War on democracy: JD Vance was right to rip into Europes muzzling the voice of the people
The fight Vice President JD Vance recently picked with our European allies concerned much more than free speech.It’s about two colliding visions of society and two contradictory forms of democracy, emerging out of the global struggle between the public and the institutional elites.On Feb.14, Vance addressed European leaders gathered at the Munich Security Conference.He was expected to deliver the bad news about the Trump administration’s lack of support for the Ukraine war — but the subject never came up.Instead, Vance’s speech was an extended criticism of European governance, particularly with regard to the treatment of anti-establishment groups.Declaring “there’s a new sheriff in town,” the vice president made it clear that the US-Europe alliance of elites that had prevailed during the Biden era was now officially dead and buried — and unmourned.The vice president’s message sounded like an ultimatum: “I deeply believe that there is no security if you are afraid of the voices, the opinions and the conscience that guide your very own people.
. . .If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there’s nothing America can do for you.”Vance cited a litany of cases in support of his critique — a Briton arrested for praying silently some distance from an abortion clinic, Germans fined or jailed for posting memes some authority has labeled racist or misogynistic, the erection of an ideological “firewall” to keep populist parties forever out of power in Germany, France, and elsewhere.“To believe in democracy is to understand that each of our citizens has wisdom and has a voice,” he concluded.
“We shouldn’t be afraid of our people even when they express views that disagree with their leadership.”With these words, the vice president turned the spotlight on a remarkable project that has been carried out in the dark of night and studiously avoided in polite conversation.The US and Europe consider themselves to belong to the same...