* The U.S.-EU Energy Council meets Feb. 7. An agenda certainty: reconciling the reality that Europe, especially Germany, is reliant on Russia as a natural gas supplier. All parties are well aware that the U.S. won’t be supplying troops to Ukraine, but that punishing American economic sanctions on Russia over a Ukraine invasion could have serious ripple effects.
Vladimir Putin, who’s still looking to remake the European security order, could retaliate by cutting off those natural gas shipments to Europe and/or by mounting cyber attacks. Sanctions that limit Russia’s oil and gas exports would be a gigantic hit to the Russian economy. But Europe, and to a lesser degree the U.S., would pay a serious price. No, this is not your basic U.S.-EU energy conference.
* The U.S. economy (gross domestic product) expanded 5.7 percent in 2021. It was the strongest calendar-year growth since 7.2 percent in 1984.
* “If all Democrats hang together, which I expect they will, they have the power to replace Justice (Stephen) Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support.”–Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
* Sobering stat: Democrats lost white non-college educated voters by 25 points in the 2020 election. Dems’ challenge: deprogramming Trump’s blue-collar cultists.