I’m not sure what Michael Leppert means by “old friends,” that is, mainly Europe ("Old friends return to the fold," June 24, Page A4). But, I suppose if he means a continent of countries that likes us because we are, and have been, very good to and for them, not least militarily and economically, then I guess they are “old friends” indeed.
For example, they’ve essentially gotten a free ride, defense-wise, through NATO.
For example, they’ve benefited from the post-World War II Marshal Plan, which rebuilt an utterly destroyed Europe from the ground up, at our expense, although to their credit, the very favorable loans, which were part of the deal, were paid back.
For example, they’ve benefited from very favorable economic terms regarding, for instance, auto sales, a market in which “you are what you drive” (my words), since we Americans — including me — love our status symbols the car and the pickup truck.
For example, they’ve benefited from the USA saving most of them from being swallowed up by the former U.S.S.R. (a World War II ally, ironically enough), which would have been devastating, economically, politically, even culturally perhaps.
If Europe — it seems to me especially Germany, but France and England, too — wants to be a true “old friend,” then they can: be more aggressive in opposing China; limit the amount of their technology that makes its way to Iran, for example; and, perhaps most importantly, hasten their drive, no pun intended, toward “clean energy,” so that they won’t have to, now and in the future, rely so heavily on fossil fuels from Putin and Russia. (“Put your money where your mouth is,” in other words, especially Germany.)
Lastly — and to summarize — several points can be made. Europe owes the United States a lot. They don’t appreciate what we’ve done for them. They’re jealous of our power and our wealth, although it is fading rapidly, to their delight.
President Joe Biden isn’t mentally coherent enough, for whatever reason, to really know what’s going on, instead having to rely on others to make the important decisions, ones largely made by, according to the news accounts I’m aware of, former Obama officials, which means Obama himself (a third Obama term if you like).
If “body language is unmistakable” (a line directly taken from Mr. Leppert’s article), then the body language between Obama and Germany’s Angela Merkel, when Obama was president, was unmistakable: When appearing on stage together, for the whole world to see, Obama clearly gestured to Merkel, with a cute little smile and nod, that said, "I’m going to weaken America for you," as if we didn’t already have China and Russia to worry about. Trump wasn’t the problem, for he only did the right thing for America and the free West, albeit admittedly in a brazen way.
Europeans love Biden, and not for the reasons put forth by Mr. Leppert. Instead, they like him because he doesn’t know what’s going on, which means they are now free to behave as they wish. And if the Biden and Obama apologists, namely Mr. Leppert and Mr. Lee Hamilton, among others, keep it up — that is, if they continue to praise Biden for no reason, paint Biden as a hero for no reason, and, perhaps worst of all, overlook the fact that Biden doesn’t have the foggiest idea about what’s going on around him — they will, ironically, help get Trump reelected in 2024, for good or for bad.
David Wayne Ward
Fortville
