Instead of defending remarkable domestic progress, with foreign policy relegated to the back end of the speech, he needs to flip the order and build the speech around a historic moment when US leading a worldwide coalition in defense of freedom.
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/…
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/…
criticism has become absurd. “Too slow!” “Not enough!” “The U.S. is trailing the E.U.!" Really? In a week, we hit Russia with heavy economic sanctions, commanded the moral high ground, changed the national security outlook of Europe, etc.
What have we done? We set up a perfectly unified alliance with the singular goal of making Putin pay a crushing economic price and inducing him to abandon his fixation on rebuilding the Russian empire.
Was our timing right? Denying the grievance-filled, unhinged Russian president a provocation by refusing to enact preemptive sanctions was wise. Instead, we effectively used the time to deploy intelligence, gaining a commanding position to shape world opinion.
Why is this a big deal? An inflection point has arrived for the United States and for democracy. The tide is turning against illiberal regimes in the existential battle between free and unfree nations.
What does this have to do with the economy and our agenda at home? When we undermine the results of elections, when we impede voting (the cornerstone of democ) and when we disparage the rule of law, we lose the moral capital to construct alliances
When we rescue our own economy and prepare for a new economy, we show that our ability to grow, innovate and provide opportunity dwarfs that of closed societies.
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