IN PRAISE OF VANCE
The Internet was flooded with praise of Vance's address from people all over the world, expressing support and gratitude for his words.
Prominent Polish writer and journalist Kristian Kratiuk posted:
Other remarks from various countries included the following:
Americans were no less admiring of one of their own with one patriot posting on X:
The vice president fired a shot, albeit a verbal one, akin to the opening shot of the battles of Lexington and Concord that resulted in the creation of the United States of America and a re-routing of history.
His speech may serve as a prelude to declarations of independence around the world on personal and national levels.
It may also inspire Americans to renew their commitment to their homeland and to those sacred principles the revolutionaries fought and died for almost 250 years ago.
Dr. Barbara Toth has a doctorate in rhetoric and composition from Bowling Green State University. She has taught high school in Poland and Oman and at universities in the US, China and Saudi Arabia. Her work in setting up a writing center at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahmen University, an all-women's university in Riyadh, has been cited in American journals. Toth has published academic and non-academic articles and poems internationally.
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