Hey knit wit, have you not seen the fawning 60 Minutes segment on Germany is imprisoning people for criticizing their government and policies. If the term "Western Democracies" means anything useful or principled it would seem that Western Europe is fast being lost from within, and the Eastern Europeans are the only ones who actually believe in and will protect basic human rights and liberties.
You should watch Vance's speech in Munich. He pretty much nails reality and dispels bullshit terms that no longer apply like "Western Democracies". There is no such thing as authoritarianism or totalitarianism in the service of liberal government and human rights. The things are opposites, and it makes about as much sense as fighting racism by instilling more racism in our children, which is another leftist policy.
You are the same fucking people we fight every single time, and you are constantly looking backwards through a distorted lens and calling us what you in fact are. There aren't "good" authoritarians unless you are talking kings ruling over an ignorant people who have a shitty culture. Then pushing for democracy or federalism is just stupid, as we have found yet again by our adventures in the Middle East. A king is right for those people.
