That’s, for those who admire the second in command standing up for his oath to the Structure as a substitute of a person, and for those who lengthy for the times when America revered our European allies and was a proud member of the North Atlantic Treaty Group.
You possibly can actually disagree with Pence’s ideology, however all Individuals ought to be capable to admire his willingness to attract a line.
On a latest journey to the U.S. army’s Pituffik House Base in Greenland, present Vice President JD Vance mentioned, “We are able to’t simply ignore the president’s needs” when talking about President Donald Trump’s fascination with buying Greenland.
Sorry, vice chairman. Sure, in some instances, we are able to ignore the “president’s needs,” and in different instances, we must always, as within the case of Pence on Jan. 6, 2021.
Vance went on to say, “When the president says now we have to have Greenland, what he’s saying is that this island isn’t secure” from the likes of Russia and China.
He referenced Trump with, “The president mentioned in his State of the Union deal with and he was very clear about this, is we respect the self-determination of the individuals of Greenland, however argument once more to them is I believe you’d be quite a bit higher coming underneath america safety umbrella than you have got been underneath Denmark’s safety umbrella. As a result of what Denmark’s safety umbrella has meant is successfully, they’ve handed all of it off to courageous Individuals and hope that we’d choose up the tab.”
Individuals can actually focus on whether or not it’s in our safety curiosity to in some way have a better presence in Greenland, however Vance’s phrase alternative is essentially the most regarding.
A Fox Information survey performed from March 14 to 17 confirmed that 70% of registered voters opposed Trump’s aim of creating Greenland the 51st state. Simply 26% of respondents supported the Greenland plan.
The thought is much more unpopular with Greenlanders. A brand new survey performed by Verian and commissioned by the Danish paper Berlingske confirmed that an awesome 85% of Greenlanders don’t want their island to change into part of america. Solely 6% are in favor of turning into a part of the U.S., and 9% are undecided.
Vance’s disdain for our European allies has been on show for a while now. Simply earlier than Vance left for Greenland, we discovered that Vance was a member of the Sign group chat, “Houthi PC small group,” which Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was by chance invited to affix.
The group of nationwide safety officers within the Trump administration mentioned the assault plans for Houthi rebels in Yemen.
On the textual content chain, Vance shared that the Houthis have been interfering with Europe’s commerce within the Suez Canal greater than the U.S., writing “I simply hate bailing out Europe once more.”
Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth agreed by writing, “VP: I absolutely share your loathing of European freeloading. It’s PATHETIC.”
Maybe Vance and Hegseth want a reminder that Denmark made the final word sacrifice 43 occasions on behalf of america and that after 9/11, NATO invoked Article 5 for the primary and solely time in its historical past, declaring that the assaults on america have been an assault on all NATO allies, triggering the collective protection clause.
There have been 3,621 army deaths through the warfare in Afghanistan — 2,461 have been U.S. troopers, leaving 1,160 troopers misplaced to our NATO allies. The U.S. misplaced 7.96 deaths per million. The nation that got here in second for the variety of lives misplaced per capita was the aforementioned Denmark, with 7.82 deaths per million, having misplaced 43 Danish troopers.
Pence, however, has an extended historical past of supporting NATO. In a memo from 2024, Pence wrote: “Whereas not good, NATO has been an irreplaceable a part of American international coverage since 1949. Abandoning NATO would embolden our enemies and betray our allies. Regardless of a few of its current shortcomings, a powerful NATO stays crucial to America’s international management and pursuits overseas.”
Throughout a time in our nation’s historical past when the checks and balances on one of many coequal branches of presidency appear to be barely hanging on, we must always all need a principled and honorable quantity two.
In his memoir “So Assist Me God,” Pence wrote that in a New Yr’s Day 2021 telephone name, Trump instructed Pence: “You’re too trustworthy,” he chided, predicting that “a whole bunch of hundreds are gonna hate your guts” and “persons are gonna assume you’re silly.”
Even after being scolded by the president of america just a few days earlier and along with his life in danger, Pence did the noble factor and authorized the 2020 election for President Joe Biden.
I miss having a second in command who prioritizes our founding rules and the rule of regulation over his boss’ whims. I miss Vice President Mike Pence.
