Which Angel Will It Be?

I awoke from a dream this morning in which it seemed I was being registered in a concentration camp, filled with forms and regulations that had to be filled out and followed. As unpleasant as it was, the dream was mercifully short.

With the dream in mind, I began thinking about how easy it is to debase and dehumanize people. History and contemporary events readily bear that out. But what about the opposite? How difficult is it to ennoble people, raise their hopes for a better day, and, in general, appeal to the better angels of their nature?

At times it seems easy. I recall a day in 2015 where I felt inspiration and hope after the long dark night of Stephen Harper's rule. It was the day that Trudeau and his team walked to Rideau Hall to be sworn in with the promise of different and better things ahead.. But subsequent events, beginning with the Prime Minister breaking his vow on electoral reform and the reappearance of traditional Liberal arrogance, frayed those strands of hope over subsequent years.

Americans, it seems to me, are now at a similar juncture. After years of relentless denigration, debasement and violent incitements engineered by Don Trump, they now have an opportunity to embrace a new path which, one hopes, will prove less illusionary than the Trudeau one. That path is the one being laid out by Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

And judging by reports, there is a real hunger for their message.

Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, continued their swing-state tour with rallies in rural Wisconsin and Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday, that the campaign said brought out more than 10,000 people each.

 In Eau Claire, a north-western Wisconsin city less than two hours from Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota, the rally drew attendees from both states – and 12,000 people in total, the campaign said. The Detroit rally on Wednesday night drew 15,000 supporters in another crucial swing state, the Harris campaign told reporters. Walz called it “the largest rally of the campaign” so far.

The big Detroit crowd repeatedly chanted: “We’re not going back,” Democrats’ counter to Trump’s anti-abortion politics and “make America great again” slogan.

 Attendees in Wisconsin said they were enthusiastic about seeing a Harris and Walz ticket. “I’m elated,” said Lori Schlecht, a teacher from Minnesota who said she was excited about Walz given his background in public education – Walz was a public school teacher before he was elected to the US House of Representatives in 2006. “Minnesota is blessed to have him, and I’m glad to see him at the national level. He is authentic and real – he’ll get shit done.”

When given the opportunity, I think people crave authenticity, not the faux kind peddled by Trump and his people who rely, not on inspiring people, but provoking the worst angels of their nature. And judging by letters to the editor, Canadians are feeling the same hope:

In a plot twist worthy of a political thriller, Americans have just been given a chance to save themselves by choosing to do what’s right and no longer defaulting to the lesser evil. For the first time in a long time, American democracy appears to be working. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a previous social studies teacher, as her Democratic running mate. Consider the symbolism: a woman of colour and a teacher teaming up to challenge the re-election of Donald Trump, the reigning champion of insurrectionist chaos.

Walz brings to the table an educated notion that co-operation, not competition, is humanity’s evolutionary secret. This represents the clash of real humanistic values versus the phoney, weird MAGA values of Trumpist populists. This isn’t just a choice between red and blue. It’s a choice between reality and reality TV.  Let the “first Walz” for re-establishing credibility and decency in American democracy begin.

Tony D’Andrea, Toronto 

... In Walz, Harris has found a real mensch, a man who is as easy to work with as Donald Trump is the opposite. Walz can out-folksy the populism types, and he’s the real deal when it comes to wanting to make life better for working-class and poor families. 

Ron Charach, Toronto

We all await with bated breath which version of human nature the American people will choose. 

Feels So Fine

H/t de Adder

The NYT correctly observes that Kamala Harris's rise in popularity is the honeymoon phase of her pending nomination as the Democratic candidate for president, The challenge will be to ensure the momentum continues, and I have a feeling that will not be hard to do.

First, thanks to a link sent to me by Trailblazer, there is this:

What is remarkable about this is that it is a poll of swing states conducted by Fox News, something sure to inflame the crazed right wing.

Fox released a swing state poll that showed Harris' favorability ratings ahead of Trump's in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Michigan.

The poll states that it included registered voters, and took place July 22-24.

Trump critics were quick to react online.

@acnewsitics simply said, "Uh oh."

@kinsellawarren said, "Better than the numbers is the fact that this is a Fox News poll."

Trump supporter @GioBruno1600 asked, "Do you believe this FOX NEWS poll?"

@joled16 said, "Without having had a convention yet! OMG! I just realized this is a FOX NEWS poll! Trump must be furious with FOX."

@TheNewsTrending wrote, "A new Fox News poll shows that Trump's significant lead over Biden in battleground states has disappeared when compared with Vice President Harris."

Former White House aide Keith Boykin had this to say:

"The ketchup is going to hit the wall in Mar-a-Lago after this new Fox News poll."

While favourability and voting intentions are not necessarily synonymous, this is encouraging news. And the fact is, what do the Republicans have to counter other than the same bile that they always spew? There really is nothing else in their political toolbox.

Reflecting upon how events in the political world can quickly change, Jamie Watts writes:

Clearly, the tide was coming in and the Republicans only needed to ride it.

And then, the axiom “whoever speaks first loses” reared its ugly head and “events” quickly illustrated Vance’s selection was a grave, potentially fatal, mistake.

I’ll leave it to other pundits to divine his eclectic, ideologically elastic biography. My point is much more straightforward. Simply put, he is the wrong tool for the job, the proverbial knife for what is now a gunfight.

This rather feeble performance illustrates Watts' point. 

Vance, suffice it to say, might well run-up the score in red states, but he will do next to nothing to turn the Trump-curious into Trump voters. People who support Vance already support Trump. His candidacy is not a growth proposition, it is a consolidation effort. Moreover, it’s worth noting that two white males at the top of the GOP ticket are woefully unsuited to take on a woman of colour.

Of course, anything can happen between now and election day. However, given the early signs, I think people on both sides of the border have reason for hope.

Outmatched

H/t Moudakis

I'll readily admit that upon first learning that Kamala Harris would likely replace Joe Biden in this year's presidential race, I was somewhat dismayed. The history of vice-presidents going for the highest office in the U.S. after their presidents decided not to run for a second term is inauspicious. Adlai Stevenson, Harry Truman's VP, lost  to Dwight Eisenhower, and Hubert Humphrey, Lyndon Johnson's VP, lost to Richard Nixon.

However, I had a quick change of heart based on two things: the strength and confidence evident in Harriss's appearances as her party's presidential candidate, and the fact that the man and the party she is running against can be counted on to drive people away from their cause. They just won't be able to help themselves.

If you watched the short video I posted yesterday, you will see a woman projecting strength, a strength leavened by an almost impish quality as she talks about knowing Don Trump's type from her years as a prosecutor. It was a performance, in my view, designed to cut him down to the small size he really is. And, of course, there are few things that Don can stand less than being laughed at and ridiculed. Combined with all the facts she will have at her disposal, Harriss will make a very formidable opponent.

Which leads me to my second point: Neither Trump nor his many enablers and Kool-Aid drinkers will be able to remain calm and rational in the threat she poses for them. First of all, she is a woman, and we know that misogyny is bred in the bone when it comes to Don and many of his disciples. Secondly, she is a woman of colour, a fact that has already unleashed a torrent of racist abuse from those who occupy the darker corners of the internet.

Heidi Beirich, an expert on American far-right extremism and a co-founder of Gpahe, said: “Female politicians have been targeted with misogynistic language for years, and usually they are the recipients of far more hate and sexism than male candidates face.”

“Attacks on Harris for her racial background are skyrocketing online,” added Beirich, who gave testimony to the House select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. “As bad as the racism targeting her is, the misogyny seems worse.

“She’s being attacked for supposedly sleeping her way to the top and with horrible sexist slurs. Sadly, this is how it goes nowadays, with racism and hate so prevalent online.”

Heather Mallick ponders the situation, quoting J.D Vance, Don's running mate:

“We are effectively run in this country … by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too. And it’s just a basic fact if you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC — the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children.” 

The above represents just a small sampling of the kind of desperate nonsense being spewed, and obviously, the attacks will sharpen and increase as the campaign progresses. But as I said earlier, the Republicans just can't help themselves, and while such attacks may strengthen the resolve of their base, they will do nothing to bring new voters into the Republican fold. Indeed, they will inevitably drive away those voters who are undecided, sending them right into Kamala's camp, including  people without children and childless cat ladies. As well, both those attacks and the candidacy of an intelligent and biracial woman will see far less Democrats sitting out this election and an increase in new voter registrations.

It can be no surprise that racist and misogynistic impulses amongst the mentally, morally and intellectually unfit will continue and grow. The question for the rest of America to ask themselves, however, is whether they want to be part of that increasingly sorry and desperate lot.

Who Does It Better?

The battle for the future of America looks like it is down to two people. The following requires little comment from me, as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris stake out their sides. 

With his usual 'elan', the aggrieved Trump had this to say about Kamala Harris from his Truth Social perch:

“Lyin’ Kamala Harris destroys everything she touches!”

“The Democrats lied and misled the public about Crooked Joe Biden, and now we find he is a complete and total Cognitive and Physical ‘MESS,’” Trump said. “They also mislead [sic] the Republican Party, causing it to waste a great deal of time and money” 

And this is what Ms. Harris had to say about Trump:

Who portrays a more accurate picture, and does it with real verve, insouciance and style?

You decide.