Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

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

Innocent people do not delay justice.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Excellent Links / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Vice-President Harris Is Our Gift

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Vice-President Harris Is Our Gift

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I don’t know how far Joe Biden could see into the future when he picked Kamala Harris as his running mate, but we have all been very much the better for that choice!

Keep in mind, the Washington Post is the company paper for the town whose main industry is national politics. Which is why I’m happy to share a couple of excellent articles showing how much Vice-President Harris has won over a sometimes skeptical press corps. First, Jen Rubin — “Kamala Harris is an underrated asset” [gift link]:

Vice President Harris was never as flawed as her critics made her out to be. From the onset of her term, she maintained a rigorous and effective diplomatic travel schedule and bolstered President Biden’s fight for voting rights. Unlike Biden, she never got ahead of the president on policy. Unlike former vice president Dan Quayle, she never made a late-night-comedy-worthy gaffe. And she has avoided her predecessor’s cringeworthy fawning…

However, whatever one thought of her early days in the administration, those who look carefully will see that she has hit her stride, providing Biden with key support among critical constituencies. Most prominently, her fierce and eloquent defense of abortion rights post-Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has “broken through” with voters, according to respected Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. Her empathic rhetoric tying abortion to “freedom” has helped reset the pro-choice message…

In particular, she has excelled in her role as Biden defender and prosecutor of the case against four-times indicted former president Donald Trump. She launched a succinct and compelling indictment of special counsel Robert K. Hur’s lapse in prosecutorial judgment. “As a former prosecutor,” she declared Hur’s comments about Biden’s age and memory “gratuitous, inaccurate and inappropriate.”

She concluded that “the way that the president’s demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts and, clearly, politically motivated — gratuitous … We should expect that there would be a higher level of integrity than what we saw.” Her delivery was crisp, her tone appropriately indignant and her eyewitness account of Biden’s actual performance the single most effective rebuttal to the age issue…

Despite her near-flawless performance over the past year or so, do not expect the media to send out any “Kamala comeback” stories, let alone mea culpas for their excessively negative evaluation that she would handicap Biden. The media seems bent on artificially leveling the playing field rather than providing substantive coverage of Biden and Harris’s record and probing the egregious defects in their opponent. (Sure, Trump’s a crazy insurrectionist, an indicted criminal and a fascist, but Biden is old and has Harris!)

That said, her work as the tip of the campaign’s spear on critical issues such as abortion and her fiery prosecution of the case against Trump will be gauged by her reception internationally and at home with voters critical to the Biden-Harris victory. So far, she is hitting her marks.

And Eugene Robinson — “Why Vice President Harris is prepared to step in as commander in chief” [gift link]:

With the exception of Dick Cheney (who made wars), vice presidents don’t typically get to make foreign policy. But I can’t think of any vice president who has become steeped in international affairs more quickly and more thoroughly than Kamala Harris.

That was a blank spot in Harris’s résumé when Joe Biden chose her as his running mate nearly four years ago. Her career as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and U.S. senator did not include any meaningful experience in foreign policy. That has completely changed — and it’s making her a stronger asset to the Biden-Harris 2024 ticket.

Last week, Harris represented the nation for the third consecutive year at the annual Munich Security Conference. Attendees have told me that the first time she went, in February 2022, she was tentative. It was like learning to swim by being tossed into the deep end: Russian tanks and troops were massing at the borders of Ukraine. Harris met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time at that gathering, which concluded just four days before Russia’s invasion. Harris told me later that year that she had wondered whether she’d ever see Zelensky again.

This year in Munich, Harris held a joint news conference with Zelensky and crowed that “Kyiv stands free and strong.” In her address at the conference, she offered a strong, erudite defense of U.S. global engagement and emphasized the vital importance of the NATO alliance. Harris was no longer a newcomer; she was comfortable among the assembled world leaders, many of whom she now knows personally…

Given Biden’s decades of experience as a senator and as vice president under Barack Obama, there is no doubt about who has the final say in this administration when it comes to foreign policy. But there should also be no doubt that Harris, whenever called upon, is capable of stepping in…

… 83 percent of Republicans — the voters Haley is desperately trying to attract — view the vice president unfavorably, according to a YouGov poll last week.

The flip side, however, is that the rank-and-file voters of Harris’s party like her very much: In that same YouGov poll, 86 percent of Democrats viewed Harris favorably. That suggests the campaign’s strategy of having her fly around the country, trying to energize the Democratic faithful about issues such as abortion and voting rights, is good politics.

And Biden has practiced good government as well, by creating space for Harris to gain the exposure and experience she would need if — perish the thought — he were no longer able to serve and she suddenly became commander in chief…

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Reader Interactions

122Comments

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The problem with Harris is she’s still black, still a woman. And we all know that a fair # of people just can’t accept that. Including some Ds.

    PS: thanx for the gift links, Anne.

  4. 4.

    MazeDancer

    When Kamala Harris dropped out, I immediately switched to supporting Mr. Biden.  And feel like he turned out to be the best choice, after all. A great President.

    On another note, Pinetree Seeds is having a free shipping promotion. Which in my case, means I can watch seeds not grow for less.

  5. 5.

    Suzanne

    I have a KAMALA baseball cap, and I am looking forward to wearing it this summer!

    (With sunscreen on my ears, of course.)

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Anti-abortion arguments made in the recent controversial Alabama supreme court decision, which led to the shut down of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in nearly half of the state’s clinics, echo those made by the Republican US senator Josh Hawley.

    The Missouri lawmaker made similar arguments in 2013 and when he worked on the legal team arguing the “Hobby Lobby” case on contraception before the US supreme court.

    The state of Misery, the gift that keeps on giving. You’re welcome.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I loved this from Cole’s open thread last night:

    “My best advice for Republicans, if they don’t want to deal with Democrats doing unfair attacks, is to come up with a reasonable policy,” said Terry Schilling,

    Yes. It is sooooooooooo unfaaaaaaaaaair to attack Republicans for the things they do. F’n WATBs.

  9. 9.

    citizen dave

    Still my favorite of everyone on team blue.  Think she will make a fantastic President, and hope she gets the chance.  Hoping there are enough nonwhite Dem voters (new ones!) to offset any racist Dem voters (something I had not even considered until now).

    In local news, Indiana supermajority republicans are advancing a bill to change/end the tenure process in our state colleges and universities, as well as giving themselves oversight over the Boards of Trustees.  And our ever-publicity-seeking attorney general has set up a portal where parents (why is it always just parents–doesn’t every citizen have the same rights?) can report to his office any political materials being taught/discussed in the schools.  I shit you not.  https://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/education-liberty/

  10. 10.

    Anne Laurie

    @OzarkHillbilly: There’s an article in Politico Weekend about Hawley’s wife, who appears to have 80% of the brains & 95% of the Firm Religious Conviction in that relationship.  Haven’t been able to do more than skim it, but you might want to look for it…

  11. 11.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The problem with Harris is she’s still black, still a woman.

    Also, she has a Jewish husband. In this case, I doubt that antisemitism is as motivating as racism and misogyny, but I’ll bet it’s a factor for some voters.

  13. 13.

    Ken

    Good morning, everyone, and in cheerful news, Trump woke up this morning owing an additional $87,501.89 to the State of New York.

    (I was checking the numbers in the ruling and am mildly disappointed that the State charges 9% simple interest, i.e. it’s only on the original amounts in the judgment, not on the accumulated interest. If it were compounding, he would have owed another $111,983.86.)

  15. 15.

    Betty Cracker

    It’s good to see VP Harris finally getting some positive press. She’s worked her butt off, and she complements Biden so well on critical issues for our caucus. That’s exactly what we need because if our coalition turns out, we win.

  17. 17.

    Baud

    I don’t know if this has been standard practice, but every positive official press item i see from the government says “Biden-Harris” administration, not just Biden administration.

  21. 21.

    New Deal democrat

    While the Alabama IVF ruling is of course horrible, at the totally cynical partisan level it is a *great* wedge issue to divide GOPers.

    Quoting Kevin Drum here:

    “the question for Republicans isn’t whether they love IVF, it’s whether they think life begins at conception, even if that life is being stored inside a hospital freezer at -320°F. The Alabama Supreme Court says yes. Nikki Haley says yes. The Catholic Church says yes. Many fundamentalist Christians say yes.

    “But the only way to support IVF is to say no. So what do Republicans say?”

    No matter how GOPers answer that question, they alienate a large part of their base. Either they say stored embryos are full-fledged “persons” for purposes of the Constitution, so IVF must be outlawed; or they support IVF, thereby stating that “personhood” does *not* begin at conception.

    As Democrats, we can instigate, and then root for injuries.

  22. 22.

    japa21

    @Baud: I don’t ever recall seeing Trump-Pence Administration, but then Trump would never share the credit for anything.

    Can’t remember Obama-Biden Administration.

  23. 23.

    Shalimar

    My first choice in 2020 was Elizabeth Warren.  She will be 75 in June and will never be president because of the “too old” backlash.  Harris was my 2nd choice, and as with Biden, I am more impressed with her now than I was then.  She will be a fine president when her time comes.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    @japa21:

    At least one Alabama state republican is trying to find a middle ground sweep their true beliefs under the rug by saying, in effect, it begins at implantation.

  26. 26.

    TrainedWreck

    @OzarkHillbilly:  forgive me I dont know how post new comment on BJ w out replying to an existing one, TY hosting my rant.

    I 💯 Looove Madame VP Kamala 

    It is beyond insane that 52% US population suddenly has literally fight or die for most basic bodily autonomy in 2024, especially while cells in petri dish being granted personhood/ rights women are no longer entitled to in USA 2024

    This Wapo article is still bs junk, even if purporting be on correct side.

    it literally blows my ladybrain merrick has gall continue his position, hasn’t tendered his resignation, effective immediately, so many faileds This Moment America! needs a J Smith, will not survive coward mwrrick failed moment (allll the moments counted along way) … insane

  30. 30.

    Yarrow

    Has this video made it here yet? As involves a green balloon, it seems fitting. For anyone who remembers bat dad from a few years ago, it’s the same Irish family.

  36. 36.

    smith

    @japa21: At least one Alabama state republican is trying to find a middle ground by saying, in effect, it begins at implantation.

    So contraceptive methods that prevent implantation are A-OK?  No, I thought not. They’re just going to keep tying themselves up into knots until no one, including themselves, has any idea what they advocate for or against.

  37. 37.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    I would have to go back and check, but I think they’ve been using “Biden-Harris Administration “ from the beginning. I certainly noticed it, approvingly, early on.

  40. 40.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @smith: no one, including themselves, has any idea what they advocate for or against.

    C’mon now, this has been a settled issue for quite some time now. Repubs are against anything DEMs are for, updated daily.

  41. 41.

    Wapiti

    @japa21: And arguing that human life begins at implantation will become a tricky because the morning-after pill (Plan B, et al) works by blocking implantation.

  42. 42.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Ken:

    If it were compounding, he would have owed another $111,983.86.

    Still, $87,501.89 here, $87,501.89 there — pretty soon it’s gonna hurt.

  44. 44.

    RaflW

    @New Deal democrat: An AL senator (who is also an M.D.) is testing out the thread-the-needle, saying that it’s only a life once the embryo is implanted.

    He absurdly says that’s when it becomes ‘viable life’, which completely ignores that viability is somewhere like 5.5 months into the pregnancy, and that’s only with heroic NICU interventions.

  45. 45.

    Another Scott

    @smith: Fortunately, Congress.gov never forgets.

    Aaron Fritschner
    @Fritschner

    You can see lists of members who cosponsored it in the last four sessions of Congress below:

    118th (2023-24): https://congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/431/cosponsors

    117th (2021-22): https://congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1011/cosponsors

    116th (2019-29): https://congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/616/cosponsors

    115th (2017-18):
    congress.gov

    [ image – Cosponsors – H.R.681 – 115th Congress (2017-2018): Life at Conception Act
    Cosponsors of H.R.681 – 115th Congress (2017-2018): Life at Conception Act ]

    8:43 AM · Feb 24, 2024

    [ typos in original ]

    See original for embedded links, or just go here at Congress.gov.

    124 co-sponsors on the latest version.
    166 co-sponsors on the previous version.
    Etc.

    They can’t escape this. It’s good we’re making them own it – and all the implications of it.

    While we’re ramping up 155 mm shell production, we should do the same for anvils to toss the GQP monsters.

    Forward!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  47. 47.

    sab

    @Omnes Omnibus: My guess is that the Biden people used it early on to deflect the Biden is too old criticism. “So what if he is old. His VP is amazing” and the Republicans (and the MSM) as usual tried to turn one of his administrative strengths against him by simultaneously denigrating and ignoring her. Weird trick but they sort of pulled it off

    ETA Biden’s whole administration is unusually young yet competent. Our future bench right in there working already.

  48. 48.

    TBone

    I got dogpiled yesterday and deservedly so since I was only partially informed on the subject I advocated.  Some Grooks have buoyed me back to normal attitude, so thanks to the OP and all those who enlightened me.

    THE ROAD TO WISDOM

    The road to wisdom? — Well, it’s plain
    and simple to express:
    Err
    and err
    and err again
    but less
    and less
    and less.

  49. 49.

    RaflW

    Found a WH Press Release from Jan 22, 2021 using Biden-Harris as the administration’s moniker. Just so happens to have been on the 48th anniv. of Roe v Wade. Huh.

    The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to codifying Roe v. Wade and appointing judges that respect foundational precedents like Roe.  We are also committed to ensuring that we work to eliminate maternal and infant health disparities, increase access to contraception, and support families economically so that all parents can raise their families with dignity.  This commitment extends to our critical work on health outcomes around the world.

    I will say that I dislike the “codify Roe” stuff, because Roe was a kludgy ruling and we can do better in crafting policy & law.

    I can’t find it right now, but I noted that recently MVP Harris used a variation, something like “passing the legal protections of Roe” or similar. Takes a few more words, but is a better policy goal.

  50. 50.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Lapassionara: These things don’t matter if you are Republican at least in the eyes of our R leaning press. Melania didn’t get half the abuse and scrutiny that Kerry’s foreign born wife got from our media

    According to wingnuts  MelT was the most beautiful and accomplished first lady since JackieO.

  53. 53.

    RevRick

    @Baud: Precisely! If you insist a fetus is a person, then there’s no way you can square the circle by suddenly placing an asterisk next to that claim.

  55. 55.

    RaflW

    @schrodingers_cat: One wonders how much of that was seeded by Vladimir’s Internet Research Agency. It’s the sort of sh*t the Russian troll farms have excelled at all along.

    Not that American leftists (including, alas, a few of my long ago FB friends on the fringes) didn’t happily amplify that stuff.

  57. 57.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @RaflW: Why was Roe a kludgy ruling?  It’s legal reasoning was quite clear.  It was based on sound medical advice.  The complaints about about it being poorly written came largely from the right and were really based on Blackmun’s less than elegant writing style.

  58. 58.

    Torrey

    Harris-Buttigieg was my dream team in the Dem primaries, although I knew that was a pie-in-the-sky combination. I didn’t come around to accepting Biden until Rep. Clyburn made the call, and then only reluctantly. But Biden has totally exceeded my expectations. And Harris turns out to have been an inspired choice.

    Also, one last bump-up for anyone who wants to spend part of an afternoon out supporting Ukraine. This is the 10th anniversary of the initial Russian invasion in 2014 (the initial Russian invasion of the 21st century, I should say), and there are rallies all over the place. Y’all know how to Google.

  62. 62.

    Miss Bianca

    @Shalimar: Same here. But four years on I love Biden-Harris in the White House and Senator Professor Warren in the Senate.

    Biden made an excellent choice for VP.

  63. 63.

    sdhays

    @RevRick: Except that consistency isn’t something the right worries about much.

    Pretty much everything they do at this point is just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks.

  66. 66.

    TrainedWreck

    @RaflW: & also that’s alllll totally irrelevant b/c it’s basic HC b/t woman & her chosen Dr…. It’s her call 💯, nothing else matters

  67. 67.

    TBone

    @MagdaInBlack:

    @sab:

    💙Thanks for helping me get back on the horse that bucked me off, it’s not always easy to do.  More Piet Hein:

    BRAVE

    To be brave is to behave
    bravely when your heart is faint.
    So you can be really brave
    only when you really ain’t.

  70. 70.

    TrainedWreck

    I wish there was a updoot / Like/ easy 💗 button BJ cuz so many great/ insightful/ funny comments I would love show easy (lazy?) appreciation for w out actually responding basic @ bottom… I appreciate ya BJ’s, Thanks is I guess what I’m saying, actoss so many articles/ OT / comments… 🙏💯

  73. 73.

    BC in Illinois

    I just pulled off the shelf, my copy of KH’s campaign autobiography, The Truths We Hold, (2019).

    It was a pretty good, for a genre not known for great literature. [I have read many campaign autobiographies, going back to Jimmy Carter’s Why Not the Best ? (He himself admitted that it was not the best book ever written.)]

    Kamala Harris could devote a chapter each to her youth & Howard U; time as a DA & justice issues; AG & the banking crisis; her marriage & gay marriage; Senate & immigration; Trump & Muslim ban; health care & racial disparities; economics & climate change & min wage & child care & labor (a catch-all chapter); Trump & Intelligence & Russia & Climate change & security & torture; and then a great chapter of “What I Learned” in the form of eight mottoes:

    • Test the hypothesis.
    • Go to the scene.
    • Embrace the mundane.
    • Words matter.
    • Show the math.
    • No one should have to fight alone.
    • If it’s worth fighting for, it’s a fight worth having.
    • You may be the first. Don’t be the last.

    You can make your own applications. You can see how she has done that.

    It’s a book worth reading. In 2019, it convinced me that she was a candidate worth supporting (though Elizabeth Warren was my first choice). I was glad when Joe Biden (my third choice) picked her to be the VP.

  74. 74.

    gene108

    @citizen dave:

    Hoping there are enough nonwhite Dem voters (new ones!) to offset any racist Dem voters (something I had not even considered until now).

    It’s not the racism that will hold her back, it’s the misogyny.

    Every race and ethnic group has their share of people who don’t want women in charge. This spills over into traditional Democratic constituencies. We saw this with Hillary in 2016.

  75. 75.

    New Deal democrat

    @japa21:

    At least one Alabama state republican is trying to find a middle ground by saying, in effect, it begins at implantation.

    If he does so, he will get absolutely hammered by the RW religious crazies who say that full-fledged human life begins at conception, no ifs ands or buts.

  80. 80.

    H.E.Wolf

    @SiubhanDuinne: ​I would have to go back and check, but I think they’ve been using “Biden-Harris Administration “ from the beginning. I certainly noticed it, approvingly, early on.

     Me too. I think it’s been very noticeable, in particular, to those who also notice the misogynoir directed at Harris.

  88. 88.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @TBone: You’re dead to me /sarcasm

    If I had a nickel for every person I followed, whose work I liked/admired but then I later found out they were in some way problematic…it’s a substantial list.  It happens to all of us.

  90. 90.

    RaflW

    @Omnes Omnibus: I should clarify, that because of rulings between the Roe decision and Dobbs, the protections were diminishable.

    If we ‘codify Roe’ does that mean that Casey is also overturned? Other diminutions of the right to access in various states? That this or a future Scotus couldn’t re-use the openings left by Roe to re-impose limits, if not nuke it entirely?

    I realize I’m not that well informed, so my shorthand that codify Roe is inadequate may be shiftable.

  91. 91.

    TBone

    @UncleEbeneezer: thank you.  I’d watched a video from 2022 where she was at a book signing for ‘They Knew’ and everything she said AT THAT TIME made sense to me.  Foiled again, drat!

  92. 92.

    kindness

    I suspect that 86% of Republicans who don’t like Kamela don’t like her because she is a intelligent and competent black woman.  Most of them will never admit that’s why (it’s the black part mostly).

  93. 93.

    RaflW

    @kindness: Conservatives like their MAGA women like MTG with their performative anger that can make them feel more like “one of the boys”, but I don’t misunderestimate (as GWB would say) GOP misogyny in all this.

  94. 94.

    TBone

    Atrios today:

     

    I see Republicans have decided on “reporters won’t remember our decades-long support for fetal personhood bills” as their response to the Alabama IVF ruling and are they wrong? Not understanding, or pretending not to understand, all of these things have been at the center of abortion coverage my whole life.

    I’m not surprised Republicans are running from this. While the real hardcore anti-abortion people have been gunning for IVF, plenty of politicians boast about their IVF kids.

    This isn’t as simple as “my abortions are good, yours are bad” hypocrisy. They hide those. They are proud of their fertility treatment children, even if they are convinced they did in the right way, unlike you

  96. 96.

    kalakal

    The way I’ve always seen it (and I did the same in the UK) is the worst Democrat/Labour pol is better than the best GOP/Tory bastard pol. My first preference was Warren, Harris impressed the hell out of me and once Biden was the nominee then I was behind him. Any one who decides to throw their toys out of the pram because their crush didn’t get the nomination is

    a) supporting the GOP/Tories

    b) not a serious person

    As for the ‘heighten the contradiction”, “After Trump, US!” idiots, Ernst Thalmann would like a word

    As a diversion I’ve been creasing up watching the wit and wisom of  Liz ’49 days to crush an economy’ Truss at CPAC.

    Whatever the reverse of Imposter Syndrome is that woman has it

  97. 97.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @kindness: I suspect that 86% of Republicans who don’t like Kamela don’t like her because she is a intelligent and competent black woman.

    Nope, that’s why they hate her.

  98. 98.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @gene108: It’s not either/or, it’s both and the combination of the two.  If it was only misogyny without race, we’d expect to see roughly the same number of White and Black Women elected to prominent govt offices.  The first woman elected to the Senate was in 1932.  The first Black woman wasn’t elected until 1993 with MVP Harris being the second.  The total of White Women to Black Women elected to the Senate is ~ 55:2.  That can’t be explained only through misogyny.  Race is still a huge factor and Misogynoir is real.

  99. 99.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @TBone: I used to follow Seth Abrams and Michael Avenatti and once upon a time I even thought Glenn Greenwald was reasonable and made great points (hiding my face in shame, lol).

  100. 100.

    New Deal democrat

    @RaflW:

    If we ‘codify Roe’ [could] this or a future Scotus couldn’t re-use the openings left by Roe to re-impose limits, if not nuke it entirely?

    To quote the late Justice William T. Brennan verbatim: “If you have five votes, you can do anything.”

    (My emphasis)

  102. 102.

    TBone

     For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

    For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

    For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

    For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

    For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.

    People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone.

    Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of each of your arms.

    As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

    The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

    The beauty of a woman is not in a ****** mole, but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!
    This poem was written by the late American educator-humorist Sam Levinson for his grandchild. It also happened to be one of Audrey Hepburn’s favorite poems. She used it on occasion when she was asked for beauty tips.

  103. 103.

    Anyway

     

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Some Claremont Institute faculty have theories ready to go about why she is not eligible. No doubt the ever-obliging Lamestream media will amplify it when she’s the D candidate.

  105. 105.

    JML

    @RaflW: “Codify Roe” is just shorthand for protecting the rights people had under Roe, not necessarily using the exact legal reasoning, etc. Actual legislation would explicitly protect bodily autonomy without needing to rely on any implied rights.

  107. 107.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    @TBone: You’re dead to me /sarcasm

    If I had a nickel for every person I followed, whose work I liked/admired but then I later found out they were in some way problematic…it’s a substantial list.  It happens to all of us.

    So true and across genres…book writers, movie makers, artists, historians, educators, pundits, politicians, etc. to infinity. Much loved can become sorely disappointing with the resultant embarrassment? shame? that respect was ever given. Best to brush yourself off, expect to be to be disavowed again another day, how else do we live and learn?

  109. 109.

    LiminalOwl

    @kalakal: Whatever the reverse of Imposter Syndrome is that woman has it

    Might Dunning-Kruger account for both?

    (And I have inordinate admiration for whoever coined the term “Dunning-Krugerrands” to refer to bitcoin.)

  111. 111.

    Soprano2

    @schrodingers_cat: They only care about surface beauty, they care nothing for inner beauty. All the MAGA men dream of having a wife like Meliana, and all the MAGA women think their lives would be better if they looked like her.

  112. 112.

    Quadrillipede

    @smith: They’re just going to keep tying themselves up into knots until no one, including themselves, has any idea what they advocate for or against.

    I have heard of this marvelous modern practice known as “science”, where you simply collect evidence in favour of or against any given hypothesis, and let your data discern whether or not it can be supported. It seems a lot easier to me than trying to fit new discoveries to pre-existing conceptions that may or may not be logically consistent in the first place.

    But that’s probably just me being weird…

  113. 113.

    cain

    @citizen dave:

    I think Purdue alumni are going to not be happy. I’m a Purdue alumni and I will be talking to my people about this. Politicizing education at the college level and affecting Indiana’s two prominent universities is a dangerous move.

    My dad is a prof there (at 85) and he has many conservative friends who support Trump. I’m wondering how this is going to go for these conservative professors not having tenure.

  114. 114.

    Captain C

    @kalakal:

    As for the ‘heighten the contradiction”

    One of the front pagers at LGM has a rule for this, the “You First” rule of political activism.  Anytime you (general you) demand suffering to achieve your political goals, you had better be volunteering to be the first to suffer whatever fate you’re demanding of others, otherwise, you’re just another would-be tyrant, not anyone who has any desire for justice or whatever you claim to be fighting for.

    In other words, start by heightening the contradictions on yourself, not whatever victims you claim to want to help.

  117. 117.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Soprano2: They say she (MT) is smart because she can speak 5 languages. Its actually not that unusual to speak multiple languages in places that are not monolingual like the US. I am fluent in 3 ((read, write and speak) and can understand two more. My mother can speak 5 languages. Its not that rare or mark of a genius.

  119. 119.

    steve g

    Sure, Trump’s a crazy insurrectionist, an indicted criminal and a fascist, but Biden is old and has Harris!

    It’s meant to be humorous, but there really are people for whom this dichotomy is 50-50. Our society is demented.

  120. 120.

    wjca

    @feebog:

    @Torrey:

    Harris-Buttigieg was my dream team in the Dem primaries,

    Think 2028.

    I’ve been thinking how great that would be.  But my concern is that, as noted here by multiple commenters, Harris’ gender and race will be a serious mountain to climb.  Adding a gay guy to the ticket feels like a bridge too far.  Certainly it shouldn’t be.  Regretably, it likely is.

    If only the consequences of losing the presidency in 2028 weren’t so dire.

  121. 121.

    wjca

    @TBone: I got dogpiled yesterday and deservedly so

    Gotta disagree.  Yes, you deserved to be corrected.  But the raw hatred on display was pretty appalling.  Especially for a one-time error with no long-term record of bad behavior.

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