Nasty Women Rock

Kamala Time:  The virus is still doing its deadly thing and the fall college football season is off but we now have a Democratic VP candidate.  Yesterday afternoon, shortly after the Biden campaign announced the members of “her” staff, Joe Biden announced that the “she” in question is California Senator Kamala Harris. Trump, who appears more distressed about the cancellation of football than the “Chinese” virus that he still insists will go away on its own, donated twice to Harris’ campaigns when she was running for California Attorney General, contributions that Harris later passed on to charity, immediately responded by calling her nasty, the meanest, most horrible and disrespectful person in the US Senate, saying she was even worse than Senator “Pocahontas” Warren, pointing to the way that Harris had treated Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing and Biden during the Democratic debates.  Kamala’s selection wasn’t all that surprising but it wasn’t a certainty either with several pundits and at least one member of Biden’s selection committee, former Senator Chris Dodd, questioning whether Biden should penalize her for her debate performance. Apparently, unlike Trump, Biden isn’t one to hold a grudge, nor is he intimated by strong women so Kamala’s debate performance didn’t turn out to be a disqualifying factor, in fact it may be a plus. In all likelihood the slight delay, in Biden’s announcement had more to do with the need to complete a comprehensive vetting process and the complications of following COVID procedures than anything else. Harris checks off a lot of boxes, she’s young but not too young, she has management experience from her years as California’s Attorney General, she’s liberal but as has been pointed out by the left wing of the Democratic party not that liberal, she’s got a background in law enforcement but is also viewed as a reformer, she’s both African American and Asian American, her husband is Jewish and she’s been both supportive of Israel and the Iran nuclear deal.  Of course the Trump campaign and Trump’s fellow Republicans are already calling her out as radical with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a fellow Californian, saying she “wants to turn the entire United States into San Francisco, her radical agenda has been terrible for Californians, and it would be terrible for the rest of America too” and Republican leader in waiting Liz Cheney, scioness of that other VP Dick, tweet calling her a “radical liberal who would raise taxes, take away guns & health insurance, and explode the size and power of the federal gov’t, she wants to recreate America in the image of what’s happening on the streets of Portland & Seattle.” For his part Fox hatemonger Tucker Carlson just made sure to mispronounce Kamala as many times as he could in his one hour show.  As to VP Pence, having not solved the virus crisis, he was out speaking to the Latter Day Saints for Trump in Arizona last night. He welcomed Harris to the race, saying it was no surprise that “radical,” “leftist,” “abortion on demand” Joe had picked her.  He also said that he was looking forward to their October 7  debate, so are the rest of us, assuming that Trump doesn’t dump him by them and that “mother” allows him on the stage with a woman. Looking forward to more appearances on Saturday Night Live this fall and maybe even for many years to come, alum Maya Rudolph reacted to Harris’ selection by saying “oh sh-t, that’s spicy.”

Politics Unusual: Minnesota Democrat/squad member Ilhan Omar easily beat back her challenger yesterday. Likewise, Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, a racist, anti- Semitic, Q Anon conspiracy theorist, won her run-off election, a win that guarantees that she will end up in the House since her district is totally red.  Her victory which is likely to cause the Republicans far more angst than Omar has caused Democratic leadership could have been avoided if Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, or anyone else in a leadership position, had bothered to push back against her run, but they didn’t even try.  It also appears that Connecticut Republican Thomas Gilmer who was arrested on Monday night for domestic abuse won his race even though he ended his campaign after his arrest was announced.

Et Cetera:  Apparently, Caroline Giuliani is no fan of her father’s or brother/Trump aide Andrew’s political choices.  Yesterday, she posted a tweet of herself standing with Kamala Harris alongside the #bidenharris2020 #removetrump hashtags.  No comment from her Dad, but Andrew said that he loves her anyway.  On the international front something really awful is happening in Belarus where an election that the EU described as “neither free or fair” took place this week.  Strongman Alexander Lukashenko “won” with 80% of the vote; fearing for the life of her children his opponent, Svetlana Tikhanouskaya, has fled to Lithuania. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany says that Trump is deeply concerned adding “We urge the Belarusian government to respect the right to peaceably assemble and to refrain from the use of force.” Really?