I am not a fan of Kamala Harris.* I have little memory of her in the lead up to the democratic primaries of the 2020 election. In her pre-primary debate she called out Joe Biden for opposing busing then failed to distinguish her position from his. She dropped out of the race before the primaries with approval ratings in the low single digits. She was picked as Biden’s running mate for two reasons: she was a woman and she was black. Biden made it clear that these two immutable characteristics were the top two priorities in choosing a running mate. In doing so, Biden immediately eliminated 92.3% of the US population from consideration.
As Vice-President, Harris has distinguished herself more for her personality quirks than for anything she has accomplished. Although she and the media have attempted to rewrite history in denying that she was ever assigned the job of securing our southern border, I clearly remember Biden publicly appointing her his “border czar” early in his administration, shortly after he undid everything Trump had done to secure the border on day one. When questioned why she had never visited the border, Harris responded, “And I haven’t been to Europe. I don’t understand the point you are making…”
The rehabilitation of Kamala Harris began immediately. Formerly regarded as the most unpopular VP in modern history, and arguably the most ineffectual, she now had to suddenly become somehow the savior of democracy and the best person to take down the detested Trump. The success of this recalls Orwell’s 1984, wherein history is re-written by the ruling power.
Harris did not give a single interview or hold a press conference from July 21, when she announced her candidacy, the same day Biden stepped down, until the two recent obsequious interviews with Dana Bash and Brian Taff, who lobbed softballs at her. She still has not held a press conference.
It was the debate with Trump that made me realize I was wrong about Harris. Although I feared some quirk of fate, election shenanigans, or mass psychosis might give us a Harris presidency, I regarded her as a lightweight, ambitious, malleable, opportunistic political animal who was just bright enough to be successful beyond her capabilities- a perfect example of the Peter Principle.
In the debate, Harris was inpressively poised. She was attractive and exuded youthful vigor. She appeared confident and was, dare I say, likeable. She used facial expressions to full advantage and came across as regarding Trump with a mixture of humor and the same patient forbearance usually given to an unruly child. She smiled, raised her eyebrows, and shook her head as though listening this silly child spout nonsense. She deftly deflected all questions of substance, resorting to rehearsed stories about her childhood and life. Notably, she did not cackle, er, laugh once. She successfully goaded Trump- admittedly not difficult to do- into responding to irrelevancies, e.g. his rallies being poorly attended. He rose to that one like a trout to a fly. She was clearly expertly prepared by her coaches and was clearly an apt pupil.
Which leads me to my original premise- I was wrong about her. I had discounted her but now I appreciate the frightening efficiency of the machine behind her and regard her as the most dangerous person in America. Why? Why not Obama, who I truly believe is pulling Harris’ strings? As a private citizen, Obama has limited power unless he has a suitable surrogate in his effort to transform America into his vision of a socialist, globalist utopia. Harris is his Manchurian candidate. Without her he is impotent. With her in the White House, the sky is the limit.
With the Obama democratic machine behind her, the full power of the federal government at her disposal, and a dishearteningly large population of uninformed citizens who fail to see the danger she represents, she could actually win this. God help us and God help this country if she does.
Richard T. Bosshardt, MD, FACS
*For the record, I am not a fan of Donald Trump either. Much about him is irritating and frustrating. There is much about him not to like, but I felt his term as president had much to commend it. If the choice is Harris or Trump, my decision is easy.
My book is now available on Amazon in both an eBook version and paperback. It is an entertaining, informative peek into the most fascinating and misunderstood specialty in surgery. It is also totally free of partisan politics. Honest!
Not bad, but I always *sigh* deeply when the “I don’t like Trump either but..” disclaimer comes out. Why do you feel the need to make that declaration?
I do this for two reasons. First is that I really feel this way. I never cared for Trump. His personality was off-putting to me and I did not like his over-the-top self-promotion with naming all things Trump and making hyperbolic claims about himself and his accomplishments. I have since come to accept that this is who he is. I also did not like his personal life and cringed at his crudeness at times, not to mention his "grab 'em by the pussy" locker room talk that I thought we all outgrew in high school. The second reason is that anyone who supports Trump in any way is immediately put into the MAGA camp of Trump worshipers, which I definitely am not. Despite all of that, I am able to separate Trump the imperfect man from Trump the President who was a bulwark against the forces aligned against our country- the Obama's, Clinton's, Pelosi's, Shiff's, AOC's, TLaib's, and others. I liked nearly everything he did from moving our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, dropping the Iran deal, telling NATO members to pony up their fair share, putting China in notice, revising the tax code, getting out of the Paris climate accords, securing the border, securing the Abraham accord, nd his appointments to the SCOTUS. It was amazing he did all this in the face of relentless attacks from the left. Hmm. Maybe I like him more than I think.......................
Fair points, thank you for your reply. The whole MAGA thing is overblown. Sure there are a few zealots, but the dehumanizing, divisive image endlessly regurgitated by the media as viewed through the arrogant lense of self-anointed elites and their wannabe lemmings is a caricature. And thanks to RFKjr and Ms. Shanahan, if MAGA doesn't suit you, perhaps MAGAHA will, Make America Great AND Healthy Again!
I think you are correct about her-whose-name-I-refuse-to-utter. But, please, sir … the usage should be “Democrat Party, democrat machine, democrat candidate, democrat proposal,” etc. There is nothing “democratic” about those entities. I refer you to Rush Limbaugh, who taught me a thing or two.
Thanks Rick! If anyone is still confused, you rationally walk them through so they too can see who the real wizard is behind the curtain. Keep the articles coming.
RICHARD! Yes. Yes to all of this. So well stated and I could not agree more. Sharing.
I am humbled and bow to the better writer. Thanks!!
Not bad, but I always *sigh* deeply when the “I don’t like Trump either but..” disclaimer comes out. Why do you feel the need to make that declaration?
I do this for two reasons. First is that I really feel this way. I never cared for Trump. His personality was off-putting to me and I did not like his over-the-top self-promotion with naming all things Trump and making hyperbolic claims about himself and his accomplishments. I have since come to accept that this is who he is. I also did not like his personal life and cringed at his crudeness at times, not to mention his "grab 'em by the pussy" locker room talk that I thought we all outgrew in high school. The second reason is that anyone who supports Trump in any way is immediately put into the MAGA camp of Trump worshipers, which I definitely am not. Despite all of that, I am able to separate Trump the imperfect man from Trump the President who was a bulwark against the forces aligned against our country- the Obama's, Clinton's, Pelosi's, Shiff's, AOC's, TLaib's, and others. I liked nearly everything he did from moving our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, dropping the Iran deal, telling NATO members to pony up their fair share, putting China in notice, revising the tax code, getting out of the Paris climate accords, securing the border, securing the Abraham accord, nd his appointments to the SCOTUS. It was amazing he did all this in the face of relentless attacks from the left. Hmm. Maybe I like him more than I think.......................
Fair points, thank you for your reply. The whole MAGA thing is overblown. Sure there are a few zealots, but the dehumanizing, divisive image endlessly regurgitated by the media as viewed through the arrogant lense of self-anointed elites and their wannabe lemmings is a caricature. And thanks to RFKjr and Ms. Shanahan, if MAGA doesn't suit you, perhaps MAGAHA will, Make America Great AND Healthy Again!
“In the debate, Harris was inpressively poised. She was attractive and exuded youthful vigor. She appeared confident and was, dare I say, likeable. “
This will be the basis for many a vote. Notice the absence of policy. And here we are marching to a global conflagrations.
Great essay. I happen to like Trump but liking him has nothing in the world to do with the fact that I will cast my vote for him.
I think you are correct about her-whose-name-I-refuse-to-utter. But, please, sir … the usage should be “Democrat Party, democrat machine, democrat candidate, democrat proposal,” etc. There is nothing “democratic” about those entities. I refer you to Rush Limbaugh, who taught me a thing or two.
Thank you for not only tying together the last 4…no 8… no 12 years of the political landscape in this country … and the last 2 months, so succinctly…
Very well-done, thank you.
Well done! Well done! 👏🏼
Thanks Rick! If anyone is still confused, you rationally walk them through so they too can see who the real wizard is behind the curtain. Keep the articles coming.