LEE KRAMER'S ROOM: With Views

[blackhawks]

Your implication was that the act of reading off a teleprompter in itself undermines confidence in the reader.

….he/she MUST instill confidence and I don't feel that when VP Harris reads her speech off a teleprompter.

To me the content of the speech bespoke confidence.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/19/politics/harris-munich-speech/index.html

A unified response

Harris' remarks at the conference Saturday echoed repeated pledges from top US officials in recent days of a unified response to efforts by Russia to mount an invasion. A bipartisan delegation of 40 members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, was also in Munich in a show of solidarity with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

"Not since the end of the Cold War has this forum convened under such dire circumstances," Harris said. "Today, as we are all well aware, the foundation of European security is under direct threat in Ukraine."

The vice president emphasized the importance of international organizations, institutions, laws and treaties that she reiterated have led to "unprecedented peace, security and prosperity" in Europe in the wake of two world wars.

Harris stressed that at the heart of these defining principles is the belief that the sovereignty of nations must be respected, that nations have the right to choose their own governments and alliances, and "national borders should not be changed by force."

"In the face of Russian aggression, I have been reassured and heartened by the widespread agreement across the trans-Atlantic community that these rules and norms will be defended," Harris said.

Ratcheting up the rhetoric, Harris accused Putin of feigning "ignorance and innocence" while simultaneously working to fabricate a false pretext for an invasion. Harris warned the "playbook" of Russian aggression is "too familiar to us all."

"We now receive reports of what appears to be provocations and we see Russia spreading disinformation, lies and propaganda. Nonetheless, in a deliberate and coordinated effort, we together are one, exposing the truth and two, speaking with a unified voice," Harris said.

Harris emphasized the US maintains an "ironclad" commitment to Article 5 of NATO, which says that if any alliance member is attacked, every other member will consider it an attack against all members and will take any swift action to retaliate.

"We will not stop with economic measures," Harris said. "We will further reinforce our NATO allies on the eastern flank."