Left and Lefter; Woke and Woker
Like Trump, Kamala Harris chose a VP candidate who does not broaden the ticket, but for a different reason. Trump chose someone who he believed would secure his legacy. Harris chose someone from the same ideological wing of her party because there is no other ideological wing of her party. And if there is some black swan out there who isn’t hard left, the party would by no means countenance his or her selection.
So we get Tweedle-left and Tweedle-Woke.
The only question is who is to the left of whom and who is more woke than whom. (Not that you will ever hear the phrase “far left” in a media that says “far right” so often they must have Tourettes). It’s probably a push. The main difference is that whereas Harris has been a senator whose only job was to pose, flap her jaws, and cackle and who as VP who has been a cipher even by the do nothing standards of that position, Walz has been the chief executive of a not small state who has had the power to put his woke vision into action.
I will spare you the litany of all his greatest hits and just focus on a few of the most egregious.
He was likely the most oppressive, authoritarian governor during Covid. He set up a snitch line for neighbors to tattle on those violating his sacrosanct lockdown diktats.
He also played Nero during the George Floyd riots of 2020, letting Minneapolis burn rather than call in the National Guard (his service in which he brags about constantly and evidently dishonestly). Then he preened about it. (He does that a lot).
I guess he was better than his wife, who went full Colonel Kilgore and said that she loved the smell of tires burning in the morning.
Of course there’s all the LGBT stuff–Minnesota is arguably the most radical state in the country in this regard, Walz declaring it a “sanctuary state” for troubled, confused, and/or mentally ill children who can’t get sexually mutilated in their own states.
And immigration, natch.
A walking–waddling, actually–nightmare.
Of course, he is being packaged as an aw-shucks, folksy man of the Midwestern soil. We should not be surprised that a big fan of drag shows is dragging as a homespun Minnesota nice guy, rather than what he actually is.
In our all Orwell, all the time world, the Harris-Walz campaign is supposedly all about “freedom.” As near as I can figure, that means the freedom to abort and have the government give you shit.
You know, American freedoms!
Your results may vary. First 10 Amendments not included.
That last is not hyperbole. Walz has said: “There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, & especially around our democracy.”
Harris has also vowed to confiscate guns by executive order. Walz has said he wants to ban guns he carried in war. Because he didn’t carry any guns in war. Which I’m actually all behind, because he never actually carried a gun in war.
In the past it was common to hear “there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the candidates.” You can’t say that now. We have a populist loose cannon vs. a ticket consisting of two people who if they aren’t literally communists, they could sure get a job playing them on TV.
…and they probably consider it a compliment
Comment by Tatyana — August 8, 2024 @ 11:14 am
I’m just hoping that someone will reveal that in high school he used to enjoy appearing in blackface, strumming a banjo.
The business about abandoning the National Guard because he was about to be sent to Iraq is the sort of thing that in a healthier age would have been called cowardice in the face of the enemy. Presumably he had had plenty of time to resign on the grounds of thinking the Iraq war a stupid, reckless, evil nonsense but he preferred, I must suppose, to receive the pay and plaudits until he had to face the prospect of actually having to fight.
Comment by dearieme — August 8, 2024 @ 1:02 pm
We’ve seen a Trump presidency. He was no loose cannon.
Comment by Pat Frank — August 8, 2024 @ 10:42 pm
As we see, all the right enemies, so he’s definitely the man for the job.
Anyhow, Trump is weird, so who’s counting?
Comment by David Mercer — August 9, 2024 @ 1:14 am
You’re projecting prof – I doubt ANY of the possible VP picks would have softened your dislike of Harris.
Similar to the fact that nobody Trump could have chosen would have changed the minds of the never-Trump hard-left voters.
However the VP choice is/was never intended to change the minds of the dedicated. You may not be convinced by Walz, but the reaction on the prediction markets couldn’t be clearer. Walz has enough appeal among the “undecideds” to have swung the implied probability of a Harris win from about 44% to 52% or so. And the polls, limited to just “undecideds” (not that I trust the term) have shown a big jump in likelihood of choosing blue in the upcoming election since Walz was put on the ticket.
All coincidence? Sorry nah…
I know you have a particular fondness for Vance, but Trump’s choice was a strategic blunder as it had zero impact on the prediction markets and polls. And he has a long history with poor choices of personnel – you’ve even commented as much.
Comment by derriz — August 9, 2024 @ 3:19 am
You forgot the Daughter Walz who leaked the National Guard deployment plans to the Minneapolis Terrorists so they could loot more property and burn more things down. Then you had Kamala leading the charge to put these criminals back on the streets to do more damage.
But then, what do the Democratic politicians care. It is all WIN-WIN for them. They let one group of their constituency act out their impulses and burn the city to the ground. But then they know they will get the money to rebuild. They control this money. THey get to pick their favored contractors for the rebuild. They get to use overpriced union workers to do the work. And the government bureacrats get to “manage” the process. All of these groups then kick up to the Democratic politicians (this is the same as the “homeless” issue too).
Comment by MARK — August 9, 2024 @ 9:30 am
All that matters is one will continue to drive us to a World War and the other will stop the senseless slaughter.
Comment by OldSarg — August 9, 2024 @ 4:19 pm
@ MARK, @ OldSarg
Dead Kennedys, ‘When Ya Get Drafted’.
It’s quite something that a song written over 40 years ago speaks of the same business model that we see at work around us now.
Comment by Ex-Global Super-Regulator on Lunch Break — August 9, 2024 @ 11:43 pm
Don’t buy the Warren Buffet like folsky diction and demeanor. All the things you say are true, and as a part time Minnesotan, I know them well. Sometimes going to the local co-op grocery store in the town I summer in is like going to a Barnum and Bailey freak show. But, the district has a Republican congressperson in Washington. As a matter of fact, all MN rural districts are Republican.
The scariest thing to me is Walz owns nothing. His only sustenance is a govt pension. Hence, his economic incentive is to grow government to secure his pension with our tax dollars. Meanwhile, he has the levers of power, so he will be fine while he steps on our necks. Yes, deliberate statement given the imagery of George Floyd and the subsequent miscarriage of justice that Walz encouraged, endorsed and was happy about. Chauvin didn’t get a fair trial. Documented by a local Minneapolis journalist.
Comment by Jeff Carter (@pointsnfigures1) — August 10, 2024 @ 6:01 am
@OldSarg – is there any differences between the candidates in this regard? If anything Trump seems even more gung ho about confrontation with Iran and supporting Israel in dragging more countries into the conflict
Comment by derriz — August 10, 2024 @ 9:59 am