I was out on the town when the news that Joe Biden had picked Kamala Harris as his running mate was announced, which gave me some time to consider the choice before commenting on it. I think that Harris was the best pick for Biden. She's relatively young, which will bypass fears of Biden's age being a factor in his term (Elizabeth Warren is a spetuagenarian, like Biden), and set her up for an eventual run in 2024 or 2028. She's the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, so she ticks a number of boxes in the 'historic run' column (just joking here)... she will be able to speak eloquently about issues faced by women, immigrants, and people of color. Harris has adopted the Green New Deal, which bodes well for solving environmental issues and creating well-paying jobs. As a corollary, she is also dedicated to combating environmental racism. To Joe Biden's credit, he nominated her even though she has never shied away from criticizing him throughout the primaries.
Predictably, Harris has been attacked by both the 'dirtbag left' and pretty much the entire right. The lefties refrain that 'Kamala is a cop' has been countered by a public defender who had dealings with her in court. One can certainly criticize such repressive policies as 'three strikes' law, but that can be laid at the feet of the voters. Oddly enough, one right-wing rag that has written numerous pro-police, anti-protestor screeds has a 'Kamala is a cop' shirt for sale. The right-wing has already started a bizarre farrago of attacks- she's a socialist radical, she's a repressive enforcer of unjust laws, she's not African-American, she's a black nationalist. There are even weird 'gotcha' attacks about her sister's use of hydroxychloroquine to treat her lupus. The election is going to be a shitstorm of racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and conspiracy theories, all promulgated by the most hypocritical bungholes on the planet. It's all they have, because Harris is a longtime public servant with some notable achievements under her belt.
I have no fear that these attacks will actually work, primarily because they are incoherent, but also because Kamala Harris is intelligent, unflappable, and has impressive knife skills:
She also doesn't take herself too seriously, which will serve her well on the campaign. I think she will make a perfect foil for Joe Biden, and I hope this career move will eventually end up with her in the White House. Now excuse me while I look up masala dosa recipes.
ADDENDUM: I figured I'd post a link to my 'Schrödinger's Blackness' post, because it will be relevant for the next three months to MUMBLEMUMBLE years. Simply put, the blackness of any Democratic politician cannot be determined until a right-winger figures out what sort of smear campaign to wage against said Democrat.
2 comments:
You forgot the other wingnut hot takes - that she's not even African American because her father was Jamaican, and she's the descendant of slave owners!
Yeah. Weak tea nonsense.
She's terrific, talented, and she's going put a shine on Biden's campaign Trump can only dream about. The attacks on her are about the quality you would expect from the current Republican party and its leader. Nothing that will trouble this cheerful, tough, incredibly bright and hard-working woman. Yay, Kamala!
There are also "slept her way up" tropes coming from the dumpster-slurry-feeder right, according to a commenter on Balloon Juice who risked their mental well-being to check some bad social media places. As you are iron-stomached enough to keep an eye on QAnon and such, BBBB, be warned about this, for it's inevitable and you'll definitely run into it. Talk about actual nasty.
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