October 8, 2024
Dear Friends and Family,
This is the next to last segment in this series and I would like to share what I have learned in putting it together. In the first segment, “Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force,” I learned that Democrat Party was taking a decided turn to the Left driven by the Sanders Progressives.
In segments two through nine current major policies were analyzed. From the analysis, I was able to define the priority of each for a new administration.
Based on her record, I learned she was a major contributor to our recent inflation, she was in agreement with Biden on the Afghanistan withdrawal, she is progressive in her thinking (very “woke”), she is an advocate of climate change, she is a supporter of open borders, she has high turnover in her staff (hard to work with), and she failed to produce anything positive as Vice President. She has difficulty speaking extemporaneously but does well behind a teleprompter. She is very inexperienced foreign policy wise.
In one of her campaign ads she says, “Let’s Turn the Page to a New Way Forward.” This indicates to me no pride in her record as Vice President nor in the administration’s record that she has been an integral part of for four years. I am also perplexed with her response to the Hurricane Helene disaster particularly in the face of a new hurricane. If I were in her I would be giving daily FEMA briefings before hitting the campaign trail.
In my pursuit to learn more about her, I found two recently published books from which I took excerpts that are in this segment. They provide additional insight on her resume. Additionally, I read a profound editorial from the Wall Street Journal that augments my survival fears, confirmed by an article in the New York Times. Both are summarized below. After reading them, the question which popped to mind is: “With the clouds of war all around us, is this the time for someone with little foreign policy experience coupled with a man who ran from combat and with advisers who got us into this situation, to be leading the country and the free world?”
Happy Learning,
Harley
Dear Friends and Family,
This is the next to last segment in this series and I would like to share what I have learned in putting it together. In the first segment, “Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force,” I learned that Democrat Party was taking a decided turn to the Left driven by the Sanders Progressives.
In segments two through nine current major policies were analyzed. From the analysis, I was able to define the priority of each for a new administration.
- Of little concern: Covid-19
- Of some concern: Climate Change
- Of serious concern: Governance & Immigration and Southern Border
- Of significant alarm: Foreign Policy, Criminal Justice, and Culture Wars
- Of survival fear: China and its allies & our economic future (dollar’s reserve currency)
- By Tulsi Gabbard: Significant Change – Negative in Nature.
- By Gerard Baker: We have lost trust in leaders & institutions-Rebuilding is needed.
- By Ted Cruz: Marxism had infiltrated many or our institutions.
- By Mark Levin: The Party is becoming Marxist. The Constitution is under attack.
- By Thomas Sowell: Much of Our Political Thinking is Filled with Fallacies.
- By Christopher Rufo: DEI will end our Constitutional Order.
Based on her record, I learned she was a major contributor to our recent inflation, she was in agreement with Biden on the Afghanistan withdrawal, she is progressive in her thinking (very “woke”), she is an advocate of climate change, she is a supporter of open borders, she has high turnover in her staff (hard to work with), and she failed to produce anything positive as Vice President. She has difficulty speaking extemporaneously but does well behind a teleprompter. She is very inexperienced foreign policy wise.
In one of her campaign ads she says, “Let’s Turn the Page to a New Way Forward.” This indicates to me no pride in her record as Vice President nor in the administration’s record that she has been an integral part of for four years. I am also perplexed with her response to the Hurricane Helene disaster particularly in the face of a new hurricane. If I were in her I would be giving daily FEMA briefings before hitting the campaign trail.
In my pursuit to learn more about her, I found two recently published books from which I took excerpts that are in this segment. They provide additional insight on her resume. Additionally, I read a profound editorial from the Wall Street Journal that augments my survival fears, confirmed by an article in the New York Times. Both are summarized below. After reading them, the question which popped to mind is: “With the clouds of war all around us, is this the time for someone with little foreign policy experience coupled with a man who ran from combat and with advisers who got us into this situation, to be leading the country and the free world?”
Happy Learning,
Harley
WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR COUNTRY – SEGMENT 17
KAMALA HARRIS – EXCERPTS
INTRODUCTION: Who is the real Kamala Harris? And how did she ascend to the second-highest office in the country? Despite her limited experience in national politics and confusing professional history, there hasn’t been a thorough examination of Vice President Harris’s journey to the White House … until now. With exclusive reporting and a detective’s eye, Charlie Spiering delivers the first-ever deep dive into Kamala Harris’ hilarious, incompetent, radical path to the vice presidency.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s many struggles and mistakes during her first years in office were top of mind: the thin-skinned outrage, perceived grievances around every corner, the staff bullying and endless turnover, the mockery, the refusal to be a team player. A brain stroke away from the presidency, Harris appeared artificial onstage, never willing to engage or risk her brand, and constantly playing defense. Her speeches lacked conviction and spiraled into word salads. Tough questions were answered with laughter and dismissal. Harris barely suppressed her impatience and disdain for the president despite reading platitudes from the teleprompter. After less than four years in the Senate, she was not a dealmaker, a consensus builder, or even a conduit to activists. Her presidential campaign – where she launched a bitter but ineffective attack on Biden during one of the debates – was a notorious flop. Instead of playing dutiful backup to the president, Harris was trying to write her own political narrative according to her rules. She was in no position to take over for Biden and lead the Democratic Party into the future. But there was no way the Biden team could replace her on the ticket in 2024 – that would be admitting a huge mistake. It is a mistake that cannot be fixed. As Harris prepares to take the oath of office, Biden’s aides realize that their power to manipulate their future is gone. They will be forced out of the White House and President Kamala Harris will take control.
Source: Amateur Hour by Charlie Spiering (2024).
KAMALA’S UPBRINGING: My parents often brought me in a stroller with them to civil rights marches. They went to peaceful protests where they were attacked by police with hoses. They marched against the Vietnam War and for civil rights and voting rights. I had always heard stories about what a wonderful place Howard University was, especially from Aunt Chris, who had gone there. The beauty of Howard was that every signal told students that we could be anything – that we were young, gifted, and black, and we shouldn’t let anything get in the way of our success. On weekends we went down to the National Mall to protest apartheid in South Africa. One of my mother’s favorite sayings was “Don’t let anybody tell you who you are. You tell them who you are.” And so, I did. I knew part of making change was what I’d seen all my life, surrounded by adults shouting and marching and demanding justice from the outside. But I also knew there was an important role on the inside sitting at the table where the decisions were being made. When the activists came marching and banging on doors, I wanted to be on the other side to let them in.
Source: The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris (2019)
AS SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Behind the success of every rising young politician is a political mentor – some experienced, well-connected person to give them advice, make introductions, open doors, and get them started in politics. For Kamala Harris, that mentor was Willy Brown. But Brown was no ordinary politician and was certainly no ordinary mentor. Harris started dating him at the age of twenty-nine in 1994, a transitional time for Brown, age sixty, who wanted to continue enjoying his life of power and prestige. Columnist Herb Caen described Harris as “the Speaker’s new steady” in his column even though Brown was still officially married to his estranged wife, Blanche.
Harris moved easily into the exclusive group of San Francisco socialites. Wherever Brown went, Harris was right beside him, soaking up the larger-than-life experience in California politics. She attended lavish parties, dinners, fundraisers, and events featuring the wealthy and powerful San Francisco elites. In his last year as California Speaker of the Assembly, Brown appointed his new girlfriend to two positions in state government that paid her more than $400,000 over five years.
As district attorney Harris appeared better at proposing and promoting new ideas rather than achieving results. When things went wrong in her office she feigned ignorance, blaming her staff for not keeping her informed. She became an expert at pandering to activists but also finding new ways to burnish her role as a tough law enforcement figure in California as she prepared to further her political career.
Harris the progressive turned a blind eye to violent protesters. For the first anniversary of the war in Iraq, Harris was faced with the problem of antiwar protesters who were arrested for violent disruptive behavior. San Francisco police arrested 124 of them for breaking the law, including some that had assaulted police officers. Harris vowed to personally review each case. Days later, Harris dropped the charges, asserting that the burden of proof could not be met in any of the cases, despite detailed evidence captured on video.
AS CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: On May 23, 2011, the US Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Plata that California’s overcrowded prison system was unconstitutional, affirming a three-judge federal court ruling ordering the state to reduce the prison population to 110,000. The Supreme Court argued that California was breaking the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Governor Brown led the fight against the ruling and Harris was the lawyer. They defied the Supreme Court ruling fighting the three-person panel designed to force the release of prisoners early to reduce overcrowding. While the courts were trying to wrest the prison doors open, Harris was slamming them shut. In 2014, her lawyers fought against the new parole program by arguing in court that they could not release the prisoners because the prisons “would lose an important labor pool” and “severely impact fire camp participation” for inmates to fight fires. When there was an uproar in the press, Harris feigned ignorance. “I will be very candid with you, because I saw that article this morning, and I was shocked,” she responded to BuzzFeed News, insisting she was “very troubled by what I read.”
It was a familiar response for those following the career of Kamala Harris. Instead of taking responsibility, she always returned to the notion she had no idea what was going on in her own office. “The idea that we incarcerate people to have indentured servitude in one of the worst possible perceptions,” said Harris. “I feel very strongly about that. It evokes images of chain gangs. I take it very seriously and I’m looking into what needs to be done to correct it.”
AS U.S. SENATOR: Once in the Senate, Harris surprised her colleagues in how obviously she was pursuing a future run for president instead of doing the work in the Senate. Longtime staffers were familiar with the “showboat” senators who were using the position as a political springboard. But even senators like Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama spent their first few years trying to demonstrate seriousness for the job they had. As a senator, Harris tried valiantly to generate the most noise and heat she could in committee hearings, and she started by confronting Trump appointed cabinet officials seeking Senate confirmation. It was obvious that Harris delighted in tormenting Trump officials with interruptions even though she had no clear objective to her line of questioning.
In November 2018, Harris tried to compare the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to the Ku Klux Klan during the confirmation hearing for Trump’s nominee to head the agency, Ronald Vitiello. “Sir, how can you be the head of an agency, and be unaware of how your agency is perceived in certain communities.” Harris described illegal immigrants as “innocent people arriving at our border fleeing harm” and urged Vitiello to work to change the reputation of the agency. Vitiello was used to politicians using hearings on border security to grandstand for their open-border agenda, but Harris’s question was unprecedented. By speaking about ICE and the KKK in the same question, she was trying to turn false perceptions about overtaxed border security into a reality. On the warpath, Harris was getting more attention from activists fighting to resist Trump.
When asked to describe the first one hundred days of President Trump’s administration, Harris replied, “I was told one should not say ‘mothafucka’ in these kinds of interviews,” Harris burst into laughter, “So, I’m not going to say.”
The Kavanaugh hearings served as a proving ground, almost a primary race as Democratic hopefuls tried to prove themselves as the left’s most committed champions. Harris was determined to make an impact, as she was still largely unknown outside California. It was her chance to make a bigger name for herself. With the Senate Judiciary Committee vote scheduled on September 28, Harris joined a walkout from the committee room, joined by Senators Mazie Hirono, Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse.
Behind the scenes Harris was even more upset, as it appeared that Democrats were losing their case. People in the room recalled Harris cursing and dropping f-bombs, ordering around Senate staffers who did not even work for her. “Anyone’s who’s staff, get the fuck out of here!” Harris yelled at staffers in the Senate anteroom. Harris took a lot of swings but ended up striking out. She abandoned any professionalism or courtesy for her Senate colleagues to boost her own brand as she pursued the idea of running for president. The emerging profile of Harris was a person who was vengeful, angry, and aggressive – just the type of person the angry left wanted to challenge Trump for president.
AS CANDIDATE FOR 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: Harris continued trying to be all thing to every radical leftist activist in the primary. Harris was an abortion warrior, supporting the right to abortion until just before birth and the use of taxpayer funds to pay for them. Harris was also aggressive on the issue of guns, supporting a nationwide mandatory buyback program for some semiautomatic rifles. She also vowed to use executive action to restrict gun sales, directly challenging Biden’s objections to the idea. When Biden tried to explain to her during a debate that effective restrictions on guns would require an act of Congress, not executive power, Harris appeared indignant, “Hey, Joe, instead of saying, ‘No, we can’t,’ let’s say, “Yes, we can,’” she replied before laughing of his concerns about the Constitution.
On November 15, Politico reported that Harris’s campaign was “careening toward a crackup.” “No discipline. No plan. No strategy,” one staffer said, pointing to campaign chair Maya Harris, campaign manager Juan Rodriguez, and ultimately Kamala Harris herself for the mess. Staffers complained of weak leadership and lack of vision and began openly questioning their campaign strategy as funding dwindled. Harris was portrayed as clueless. Campaign advisors found Harris unapproachable and her circle of trust extremely tight. Harris was looking for cheerleaders, not truth-tellers. She blamed a lack of funding for her failure. “I’m not a billionaire,” she said. “I can’t fund my own campaign.” Funding was the least of her problems.
AS VICE PRESIDENT: Harris continued struggling in news interviews, proving unable to take hard questions. Sometimes she laughed to mask surprise or genuine fury; other times she laughed when events spiraled out of her control. Political enemies dubbed it the “Kamala cackle” and spliced together highlight reels of awkward laughing moments to demonstrate she was not suited for the seriousness of the job.
Equity: In November 2020, Harris’s team released a controversial video on “equity,” a campaign buzzword arguing for the government intervention to help people of color get more opportunities. Harris delivered the following remarks as an animated campaign video explained about the true meaning of equity:
So, there’s a big difference between equality and equity. Equality suggests, “oh everyone should get the same amount.” The problem with that, not everybody is starting out from the same place. So, if we’re all getting the same amount, but you started out back there and I started out over here, we could get the same amount, but you’re still going to be that far back behind me. It’s about giving people the resources and the support they need, so that everyone can be on equal footing, and then compete on equal footing. Equitable treatment means we all end up in the same place. Something about the argument was familiar. “That’s equality of *outcomes* enforced by the government,” wrote journalist Andrew Sullivan on Twitter. “They used to call that communism.”
As the Boss: She was a boss who was thin-skinned, uncooperative, and impatient during her first year in office, as staff exits from the vice president’s team mounted as reports of a nightmarish working environment piled up in the press, while DC insiders marveled at the wreckage. Reports cited “an abusive” office environment under an unpredictable boss who berated staffers who failed to fulfill her erratic demands, or even for handing her the wrong type of pen. Former staffers who worked for Harris before she became vice president also shared their stories of a manager who easily threw staff under the bus for her own mistakes. Staffers said that interns and low-level staffers frequently were reduced to tears as she berated them when she felt they were unprepared and hung up abruptly during phone conversations. In her Senate office, Harris was ranked No. 9 among senators for the highest staff turnover from 2017 to 2020. Several administration officials used the word shitshow when describing Harris’s office, Axios reported.
Afghanistan: In April 2021, Kamala Harris asserted in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash that she was the last person in the room with Biden before he made the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan and that she was comfortable with it. That was in April, but by August, as the withdrawal from Afghanistan grew catastrophic, Harris was nowhere to be found. She vanished from public view for a week when the president needed defending the most.
Ukraine: The vice president hardly impressed world leaders with her grasp of foreign policy and world affairs as she earnestly tried to explain the gravity of the moment to reporters. “I mean, listen, guys we’re talking about the potential for war in Europe,” she said. “I mean, let’s really take a moment to understand the significance of what we’re talking about. It’s been over seventy years of ‘peace and security.’” Harris’s remarks on foreign policy were simplistic, ignoring the forty-year Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008, and its annexation of Crimea in 2014. Back in the U.S., Harris’s remarks about the conflict in Ukraine were patronizing, especially when she tried to simplify her descriptions of political events. “Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So basically, that’s wrong,” she said to a radio audience in March 2022 when asked to explain to listeners why the Biden administration was acting in Ukraine.
Kamala’s Day of Infamy: Harris had kicked off 2022 by angering Americans when she marked the first anniversary of the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Biden administration used the occasion to raise fears of “Ultra MAGA” Republicans who were a danger to the very fabric of American democracy. Harris went further, comparing the violent protest to the deadly Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “Certain dates echo throughout history, including dates that instantly remind all who have lived through them – where they were and what they were doing when our democracy came under assault,” she said stoically. “Dates that occupy not only a place on our calendars, but a place in our collective memory. December 7th, 1941, September 11th, 2001, and January 6th, 2021.” It was an outrageous notion. The death toll for Pearl Harbor was 2,403 Americans; the death toll for the 9/11 attacks was 2,077. On January 6, 2021, only one American was killed, a protestor supporting Trump who was shot and killed by Capitol Police. It was absurd for the vice president to compare a riot of American citizens on Capitol Hill to the terrorists’ attacks on American soil by foreign enemies where thousands of Americans were killed and which sparked horrific foreign wars.
Ratings: A June NBC poll showed Kamala Harris with only a 32% positive approval rating and 49% negative, including 39% who had a “very negative” view of the vice president. The net negative approval rating of minus 17 was the lowest in the history of the poll—even lower that Vice President Dick Cheney. Harris’s ratings were worse than they were in January. Harris had not earned polling numbers with a net positive rating since October 2021.
Source: Amateur Hour by Charlie Spiering (2024)
Foreign Relations: Harris has been involved in various international efforts related to climate change, cybersecurity and economic cooperation. Her participation in global forums, such as the Munich Security Conference and meeting with international leaders highlights her role in shaping U.S. foreign policy. However, her relative lack of foreign policy experience compared to her predecessors has been a point of criticism. One of the most scrutinized aspects of Harris’s international presence is her communication style and diplomatic acumen. Critics argue that her interactions with foreign leaders have sometimes lacked the nuance and gravatas expected of a high-ranking official. Her responses to questions about international issues have been seen as evasive or overly scripted, fueling perceptions of inadequacy.
Progressive or Pretender? So, is Kamala Harris a true progressive or merely a pretender? The answer isn’t black and white. Harris embodies the tensions and contradictions inherent in American politics today. She is a politician striving to balance her progressive ideals with the practicalities of governance in a deeply divided nation. Her journey reflects the broader struggle of the Democratic Party to reconcile its diverse base and deliver on its promises of change. Harris’s real agenda is shaped by her background and personal experiences. As the daughter of immigrants and a woman of color, her perspectives on issues like immigration, education, and healthcare are informed by her own journey. She frequently speaks about the influence of her mother, an activist and researcher, and her upbringing in a diverse community. These personal narratives are woven into her political rhetoric, reinforcing her commitment to representing marginalized voices.
CONCLUSION: Harris’ history of political missteps, for her ineffective handling of her presidential campaign to her contentious tenure as Vice President, suggests she may not possess the qualities needed to effectively lead the nation. Her inability to maintain consistent policy positions, coupled with her reliance on identity politics, raises serious doubts about her suitability for the presidency.
Source: Beyond Identity Politics by Zoe Quinn (9/06/2024).
WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE (Sept. 22, 2024)
How Freedom Has Faded on Biden’s Watch
His Successor as President will inherit a far more dangerous world
President Biden will address the United Nations on Tuesday, in what is likely to be his last big moment on the world stage. A President’s foreign-policy legacy typically outlasts his term so it’s worth taking a step back and considering the world Mr. Biden will leave his successor.
It is a far more dangerous world than Mr. Biden inherited and far less congeal for U.S. interests, human freedom and democracy. The latter is tragically ironic since the President has made the global contest between democracy and authoritarians an abiding theme. Authoritarians have advanced on his watch in every part of the world – Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and even the Americas.
Here's how quiet: Our foremost regional ally is now at war on multiple fronts. Israel’s defensive campaign in Gaza isn’t finished and a new and perhaps bloodier fight is unfolding with Hezbollah. The Houthis have all but shut down Western commercial shipping around the Red Sea, while Mr. Biden makes U.S. naval commanders play whack-a-missile. Meanwhile, Iran marches undeterred to becoming a nuclear power. The Biden Administration mouths pieties that this is unacceptable, but its every action suggests it believes a nuclear Iran is inevitable and trying to stop it is too risky. When Iran goes nuclear, the security calculus in the world will turn upside down.
Addressing this gathering storm will be difficult and dangerous. The first task will be restoring U.S. deterrence, which will require more hard power and political will. Whoever wins the White House will have to abandon the failed policies of the Biden years, lest we end up careening into a global conflict with catastrophic consequences. Source: The Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal (September 23, 2024).
NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE (September 23, 2024)
“Threats we face”: The first sentence of the report – released over the summer by a bipartisan, congressionally appointed commission – was blunt: “The threats the United States faces are the most serious and most challenging the nation has encountered since 1945 and include the potential for near-term major war.” The nation, the report continued, “is not prepared today.”
Source: New York Times The Morning by David Leonhart (Sept. 23, 2024).
The unabbreviated version of the above can be found in the pdf document below.
KAMALA HARRIS – EXCERPTS
INTRODUCTION: Who is the real Kamala Harris? And how did she ascend to the second-highest office in the country? Despite her limited experience in national politics and confusing professional history, there hasn’t been a thorough examination of Vice President Harris’s journey to the White House … until now. With exclusive reporting and a detective’s eye, Charlie Spiering delivers the first-ever deep dive into Kamala Harris’ hilarious, incompetent, radical path to the vice presidency.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s many struggles and mistakes during her first years in office were top of mind: the thin-skinned outrage, perceived grievances around every corner, the staff bullying and endless turnover, the mockery, the refusal to be a team player. A brain stroke away from the presidency, Harris appeared artificial onstage, never willing to engage or risk her brand, and constantly playing defense. Her speeches lacked conviction and spiraled into word salads. Tough questions were answered with laughter and dismissal. Harris barely suppressed her impatience and disdain for the president despite reading platitudes from the teleprompter. After less than four years in the Senate, she was not a dealmaker, a consensus builder, or even a conduit to activists. Her presidential campaign – where she launched a bitter but ineffective attack on Biden during one of the debates – was a notorious flop. Instead of playing dutiful backup to the president, Harris was trying to write her own political narrative according to her rules. She was in no position to take over for Biden and lead the Democratic Party into the future. But there was no way the Biden team could replace her on the ticket in 2024 – that would be admitting a huge mistake. It is a mistake that cannot be fixed. As Harris prepares to take the oath of office, Biden’s aides realize that their power to manipulate their future is gone. They will be forced out of the White House and President Kamala Harris will take control.
Source: Amateur Hour by Charlie Spiering (2024).
KAMALA’S UPBRINGING: My parents often brought me in a stroller with them to civil rights marches. They went to peaceful protests where they were attacked by police with hoses. They marched against the Vietnam War and for civil rights and voting rights. I had always heard stories about what a wonderful place Howard University was, especially from Aunt Chris, who had gone there. The beauty of Howard was that every signal told students that we could be anything – that we were young, gifted, and black, and we shouldn’t let anything get in the way of our success. On weekends we went down to the National Mall to protest apartheid in South Africa. One of my mother’s favorite sayings was “Don’t let anybody tell you who you are. You tell them who you are.” And so, I did. I knew part of making change was what I’d seen all my life, surrounded by adults shouting and marching and demanding justice from the outside. But I also knew there was an important role on the inside sitting at the table where the decisions were being made. When the activists came marching and banging on doors, I wanted to be on the other side to let them in.
Source: The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris (2019)
AS SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Behind the success of every rising young politician is a political mentor – some experienced, well-connected person to give them advice, make introductions, open doors, and get them started in politics. For Kamala Harris, that mentor was Willy Brown. But Brown was no ordinary politician and was certainly no ordinary mentor. Harris started dating him at the age of twenty-nine in 1994, a transitional time for Brown, age sixty, who wanted to continue enjoying his life of power and prestige. Columnist Herb Caen described Harris as “the Speaker’s new steady” in his column even though Brown was still officially married to his estranged wife, Blanche.
Harris moved easily into the exclusive group of San Francisco socialites. Wherever Brown went, Harris was right beside him, soaking up the larger-than-life experience in California politics. She attended lavish parties, dinners, fundraisers, and events featuring the wealthy and powerful San Francisco elites. In his last year as California Speaker of the Assembly, Brown appointed his new girlfriend to two positions in state government that paid her more than $400,000 over five years.
As district attorney Harris appeared better at proposing and promoting new ideas rather than achieving results. When things went wrong in her office she feigned ignorance, blaming her staff for not keeping her informed. She became an expert at pandering to activists but also finding new ways to burnish her role as a tough law enforcement figure in California as she prepared to further her political career.
Harris the progressive turned a blind eye to violent protesters. For the first anniversary of the war in Iraq, Harris was faced with the problem of antiwar protesters who were arrested for violent disruptive behavior. San Francisco police arrested 124 of them for breaking the law, including some that had assaulted police officers. Harris vowed to personally review each case. Days later, Harris dropped the charges, asserting that the burden of proof could not be met in any of the cases, despite detailed evidence captured on video.
AS CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: On May 23, 2011, the US Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Plata that California’s overcrowded prison system was unconstitutional, affirming a three-judge federal court ruling ordering the state to reduce the prison population to 110,000. The Supreme Court argued that California was breaking the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Governor Brown led the fight against the ruling and Harris was the lawyer. They defied the Supreme Court ruling fighting the three-person panel designed to force the release of prisoners early to reduce overcrowding. While the courts were trying to wrest the prison doors open, Harris was slamming them shut. In 2014, her lawyers fought against the new parole program by arguing in court that they could not release the prisoners because the prisons “would lose an important labor pool” and “severely impact fire camp participation” for inmates to fight fires. When there was an uproar in the press, Harris feigned ignorance. “I will be very candid with you, because I saw that article this morning, and I was shocked,” she responded to BuzzFeed News, insisting she was “very troubled by what I read.”
It was a familiar response for those following the career of Kamala Harris. Instead of taking responsibility, she always returned to the notion she had no idea what was going on in her own office. “The idea that we incarcerate people to have indentured servitude in one of the worst possible perceptions,” said Harris. “I feel very strongly about that. It evokes images of chain gangs. I take it very seriously and I’m looking into what needs to be done to correct it.”
AS U.S. SENATOR: Once in the Senate, Harris surprised her colleagues in how obviously she was pursuing a future run for president instead of doing the work in the Senate. Longtime staffers were familiar with the “showboat” senators who were using the position as a political springboard. But even senators like Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama spent their first few years trying to demonstrate seriousness for the job they had. As a senator, Harris tried valiantly to generate the most noise and heat she could in committee hearings, and she started by confronting Trump appointed cabinet officials seeking Senate confirmation. It was obvious that Harris delighted in tormenting Trump officials with interruptions even though she had no clear objective to her line of questioning.
In November 2018, Harris tried to compare the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to the Ku Klux Klan during the confirmation hearing for Trump’s nominee to head the agency, Ronald Vitiello. “Sir, how can you be the head of an agency, and be unaware of how your agency is perceived in certain communities.” Harris described illegal immigrants as “innocent people arriving at our border fleeing harm” and urged Vitiello to work to change the reputation of the agency. Vitiello was used to politicians using hearings on border security to grandstand for their open-border agenda, but Harris’s question was unprecedented. By speaking about ICE and the KKK in the same question, she was trying to turn false perceptions about overtaxed border security into a reality. On the warpath, Harris was getting more attention from activists fighting to resist Trump.
When asked to describe the first one hundred days of President Trump’s administration, Harris replied, “I was told one should not say ‘mothafucka’ in these kinds of interviews,” Harris burst into laughter, “So, I’m not going to say.”
The Kavanaugh hearings served as a proving ground, almost a primary race as Democratic hopefuls tried to prove themselves as the left’s most committed champions. Harris was determined to make an impact, as she was still largely unknown outside California. It was her chance to make a bigger name for herself. With the Senate Judiciary Committee vote scheduled on September 28, Harris joined a walkout from the committee room, joined by Senators Mazie Hirono, Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse.
Behind the scenes Harris was even more upset, as it appeared that Democrats were losing their case. People in the room recalled Harris cursing and dropping f-bombs, ordering around Senate staffers who did not even work for her. “Anyone’s who’s staff, get the fuck out of here!” Harris yelled at staffers in the Senate anteroom. Harris took a lot of swings but ended up striking out. She abandoned any professionalism or courtesy for her Senate colleagues to boost her own brand as she pursued the idea of running for president. The emerging profile of Harris was a person who was vengeful, angry, and aggressive – just the type of person the angry left wanted to challenge Trump for president.
AS CANDIDATE FOR 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: Harris continued trying to be all thing to every radical leftist activist in the primary. Harris was an abortion warrior, supporting the right to abortion until just before birth and the use of taxpayer funds to pay for them. Harris was also aggressive on the issue of guns, supporting a nationwide mandatory buyback program for some semiautomatic rifles. She also vowed to use executive action to restrict gun sales, directly challenging Biden’s objections to the idea. When Biden tried to explain to her during a debate that effective restrictions on guns would require an act of Congress, not executive power, Harris appeared indignant, “Hey, Joe, instead of saying, ‘No, we can’t,’ let’s say, “Yes, we can,’” she replied before laughing of his concerns about the Constitution.
On November 15, Politico reported that Harris’s campaign was “careening toward a crackup.” “No discipline. No plan. No strategy,” one staffer said, pointing to campaign chair Maya Harris, campaign manager Juan Rodriguez, and ultimately Kamala Harris herself for the mess. Staffers complained of weak leadership and lack of vision and began openly questioning their campaign strategy as funding dwindled. Harris was portrayed as clueless. Campaign advisors found Harris unapproachable and her circle of trust extremely tight. Harris was looking for cheerleaders, not truth-tellers. She blamed a lack of funding for her failure. “I’m not a billionaire,” she said. “I can’t fund my own campaign.” Funding was the least of her problems.
AS VICE PRESIDENT: Harris continued struggling in news interviews, proving unable to take hard questions. Sometimes she laughed to mask surprise or genuine fury; other times she laughed when events spiraled out of her control. Political enemies dubbed it the “Kamala cackle” and spliced together highlight reels of awkward laughing moments to demonstrate she was not suited for the seriousness of the job.
Equity: In November 2020, Harris’s team released a controversial video on “equity,” a campaign buzzword arguing for the government intervention to help people of color get more opportunities. Harris delivered the following remarks as an animated campaign video explained about the true meaning of equity:
So, there’s a big difference between equality and equity. Equality suggests, “oh everyone should get the same amount.” The problem with that, not everybody is starting out from the same place. So, if we’re all getting the same amount, but you started out back there and I started out over here, we could get the same amount, but you’re still going to be that far back behind me. It’s about giving people the resources and the support they need, so that everyone can be on equal footing, and then compete on equal footing. Equitable treatment means we all end up in the same place. Something about the argument was familiar. “That’s equality of *outcomes* enforced by the government,” wrote journalist Andrew Sullivan on Twitter. “They used to call that communism.”
As the Boss: She was a boss who was thin-skinned, uncooperative, and impatient during her first year in office, as staff exits from the vice president’s team mounted as reports of a nightmarish working environment piled up in the press, while DC insiders marveled at the wreckage. Reports cited “an abusive” office environment under an unpredictable boss who berated staffers who failed to fulfill her erratic demands, or even for handing her the wrong type of pen. Former staffers who worked for Harris before she became vice president also shared their stories of a manager who easily threw staff under the bus for her own mistakes. Staffers said that interns and low-level staffers frequently were reduced to tears as she berated them when she felt they were unprepared and hung up abruptly during phone conversations. In her Senate office, Harris was ranked No. 9 among senators for the highest staff turnover from 2017 to 2020. Several administration officials used the word shitshow when describing Harris’s office, Axios reported.
Afghanistan: In April 2021, Kamala Harris asserted in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash that she was the last person in the room with Biden before he made the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan and that she was comfortable with it. That was in April, but by August, as the withdrawal from Afghanistan grew catastrophic, Harris was nowhere to be found. She vanished from public view for a week when the president needed defending the most.
Ukraine: The vice president hardly impressed world leaders with her grasp of foreign policy and world affairs as she earnestly tried to explain the gravity of the moment to reporters. “I mean, listen, guys we’re talking about the potential for war in Europe,” she said. “I mean, let’s really take a moment to understand the significance of what we’re talking about. It’s been over seventy years of ‘peace and security.’” Harris’s remarks on foreign policy were simplistic, ignoring the forty-year Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008, and its annexation of Crimea in 2014. Back in the U.S., Harris’s remarks about the conflict in Ukraine were patronizing, especially when she tried to simplify her descriptions of political events. “Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So basically, that’s wrong,” she said to a radio audience in March 2022 when asked to explain to listeners why the Biden administration was acting in Ukraine.
Kamala’s Day of Infamy: Harris had kicked off 2022 by angering Americans when she marked the first anniversary of the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Biden administration used the occasion to raise fears of “Ultra MAGA” Republicans who were a danger to the very fabric of American democracy. Harris went further, comparing the violent protest to the deadly Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “Certain dates echo throughout history, including dates that instantly remind all who have lived through them – where they were and what they were doing when our democracy came under assault,” she said stoically. “Dates that occupy not only a place on our calendars, but a place in our collective memory. December 7th, 1941, September 11th, 2001, and January 6th, 2021.” It was an outrageous notion. The death toll for Pearl Harbor was 2,403 Americans; the death toll for the 9/11 attacks was 2,077. On January 6, 2021, only one American was killed, a protestor supporting Trump who was shot and killed by Capitol Police. It was absurd for the vice president to compare a riot of American citizens on Capitol Hill to the terrorists’ attacks on American soil by foreign enemies where thousands of Americans were killed and which sparked horrific foreign wars.
Ratings: A June NBC poll showed Kamala Harris with only a 32% positive approval rating and 49% negative, including 39% who had a “very negative” view of the vice president. The net negative approval rating of minus 17 was the lowest in the history of the poll—even lower that Vice President Dick Cheney. Harris’s ratings were worse than they were in January. Harris had not earned polling numbers with a net positive rating since October 2021.
Source: Amateur Hour by Charlie Spiering (2024)
Foreign Relations: Harris has been involved in various international efforts related to climate change, cybersecurity and economic cooperation. Her participation in global forums, such as the Munich Security Conference and meeting with international leaders highlights her role in shaping U.S. foreign policy. However, her relative lack of foreign policy experience compared to her predecessors has been a point of criticism. One of the most scrutinized aspects of Harris’s international presence is her communication style and diplomatic acumen. Critics argue that her interactions with foreign leaders have sometimes lacked the nuance and gravatas expected of a high-ranking official. Her responses to questions about international issues have been seen as evasive or overly scripted, fueling perceptions of inadequacy.
Progressive or Pretender? So, is Kamala Harris a true progressive or merely a pretender? The answer isn’t black and white. Harris embodies the tensions and contradictions inherent in American politics today. She is a politician striving to balance her progressive ideals with the practicalities of governance in a deeply divided nation. Her journey reflects the broader struggle of the Democratic Party to reconcile its diverse base and deliver on its promises of change. Harris’s real agenda is shaped by her background and personal experiences. As the daughter of immigrants and a woman of color, her perspectives on issues like immigration, education, and healthcare are informed by her own journey. She frequently speaks about the influence of her mother, an activist and researcher, and her upbringing in a diverse community. These personal narratives are woven into her political rhetoric, reinforcing her commitment to representing marginalized voices.
CONCLUSION: Harris’ history of political missteps, for her ineffective handling of her presidential campaign to her contentious tenure as Vice President, suggests she may not possess the qualities needed to effectively lead the nation. Her inability to maintain consistent policy positions, coupled with her reliance on identity politics, raises serious doubts about her suitability for the presidency.
Source: Beyond Identity Politics by Zoe Quinn (9/06/2024).
WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE (Sept. 22, 2024)
How Freedom Has Faded on Biden’s Watch
His Successor as President will inherit a far more dangerous world
President Biden will address the United Nations on Tuesday, in what is likely to be his last big moment on the world stage. A President’s foreign-policy legacy typically outlasts his term so it’s worth taking a step back and considering the world Mr. Biden will leave his successor.
It is a far more dangerous world than Mr. Biden inherited and far less congeal for U.S. interests, human freedom and democracy. The latter is tragically ironic since the President has made the global contest between democracy and authoritarians an abiding theme. Authoritarians have advanced on his watch in every part of the world – Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and even the Americas.
- Mr. Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan was his single most damaging decision, and it has led to cascading trouble. The Taliban control the country and are reimposing feudal Islamist rule. His withdrawal has done more the harm to more women than anything in decades, while jihadists have revived their terror sanctuary.
- More damaging is the message his withdrawal sent to adversaries about American will and retreat. The credibility of U.S. deterrence collapsed. Mr. Biden tried to appease Vladimir Putin by blessing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and refusing to arm Ukraine. Mr. Putin concluded he could invade Ukraine at limited cost, especially after Mr. Biden blurted out that a “minor incursion” might not elicit the same Western opposition. After Kyiv bravely resisted, Mr. Biden sent weapons, but too little and too delayed at every stage of the war. Even now, after 31 months and 100,000 more dead, Mr. Biden dithers over letting Ukraine use long-range ATACMS against targets inside Russia.
- His record in the Middle East is worse. Rather than build on the Abraham Accords he inherited, he tried to ostracize Saudi Arabia, and he banned offensive weapons to fight the Houthis. From the start he courted the mullahs in Iran to renew the 2015 nuclear accord that had enriched Iran before Donald Trump withdrew. He refused to enforce oil sanctions, even as Iran spread mayhem through it proxy militias. The U.S. was caught flat-footed when Hamas, aided by Iran, invaded Israel and massacred 1,200 innocents. His national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had to edit an online version of a Foreign Affairs essay already published boasting that “the region in quieter than it has been for decades.”
Here's how quiet: Our foremost regional ally is now at war on multiple fronts. Israel’s defensive campaign in Gaza isn’t finished and a new and perhaps bloodier fight is unfolding with Hezbollah. The Houthis have all but shut down Western commercial shipping around the Red Sea, while Mr. Biden makes U.S. naval commanders play whack-a-missile. Meanwhile, Iran marches undeterred to becoming a nuclear power. The Biden Administration mouths pieties that this is unacceptable, but its every action suggests it believes a nuclear Iran is inevitable and trying to stop it is too risky. When Iran goes nuclear, the security calculus in the world will turn upside down.
- Closer to home, Venezuela’s dictator had predictably stolen another election, exposing the Biden Administration’s deal to ease oil sanctions as naïve. Mexico is tilting in an authoritarian direction without U.S. protest. Cuba continues to spread revolution wherever it can. The resulting human suffering reaches America in the flood of migrants that now burden our cities, from Manhattan to Springfield, Ohio.
- Most ominous is the collaboration of these menacing regional powers into a new anti-Western axis. Iran supplies missiles and drones to Moscow, which may be supplying nuclear know-how to Tehran. China is aiding Moscow, which now joins Beijing in naval maneuvers. North Korea also arms Moscow while being protected by China from United Nations sanctions it once voted for.
Addressing this gathering storm will be difficult and dangerous. The first task will be restoring U.S. deterrence, which will require more hard power and political will. Whoever wins the White House will have to abandon the failed policies of the Biden years, lest we end up careening into a global conflict with catastrophic consequences. Source: The Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal (September 23, 2024).
NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE (September 23, 2024)
“Threats we face”: The first sentence of the report – released over the summer by a bipartisan, congressionally appointed commission – was blunt: “The threats the United States faces are the most serious and most challenging the nation has encountered since 1945 and include the potential for near-term major war.” The nation, the report continued, “is not prepared today.”
Source: New York Times The Morning by David Leonhart (Sept. 23, 2024).
The unabbreviated version of the above can be found in the pdf document below.
| country_17l_kamala_harris_--_segment_17.pdf |