Tag: VP Candidate

Battle Of The Big 2

This could be a post about the 2 big oil companies or the 2 big car companies but in this case it is all about the VP candidates time in the spotlight at their battle in the Big Apple.

I watched it because….well…so you did not have to do so.

I thought it would be a slap fight with no focus on the country or its problems….it was feisty at times but worthless….

Vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz started Tuesday as “blank slates to much of America,” reports Time, which cited recent surveys from the Pew Research Center showing as much as 25% of the electorate say they’ve not heard of either man. Their only scheduled debate kicked off at 9pm ET on CBS News with moderators Margaret Brennan and Norah O’Donnell. Standout moments and lines:

  • On whether they would support a preemptive Israeli strike on Iran: Walz had a bit of a “shaky” start, per ABC News, swapping Israel and Iran at one point. But he emphasized running mate Kamala Harris’ “calm, steady leadership” while pointing to former President Trump’s relationships with Russia and North Korea. After providing some quick details about his upbringing, Vance said, “You can’t ignore October the 7th,” which occurred “during the administration of Kamala Harris. … When was the last time that an American president didn’t have a major conflict break out? The only answer is Donald Trump’s 4 years as president.”
  • On climate change and Hurricane Helene: Vance zeroed in on carbon emissions, suggesting that if Democrats believe they drive climate change, they should reshore as much American manufacturing as possible and do as much energy production domestically as possible. He argued that Harris’ policies have led to the opposite happening.
  • Vance’s emphasis on the ‘Harris administration’: NBC News points out that Vance is “trying to frame her as the central character in the White House,” with references to and criticism of the “Kamala Harris administration” and “Kamala Harris’s policies.”
  • Walz brings up faith: When referencing the bipartisan border bill that died in the Senate this year, Walz had this to say: “I don’t talk about my faith a lot, but Matthew 25:40 talks about ‘To the least amongst us, you do unto me.’ I think that’s true of most Americans. They simply want order to it. This bill does it. It’s funded. It’s supported by the people who do it, and it lets us keep our dignity about how we treat other people.”
  • Mics cut: While ABC News frames the debate as “largely civil,” the mics were cut toward the end of a conversation about immigration that referenced the legal status of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio. “Margaret, the rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact-check,” Vance said before talking about the mechanics of immigration and asylum applications. Walz joined in, spurring Brennan to say, “Gentlemen, the audience can’t hear you because your mics are cut. We have so much we want to get to. Thank you for explaining the legal process.”
  • On whether Walz was actually in China during the Tiananmen Square protests: In response to a report that he actually wasn’t in Hong Kong until afterward, Walz gave a winding answer that didn’t answer the question, and was then pressed to give an answer. Walz said he “misspoke.” He said at one point, “I’ve tried to do the best I can, but I’ve not been perfect, and I’m a knucklehead at times.”
  • Quick takes on how the candidates are faring: “It is very striking how much more fluent and comfortable Walz is discussing domestic policy than he is talking about foreign policy,” observes NBC News.
  • On abortion: Vance said he knew many women who had abortions and referenced one friend who told him a pregnancy would have ruined her life because she was in an abusive relationship. “We need to do a better job of earning the American people’s trust back on this issue,” he said. “We need to be pro-family in the fullest sense of the world,” by supporting things ranging from fertility treatments to affordable home ownership. On abortion policy specifically, he said the proper way to handle is to let voters and individual states make their own policies in our sometimes “messy and divided countr
  • On school shootings: Vance initially spoke about the connection between gun crimes and illegal weapons and the border. On schools, he said “I unfortunately think we have to increase security in our schools,” suggesting stronger doors and windows and more school resource officers. Walz replied, “I’m a hunter, I own firearms. We understand that the Second Amendment is there. But we have a responsibility to our kids. If we really want to solve this, we’ve got folks that won’t allow research on gun violence … there are reasonable things that we can do to make a difference. …. Do you want your schools hardened to look like a fort?”
  • On the housing crisis: Vance pointed a finger at Harris for “letting in millions” of people into the country, saying illegal migrants are a driver of increased housing costs. Vance said one solution would be to “drill, baby, drill”—the lower energy prices would reduce the cost of building materials and, therefore, housing.
  • On Jan. 6 and the 2020 election: After an extensive conversation, Walz asked Vance point-blank if he thought Trump lost the 2020 election. Vance did not give a yes or no answer. “That is a damning non-answer,” said Walz.

All in all this debate will change no minds on their vote.

To me this was just a show for toothless bulldogs to strut .

I can say the Vance is an idiot and Walz is just boring…..and since I do not believe that the ‘undecided vote’ is as large as some say this debate did nothing to change any minds.

A night to forget and watch a hockey game.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Vance Is A Piece Of…

++++Note–This will be my only post today because I am having a procedure done as an out patient and I am not sure how long I will be at the hospital….hopefully I will be back in true form Friday.++++

There is a person running for the second highest office in the land that can be est describe as a POS. His positions are so out there that they are looking back at pathetic.

Pretty much everybody is aware of his feelings about women and immigrants but he just keeps opening mouth and lying and when not lying is inserting foot into that mouth.

His thoughts on child day care…..

In his latest comments on parenthood and young families, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance on Wednesday weighed in on how to best help parents who struggle to pay for childcare—but instead of offering a policy solution, the U.S. senator from Ohio punted the obligation to grandparents and other extended family members across the country.

At an event hosted by right-wing activist Charlie Kirk of Turning Point Action in Mesa, Arizona, Vance replied to a question about lowering childcare costs by saying he wants to “make it easier for families to choose whatever model they want.”

But Vance appeared to base his answer on the assumption that what families want—and what they haven’t already considered on their own—is childcare help from their family members.

“One of the ways that you might be able to relieve a little bit of pressure on people who are paying so much for daycare is make it so that—maybe, like, grandma or grandpa wants to help out a little bit more, or maybe there’s an aunt or uncle who wants to help out a little more,” said Vance. “If that happens, you relieve some of the pressure on all the resources that we’re spending at daycare.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/jd-vance-on-childcare

Vance hates immigrants so bad that he is accusing them of dog-napping…..

Police in Springfield, Ohio, have issued some unusual words of comfort for residents: Despite rumors to the contrary, they haven’t received any reports of pets being abducted and eaten, reports the Springfield News-Sun. The claim originated in a viral, unsubstantiated post on a private Facebook group of Springfield residents (screenshot here) that pointed the blame at the city’s growing population of Haitian immigrants. The claim has since gotten a boost from figures including JD Vance. Details:

  • Vance: “Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio,” tweeted Vance, the running mate of Donald Trump who represents Ohio in the Senate. “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?” Elon Musk was among those picking up on the pet-eating claims.
  • Not happening: Springfield city manager Bryan Heck shot down the claim, as did police: “In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community,” Heck wrote in an email to the Hill. He added, however, that the rumors distracted from the city’s real “problems with housing, resources for our schools, and an overwhelmed healthcare system” because of the immigrant influx.
  • New arrivals: The city does indeed have a large Haitian population, with city officials estimating that 20,000 Haitians have arrived since the pandemic, reports the New York Times. A city FAQ explains they arrived legally under the Immigration Parole Program and were allowed to apply for temporary protected status (TPS). They are working legally “in various industries that are in great need of workers,” says the FAQ page.
  • The strain: The influx represents a sizable bump to Springfield, which had a population of about 58,000 in the 2020 census. “By most accounts, the immigrant community has helped revitalize the town,” per the Times, but, as Heck noted, it has put a strain on existing housing, schools, and hospitals.
  • Vance, Cruz: “Senator Vance has received a high volume of calls and emails over the past several weeks from concerned citizens in Springfield: his tweet is based on what he is hearing from them,” says a spokesperson, who blamed VP Kamala Harris for the White House’s immigration policies. In June, the US extended the TPS designation for Haiti, notes the Hill. GOP Sen. Ted Cruz also piled on, notes the Washington Post. He reposted a meme showing frightened cats with the text, “Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don’t eat us.”

In true form….Repubs do what they do best LIE….and LIE again!

Anyone that votes GOP is a bigger problem than the candidates.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Look At Tim Walz

There has been much written about Harris’ pick to be VP (generic white guy)…..analyzed from many angles from his military service to his time in state government.

Most pundits point to him as as ‘progressive’ (I do not see it but that is what the MSM wants us to believe) I read a piece written by people that were around when Walz was in state government….

++++Keep in mind this is not my analysis but by those that were there with Walz…..++++

This week, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was officially endorsed as the 2024 Democratic Party nominee for Vice President at the Democratic National Convention. Since being named the VP pick by the Harris campaign, Walz has received extensive praise for his military background and ‘folksy’ personality (read: midwestern white male); and for his accomplishments as Minnesota Governor, including signing bills that provide free school lunches for children, and set a 100% carbon-free electricity standard. Social media has exploded with memes positioning Walz as a Midwestern folk hero, that dad who “puts $20 in your back pocket so you won’t run out of gas,” or drops everything to dig your car out of a snowbank. Media outlets and nationally known left-leaning activists and commentators have fully embraced this narrative around Walz. As it turns out, Governor Walz and his team have been carefully cultivating this media narrative for nearly two years, the deployment of a long and strategic political calculus befitting of someone who clearly harbors major political ambitions.

For those of us who have had a front row seat to some of Walz’s machinations and political decision-making in Minnesota for the past several years, reconciling the current media narrative around Walz with what we’ve seen with our own eyes has been disorienting. For our own part, we are scientists who frequently came up against the Walz administration as we worked to join the broad and Indigenous-led movement to stop “Line 3”, an enormous tar sands oil pipeline owned by the fossil fuel giant Enbridge that now runs through 300 miles of sensitive northern ecosystems and sovereign treaty territories of Indigenous people in Minnesota. Tar sands oil is some of the dirtiest fuel on the planet; greenhouse gas emissions from the oil running through Line 3 is equivalent to that of 50 coal plants annually, more than the entire state of Minnesota emits alone. This pipeline crosses the headwaters of the Mississippi River, and oil spilled from the pipeline would devastate native flora and fauna, including wild rice, a threatened and sacred food of the Ojibwe people in Minnesota. In the heat of the current political climate, as Tim Walz is being highlighted by some as a “climate champion” and a “true progressive,” our years fighting his administration’s approval of this pipeline leaves us with quite a different understanding of his political choices and gamesmanship.   

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/08/23/the-whitewashing-and-greenwashing-of-tim-walz/

Again I would like to remind you that this is NOT my opinion offered here as FYI on the candidate by those other than the MSM.

I know, I know….he is better than Vance….but so is my dog but she would make a lousy VP…

But people should also know who they are voting for beyond the holding of the nose.

Keep in mind that very few politicians are the same person that promised you the world for your vote….they will eventually show their true colors.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Yet Another Sarah Palin?

Today the DNC opens its convention and all the promises, attacks, insults and out right BS will continue until Thursday night….I will not waste my time or yours reporting on the day’s festivities…..I will do a wrap up on Friday.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the race.

How many remember the election of 2008 and the intro to one Sarah Palin?

She was the governor of Alaska.

John McCain made a horrendous mistake by asking her to be his VP and it was bore out in the news almost daily.

And now we have a ‘new’ Sarah Palin and its name is JD Vance.

Americans aren’t vibing with the Republican vice-presidential nominee. On average, only 33 percent have a favorable opinion of Sen. JD Vance, while 42 percent have an unfavorable one.

Americans were cool toward Vance from the start: Three days* after he was announced as former President Donald Trump’s running mate, his net favorability rating was -3 percentage points (26 percent favorable, 29 percent unfavorable). But since then, he has faced a rash of bad headlines about his past comments calling Harris a “childless cat lady,” his past support for a national abortion ban and even a baseless internet rumor about having sex with a couch. The poor rollout pushed his net favorability rating down even further, to -9 points.

https://abcnews.go.com/538/tim-walz-popular-jd-vance/story

Vance is similar to Palin….he fires off his mouth before his brain is loaded.

Vance is discussing becoming a new father and the help he gets from his mother-in-law.

“The whole purpose of the postmenopausal female in theory,” he says in the clip talking about becoming a father and getting help. “She lived with us for a year.”

The comments immediately drew attention online, adding to questions about Vance’s view on women after he said that Democrats are mostly miserable “childless cat ladies.”

Don’t believe it?  Then watch the video….

https://www.ibtimes.com/jd-vance-postmenopausal-female-economy-3739794

Vance never stops spouting crap and yet there are some Americans that will vote for him simply because he is tied to Donald the Orange……a sad way to pick a candidate.

Here you can read some Vance’s more disgusting and pathetic quotes….

https://www.buzzfeed.com/natashajokic1/jd-vance-facts-quotes

He is the new Sarah Palin and he will go down as a buffoon in Congress as she did as a buffoon in state government.

Between Project 2025 and Vance it is not looking good for the GOP….but there is still a couple of months for everything to change….but will it?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Walz Attacks

As expected once Harris named Tim Walz as her VP the attacks and the sleazy would commence and it has….

That idiot war hawk in the Senate Tom Cotton accuses Walz of some sort of collaboration with China….

Within hours of Tim Walz being declared winner of the Democratic “veepstakes”, Republican accusations that he is pro-China came thick and fast.

“Communist China is very happy,” Donald Trump’s former ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, said on Twitter/X. “No one is more pro-China than Marxist Walz.”

Tom Cotton, a Republican senator, said Mr Walz owed an explanation “about his unusual, 35-year relationship with Communist China”.

MAGA War Room, an influential X account supporting Donald Trump, unearthed a 2016 video in which Mr Walz told the farming policy outlet Agri-Pulse that the US and China did not need to have an “adversarial relationship”.

But what does the record show? Republicans may want to weaponise Mr Walz’s links to China, but it’s pretty slim pickings.

Mr Walz’s personal relationship with China does indeed extend back decades.

It began in 1989 when, fresh out of college, Mr Walz began a Harvard University volunteer programme teaching American history and English at the Foshan No 1 High School in southern China.

He later set up a business with his wife Gwen organising annual summer educational trips to China. The venture lasted more than a decade and by his own estimation, Mr Walz returned to the country around 30 times.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgewpzyd91o

Well that one will fall flat and die a silent death…..but there is more….

The tag of “Tampon Tom”…..I have heard this mention several times….even on this blog….

Tim Walz continues to make headlines, as the public learns more about him, and as the GOP goes on the attack. But one law the Minnesota governor signed last year is drawing special attention, as well as generating a new derogatory nickname.

  • The law: The bill included a mandate to provide free menstrual products to students in fourth grade all the way up through 12th. CBS News calls it an effort meant to address “period poverty,” when students can’t afford necessary pads and tampons. NPR notes Minnesota is one of nearly 30 states that has such a law in place.
  • GOP attack: “Tampon Tim put tampons in boys’ bathrooms,” Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign rep, said in a statement to CBS. She made a similar claim Tuesday on Fox News, noting, “As a woman, there’s no greater threat to our health than leaders … who support putting tampons in men’s bathrooms in public schools.”
  • More: Other right-wingers also came out swinging. “She actually chose Tampon Tim,” Stephen Miller, an ex-adviser to former President Trump, wrote on X after Vice President Kamala Harris announced Walz as her running mate. Chaya Raichik, who runs the far-right Libs of TikTok social media account, posted a picture of a box of tampons with Walz’s face superimposed on it and the words “Tampon Tim” written across the front of the package.
  • Fact check: The Star Tribune‘s editorial board lauds the “compassionate” law and calls the attacks against it “ill informed,” pointing out there’s no mandate to put menstrual products in boys bathrooms—the law’s language simply allows for the products to be placed where those who need them can access them, like unisex bathrooms or the nurse’s office. “This has unfortunately been used to stoke ongoing culture wars over transgender individuals,” the authors note.
  • Misfire? Some say the GOP’s campaign against Walz won’t work. “Friends, this attack will backfire,” writes Nancy Kaffer in an op-ed for the Detroit Free Press (this columnist agrees).
  • Big-name pushback: NPR notes that “many on the left see ‘Tampon Tim’ as a compliment, including the Minnesota congresswoman who was the chief sponsor of the bill in the state House. “This law exemplifies what we can accomplish when we listen to students to address their needs,” wrote Rep. Sandra Feist, using the #TamponTim hashtag. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton weighed in as well, noting, “How nice of the Trump camp to help publicize Gov. Tim Walz’s compassionate and common-sense policy.”

Is this the best the GOP can do?

Maybe a sure sign these dullards are running scared.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Harris/Walz: Radical Leftists?

Please do not make me laugh.  Only a mental midget would think that Harris or Walz is a radical Leftist.

Anyone that believes that crap is smoking crack.

Some yahoo on FOX (go figure) stated that Harris is the most leftist candidate in history….I guess he never heard of Eugene Debs. (For Christ sake look it up)

I was impressed with Harris when she came out as a senator and endorsed the Green New Deal and Medicare For All….but does that make her a radical Leftist?

No it does not!

I am a radical Leftist and have been for 60 years and Harris is nowhere close to being radical…..an opportunistic Dem….then yes.

Some progressives in the Democratic Party would like to see Harris as someone like themselves, but there is little basis for it. She fully supported Biden’s economic and social programs—the most significant in half a century—most notably the American Rescue Plan Act ($1.9 trillion) to support business and workers during COVID, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ($1.2 trillion), and the Inflation Reduction Act ($369 billion) to deal with climate issues. Vice-president’s never present their own views, and neither did Harris.

She has also completely supported Biden’s foreign policy, backing Israel and its war on Gaza, supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion, and opposing China’s rival imperial ambitions. Harris’ reputation for being more progressive regarding Israel is based on statements like this one a few days ago after her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating,” she said. “The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time — we cannot look away in the face of these tragedies,” she said, adding, “I will not be silent.”

Perhaps she will not be silent, but she has not said how she would change U.S. policy, if at all.

I have been waiting for her to back away from any true progressive ideas just to garner votes.

She started backing away when in 2019 and her run for the Dem nomination…..and this will not stop….

During her short-lived 2019 presidential campaign, Harris was a supporter of single-payer healthcare, a fracking ban, and a federal jobs guarantee. No longer. On July 26th, a campaign official told the Hill that Harris “will not seek to ban fracking if she’s elected,” even though she had previously said there was “no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.” The following day, CNN reported that “the vice president no longer supports a single-payer health care system,” despite having co-sponsored Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All bill back in 2017. And on July 31, a Washington Examiner exclusive revealed that Harris has “changed her position” on a federal jobs guarantee—a component of the Green New Deal she backed in 2019—and no longer supports that either. 

Moreover, moving to the right on policy will not prevent Trump and his proxies from attacking Harris as “dangerously liberal,” a line they’ve already started using. This is a lesson Democrats should have learned in the Obama years. No matter how much Barack Obama tried to portray himself as a reasonable centrist and make compromises with Republicans, he was still attacked as a “socialist” whose healthcare plans would lead to “death panels.” Today, the GOP is not going to suddenly say “Well, I guess we should stop attacking Harris as a radical.” But her abrupt U-turns on policy will allow them to deploy a second line of attack, namely that she’s untrustworthy and doesn’t keep a consistent position on anything, which wouldn’t be wrong. 

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/its-a-bad-idea-for-harris-to-abandon-progressive-policies

Harris was one of 16 co-sponsors of Sanders’s socialized health-care plan branded as “Medicare for All,” which would have cost $34 trillion over a decade, according to the left-wing Urban Institute. It would also have necessitated kicking about 180 million people off their private insurance plans. She also signed on to the Senate version of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s radical Green New Deal.

In 2019, as the Democratic primaries took off, there was fierce competition to the left of Joe Biden. Harris dug into her support for banning private insurance before (unconvincingly) trying to take it back. She called for banning fracking and offshore drilling. She said those who crossed the border illegally shouldn’t be treated as criminals and called for getting rid of ICE and starting from scratch. She advocated banning AR-15s and confiscating them (under the euphemism “mandatory buybacks”).

This will continue for the policies that got her elected to the Senate will now be liabilities….so progressives do not too excited on the Harris/Walz team.

Now Walz…..

Clips of Tim Walz have spread widely, helping cement him as Kamala Harris’s pick to run alongside her as vice-president.

It’s not just the “weird” of it all: he’s been able to run through a list of what Democrats want, and what he’s done as governor during a banner time for Democrats in his state, that articulates to voters what they would be voting for, not just the danger of what they’re voting against. He speaks plainly and pragmatically, showing the commonsense policies his party stands for.

Walz, 60, was born and raised in small-town Nebraska. He became a teacher, first in China, then in Nebraska and finally in Mankato, Minnesota, where he taught geography and coached the high school football team. He was the faculty adviser for the school’s first gay-straight alliance chapter in 1999, long before Democrats nationally stood for gay rights. He also served in the army national guard for 24 years, enlisting at age 17, a role that took him around the country and on a deployment to Europe. And like JD Vance, Walz has a penchant for Diet Mountain Dew.

(theguardian.co.uk)

I do not know much about Walz so I cannot say much at this time.

Harris picked him with the hopes that is bona fides as a progressive will help her run….

He has started off badly with me…..he refused to meet with voters…..why?

In March, Walz lauded the “uncommitted movement”, describing the initiative to pressure President Joe Biden to call for a ceasefire as “engaged”. 

“These are voters that are deeply concerned as we all are. The situation in Gaza is intolerable. And I think trying to find a solution, a lasting two-state solution, certainly the President’s move towards humanitarian aid and asking us to get to a ceasefire, that’s what they’re asking to be heard. And that’s what they should be doing,” Walz said.

“We’ve gone through this before. And we know that now we make sure we’ve got eight months [to the election]. We start bringing these folks back in. We listen to what they’re saying,” the governor added.

But according to several activists in Minnesota, not only has the governor refused to meet with Palestinian families who have lost relatives in Israel’s war on Gaza, he has barely acknowledged their concerns and and demands.

(middleeasteye.net)

If true then that would be strike one .

I will continue to monitor these and other concerns to help my readers understand a few things that the MSM probably will not cover.

I am sure someone will say that they are better than the other guys.

That is a given but it does not preclude me looking at all aspects of the positions.

Stay Tuned!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Who Is Tim Walz?

Harris has made her choice for the position of VP and he is a governor, Tim Walz.

But just who is Tim Walz for most Americans have very little knowledge of this guy….and I can help….

Now that Kamala Harris has settled on Tim Walz as her running mate, the question becomes: Who is Tim Walz? A look at coverage of the Minnesota governor:

  • Profiles: The 60-year-old Nebraska native enlisted in the Army National Guard at 17, served 24 years, and eventually settled in Mankato, Minnesota, where he coached the high school football team and taught geography and social studies, report the Star Tribune and New York Times. Walz and his wife, Gwen, have two children, Hope and Gus, and Walz has spoken of his and his wife’s use of IVF, per USA Today.
  • Congress: While still teaching, he flipped a GOP congressional seat in rural Minnesota in 2006 and served in Congress until being elected governor in 2018.
  • As governor: Walz, working with narrow majorities in the state Legislature, “spent billions of dollars on schools, infrastructure, and other programs while passing a long list of progressive priorities such as marijuana legalization, universal school meals, paid family and medical leave, and abortion rights protections,” per the Star Tribune.
  • The image: “He comes across as what he is: a straight-talking teacher, America’s youth football coach,” writes Rachel Leingang at the Guardian. He’s “right out of central casting as the way you think [a] Minnesota governor would be like,” adds Michael Brodkorb, former deputy chair of the Minnesota Republican Party.
  • Interview: New York Times columnist Ezra Klein interviewed Walz before his selection, under the headline, “Is Tim Walz the Midwestern Dad Democrats Need?” Klein takes note of Walz’s recent claim to fame that speaks to his persona—the governor described top Republicans as “really weird” in a slam that went viral. “This is where I take offense to JD Vance and Hillbilly Elegy,” Walz tells Klein of the Republican’s memoir. “Those are my people. I come from a town of 400—24 kids in a class, 12 cousins, farming, those types of things. And I know they’re not weird. I know they’re not Donald Trump.”
  • Big moment: Watch the Morning Joe interview that raised Walz’s national profile.

This goes to show the lengths the Trump machine will go….

The Trump campaign on Tuesday immediately tried to tag Walz as a far-left liberal. “It’s no surprise that San Francisco Liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running-mate—Walz has spent his governorship trying to reshape Minnesota in the image of the Golden State,” said Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s campaign press secretary. Trump sent a fundraising email Tuesday calling Walz “Dangerously Liberal” and saying he would “unleash HELL ON EARTH.”

Sounds like they may be running scared to me.

Now we have our VP candidate but is he the right person for the job?

Harris was also impressed with Walz’s biography, as well as his accomplishments as governor that she “wants to replicate in her presidency—access to reproductive health, paid leave, child tax credits and gun safety,” Politico’s sources say. Other takes on the choice:

The “nice” choice, but perhaps not the best. Nate Silver believes Harris didn’t make the best choice. At Silver Bulletin, he writes that while Walz is a safe, inoffensive, and “nice” choice, Shapiro would have been a better pick because he “increases the likelihood you win Pennsylvania, he has a demonstrated track record of popularity in the most important swing state, he’s obviously an extremely talented politician and perhaps a future standard-bearer for the party himself.” Minnesota, he notes, is highly unlikely to be the “tipping point” state that decides the presidency.

  • Broad appeal. Harris had some strong options from swing states, including Shapiro, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, but she “instead went with someone from a somewhat competitive state who will ideally appeal more broadly to middle America,” writes Aaron Blake at the Washington Post. Blake notes that other candidates could have had the same broad appeal, but “none of them demonstrated the kind of folksy appeal that Walz has in recent weeks.”
  • His previous career. Walz’s potential appeal to Midwesterners includes his background as a military veteran and a hunter who has often spoken about his gun ownership, Katie Rogers writes at the New York Times. She says that according to a person close to the process, Walz’s “previous career as a high school teacher and football coach also appealed to Ms. Harris, who has gained the support of the nation’s teachers unions.”
  • The “cool dad.” Farnoush Amiri at the AP writes that Walz, who went viral after calling Donald Trump and JD Vance “just weird” a few weeks ago, has been labeled the “cool dad” online and Democrats see him as an “effective messenger.” “Walz’s ability to speak in layman’s terms about policy and politics coupled with his knowledge of the internet zeitgeist has helped propel the little-known politician to the national stage and on the ‘For You’ social media pages of millions of Gen Z voters whose support will be crucial for Democrats come November,” he writes.

My thoughts so far…I like the idea that he is a possible progressive but like Harris I want to see if he pushes back on his progressive ideas…..I am thinking they both will flip-flop on issues to try to influence as many voters as possible.

Since like most Americans I know very little about this person I will reserve my more scathing analysis until I hear more from him and his running mate.

This is what I know as of 06Aug24…. I am sure there is more to come.

Stay Tuned!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Harris: And The Winner Is

First let us begin with the nomination….it is official VP Harris will be the Dems nominee….

Vice President Kamala Harris, a daughter of immigrants who rose through the California political and law enforcement ranks to become the first female vice president in US history, formally secured the Democratic presidential nomination on Monday—becoming the first woman of color to lead a major party ticket, the AP reports. As soon as President Biden abruptly ended his candidacy, Harris and her team worked rapidly to secure backing from the 1,976 party delegates needed to clinch the nomination in a formal roll call vote. She reached that marker at warp speed, with an Associated Press survey of delegates nationwide showing she locked down the necessary commitments a mere 32 hours after Biden’s announcement.

Harris’ nomination became official after a five-day round of online balloting by Democratic National Convention delegates ended Monday night, with the party saying in a statement released just before midnight that 99% of delegates casting ballots had done so for Harris. The party had long contemplated the early virtual roll call to ensure Biden would appear on the ballot in every state. It said it would next formally certify the vote before holding a celebratory roll call at the party’s convention later this month in Chicago.

Now that is out of the way…..the next big step will be her second….

The entire nation has been holding our collective breath wait to see just who Harris will choose as her running mate…..I said it would be a some generic white white, someone with little to no baggage……and now we know who that mysterious person will be…..

Tim Walz….

Vice President Harris has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) to be her running mate as she heads toward a November faceoff against former President Trump, she announced Tuesday.

Harris announced her choice of Walz in a post on Instagram and in a text message to supporters, praising his support for middle class families and his personal history serving in the National Guard and working as a teacher.

Walz, 60, emerged as a dark horse contender for the No. 2 slot as chatter over other high-profile names, in particular Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly (D), dominated the early portion of the veepstakes.

But the Minnesota governor saw his profile rise considerably over the past week, especially after a viral cable news interview in which he derided some Republicans as “weird” — a line of attack later adopted by national Democrats.

Walz was also seen by many as a safer choice for Harris thanks to his liberal bona fides and the fact that some of the other contenders had come under fire from certain segments of the left. Shapiro received heavy scrutiny recently over his response to pro-Palestinian protests that emerged in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, and both he and Kelly drew the ire of union leaders.

(thehill.com)

I will say he makes a good speech….plus he is from Minnesota a liberal state….a veteran…..and a family man….so he ticked many of the boxes….and now he be the VP nominee.

I am sure I will have more to say the more I learn about this guy…..so stay tuned.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Where Does He Get This Sh*t?

By ‘He’ I mean VP nominee, Vance.

He has some wild ideas and makes one wonder where did he come up with this shit.

In 2008, a software developer in San Francisco named Curtis Yarvin, writing under a pseudonym, proposed a horrific solution for people he deemed “not productive”: “convert them into biodiesel, which can help power the Muni buses.”

Yarvin, a self-described reactionary and extremist who was 35 years old at the time, clarified that he was “just kidding.” But then he continued, “The trouble with the biodiesel solution is that no one would want to live in a city whose public transportation was fueled, even just partly, by the distilled remains of its late underclass. However, it helps us describe the problem we are trying to solve. Our goal, in short, is a humane alternative to genocide.”

He then concluded that the “best humane alternative to genocide” is to “virtualize” these people: Imprison them in “permanent solitary confinement” where, to avoid making them insane, they would be connected to an “immersive virtual-reality interface” so they could “experience a rich, fulfilling life in a completely imaginary world.”

Yarvin’s disturbing manifestos have earned him influential followers, chief among them: tech billionaire Peter Thiel and his onetime Silicon Valley protégé Senator J.D. Vance, whom the Republican Party just nominated to be Donald Trump’s vice president. If Trump wins the election, there is little doubt that Vance will bring Yarvin’s twisted techno-authoritarianism to the White House, and one can imagine—with horror—what a receptive would-be autocrat like Trump might do with those ideas.

Trump’s first campaign was undoubtedly a watershed moment for authoritarianism in American politics, but some thinkers on the right had been laying the groundwork for years, hoping for someone to mainstream their ideas. Yarvin was one of them. Way back in 2012, in a speech on “How to Reboot the US Government,” he said, “If Americans want to change their government, they’re going to have to get over their dictator phobia.” He had also written favorably of slavery and white nationalists in the late 2000s (though he has stated that he is not a white nationalist himself).

https://newrepublic.com/article/183971/jd-vance-weird-terrifying-techno-authoritarian-ideas

Vance has been labeled a ‘aristopopulist’….(love that title)….

An elite voice who understood the realities of working-class life, Vance became, for mainstream commentators, one of “us” who could speak about “them”, a guide to what many consider a mysterious species: poor white people living precarious lives.

In his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, Vance chastises white workers as once he criticised Trump: for blaming everyone else for their problems but never looking to themselves. The troubles tormenting working-class communities may partly be the product of globalisation and industrial decline but, Vance insists, speak much more to cultural and moral failings; workers given to indolence (“we choose not to work when we could be looking for jobs”) and a desire to play the victim.

“We spend our way into the poorhouse,” Vance admonishes the poor of Middletown, buying “giant TVs and iPads” and “homes we don’t need”. “Thrift,” he adds, “is inimical to our being.” Vance talks of “we” and “us” but really means “they” and “them”. There are, for Vance, two kinds of workers, the deserving and the undeserving. His grandparents “embodied one type: old-fashioned, quietly faithful, self-reliant, hardworking”. His “mother and, increasingly the entire neighbourhood, embodied another: consumerist, isolated, angry, distrustful”. Particularly undeserving are those on welfare, living a life of ease on “government largesse”.

It’s a diagnosis that, as Vance himself recognises, echoes the judgment many have projected on to black Americans. “I have known many welfare queens,” he writes, “some were my neighbors, and all were white.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/21/aristopopulists-like-jd-vance-can-offer-only-empty-promises-to-the-working-class

But you decide if this is a con artist or a legit person….

Will The Real JD Vance Stand Up?

If you vote for one then you vote for the other…..and this person should set off alarm bells in your head.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Hillbilly Elegy: A Review

This is an IST public service announcement (PSA)……

Since Trump named JD Vance his running mate last week the author’s book has been flying off the shelves both on-line and brick and mortar bookstores.

Since I refuse to waste money on a book written by a racist blowhard I have to depend on other sources for the review.

After extensive research I found a review that might help any fence sitters decide whether this guy has a place in our nation’s leadership.

I’m no fan of Hillbilly Elegy, the 2020 movie starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close, but when I picked up the book it’s based on recently, in light of rumors that its author, J.D. Vance, would be Donald Trump’s pick for vice president, I expected it to feel more substantive than its screen adaptation.

At one time, liberal and conservative centrists alike hailed Vance’s bestselling 2016 memoir of making it out of rural, poverty-stricken Appalachia, transforming himself from a tempestuous teen into a successful Yale law school grad.

Yet years on, Vance has undergone a transformation of a different sort, remolding himself from a fairly moderate professed conservative who once compared Trump to Hitler and wrote with disdain about the outer edges of the party into a would-be authoritarian.

That’s not to say Vance doesn’t have some nuanced and even appealing positions. His populist economic instincts are a running theme of Elegy, and today he makes deals across the aisle with Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren. But to understand his larger worldview, you have to look past his economic ideas to his social ideas — and to what Vance actually displays about himself throughout the book.

Perhaps readers in 2016 were eager to look past the book’s highly loaded subtext and overt classism, as the promise of a sympathetic conservative who could unlock Trumplandia for liberals was just too appealing. It also seems likely that readers loved the book because it confirmed all of the negative stereotypes they already held about country hicks. As a read on Vance himself, though, in the context of his subsequent embrace of Trump and far-right ideology, Hillbilly Elegy paints a portrait of a man obsessed with status — and brimming with contempt for just about everyone he meets.

https://www.vox.com/culture/360909/jd-vance-how-true-is-hillbilly-elegy-classism

Nothing about this ‘person’ would lead me to vote for him or any party that would have him as second to the presidential candidate.

I even posted a piece written by someone who knows the man’s story…..

Will The Real JD Vance Stand Up?

Paul Krugman put it right….”this is the man that put ‘con’ in conservatism”.

I hope this was helpful in some small way.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”