Patterico's Pontifications

10/12/2021

What the Hell Is Wrong with Kamala Harris?

Filed under: General — JVW @ 10:02 pm



[guest post by JVW]

UPDATE: Well now — somehow I accidentally pushed the Publish button last night instead of the Save button, so now I see that a barely-drafted post that is only about 1/3 of the intended length is up for comment. Yikes. I was going to flesh this out with the story many of you are alluding to in the comments about her weirdly age-inappropriate and slightly manic behavior in the videos touting science education, and the subsequent revelation that the White House went to a casting agency to find children who would pretend to be interested in anything she had to say.

Anyway, sorry about that. Feel free to continue to use this as an open thread on the general awfulness of our Vice-President.

—- Original Post —-

Safe to say that this blog is no fan of ersatz local girl, Vice-President Kamala Harris (I’ve just been made aware that some local activists have dubbed her Que Mala Harris, which is absolutely perfect). Patterico, Dana, and I have hammered her over the past several years for various transgressions. She is, I think we have all acknowledged, an absolutely dreadful politician, one capable of taking a great deal of natural advantages (female, minority, relatively young, tall and reasonably attractive) and absolutely squandering them through a relentless inauthenticity and penchant for smarmy sanctimony. Her epic flameout in the Democrat Primary — she was forced out of the race a month before the first primary ballot was cast — seemed to bear this out, and were it not for a befuddled and insecure old man at the top of the party ticket she probably would have spent the rest of her life mucking about the halls of the Senate, forever being tagged by the useless media as a “rising star” within the party.

But, as we know, fate destined her to be placed in the proverbial one heartbeat from the Presidency and thus we are forced to suffer through her que mala (I’m going to bore everyone to death repeating that one) administration.

– JVW

80 Responses to “What the Hell Is Wrong with Kamala Harris?”

  1. Not just relentlessly inauthentic, but nauseatingly so.

    norcal (b9a35f)

  2. This video of her with science kids looks all scripted.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J964dP5FDKY&t=5s

    I have a hard time seeing Biden getting through his full term at the rate of his decline. She may be the 47th President of the United States.

    Mattsky (55d339)

  3. @2 I saw that video. She could teach Sunday School to children, but even they might sense her phoniness.

    One of the problems with being so inauthentic is that she can’t cover talking points without them seeming like talking points.

    norcal (b9a35f)

  4. Maybe you will like AOC better in 2024.

    asset (dc8181)

  5. I haven’t seen much of AOC. Is she also inauthentic, or is she a true believer?

    (On second thought, a true lefty might be worse.)

    norcal (b9a35f)

  6. Ahaha. From the comments on Dana’s linked piece:

    If Joe Biden wins this thing he would be stupid not to name Tulsi Gabbard as his VP nominee.

    JVW (54fd0b) — 11/16/2019 @ 12:04 pm

    Stupid is as stupid does.

    norcal (b9a35f)

  7. What’s wrong with Kamala Harris?

    She listens to advice. Exceedingly.

    She thinks somebody can teach her how to be a politician – in great detail. She has no confidence in her own judgment – on anything.

    Sammy Finkelman (c49738)

  8. AOC is as unauthentic as Elizabeth Holmes, but committed to her allies. She doesn’t really know anything, except what team she is on.

    Sammy Finkelman (c49738)

  9. ¿Es La Mala peor que Gerald Ford?

    nk (1d9030)

  10. This video of her with science kids looks all scripted.

    Indeed it does. Here’s why:

    Vice President Kamala Harris is being roundly mocked on social media for her bizarre space exploration video, after it was revealed the children featured as “students” in the clip — produced by a company called Sinking Ship Entertainment — were actually child actors.

    https://www.nypost.com/2021/10/12/kamala-harris-slammed-for-using-child-actors-in-space-video/

    Of course CNN and The Whitehouse deny knowledge as they poorly craft an excuse:

    A White House official told CNN the vice president’s office did not select the kids who participated in the special. In a statement provided to CNN on Tuesday, a YouTube spokesperson said the company selected the children and defended the hiring process.

    The casting process for this show was no different from typical unscripted kids shows across other networks and streaming platforms,” the statement read. “YouTube selected the kids that were featured. We reached out via not-for-profit organizations, social media and traditional casting websites, looking for kids who were interested in contributing positively to their communities.”

    The spokesperson added that YouTube is proud of the series and “we look forward to the attention shifting back to encouraging families to get excited about space exploration.”

    The fact that the children in the video were actors came to light after one of the children featured in the video spoke about the process. Trevor Bernardino, 13, told CNN affiliate KSBW that he was asked to send in a prepared monologue talking about something he is passionate about, along with three questions he would ask a world leader, before interviewing the director of the production.

    “And then after that, like a week later, my agent called me, he’s like, ‘Hey Trevor, you booked it,’ ” Trevor told KSBW in a sit-down interview….

    … Other children who appeared in the video are listed as actors on IMBD, an online database on actors and films.

    https://www.cnn.com/cnn/2021/10/12/politics/kamala-harris-child-actors-youtube-video/index.html

    I do like that they chose a company called Sinking Ship.

    BuDuh (4a7846)

  11. When aren’t B-listers (and their agents) looking for gigs?

    nk (1d9030)

  12. It still falls way short of Trump purposely contracting professional adult actors to be his “supporters” at the escalator when he announced his run for President.

    nk (1d9030)

  13. But I’ll grant you that Trump would have made the kid sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement with a ten million penalty dollar if he talked about it.

    nk (1d9030)

  14. Or “ten million dollar penalty” if he used a lawyer other than Michael Cohen.

    nk (1d9030)

  15. 9…claro que si, nk. Ojala ella es como Eugene Sawyer no mas por 2 dos anos.

    urbanleftbehind (ae3176)

  16. The Tulsi ship has sailed…to the land of Juanita Broaddrick, Rose McGowan and Rod Blagojevich hopefully minus the forced activity.

    urbanleftbehind (ae3176)

  17. A scripted TV show is the least of Harris’ concerns, or what should be any voter’s concerns with Harris. She is one of the most venal and banal of all politicians. I hope they have double the doctors following Biden around. Heaven help us if she takes over.

    Hoi Polloi (998b37)

  18. There are 10,000 Tulsis working as mid-level health facility administrators across the country, and without the VA benefits and Congressional perks.

    nk (1d9030)

  19. At least she very efficiently cleaned up the border crisis mess…

    DenZel (5a7c58)

  20. Biden had to choose a black woman as running mate, for the sake of his Democrat base, and he chose poorly. He should’ve picked Val Demings, which would’ve directly refuted Defund the Police nonsense and could’ve put Florida in play.

    Paul Montagu (5de684)

  21. wrong question

    what the hell is wrong with those who voted her in?

    several are commenting in this thread

    JF (e1156d)

  22. what the hell is wrong with those who voted her in?

    Nothing. Absolutely nothing. She’s better than Trump.

    nk (1d9030)

  23. Paul Montagu (5de684) — 10/13/2021 @ 7:57 am

    Biden had to choose a black woman as running mate,

    That was maybe an excuse to name Susan Rice, but she was not acceptable, or was considered a drag on the ticket, because of Benghazi.
    ay.

    Sammy Finkelman (c49738)

  24. @22 that’s an affirmation, not an answer

    JF (e1156d)

  25. It may be that she thinks voters are stupid, and she’s not wrong.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  26. B’s hire C’s.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  27. Don’t count Rod Blagojevich out. He’s tanned, rested and ready.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  28. Judging by the pictures I have seen of her father, Harris is about one quarter black. She grew up as much in Quebec, as in California. That incredibly mixed background could have produced an interesting synthesis; instead, it appears to have produced an intelligent, but confused, woman.

    Jim Miller (edcec1)

  29. It still falls way short of Trump purposely contracting professional adult actors to be his “supporters” at the escalator when he announced his run for President.

    Trump would have had no problem getting any number of adults there for free. Harris might have had difficulty getting children to sit still that long.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  30. >>Biden had to choose a black woman as running mate,

    That was maybe an excuse to name Susan Rice, but she was not acceptable, or was considered a drag on the ticket, because of Benghazi.

    Well, Condi Rice would have attracted some on the right, and the Left was already going to be unhappy.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  31. @22 that’s an affirmation, not an answer

    Oh! No complaints, thank God! I’m in pretty good shape, considering. Minor aches and pains that I take the occasional ibuprofen for. Thank you for asking. How are you?

    nk (1d9030)

  32. wrong question

    what the hell is wrong with those who voted her in?

    Wronger question. What the F is wrong with people who chose Donald Trump as the alternative? When your party’s regulars are voting for the other party out of disgust, doubling down on stupid isn’t the answer.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  33. I am old-fashioned enough to think that Susan Rice’s record on genocide disqualifies her from any responsible position.

    Jim Miller (edcec1)

  34. 25. She’s stupid. The people who are that stupid as to take her performance seriously are not paying any attention.

    The Biden consultants are stupid, or trying to look like they are doing something useful for some purpose. She’s too stupid to realize that none of this makes any difference, or any sense, or too obedient to rebel.

    Sammy Finkelman (c49738)

  35. instead, it appears to have produced an intelligent, but confused, woman.

    No, it appears to have produced an empty pantsuit. She is the female Dan Quayle.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  36. 33. That’s true, Rwanda. Of course she was only doing what Bill Clinton wanted because Bill Clinton wanted, if the United States did not protect the Tutsis, he wanted nobody else to do so either. At a minimum.

    But some people think or thought that when Joe Biden laid out his conditions for avive oresidential nominee, he had somebody specific in mind..

    Sammy Finkelman (c49738)

  37. According to Wikipedia, Harris is a “Baptist, holding membership of the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco”. But I doubt that she regularly attends that church.

    Jim Miller (edcec1)

  38. Running for election in a machine state like CA is not the same as competing for votes.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  39. Third Baptist Church of San Francisco

    There are 3 Baptist churches in San Francisco?

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  40. #36 And the ISIS genocides; For example.

    Jim Miller (edcec1)

  41. #39 Kevin, yes, and it appears to be the kind of church the city needs, judging from their web site. For example, they just had a “Faith and Blue weekend”, trying to link black law enforcement officers with youth. (It has been there since 1852.)

    Jim Miller (edcec1)

  42. UPDATE: Well now — somehow I accidentally pushed the Publish button last night instead of the Save button, so now I see that a barely-drafted post that is only about 1/3 of the intended length is up for comment. Yikes. I was going to flesh this out with the story many of you are alluding to in the comments about her weirdly age-inappropriate and slightly manic behavior in the videos touting science education, and the subsequent revelation that the White House went to a casting agency to find children who would pretend to be interested in anything she had to say.

    Anyway, sorry about that. Feel free to continue to use this as an open thread on the general awfulness of our Vice-President.

    JVW (30a532)

  43. Harris will not be a candidate in 2024.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  44. Third Baptist Church of San Francisco

    There are 3 Baptist churches in San Francisco?

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/13/2021 @ 9:11 am

    I’m sure that was probably sarcasm, but there are dozens of Baptist churches in SF.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  45. Gooder and Harder!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  46. Intersectionalist Barbie speech to the National Congress of American Indians [sic]:

    It is an honor, of course, to be with you this week as we celebrate Indigenous People’s Day, as we speak truth about our nation’s history. Since 1934, every October, the United States has recognized the voyage of the European explorers, who first landed on the shores of the Americas. But that is not the whole story. That has never been the whole story. Those explorers ushered in a wave of devastation for tribal nations, perpetrating violence, stealing land, and spreading disease. We must not shy away from this shameful past, and we must shed light on it and do everything we can to address the impact of the past on native communities today.

    Then follows a series of promises about how the administration’s standard agenda litany will help Anerican Indians Native Americans. Because what they need is more government-run stuff.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  47. In 2010, there were two Democrats running for downticket offices whom I didn’t vote for. One was Gavin Newsom, running for Lt. Governor, because I couldn’t stand him and because the Republican in question was a moderate Latino whom the right hated for crossing party lines to support the majority party’s budget proposals (and avoid a deadlock). The other was Kamala Harris, because she had done things as DA which I thought made her *per se* unacceptable for the job of Attorney General.

    I am not thrilled with the Democratic Party of California’s choices.

    aphrael (4c4719)

  48. JF – I’ve had six opportunities to vote for Harris (primary and general in 2010, primary and general in 2016, primary and general in 2020 — i was out of state in 2014). I’ve voted for her once, because my preference to keep her out of executive office was less important to me than my preference to remove Trump from elective office.

    aphrael (4c4719)

  49. Well, Condi Rice would have attracted some on the right, and the Left was already going to be unhappy.

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/13/2021 @ 8:48 am

    hahahahahahahah

    this is far too good a choice to be viable in american politics today

    anyway, trump fans are pretty damn well vindicated in their complaining about harris

    and they are pretty damn well blind about what made her a viable candidate

    the democrats have really picked some losers. Gore, Kerry, Hillary, Biden, are all pretty damn terrible. Obama I didn’t like because I don’t agree with him, but I do get his appeal and viability, as I do with Bill Clinton. It’s totally possible Kamala is the next nominee. The best thing she has going for her is the GOP is also bad at picking candidates (though not as bad… Bush, Romney, Mccain were all at least OK choices).

    JVW, don’t be so hard on your post. Less is more and it’s Harris is particularly fun to pick on.

    Dustin (150498)

  50. What did you expect?

    DN (926911)

  51. they are pretty damn well blind about what made her [Harris] a viable candidate

    What’s “viable” about < 1% ?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  52. @50 How about a realization of what a tremendous gift she had been handed on a silver platter (the Vice-Presidency), and a determination to stop doing whatever it was that led to single digit support from Californians in the presidential primary?

    norcal (b9a35f)

  53. #14

    Hiring actors when you are a huge longshot is understandable. Hiring actors when you are already in office is pathetic.

    Her campaign slogan should be I’m Faker than Trump”

    steveg (e81d76)

  54. #52 Did you think she was going to “stop doing whatever it was that led to single digit support from Californians in the presidential primary?”

    DN (926911)

  55. @54 Hope springs eternal.

    norcal (b9a35f)

  56. (forgive me for serving discourse in the haha thread :P)

    The thing is is that Kamala isn’t stupid. She isn’t always the smartest lawyer in the room and my understanding is that she isn’t a great legal mind, but I hear that she reads a room well and does well in the court-room. Her great skill though, is in figuring out the right people to cultivate and in knowing where to stand and when to jump. She would’ve done fine with that in the House and she did OK in the Senate when she was acting as a pseudo-prosecutor but probably wouldn’t have been otherwise looked all that well upon.

    However, and this is what I find really interesting, when Joe set her up for high-profile assignments and visibility, she disappeared. In the beginning, at least, he seemed to think that he’d chosen someone who he could mentor into success and gave her opportunities which a capable future-government-executive type really should have been able to turn into Very Visible assets. If her goal was to become president, she was either very skilled or very lucky in getting Joe to choose her as VP, because most Presidents want their VP to sit quietly at home and not be to visible while Joe was giving her a lot of opportunity to be visible. We should know what she’s been doing, because she was supposed to be doing high-profile things. Do we know what she’s been doing? No.

    Nic (896fdf)

  57. Wow, Nic. That’s more than you’ve written in the last three months combined. Paging Noel!

    norcal (b9a35f)

  58. 😛 Monday was a holiday, so I’m not quite as exhausted as I’ve been. Also, I learned today that some work I did a few years ago at the hr high level may have helped prevent a school shooting at the HS level this year, which is heartening.

    Nic (896fdf)

  59. @58 Yeah. A holiday can do wonders. I got exhausted from dealing with all the immigration fraudsters when I was working.

    Hey, that’s cool you had a hand in some preemption!

    norcal (b9a35f)

  60. In the corridors of power, the Vice President is the broom closet. — The Brain, Pinky And The Brain

    Biden’s delicate condition is a reason to worry, but who knows? What were Truman and LBJ if not your basic political hacks chosen solely for regional demographics? Yet they rose to the task to fill their respective dead Presidents’ shoes. Maybe more than fill in LBJ’s case.

    nk (1d9030)

  61. Don’t you have that backwards, nk? Truman was a better president than LBJ.

    norcal (b9a35f)

  62. I was comparing Truman and LBJ to their predecessors whose shoes they filled, not to each other.

    nk (1d9030)

  63. I see, nk, but I would still disagree.

    FDR tried to pack the court, initiated Social Security (people should be in charge of their retirement funds, not the government), and gave us the New Deal (which, contrary to conventional wisdom, did not end the Great Depression; it was WWII). He also instituted Japanese internment.

    Truman had no equivalent negatives, and he integrated the military.

    JFK was a moderate Democrat who cut taxes. LBJ started the other giant transfer payment program (Medicare), spent like a drunken sailor (butter AND guns), ramped up the Vietnam War (I repeat myself), and opened the immigration floodgates in 1965. Okay, so he stayed faithful to his wife. Easy to do when one has a mug like he did.

    I say LBJ was a step down. YMMV.

    norcal (b9a35f)

  64. I was comparing Truman and LBJ to their predecessors whose shoes they filled

    Reagan > GHWB > Clinton > W > Obama > Trump > Biden.

    How low can we go?

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  65. In fairness to FDR, the New Deal saw the benefits from the WW2 recovery go to the vastly increased middle class and decent economic stability for the next century. Was it optimum? Hard to say. Did it decrease economic freedom? Certainly, for some. But stability is its own kind of freedom.

    I’m a lot more mellow about the New Deal than I was once. I dislike the lies people tell, but not the actual results.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  66. There was a hiccup in your order, Kevin. It should be:

    Reagan > GHWB > Clinton > W > Obama > Biden > Trump

    As Jonah Goldberg wrote in his G file today:

    And when I say seditious, I’m not speaking purely figuratively. Because of Trump’s lies about the election, a vast effort is underway to corrupt not just confidence in democracy, but the actual mechanisms of democracy. As National Review’s own Kevin Williamson puts it, “the Trump coup is still raging.” I don’t need to belabor the details. But even if you reject all of my concerns about conservatism—populism blows over and all that—much of my argument still applies to the corrupting of the electoral process.

    [The bold is mine.]

    The person pushing a coup has to be at the end of your pecking order. Has to be.

    norcal (b9a35f)

  67. Oh, I see, Kevin. You were doing a chronological line instead of a rating line. My bad.

    norcal (b9a35f)

  68. Any anti-vaxxer who wants to say that the disease we need to worry about is Trump, not Covid, won’t get no argument from me.

    nk (1d9030)

  69. Because of Trump’s lies about the election, a vast effort is underway to corrupt not just confidence in democracy, but the actual mechanisms of democracy.

    This is true.

    But you not have that much confidence in the Democrats as well, although they are more into rules changes.

    On a natioal level they are all for independent commissions for redistricting (which nobody has found a way to design properly) and for impeachment after a term is over — in New York they are trying to undermine a commisssion and said that a Governor cold not be impeached when out of office.

    Sammy Finkelman (c49738)

  70. Kevin M @64. Clinton was not better than W.

    More knowledgable about economic maybe (but he didn’t want anyooe else to know the truth about what worled, especially Republicans. He wanted to keep that a trade secret and mislead people about what were the important factors, and he liked budget squeezes.

    Sammy Finkelman (c49738)

  71. I am not thrilled with the Democratic Party of California’s choices.

    This would matter more if there was an opposition party that wasn’t invested in 3rd-party-type posturing.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  72. @56:

    I repeat: B’s hire C’s.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  73. 68. nk (1d9030) — 10/14/2021 @ 5:32 am

    ny anti-vaxxer who wants to say that the disease we need to worry about is Trump, not Covid, won’t get no argument from me.

    Harm from humans acting badly is always potentially more serious than not from humans. It’s the government of China not climate change. It’s genocide not malaria. It’s war and terrorism, not an economic slump.

    It’s shootings, not traffic accidents, although it turns out in the last year that when crime in general goes up accidents go up too (because some of the limitation on accidents comes from traffic laws or maybe people just not being wild)

    Sammy Finkelman (c49738)

  74. There was a hiccup in your order, Kevin.

    I disagree. Trump was more honest in his campaign. We got what he said we’d get. Biden rand at the center, for normalcy, and we have a hard-left president and an all-around sh1t-storm.

    Shorter: Trump was more honest.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  75. Kevin M @64. Clinton was not better than W.

    Again, I disagree. Clinton managed the job better and proved willing to compromise across the aisle. I didn’t care for him at the time, but in retrospect he did a decent job. W’s handling of the Iraq War was tumultuous and wasteful.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  76. Oh, I see, Kevin. You were doing a chronological line instead of a rating line. My bad.

    No, it was a rating. I actually do see them in that order. I would have rated Biden above Trump earlier but his worthlessness as a president outweighs Trump’s worthlessness as a human.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  77. Nic (896fdf) — 10/13/2021 @ 6:52 pm

    56. However, and this is what I find really interesting, when Joe set her up for high-profile assignments and visibility, she disappeared.

    That was the idea, just like when something is delegated to a commission. He knew it had no solution – if he knew one he would implement it. He was just passing the buck.

    In the beginning, at least, he seemed to think that he’d chosen someone who he could mentor into success

    That’s what theoretically a president is supposed to do with a vice president whom he wants to succeed him. But since he himself doesn’t know how to successfully solve problems, or arrive at solutions, he can’t teach anyone else how to.

    We should know what she’s been doing, because she was supposed to be doing high-profile things. Do we know what she’s been doing? No

    She was supposed to deflect questions away from him, and she has, to a limited degree or for a limited time, and the effect is fading, but it did buy some time. Months.

    She was supposed to lower the profile of an issue and she has, somewhat.

    Sammy Finkelman (c49738)

  78. Kevin @75. W was willing to compromise across the aisle – while Clinton in his first year, anuvered things so that the budget bill passed by one vote in both the House and the Senate. He thought that would help the Democratic Party by showing the Republican Party to vote in lockstep while Democrats were divided .

    But the public correctly read who was trying to make what party a rubber stamp for bad legislation.. Republicans were united in opposition because it was bad legislation and he did not try to gain any Republican votes. The public had not previously believed (before 1993) that the Republican Party was hyperpartisan and they didn’t after Clinton’s game.

    Hillarycare was so bad that the Democrats killed it quietly but lost control of Congress anyway.

    Sammy Finkelman (c49738)

  79. Shatner has been to the border of earth more times than kamala has been to the Mexican border.

    mg (8cbc69)

  80. Kevin – Do you give George W. Bush any credit for PEPFAR? If so, how much? (I assume you understand that I give him a lot of credit for a program that has saved 20 million lives — so far. Just as I give his father credit for savings hundreds of thousands of lives in the United States with his environmental programs.)

    Jim Miller (edcec1)


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