Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

No one could have predicted…

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

I really should read my own blog.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

He really is that stupid.

The revolution will be supervised.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Consistently wrong since 2002

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Getting To Know Kamala Harris

Reader Interactions

121Comments

  1. 1.

    smintheus

    Harris is toast. She’s talking far too much, or maybe too little, about her Indian ancestry. Also, in all the wrong ways. I don’t see how she can possibly win an election against Trump now.

  3. 3.

    Brachiator

    @smintheus:

    Harris is toast. She’s talking far too much, or maybe too little, about her Indian ancestry.

    If Trump thinks he can beat her, he’s going to be SARI.

    Much more seriously, a good interview and good responses. And yeah, a few dumb ass questions.

  5. 5.

    gbbalto

    @smintheus: OMG OMG She is so DOOMED this far out. Please spare us.
    ETA: Speaking as an Indo-American, tell us what she should have said.
    ETTA I am not an Indo-American. Are you?

  6. 6.

    Steeplejack

    Oh, jeez. Chris Hayes just said that Trump is having a rally in El Paso tonight. For some reason I thought he went there today and the idiocy was already over.

    Off to check @ddale8.

  12. 12.

    gbbalto

    Sorry, too tired. If that WAS snark, smintheus, I do apologize. Maybe I depend too much on the snark //

  14. 14.

    cmorenc

    @smintheus:

    Harris is toast.

    You didn’t instead mean “toasted” did you? :=)

    Kamala Harris calls for marijuana legalization: ‘I think it gives a lot of people joy’

    Oops the link failed to embed. It’s from a story on her at Politico if you want to look it up.

  16. 16.

    smintheus

    @Steeplejack: I don’t remember how she answered the “Why are you black?” question, but it’s just not good enough. She needs to put an end to Republican attacks on that issue or she’s really going to be toast.

  17. 17.

    jacy

    Harris is my front-runner right now, although I know it’s really early.

    And my ex has not answered whether he’s going to fight custody in court (it’s been 5 days) I know he’s being silent to drive me crazy, and, unfortunately it works. It’s going to be one of those nights that takes a lot of anti-anxiety medication. grr.

  21. 21.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Since announcing her intention to run for president this past Martin Luther King Day, a firestorm has swirled around Sen. Kamala Harris. Some attack her for her personal life; others attack her based on her record as a prosecutor in California. Kamala served as San Francisco district attorney from 2004 to 2011 and as California attorney general from 2011 to 2017. She joined the United States Senate in 2017, where she still serves today.

    Some accuse her of not being “pro-black” because of her work as a prosecutor, stating that a prosecutor upholds a racist system.

    Let’s get thing straight—you can be pro-black and a prosecutor.

    How do I know this?

    Because I was both.

    https://www.theroot.com/you-can-be-pro-black-and-a-prosecutor-1832471768?fbclid=IwAR34bkV6uNLaVDTuoehFI94N4SZ07G3vG33nhE-9sMmPf1WDdCIPJy4v8j4

  25. 25.

    RedDirtGirl

    Open thread so…has NotMax reported in today from Hawaii? Seems they are having some serious weather out there…

  27. 27.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Pres Trump tells visiting sheriffs there's a big line of people outside his event in El Paso waiting to get in, and that rival Beto O'Rourke has a line too but it's a "tiny little line."— Steve Holland (@steveholland1) February 11, 2019

    Honestly, he’s so obvious it’s not even worth decoding.

  29. 29.

    UncleEbeneezer

    In the three weeks since she launched her presidential campaign, Kamala Harris has quoted one figure more than any other: her mom.

    “My mother used to say, don’t sit around and complain about things, do something,” Harris told 20,000 supporters at her kick-off rally in Oakland. She would also tell a young Harris that “you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you’re not the last,” the California senator said at events in Iowa and South Carolina.

    The story of Harris’ parents — immigrant academics from very different parts of the world chasing their American Dream to the Bay Area — has become a key part of her message as she introduces herself to the country.

    Harris regularly describes her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, as the most important influence on her life. A breast cancer researcher from India who had a powerful presence despite her five-foot stature, she died of colon cancer in 2009. Donald Harris, Kamala’s father, is a retired leftist Stanford economics professor from Jamaica who studied issues such as income inequality but was less of an impact on her life after the couple divorced when she was a child.

    Kamala Harris’ parents, Shyamala Gopalan and Donald Harris, immigrants from India and Jamaica, in an undated portrait. (Courtesy of Kamala Harris)
    Like presidential hopefuls before her — Barack Obama’s stories of his single mom waking him up at 5 a.m. to study, or Bill Clinton’s tales of his mother supporting the family after his father died in a car crash — Harris is using her parents as the embodiment of the values she’s fighting for. To her supporters, her family’s immigrant story comes as almost an implicit rebuke of President Trump’s policies limiting immigration to the U.S. — even as she’s already had to deal with false “birther” conspiracies among some on the far right.

    For a candidate who admits that she feels more comfortable talking about politics and policy than her personal life, sharing her family’s experience also represents an easier way to connect with voters.

    “She has been telling her family’s story her entire political career,” said Jim Stearns, who ran Harris’ first campaign for San Francisco district attorney. “Everybody has to find their own foundation story, and she’s been consistent — she places a lot of value on her roots, and her mom is a huge impact.”

  35. 35.

    Jeffro

    I just want to say that if Seth Moulton and Bill de Blasio are cultivating presidential runs, then maybe it is time to close the door

    Like, yesterday

  37. 37.

    B.B.A.

    @Jeffro: As a New Yorker, I can say de Blasio has a strong record to run on, with many accomplishments like…uh… no, wait, something will come to me, give me a few minutes…

  38. 38.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jacy:

    Harris is my front-runner right now, although I know it’s really early.

    I really like her. A lot. But as I said a few threads down, I’m taking my time to make a call. Will send a few dollars to each of my top few — enough to get on their email lists — and try to narrow things down after the first two or three debates.

    We are very fortunate to have such a deep, exciting bench! A Sanders-Gabbard ticket would give me pause, but I think I could live with almost any other pairing.

  39. 39.

    Steve in the ATL

    @smintheus: she used to be a prosecutor, which I’m interpreting as she was an LAPD cop, Ramparts division, in the 1980’s. Therefore I’m team Wilmer.

  43. 43.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Via TPM

    The top Democrats and Republicans on the House and Senate appropriations committees came out of a long Monday evening meeting to say they think they’ve reached a deal to fully fund the government, which is set to run out of funds on Friday at midnight.

  45. 45.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Steve in the ATL:

    she used to be a prosecutor, which I’m interpreting as she was an LAPD cop, Ramparts division, in the 1980’s.

    Just like I was a few years later!

  50. 50.

    mad citizen

    I’m normally a late technology and other stuff adopter, and I agree with many here that these election cycles are too damm long. But on the other hand, we all wanted a change yesterday–OK, wanted the popular vote winner to live in the WH. Anyway, I affixed my Kamala Harris For the People sticker (bought from her website so she gets the money) to the back of my vehicle last week. Was thinking today what an early adopter I am in my area. Aside from the, I’m sure, some Trump 2020 stickers around here, haven’t seen any other Dems yet. Saw the Blue Arrow H the other day.
    Self-congratulatory over.

  53. 53.

    Jeffro

    Who is the Twitter person – Seth Abramson, maybe? – who said that for a multitude of reasons, if a D wants to stand out/win he/she should run against Pence and talk constantly about how he/she will just TROUNCE Pence in the 2020 general and what not.

    (yes you can all guess the reasons why this would be highly entertaining and also possibly cause Twitler to stroke out, which are basically the same thing)

    I like it! One doesn’t have to make it his/her whole campaign’s focus, but whew I sure would throw it out there. Warren kinda already is

  56. 56.

    Aleta

    @Jeffro:The Buzzfeed article mentions only the accomplishment that Pelosi gave him. “We got a lot of things that wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t willing to stand up and say we’re not just going to rubber-stamp the establishment,” Moulton said, referencing, among other things, the term-limit deal Pelosi agreed to. “So I think it was the right thing to do. I also think Speaker Pelosi is doing a great job right now.”

    He couldn’t organize support for a power play, he disrespected an excellent leader, he tried to use other women as cover, he’s got a new baby at home. But “his Serve America PAC alone raised more than $2 million, giving him the bandwidth to back dozens of candidates” and maybe that’s enough reason for him and the people who talk to him.

  57. 57.

    Steeplejack

    @zhena gogolia:

    Heh. Things like this always remind me how changes in language and usage leave random things high and dry, so to speak.

    There is a 1961 novel by Billy Lee Brammer that is supposed to be a fantastic novel about politics in (a thinly disguised) Texas. It was optioned to the movies for Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason, but J.F.K.’s assassination cratered the project. I just checked on Amazon and was mildly surprised to see that it’s still in print. The title? The Gay Place.

    Another example that shows up a lot in ’30s movies, and I’ve seen it in things as recent as Perry Mason from the late ’50s, is “making love” as a synonym for “wooing” or “hitting on.”

    “I came in to find you making love to my wife!” Or: “Are you making love to me, sir?” Sort of jangles a bit to the modern ear.

  58. 58.

    Mandalay

    @rikyrah:

    Harris on “Identity Politics”

    Stacey Abrams on identity politics: IDENTITY POLITICS STRENGTHENS DEMOCRACY:

    By enumerating and celebrating distinctions, the argument goes, they give their opponents reasons for further excluding them. But minorities and the marginalized have little choice but to fight against the particular methods of discrimination employed against them. The marginalized did not create identity politics: their identities have been forced on them by dominant groups, and politics is the most effective method of revolt.

  59. 59.

    NotMax

    Was gonna wait for a true Open Thread but one doesn’t seem to be forthcoming. For any who might have thought I was exaggerating about the weather here over the past few days (WaPo link) –

    An extremely powerful winter storm is pulling away from Hawaii after unleashing damaging winds, massive waves, coastal flooding and snow in unusual places.

    The storm, which the National Weather Service office in Honolulu described as “historic,” began pounding the islands Friday. Hawaii News Now reported a 66-year-old California man died in the rough surf off northwest Maui on Friday.

    Forecasters “are calling this an unprecedented event and we concur that we rarely if ever have seen the combination of record high onshore waves, coupled with gale force winds,” said Sam Lemmo, administrator of Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).

    The storm’s most extreme blow was generated on the Big Island’s towering peak of Mauna Kea, where a 191-mph wind gust blasted the mountain summit at 4:40 p.m. local time Sunday.
    [snip]
    Hawaii saw a mixed bag of bizarre precipitation over the weekend. Several inches of snow fell on Haleakala, a shield volcano in East Maui — something Jelsema described as “very unusual.”

    Snow is much more common on the high peaks of the Big Island, at Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

    The storm even deposited a coating of snow at Maui’s Polipoli State Park at an elevation of 6,200 feet according to Hawaii’s DLNR.

    “Perhaps the first time ever, snow has fallen in a Hawai‘i State Park,” the DLNR posted to its Facebook page Sunday. “Polipoli State Park on Maui is blanketed with snow. It could also be the lowest elevation snow ever recorded in the state.” Source

    2½ inches of wind-driven rain over 24 hours yesterday chez NotMax.

  60. 60.

    zhena gogolia

    @Steeplejack:

    Yes, the “making love” thing confused me when I was younger.

    He just sang, “I’m gay without pause / and sad without cause.”

  64. 64.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @NotMax: I knew it was bad, and I’m happy to see you reporting on weathering it without getting washed away.

  65. 65.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @jacy: It’s kind of fun to make POTUS/VPOTUS matchups in your head.

    My head keeps coming back to Harris/Chris Murphy, though he may not want that peculiar position, and probably doesn’t need the boost to his chances for an eventual run of his own

    ETA: I should say: I have an almost perfectly wrong record predicting primary outcomes, ours and theirs. Almost.

  66. 66.

    Baud

    Politico

    Senate Republicans are fuming at President Donald Trump for telling lawmakers he would disregard a law requiring a report to Congress determining who is responsible for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

    They will surely do something about it this time. I can feel it.

  68. 68.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I am a Rachel Maddow fan, and more than willing to become a Klobuchar fan, but the build up RM is giving AK is bordering on embarrassing

  72. 72.

    NotMax

    @zhena gogolia

    A favorite, most likely apocryphal, story related to MacDonald & Eddy films is the one about the dimwitted actress auditioning for a singing role. Hands the music to the studio pianist, introduces herself and begins earnestly belting out:

    When I’m calling you-u-u
    Double oh, double oh

    @Baud

    Worst has pretty much passed but there’s talk of similar (though not as severe) weather coming right on its heels this week.

  73. 73.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: Collective GOP Senate Caucus: Mr President, we’re very disappointed in you.
    trump: That’s nice, now pass the mayonnaise and pipe down, I’m watching Judge Janet

  74. 74.

    Brickley Paiste

    @rikyrah:

    That’s another one of the great things about Harris: she is going to add confidence to a lot of conventionally attractive minority women.

  75. 75.

    Steeplejack

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Yeah, I bailed over to HGTV. Part of it is that Maddow really is building up Klobuchar, but part of it also is that Maddow’s presentation style of belaboring everything intensifies the building-up effect.

  78. 78.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    David Siders @ davidsiders
    About 7,000 on hand for @BetoORourke in El Paso tonight, per organizers, citing a law enforcement estimate

    I think I read earlier that trump’s rally site holds about 7.500

  79. 79.

    hueyplong

    @Baud: Seems like every article about Trump contains the word “raging” and every article about other Republicans contains the word “fuming.” And yet fisticuffs never ensue.

  82. 82.

    NotMax

    @Steeplejack

    presentation style of belaboring everything

    Well, she no longer repetitiously drones on laying out timelines dating back to the discovery of fire.

    ;)

  83. 83.

    Amir Khalid

    @Steeplejack:

    … “making love” as a synonym for “wooing” or “hitting on.”

    I remember Jane Austen using it that way in Pride and Prejudice.

  84. 84.

    JWR

    @Steeplejack:

    Another example that shows up a lot in ’30s movies, and I’ve seen it in things as recent as Perry Mason from the late ’50s, is “making love” as a synonym for “wooing” or “hitting on.”

    See also: The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show. There was one episode where Gracie hired a gigolo to “make love” to Blanche, neighbor Harry Morton’s wife. As per usual, hilarity ensued.

  87. 87.

    Dan B

    @NotMax: Several friends have made requests for Pele or other Hawaiian residents or goddesses to send warmth to Seattle. They had to recant.

    14 inches snowpack here after about 20 inches snowfall. Airport seems to be closed (again). Snow never lasts more than three days here. Someone took an aluminum rowboat sledding!

  88. 88.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Steeplejack:

    a synonym for “wooing” or “hitting on.”

    Whatever happened to “courting,” anyway? It’s my favorite, and it’s clearly out of style.

  90. 90.

    NotMax

    @Amir Khalid

    Always found it a bit daring for the time that Cary Grant used gay to allude to a stereotype of the other sense of the term in Bringing Up Baby.

  91. 91.

    trollhattan

    @NotMax:
    Glad you’re okay.

    Happened to be in Hilo on a bidnez trip in December and experienced them breaking the historic annual rainfall record. I may have grown up in Seattle but I did not know rain before that trip. Not windy, so there was that.

    California is up for the next ass-kicking starting tomorrow evening. There’s a lot of dang snow to melt if it’s a warm one.

  94. 94.

    mad citizen

    Recorded in 1997, one of the very best Bob Dylan songs, “It’s Not Dark Yet”:

    Well, I’ve been to London
    And I’ve been to gay Paris
    I’ve followed the river
    And I got to the sea
    I’ve been down on the bottom
    Of a world full of lies
    I ain’t lookin’ for nothin’
    In anyone’s eyes
    Sometimes my burden
    Is more than I can bear

    [Refrain]
    It’s not dark yet
    But it’s getting there

  97. 97.

    Leto

    @NotMax: Considering we have enough BJ’ers lamenting the fact that they can’t keep up with all of this shit, having a few times lines isn’t that bad. Also repitition helps memory retention, which considering how much goes down the drain hole, isn’t that bad.

  98. 98.

    Amir Khalid

    @NotMax:
    More on “shipping”: one who “ships” their favourite TV characters is a “shipper”, and one who disapproves of this is a “NoRomo”.

  103. 103.

    debbie

    @Steeplejack:

    The speed of his tweets is amazing! He’s memorized everything Trump’s ever said. Trump said his rally had 20,000 to 30,000, while Beto’s has 200 or 300. ? ?

  106. 106.

    eemom

    @Steve in the ATL:

    People hate lawyers.

    Fun fact: here in Vienna Virginia we have major thorofares called Lawyers Road, Courthouse Road, and Gallows Road. The meme prompted a mcmansion subdivision to name itself “Barrister’s Court” and its little side streets cute things like “Evidence Lane”, “Pro Hac Vice Circle”, and “Rule 11 Drive”.

    So, some developer loves us. At least we’ve got that.

  107. 107.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Will Bunch @ Will_Bunch
    Klobuchar may have already won the Maddow Primary

    Richard M. Nixon @ dick_nixon
    Richard M. Nixon Retweeted Will Bunch
    Maddow built Klobuchar in a factory.

  111. 111.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @Amir Khalid:

    More on “shipping”: one who “ships” their favourite TV characters is a “shipper”, and one who disapproves of this is a “NoRomo”.

    I never heard of that last one.

  113. 113.

    Doug R

    @smintheus:

    I don’t remember how she answered the “Why are you black?” question, but it’s just not good enough. She needs to put an end to Republican attacks on that issue or she’s really going to be toast.

    You know, the first thing when you’re trying to get out of a hole is to stop shoveling.
    Why does she have to justify herself to trolls and republicans? Just another variation on “show us your papers”.

  116. 116.

    Yarrow

    @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: “Courting” is popular in evangelical circles. Remember that TV show where they had twenty kids and then the eldest son was accused of molesting his sisters? When the girls get to like 16 or 17 boys are allowed to “court” them.

    Best I can understand it’s a sort of dating that’s a bit more serious as it is supposed to lead to marriage. There’s no frivolous dating in those circles. You’re either platonic or “courting” with intend to become engaged.

  121. 121.

    MisterForkbeard

    Dead thread, but: Finally getting to listen to this. Kamala is very good. I’m not going to pretend this wasn’t a friendly interview, but she did very well on all these questions. Forceful, confident, and funny.

Comments are closed.