Short note on Kamala Harris
Sabrina Salvati brought this up too. If Joe Biden is not fit to run for re-election now, how is it that Joe Biden is fit to be President for the rest of the year?
Let's examine the corollary too: if Joe Biden is really endorsing Kamala Harris, why isn't Kamala Harris allowed to be President right now? Let's try her out; see what she does. Think of this moment as opening up the possibility of a "test-drive."
As I said in the last diary:
...one gets the feeling that Kamala Harris will be occupying the role of the empty set here. A more successful strategy for Harris to actually win (and not just be a placeholder until Trump can be President again) would have been if "Biden" had actually resigned his office and given Harris a chance to exercise the powers of the Presidency while standing for election. It's fair to assume, then, that they, the Men Behind the Curtain, don't really want Harris to be President, ever, and have decided to give up on November's election or swap Harris out at the convention. Maybe we are to take bets on who will asks this question:
Reporter: Vice President Harris -- with all due respect, it's pretty clear now that Joe Biden is not really in charge in the White House. And we know it's not you, otherwise Biden would have resigned. So who is?
Let's name those Men Behind the Curtain, the REAL rulers of America.
Extra credit: watch Nick Cruse of RBN on this matter:
Comments
Disagree. Many politicians
choose not to run for re-election due to health issues but remain well enough to complete their term. As of 1968, LBJ did have serious health issues but wasn't at death's door. However, a strenuous election campaign could easily have put him there.
That's not an endorsement for physically and/or mentally compromised officeholders to remain in office until they die. Selfish politicians like Feinstein and Biden shouldn't have been candidates one last time. Feinstein had no business running in 2018 and should have resigned four years ago.
Manipulating the electoral process to hand Harris the forever status of the first woman POTUS is not desirable. She'll have to earned that status.
Well, first off...
Joe Biden isn't really healthy enough to remain in office, and he hasn't been so for quite some time now. Why do you think Jaime Harrison et al. made the primaries into pointless charades, if not to give Biden the feeling of victory without having to do anything? Least accessible President in history. The question you ought to be asking is: who is really in charge? An old man with dementia, or Parkinson's? Doubtful.
Secondly, Biden's endorsement of Kamala Harris does not appear as sincere. Why not allow the public to test-drive a Harris administration, so they can see for themselves what she's like as President? Oh, I know the answer to this one! It's because either (1) the endorsements of Harris are meant to fill a hole until a real decision can be made at the convention or (2) they just want to free up a bunch of money and satisfy the donor protests, for now.
"If genocide is not a deal-breaker for you, there is something wrong with you." - Nick Cruse
What's she going to accomplish
in three months that would give the public a better ability to assess her qualifications? Stage an assassination attempt for the sympathy vote? (An Australian TV series, Rake, had the dueling political assassination attempts as a storyline line. Very amusing.)
A Biden resignation would require Harris to nominate and Congress to approve a new VP. (Probably more volunteers for that position than for Harris' running mate.)
As a former POTUS, Harris and spouse would be entitled to lifetime SS protection. Bad enough that the Trumpkins will be on the federal SS dole for another four years. Although, the SS will probably be relieved that the Hunter Biden detail will end.
She could actually accomplish quite a bit.
Relaxing the drive toward nuclear warfare that you see in the current escalations in Project Ukraine would be good. Also quitting the anti-China bs, and putting some teeth into the warnings to Israel would be nice. Liberals tend to have no clue as to how awfully bad Biden foreign policy was and is, and so it wouldn't be hard to do better.
Presidents are actually granted quite a bit of power. Unfortunately they are not in charge; money is in charge.
"If genocide is not a deal-breaker for you, there is something wrong with you." - Nick Cruse
a) Harris has no interest
in doing what you suggest
b) even if she did, she wouldn't be allowed to do it. The people running the Biden show would be the same one running the Harris show.
There wouldn't
be any major policy changes in a brief 5-month interim Harris presidency. Such stuff is rare and takes time to put the right players in place to achieve the goals.
I agree it would be better for Joe to step down completely now, but it would be to enhance her chances of defeating Donald in Nov. Incumbency of a P is a big factor in calculating the odds of victory in the election. But Joe is too proud, and probably already mightily miffed about being pushed aside for another term. He got pushed aside by Obama and Hillary in 2016, and it still stings. Once there, it's hard to give it up.
But if he were truly acting in the interests of the country, he would step down now -- he's clearly in no condition to be running the world.
In a just world --
-- Biden would be impeached for his role as the principal accomplice in crimes against humanity. And, after the impeachment had removed him from office and during the subsequent criminal trial, it would be discovered how thoroughly Biden was and is incapable of managing the day-to-day affairs of the office of the Presidency, the office he illegitimately occupies today. And then he would be sentenced to life in an ordinary American nursing home, and you would see his family engaged in a furious struggle to improve the lot of nursing home residents in America today.
In a just world.
"If genocide is not a deal-breaker for you, there is something wrong with you." - Nick Cruse
I've seen all of these points on Fox
and other right-wing sources.
I have to wonder about the political strategy here. I think Kamala running as an incumbent would be a stronger candidate.
Also, people complaining about the lack of democratic process in the primaries are several months too late. Unless you were complaining hen, it lacks credibility.
Also, as someone with a relative with parkinson's, that isn't why he has trouble thinking. Parkinson's is a motor function disease.
America is governed by two right-wing parties.
Is it any surprise that the "news" puppets of one of them will tell you what the "news" puppets of the other won't?
And yes, Kamala Harris running as an incumbent would have been more effective. That was the point of this diary.
At any rate, I would welcome any defectors from the Democratic Party to, you know, join another party or start their own. I would welcome anyone who wishes to complain at any point that they weren't in the least consulted about the various decisions made by the Democratic Party elites in their various factions and with their various donors in tow in which everyone is supposed to blindly follow along. If you didn't complain before, well, maybe you were a conformist then. If you're not a conformist now, congratulations! Welcome. Next step: developing a moral core.
And, as for Parkinson's, perhaps the Parkinson's is the most visible symptom of an ailment which also includes dementia.
"If genocide is not a deal-breaker for you, there is something wrong with you." - Nick Cruse
LBJ's health
issue in 1968 was the deterioration in the political health of his presidency. He stepped aside in late March after it became clear that he would be in a mighty struggle just to win his party's nom. Although I understand there is the fairy tale out there that he and Lady Bird had discussed years previously his serving only one term.
In any case, his stepping aside led to a boost in his presidential favorables ratings, and so by the time of the late August Dem convention, he was interested in getting back in again. He didn't think much of his VP Humphrey, and didn't think the country would vote for him. But a canvass of convo delegates by the aide he sent ahead to Chicago brought back bad news for Lyndon, only a few delegates expressing interest in LBJ running again, so he quietly dropped the matter.
All true --
however, until the NH primary, LBJ expected to win reelection without having to do much campaigning. Without having to disclose his health issues. NH revealed that he'd have a tough slog to win the nomination and possibly an even tougher slog in the general election. He was also keenly aware that policy changes that can be made to look like reelection stunts would hinder his campaign.
LBJ didn't simply decline to be the 1968 Dem nominee but also began the Vietnam peace negotiations. An effort to fix the big black mark on his legacy. A sincere effort on his part, imo, but there were many bad actors in the mix that delayed the process and LBJ wasn't exactly putting much effort into them.
LBJ didn't much like HHH, in part because HHH wasn't firmly on board with LBJ's Vietnam policy. (LBJ did much that diminished HHH's decent record and the man himself.) However, LBJ loathed the Kennedys who had been very cruel to him. Yes, he did have second thoughts after declining to run. Perhaps he was feeling healthier at that point. However, LBJ had historically been passive about seeking the presidency -- he hoped for a ground swelling of support for him without much in the way of campaigning himself. Didn't happen after RFK's assassination. Could have if the anti-war faction had believed that his peace talks were authentic; they didn't. The intra-party rifts by that point were too wide and deep and there was no peacemaker in sight. Daley added fuel to the fire in Chicago and that effectively squelched any chance for the convention to draft LBJ.
Can't overlook the fact that George Wallace had mounted a campaign that year. Effectively peeled of the most pro-war and racist faction of voters. Many of whom had benefited greatly from the New Deal (as had Wallace). Without the Deep South, JFK would have lost in 1960. LBJ understood that his civil-social-equal rights amendments would cost him and the party votes for a long time. That meant Democrats would have to work much harder in other states.
Little known
interesting facts in the HHH/LBJ/VNWar story: in early Feb 1965, after the landslide election and LBJ swearing in, HHH got word that Johnson had made a decision to send in tens of thousands of US combat troops to SVN. This alarmed H, so he sent his boss an unsolicited 5-pg memo arguing against major US military commitment over there, but rather just materiel and advisory assistance.
Johnson was furious at his VP, seeing the memo as an act of disloyalty. He then arranged to have the VP's office bugged and also to cut out H from any Oval chats w the president about VN. I think the freeze-out lasted 3.5 yrs.
Then later in '68, at the convention, H sought a softer intermediate platform position on the war. This too enraged Johnson, who said No dice and arranged to have the LBJ war plank approved. Finally at the end of Sept '68, having been stuck carrying the flag for Johnson's war publicly, H at last struck out on his own, moderately of course, in calling for a bombing halt. LBJ again was not amused.
So HHH had the better early instincts re VN, but then was forced, to prove his loyalty, to go out publicly and defend the indefensible. Sad situation for him. He just wasn't strong enough in character to deal w Johnson. LBJ often said about him: "Hubert cries too much."
For much of 1968, LBJ actually had longer and warmer phone and personal chats w candidate Nixon, who cleverly buttered him up w promises that he Nixon would not seek to embarrass Johnson in his public comments about the war. (Johnson earlier in '68 favored moderate Republican Nelson Rockefeller to succeed him.). This buttering and flattery helped Nixon when later in the year LBJ was made aware of Nixon's treachery in thwarting the peace talks in Paris, and yet Johnson failed to follow up with an FBI investigation/AG prosecution, and instead just bellyached a bit to Ev Dirksen and let the matter go.
Yes, loyalty ranks high in
political parties and with senior elected officials. Encourages group think and that leads to huge errors. (Figures hugely in the past three presidential election cycles with Democrats.)
Not so sure about LBJ and Nixon conversations in 1968. LBJ and Dirkson, sure. They were long term Senate colleagues. Historically, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Rolling_Thunder
was controversial and complicated for several years. LBJ did halt bombing above the 19th parallel in March '68. But didn't get around to a complete halt of in bombing North Vietnam until Nov 1, 1968. Like most Presidents he was very stubborn and unable to understand where he'd gone wrong and therefore, at a loss in formulating an effective course change.
I've never given any thought to what if HHH had won in 1968. Wouldn't have been worse than Nixon - probably better - but he lost much of what made him a good person and good Senator during his VP years.
I have been questioning since the debates
why Biden was being criticized for not dropping out of the race, but no MSM called on him to resign.
Don't run, Joe! You are impaired and can't debate!
At the same time, he has the power to drop a nuke on someone somewhere, who knows, because he is impaired, can even debate.
The Machine wants him in office for now.
Why?
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Does Biden really have that power?
Did Reagan and Trump?
The machine doesn't want Harris. They never have.
One reason, beyond it being incredibly dull, that didn't bother following and commenting on this election is that my gut said Biden wouldn't be on the November ballot. Did suspect the DP/DNC would pull out the hook long before now, but my gut called it while my head could wrap around how Biden wouldn't be the nominee.
All of this points to an obvious conclusion
It's important to organize outside of the two-party system, if we are ever to organize for ourselves. Forever and a day the American idea of governance has been to spread scary stories about Money Party B to keep the flock in line behind Money Party A, and the end result has been two money parties, tag-teaming toward the current catastrophic moment. Well, now the victory of Money Party B looks pretty well assured, with Money Party A looking pointless and phony. We have nothing to lose in organizing for ourselves.
"If genocide is not a deal-breaker for you, there is something wrong with you." - Nick Cruse
That’s the insidious aspect of Bernie etc., or That Other Place
They siphon off so much time, money, energy, and spirit that could have gone into organizing real alternative structures and communities … instead of vanishing down the rathole of futile attempts to resuscitate the D party as the representative of the working class.
I agree with your conclusion in general but I find it difficult
to accept that Bernie’s methods or intentions were anything like 'the other place'.
Although I wish that Bernie had remained an independent candidate in 2016, I still think, had the MSM not syphoned off/exhausted all their airtime on Trump, he would have had a greater chance to validate his intentions.
Right.
And this is why neither Bernie nor AOC can organize significant rallies today, whereas legitimate pro-Palestinian events still attract crowds.
"If genocide is not a deal-breaker for you, there is something wrong with you." - Nick Cruse
Yes
n/t
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
That is the most significant question
raised by the bizarre "story" of this election season. The best way for the Dems to explain away the contradiction would be to say that running for office and serving are two different activities, calling for different skill sets. The drudgery of travelling the country places a crazy physical burden on the candidate even for younger candidates. Being POTUS, on the other hand, is stressful, but not physically demanding.
But that just highlights the absurdity of our political system which is now crumbling before our eyes.
The President is the front for the Nation State. As such, he or she is a TV character -- not an administrator in any realistic conception of the term. Since Sleepy Joe can't hack it on television, he is useless.
joe is done. Long live Kamala!
I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.
Joe Biden can't be an adequate President, either.
Instead, the real ruling power is hidden from us and Biden serves as a figurehead. Now Kamala Harris is running for the post of figurehead, and it's fair to assume that there are forces behind the scenes working to swap her out as Prospective Figurehead for someone they think is more electable.
The important thing to remember in all of this is that we have no choice, just like we had no choice in the deadly scam that is Project Ukraine or the genocide in Gaza or the elimination of COVID subsidies or a politics wholly directed by billionaires and lobbyists in which if the government gives you a couple of hundred bucks now and then it will also let said powers go tax-free while subsidizing them to the tune of billions of dollars.
So yeah. If you want to keep having no choice, keep voting Democrat or Republican.
"If genocide is not a deal-breaker for you, there is something wrong with you." - Nick Cruse
Just the thought that
the duties of the office are so time consuming that campaigning on top of that is not a good idea is certainly a new idea. Somehow, it wasn't too burdensome for virtually all past Presidents, was it?
They will come up with some bull shit spin. Obviously, this President is a figurehead and mouthpiece. He is not in charge. It is hard to say if that has always been the case.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
As i said
The President is the front for the Nation State. As such, he or she is a TV character -- not an administrator in any realistic conception of the term. Since Sleepy Joe can't hack it on television, he is useless. [. . .to the Nation State.]
I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.
If anything elects Harris it will be massive organizing within
Black communities, wherein the Trump admin is NOT remembered with fondness, combined with women voters infuriated by misogynistic RW rhetoric. Vance permanently lost my respect and vote with his remark about "childless catladies". Two of such women happen to be my sister, a retired executive, and my daughter who makes and PAYS TAXES ON a six figure salary. Gee, I wonder, maybe employers got tired of goofballs who treat basic instructions as negotiating positions, and found that the women employees actually do what they are asked to do without drama.
I am thinking that Harris, or her advisers, knowing that she will need women's votes, doesn't want to be seen humiliating an old man, who, whatever you might think of his policies, has given his adult life to public service.
I still plan to vote for Kennedy, if only to remind the Dems that some of us do in fact care about things like clean air and water and the non-chemical integrity of our food supply. I think, at this point, we will be taking more votes from Trump than Harris, should she be the nominee.
Mary Bennett
Vance
Thank you for pointing out Vance’s position on childless cat ladies. I was unaware of his hostility toward me but found many references in a search. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/conservative-men-scared-cat-ladi...
Anya
Oh, that will totally work.
Organize Black people.
Freedom Rider: Kamala Harris Destroyed Black Lives
It will totally work!
"If genocide is not a deal-breaker for you, there is something wrong with you." - Nick Cruse
Excellent smack down article
Cass, and it is nothing but the truth.
She will drive more blacks into the Trump camp.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I was lurking at Daily Kos
where there are a lot of diaries from Black and other posters about uniting around Harris, and anyone who doesn't is a racist at least if not spawn of Old Scratch himself.
If you know more than I do wouldn't be the first time I misread trends.
Mary Bennett
Yesterday they were livid at Biden
L
being pushed out and today they are all smiles and giggles at Kamala getting the nod. I got whiplash.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
Black voters didn't
take it out on Joe Biden in 2020, the big advocate of the tough on crime bill of the 90s that resulted in so much incarceration. Didn't hurt him at all, and in fact JB enjoyed exc nationwide black voter support.
WOn't hurt KH either. Like JB she will in fact enjoy the overwhelming support of the black community, esp black women.
Wasn't the anti-crime big legislative effort in the 90s that involved Biden so much, wasn't all of that with the full support of many black community groups who were sick of the violence in their streets?
Ah Daily Kos.
Yeah, I don't know. Here's Scheerpost:
Kamala Harris’s Distinguished Career of Serving Injustice
Or as Walter Kim said, "That they're not making her President now, suggests they have another plan."
"If genocide is not a deal-breaker for you, there is something wrong with you." - Nick Cruse
They have another plan
“Their” other plan? Too easy to imagine Hillary/Obama plotting to make sure Biden gets the nomination then ensuring disastrous debate in order for Kamala eventually replacing him. Then get rid of Trump. Failed first attempt, but…. Finally replace Kamala with our worst nightmare.
Anya
He gave up his entire adult life
in self-service and corporate service. In his spare time, he helped his family steal money, and find ways to lock up as many blacks as possible.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I don't doubt it,
but I still think Harris does not want to be seen callously pushing an old man out of her way.
Were she to become the president right now, she would be stuck with his appointments, his cabinet and his policies.
BTW, Netanyahoo will be addressing Congress Wednesday, at his own invitation. Harris has said she will not preside. Might there be a political instinct or two hiding somewhere between the ears? She will be meeting with him--no campaign money if she does not, I imagine--to receive her instructions to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.
I hope we will be able to obtain lists of who boycotts The Speach, and who does meet privately with him. It might be difficult for senators to avoid meetings, what with Chucky Schemer being Majority Leader. Nice bill you have been working on for the last six months, be a shame if it never got introduced.
Mary Bennett
All I can say
is that the Dem spam machine has gone into serious overdrive. Checking my spam folder this AM, I see no less than 20 Harris-affiliated begging messages.
Of course, there are also 3 messages since midnight still soliciting funds for the undead meat-puppet: presumably sent out by himself. I liked the parody headline "Biden staffers scrambling to decide how to tell Biden that he withdrew". Too real.
Regardless, I'll quite enjoy seeing the Dems get trounced in November. At least that will finally get us rid of the salad-brained Harris.
That is, unless she decides to have Herself as a running mate, and somehow wins- in which case we'll almost certainly be treated to the spectacle of President Harris electrocuting herself by slipping on a banana peel while holding her hair dryer in the shower on Air Force One during some completely unexpected turbulence. Or something else like like, that that Nobody Could Possibly Have Foreseen...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Herself and Hubby have just endorsed Harris,
who would be well advised to get her affairs in order and will updated.
Mary Bennett
I prefer to call him
HubbaBubba.... I'll show myself out. (;-)
But the comment about her affairs is absolutely well-found!
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
ToP is reporting that Kamala
.
raised $70 million in 24 hours. Gosh I remember the days they wanted money out of politics.
I still think the elections a re just money laundering. They certainly don’t change anything for we little people.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
Well, it's like they say:
"A fool and his money gather no moss." Or something like that.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Here are the Alexes --
discussing the Democratic Party's problems at present. Same old Democrats: you have no choice.
"If genocide is not a deal-breaker for you, there is something wrong with you." - Nick Cruse