Silicon Bites Ep285 | 2026-02-14 | Today: Munich: the “child of Europe” speech, the missing commitments, and the price of self-deception. Dateline: Munich Security Conference, Friday–Saturday, 13–14 Feb 2026.Europe cheers Secretary of State Marco Rubio, principally because he did not harangue and berate the audience, did not hector and threaten. His tone was conciliatory, and the audience gave him an ovation. But this was a shameful spectacle of weakness and desperation. Europe revealed that it would give anything to return to ‘normal’, to how things were before Trump. They revealed that they’d still rather hang off the coat tails of the U.S. than stand up and face reality. This was a spectacle of timid and fearful children, not adults or leaders. It was even more desperate, because Rubio did not bring a return to ‘normality’. His tone may have been soft, but there was no change of substance detectable, no shift in national security policy. Hiding beneath the soft fabrics of his words, lies a cold and dark truth – the U.S. intends to meddle in European democratic affairs, promote populists and disruptors. Weaken the continent, not strengthen it. Rubio came as a wolf in sheep’s clothing to Munich, and European leaders and analysts duly flocked to praise him as signifying a return to normality. Normal is over and is not coming back. It’s time to wake up; time to grow up and cut the umbilical cord with a U.S. that has other priorities, and other distractions. It may respect us if we show strength, independence and innovation, but never if we continue to show weakness. ----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------SOURCES:Reuters — Rubio tells Munich security forum US and Europe “belong together” (Feb 14, 2026).Reuters — Rubio casts US as “child of Europe,” critical friend to allies (Feb 14, 2026). U.S. State Department — Rubio remarks/transcript at Munich Security Conference (Feb 2026). Reuters — Zelensky says US too often asks Ukraine, not Russia, for concessions (Feb 14, 2026). Financial Times — Rubio skips Ukraine meeting with European leaders in Munich (Feb 13–14, 2026).The Guardian — Rubio urges renewed alliance, on Trump’s terms (Feb 14, 2026). TIME — Merz warns against deep rift; US not powerful enough to “go it alone” (Feb 14, 2026). UK Government — PM speech at Munich Security Conference (Feb 14, 2026). Sky News live coverage — Starmer/Rubio/Zelensky at MSC (Feb 14, 2026). Munich Security Conference PDF + American Presidency Project — JD Vance MSC speech text. ----------SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon Curtainhttps://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur events of the first half of the year in Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. Any support you can provide for the fundraising campaign would be gratefully appreciated. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------