In a post yesterday, I stated that I found the New York Times’s pathetic efforts to cover for Kamala Harris’s apparent lie that she worked at McDonalds “hilarious.” This was followed by a marvelous comment by long-time commenter Zanshin (First comment: April, 2013), soon to be posted here as a Comment of the Day, who wrote in part, “I think we all can agree that the essence of his analysis is not that this part of the Times article is genuinely funny but rather that the quote is a proof of the Times’ humiliating debasement of its professional duties as an objective news source.” I should have been clearer, I guess. The essence, in addition to constituting proof of the Times’ humiliating debasement of its professional duties as an objective news source and making me laugh outright (because I did), it is also throbbing evidence that the Axis is freaking the hell out, no longer able to restrain itself from trying the most obviously desperate tactics, whistling, now screaming, past the graveyard, aware that only a miracle (or massive fraud by their party) can save them, and exposing their panic for all to see.
To which I respond, “GOOD, you assholes. You deserve it, and I am reveling in your pain.”
Here’s another example, and yes, this made me laugh too. Maybe I’m getting giddy. (Ann Althouse flagged the thing, because she routinely reads publications I have almost entirely given up on as correupt journalism, and that includes The Washington Post. But then, she’s retired, and I’m not…). The Washington Post Editorial Board felt it necessary to give Harris campaign advice just a little more than two week from the election. It has never given Donald Trump sincere campaign advice, and never would. Could there be a more smokey smoking gun than that? Endorsing a candidate is one thing (the Post hasn’t endorsed a Republican since Ike), but providing campaign advice is like contributing to the campaign. It’s unprofessional, but the Post editors and staff, like the rest of the Axis, don’t care, because TRUMP MUST BE STOPPED, HE’S HITLER, AND HARRIS IS SINKING! NOOOOOOO!” And so we get, “America has a big birthday coming. Kamala Harris should talk plans. The celebration is a chance to renew our nation’s commitment to the promise of its founding.”
The pathetic editorial is self-indicting, with statements like…
- “…Our coming birthday is a chance to celebrate how far we’ve come and, of course, to renew our nation’s commitment to the promise of its founding. This is a message we should be hearing more from our candidates for president. It would be a welcome relief from negative campaigning, and it presents an opportunity to unite the country around a common purpose, in preparation for the hard work that faces whoever wins: putting the country’s fiscal house in order, laying the basis for a growing economy and providing opportunity for those who lack it.”
Verdict: Hilarious. Donald Trump’s message, “Make America Great Again,” means exactly that, and the Post’s pals and allies have condemned it as a fascist, racist slogan.
- “Efforts are already underway to plan the semiquincentennial, but they got off to a slow start, mirroring much of the country’s political dysfunction. The federal commission appointed to oversee the proceedings, writes the Atlantic, “swiftly descended into a morass of charges and countercharges over process, favoritism, hiring, gender discrimination, and budget decisions.’”
Verdict: Hilarious. Wanna bet that the breakdown is related to the Biden Administration’s DEI obsession and CRT mandates? The Biden-Harris regime is incompetent. That the Post feels it has to flag that incompetence in its last ditch effort to help Harris try to cover it up. I love it.
- “She should also try to persuade skeptics on her side of the political spectrum that the United States is indeed something worth celebrating. “The problem is, many Americans don’t know what they’d be celebrating” the Atlantic writer notes later in the essay. ‘On the left, rejecting traditional patriotism has become de rigueur: by kneeling for the national anthem, dismissing the Founders as enslavers, and expressing unease at the prospect of flying an American flag.’”
Verdict: Hilarious. Harris has been front and center supporting those who have condemned the United States. She has celebrated the “1619 Project.” Those “on her side of the political spectrum” that do not respect or celebrate the United States are Harris’s core constituency, and she has made it clear that she agrees with them!
- “But if she cannot persuade the naysayers, she should show the courage to ignore a vocal minority that would rather use the moment to dwell on this country’s flaws than to celebrate our even more numerous virtues.”
Verdict: Hilarious! Harris can’t even muster the courage to explain what her own policies and political beliefs are so voters know what they are voting for. Why doesn’t the Post tell her to do that? You know: because they know that won’t help her defeat Trump. Lying is her only shot, so the media will support that.
Heck, I need to stop before I publish the whole thing. Add to this Bernie Sanders again expressing his confidence that Harris is faking her new moderate positions just long enough to get elected In his Sunday interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Tapper asked the Stalin-admiring Socialist, “In addition to the Green New Deal and Medicare-for-all single-payer for health care, and ending fracking, in addition to those being positions that you hold, Vice President Harris used to be with you on all three of them and now is against you on all three of them. Is she making a mistake having reversed those positions?”
Sanders coded but clear answer: “I think what we’re seeing is a coalition of people, more establishment Democrats and progressive Democrats and progressive independents — I’m the longest serving independent in American history — come together with the goal of defeating a very dangerous candidate. And that is Donald Trump.”
Got it. The ends justifies the means. Trump has to be defeated by any means necessary—contrived impeachments, loosening election security measures, lawfare, assassination, and Harris pretending to be what she’s not isn’t nearly as radical as those tactics. Neither is pretending to celebrate what those white, male slave-owners accomplished in 1776.
Althouse’s conclusion of her post was striking. Noting that the historian who wrote the Atlantic piece the Post Editorial Board referenced wrote, “[N]ow that I think of it, why not wear the hat and fly the flag?,” she writes,
“Well, for one thing, flying a U.S. flag at your house is regarded as equivalent to having a Trump yard sign. We have a U.S. flag at our front door. But I’d consider bringing it inside for the next few weeks, because I don’t like exacerbating the anguish in the neighborhood as the impending Make-America-Great-Again victory comes into focus.”
Hilarious!
Ethics Alarms 
I draw a certain measure of relief while reading the comments on Althouse’s blog.
If one may assume that a goodly number of commenters are local, it suggests that the 77 Square Miles Surrounded By A Sea Of Reality which I call home isn’t completely overrun by a monoculture of undiscerning Lefties.
PWS
We shall see. I am cautiously optimistic, but let’s not count our chickens before they are hatched. I DO think Trump could do a great job with the 250th, since he is a showman almost before anything else, BUT let’s see how this all plays out first.
As for what will happen generally in 2026, well, the left has spent the last decade or more talking about how the US is a rotten, racist place, and I don’t see why they should be allowed to have anything to do with the celebration.
“It is also throbbing evidence that the Axis is freaking the hell out, no longer able to restrain itself from trying the most obviously desperate tactics, whistling, now screaming, past the graveyard, aware that only a miracle (or massive fraud by their party) can save them, and exposing their panic for all to see.”
I mean, I suppose to an extent, I can sympathize with their surprise… Frankly, I didn’t think there was enough time between Biden’s jettison and the election for Kamala to shit the bed this hard… But here we are.
She’s in a death spiral, specifically because she’s so awful a candidate: So long as she remained bunkered and didn’t open her mouth publicly, voters opposed to a second Trump term could rationalize their vote because they didn’t know better. But she was unable to stay bunkered because her polling numbers were flagging, so she came out and opened her mouth to try to salvage her campaign, but because she’s such an awful politician, every time she opens her mouth it costs her support, and as she loses more support, she schedules more touchpoints, which loses her more support. Rinse and repeat.
I guess at this point, the obvious question is: What were they expecting?
I’ve been saying it for years: The first party to embrace sanity will win majorities for the next decade. It’s happening in Canada right now. But instead of putting in someone relatively moderate (as far as Democrats in America go) like Buttigieg or Whitmer, or someone a little off the wall, but as least a true believer, smart, and able to speak publicly, like Sanders or Warren. Even an up and comer who doesn’t routinely fall on their face, like Fetterman (frankly… I have no idea how he got elected, and despite a slow recovery… He’s actually kind of impressed me over the last little while), they injected quite possibly the worst politician in America to run.
It’s almost like the party felt like they owed Kamala the seat, figured they might be able to sneak her in this cycle, and knew they could get it to her in any other saner election cycle. Even if they could buy another four years on “brat” energy (even if they do), I would bet my entire annual salary that she’s a one-term president at best.
I guess at this point, the obvious question is: What were they expecting?
They were expecting their influence to be more powerful than it is now. They were expecting to fool most of the people all of the time.
It is a death spiral, yet the MSM won’t report that, and it is news because it is fact. The reason I’m convinced Trump will win, and maybe win big, is because everything reminds me of Reagan and Carter. The election was supposedly neck and neck, and then there was the debate, the Amy lie and “There you go again” and it was as if everyone suddenly realized, “Wow, Carter is a boob.” Carter is the President most often compared to Biden (Carter was better). Reagan was demonized by the media, though not nearly for as long and as viciously as it has demonized Trump.
I wish Jerry the George Mason Prof. Hadn’t abandoned EA as hopelessly fascist: I’d love his take on why his party installed Harris. Remember, I had mocked his published op-ed about how Biden should withdraw and then the Democrats would have an open convention that would be “exciting” and would choose a winning candidate. My position was and is that the party didn’t have the guts or integrity to reject its DEI poster girl for fear of backlash-of-color. So they have tried to get by with nothing but a terrible candidate, “Trump is Hitler” and “Let’s abort more babies!” The gamble was that Trump is so repellent to so many that enough voters would turn off their brains, their logic, their values—pretty much everything.
I think it took a while for Kamala to tarnish, and that’s not great because it means that it almost doesn’t matter what the polls say right now, because of all the people who will have already voted. I know you have strong opinions on early voting, an opinion I largely share, but reality exists.
I think this will be closer than you give it credit for, but I don’t think Harris runs away with it anymore.
1. Republicans are voting earlier than ever before.
2. The early voters had made up their minds and the campaign doesn’t matter to them. I don’t think many of those votes were the ones that were going to change their views of Harris.
HT, I agreed up until…
…then my face and body started doing weird contortions as if I’d been tazed. Let’s see, VP Harris was handed the nomination…what…four months ago, give or take? Well, up until four months and two days ago, nearly all media outlets were lamenting her presence anywhere within a thousand miles of the Oval Office. She was the proverbial “gym-class joke,” even among her own.
No, I don’t think Democratic donors and operatives felt they owed her a thing. Instead, with VP Harris, they knew they had a witless, brainless, mostly spineless individual that was completely incapable of leading, and therefore, completely capable of being led by the hand. Who better to lead the country – from a Democratic, deep-state, whatever you want to call the perspective – than someone more in need of a bunch of Jill Bidens than ole’ Joe himself?
The shadow government brought in Obama, who largely knew nothing, and directed all of his appointments. Then it was Hillary – who’s pretty smart and super calculating, but… – on whom they had mountains of dirt (some of which probably contains human remains) to reveal if she deviated from her directives. Of course, here comes Trump and blows everything up.
Then it’s geriatric Joe and now Kackles. I’m seeing a definite pattern, and Trump interrupted it, so he had to be destroyed politically, legally, or physically if necessary.
VP Harris is pretty much…well…the dumbest prospect, so she gets the nod.
That’s my alternative take on it…chew carefully before swallowing.
I was under the impression that funds raised under Biden/Harris couldn’t be used by a replacement candidate other than Harris, and assumed that was why she was chosen. Most likely by people in denial about how terrible she would be as a candidate. https://www.vox.com/joe-biden/361991/361991biden-campaign-funds-after-drops-out
I think Vox was too optimistic about other options. I can see many opportunities for lawfare if they hadn’t picked Harris.
I think part of the reason Harris’ campaign got such a massive funding bump was that donors were hoping that they could funnel money to anyone other than Harris, and weren’t for exactly that reason.
Honestly, I don’t find the most recent Times and Post gestures momentous. They’ve been doing this most likely ever since “that man” “came down the escalator,” and certainly since the morning after the 2016 election. Do I think it’s indicative of desperation? Unfortunately, no. We’re forgetting the master mind of the Russia hoax is “an election lawyer.” Marc Elias is out there making sure the Dems can deliver a victory to Harris. And, if he wins, Trump will be impeached before he’s even inaugurated.
I think I am going to file a complaint with the FEC. A CNN commetor, Angela Rye, stated that “I think it is a mistake to let white folks escape the accountability that they must face for not showing up to save democracy.” She is a former counsel to the Congressional Black Caucus. She has worked with Homeland Security. She is currently employed by ESPN. She made this comment when referring to Obama campaigning to ‘save democracy’ (campaigning for Harris). So, she is calling for ‘accoutability’ for whites who don’t vote for Harris. I take that as a threat.
Imagine if the reverse happened. What if a panelist on Fox stated “Blacks who don’t vote for Trump need to be held accoutable”? What if the Fox employee just nodded in agreement?
ehhhh the election is, at this point, 50/50, a toss up. “Extremely close” as Nate Silver’s analysis says…
That isn’t to say, Trump has a good shot of winning, absolutely
DD
Do you actually read posts and think before you comment? It sure doesn’t seem like it. As EA had pointed out 1) many of the polls are suspect, because they under-count Republicans, try to please their Left-leaning sponsors, and Trump voters tend not to respond to polls.2) Harris is doing much worse at this point than Clinton or Biden, and Clinton lost, and Biden didn’t come very close to his poll numbers. 3) Harris’s support has been falling consistently, and there’s nothing she can do at this point to reverse that 4) the willingness to do the Fox News interview was strong evidence that the internal polls have her campaign in panic mode, and, 5) again as I’ve said, this scenario is closely tracking the Reagan-Carter election of 1980. Then there’s the fact that because California skews the numbers, a “close” election without a Trump majority will still translate into an Electoral College victory for Trump.
To your point about responding to polls: my wife is a registered independent (though probably more conservative than her husband) and gets phone calls and text messages for polls almost daily. She steadfastly refuses to answer a single question. Her husband rejects them as well.
your analysis has nothing to do with the actual poll numbers and data though. Which all show a very tight race across the board.
DD
Re-read the comment and the post. It does. There are previous posts about that, and the unavoidable conclusion is based on many factors, all of which have been covered here. Find your reaction under “whistling past the graveyard.’
I did read your analysis and they have nothing to do with the actual polling data that says this is a very close race.
This doesn’t mean Harris is going to win, just that it’s a tight race. Those are the facts.
DD
Those are not “facts.” An intelligent competent analyst considers trends, history, data, bias, environment, messengers, sources, and all other evidence. You like the polls because they validate your wishes. Taking all factors into consideration, including the polls, I calculate that Harris is toast, and it will only get worse as Election Day gets nearer. Based on what I have seen from the media, the campaigns, and my sources in DC, that is an objective, rational, and inescapable conclusion. By all means, stick to your denial if it makes you feel better.
I don’t think “Harris only has a 50/50 shot of winning” validates my wishes at all.
i also don’t know how you’re considering your analysis “competent” when you’re ignoring the actual polling data and using past elections that are totally irrelevant to our current election as proof of anything.
DD
No comment except “using past elections that are totally irrelevant to our current election as proof of anything” proves your utter ignorance decisively.
One can only hope. I don’t think that sort of result of still possible. However, the modern equivalent would be if Trump were to flip some states like Minnesota (most likely), New Mexico, New Hampshire, Colorado, Virginia. That would be our equivalent of a Mondale type result.
I look at the RCP polls way too much, and the battleground states look favorable to Trump. From the polling trends, the most like to go for Harris would be Nevada and North Carolina (sigh), but if Trump takes the balance he is close to 300.
We’ll see. Yes, everyone acknowledges that Trump is doing better in the polls than 2016 or 2020. The pollsters think they got it fixed. We have some skepticism. But if they really are undercounting Trump as they have before, it’s going to be a blowout. If they’re just undercounting him a little, he’s very likely to win.
Which way will the undecideds jump these last two weeks. That is typically the deciding factor in really close races. It feels like they’re leaning towards Trump.
What would be nice would be for Trump to score a decisive enough win that they’ll be able to call it on election night. Not expecting it — even in 2016 it took the networks forever before they had to report his victory — but it would be nice.
My prayer is that:
I’d obviously love a Reagan-Mondale-style creaming, but I’m not convinced we’ll get it. We’ve got two weeks and the Blues have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. And God only knows what Trump will say in that short amount of time to derail the whole thing.
I think a Reagan-Carter style win is increasingly likely. But I see no chance that progressives won’t riot, coast to coast. The fun part: the Biden Administration will have to deal with it.
My father was commenting on the Alfred Smith dinner in New York. The audience was every important Catholic and Jewish person in NYC. They mayor, the governor, Chuck Shumer, Letitia James, Kirstin Gillibrand, de Blasio, etc. All Democrats. A room full of most of the important people in NYC, Democrats all. When it was announced that Kamala Harris wasn’t coming, they all booed, loudly. When it was announced that Trump was there, they cheered, loudly. Jim Gaffigan took it to the Democrats, and he is a Never Trumper. They all laughed when Trump hinted that Eric Adams needs to get Trump elected if he doesn’t want to go to jail. This is a crowd that hates Trump, but they loved him because they need him. Meanwhile, Harris insulted every Catholic in NY with her pretaped skit with the SNL disgusting Catholic schoolgirl routine. When Harris has lost the NYC Democratic money, it isn’t a good sign.
In Detroit, Trump was surrounded by UAW members in their work overalls. He announced that the big Chinese Auto Plant in Mexico wasn’t going to be built. Trump had it stopped. He got them to agree to build it in Michigan and provide over 5000 UAW jobs that Biden/Harris had sent to Mexico. The crowd went wild. Harris has lost the blue-collar vote in Michigan.
Meanwhile, at the Harris rally in Detroit, the musician Lizzo took a private jet to Detroit to lecture them on climate change and enthusiastically tell everyone that when Harris is elected, she will make the whole country Detroit! The Detroit mayor and city council heartily agreed, pointing out how wonderful Detroit is. Then at her appearance at a Catholic University in Wisconsin, she told people they were at ‘the wrong rally’ after they said ‘Jesus is Lord’. The students were escorted out and punished after they were attacked by the Harris crowd.
This isn’t close. Who are these Harris voters except the government employees, the schoolteachers, the media, and the academics? Yes, there are the ‘White Dudes for Harris’, but as Trump pointed out, their wives the their wives’ boyfriends are all voting for him.
“Meanwhile, at the Harris rally in Detroit, the musician Lizzo took a private jet to Detroit to lecture them on climate change..”
Researching that, I was surprised to learn that there really is a civilian version of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules available!
Oh, yeah, they’re used as water tankers to fight wildfires and forest fires. I think some are even used as freighters in the upper reaches of Canada.
Rats, was I too subtle with the snark? 😉
Now, now, the new Gulfstream GS650 has a payload capacity of well over 6500 lbs these days.
I’m not sure she would want to risk cutting it that close. Maybe she sends her luggage ahead.
Heh!
PWS
Speaking of “providing campaign advice is like contributing to the campaign” has anyone paid attention to what our usually AWOL (except when pretending to have a baby, or calling out racist roads) Sec. of Transportation has been up to? Maybe violating the Hatch Act?
https://redstate.com/streiff/2024/10/19/did-pete-buttigieg-just-document-himself-committing-a-federal-crime-n2180798
I still can’t believe the current Vice President and the Secretary of Transportation are both complete red diaper babies. Professor Harris is a prominent Marxist economist at Stanford and Professor Buttigieg was the definitive expert on an Italian communist writer named Gramsci. This generation of commies make Bernie look like a walk in the park. How did this happen? We let foreign communists into the country to teach at our colleges and universities? Is that a good policy?
Huh… ESR’s post about Gramscian damage seems rather relevant given that particular expertise. I was not expecting there were ties directly to Antonio Gramsci in the current administration.