“If American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.”

•

We are so proud of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, who came out with guns blazing (figuratively speaking), giving a great boost to the slogan MEGA —  “Make Europe Great Again” — in his red-hot speech at the Munich Security Conference on Feb 14, reportedly leaving Europe’s weak-willed cadre of leaders deservedly aghast, if not in shock.

To that end, Brendan O’Neill, a Brit, wrote the following in his opinion column (headlined “J.D. Vance’s glorious Make Europe Great Again Roast in Munich” in the Feb. 14 edition of the New York Post:

“Witness his glorious roasting of Europe’s leaders at the Munich Security Conference.

“It was a delicious spectacle — a self-made millennial Yank torching the grey-faced technocrats of my sad, knackered continent.

“He didn’t hold back. He eviscerated the assembled dignitaries for their failings on free speech, democracy and security.

“He lamented ‘the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values’ — words that will have resonated with millions of Europeans. I’m one of them.

“It was on the freedom to speak that he made his most stinging comments.

“‘Across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat,’ he told his startled audience.

“He rattled off recent acts of outrageous censorship that would have made Stalin beam with pride...

“He had stiff words for those who accuse Elon Musk of interfering in European democracy. ‘Expressing opinions isn’t election interference,’ he said.”

Indeed, the VP’s oration was superb, as O’Neill opined: “Vance’s speech wasn’t so much a breath of fresh air as a hurricane of good sense. It was a storm of reason that has left many in Europe wide-eyed and wanting more....”