February 1, 2019

"The more you learn about Kamala Harris, the more formidable she appears."

David Brooks is in love again.*
She is an amazing amalgam of different elements...
As opposed to amalgams of the same element. Why mess up your alliteration with a redundancy? And why not an amazing amalgam of elegant elements? Keep the alliteration at least.
... highly educated elite meritocrat, Oakland street fighter, crusading, rough-elbow prosecutor, canny machine pol and telegenic rhetorical brawler. She is also probably the toughest and most hard-nosed progressive on the scene right now....

She went to a prestigious school.... before going to law school, zooming up the political ladder and marrying a partner at a prestigious law firm. She is famously comfortable in rooms of the very wealthy.

But in deciding to work as a prosecutor — rather than going to a law firm — Harris was immersing herself in the gritty world the rest of the achievatrons were rising away from....
The rest of the achievatrons... like I guess the "partner at a prestigious law firm" she acquired as one of the achievements Brooks admires.
Harris was a beneficiary of the machine of the California political giant Willie Brown, who she briefly dated... but Harris made it clear at one forum that there is no way she’s going to bend if Brown or his allies try to influence her....

To beat Trump, I suspect Democrats will want unity. They won’t want somebody who essentially runs against the Democratic establishment (Bernie Sanders); they’ll want somebody who embodies it (Harris). They’ll want somebody who seems able to pulverize Trump in a debate (Harris)....
Seems!
Harris’s fearless, cut-the-crap rhetorical style will probably serve her well in this pugilistic political moment.
Probably!

Can anyone provide me with a good video clip demonstrating "Harris’s fearless, cut-the-crap rhetorical style," something that looks like it could "pulverize Trump in a debate"? I've never noticed anything like that. I hear a flat, bland style of speech. I mean, that's okay with me. I'm not looking for excitement. But if you're going to lavishly praise her rhetorical style and predict the pulverization of Trump, you need some evidence.

ADDED: I googled "fiery speech from kamala harris" and got this "Nobody is above the law" business, but it's Harris reading in a flat, nasal voice and frequently looking down and stumbling. Show me something where she's thinking on the spot and saying words that come straight from her head that show a "fearless, cut-the-crap rhetorical style" that could "pulverize Trump in a debate."

_____________________________

* I'm saying "again" because of the way Brooks gushed over Barack Obama in 2006. He famously said, "I remember distinctly an image of--we were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at his pant leg and his perfectly creased pant.... and I’m thinking, a) he’s going to be president and b) he’ll be a very good president." Notice that's a spoken quote. Brooks didn't write that in a column. The column he wrote at the time was "Run, Barack, Run." Here's how Brooks wrote about Obama:
[Barack Obama] notes that it’s time to move beyond the political style of the baby boom generation. This is a style... that is highly moralistic and personal, dividing people between who is good and who is bad.

Obama himself has a mentality formed by globalization, not the S.D.S. With his multiethnic family and his globe-spanning childhood, there is a little piece of everything in Obama. He is perpetually engaged in an internal discussion between different pieces of his hybrid self — Kenya with Harvard, Kansas with the South Side of Chicago — and he takes that conversation outward into the world....

He distrusts righteous anger and zeal. He does not demonize his opponents and tells audiences that he does not think George Bush is a bad man.

He has a compulsive tendency to see both sides of any issue.... During our talk... he kept returning to his mode, which is conversation, deliberation and reconciliation....

285 comments:

1 – 200 of 285   Newer›   Newest»
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

It's odd how you never see such fawning press for anyone not a Democratic.

Also - we are told that DAvid is a token "conservative" (LOL) and yet he's constantly falling in love with various democrats.

Henry said...

Oakland street fighter?

This is a surprisingly entertaining video, with a real sense of narrative and character.

rehajm said...

Kamala is fop approved!

mockturtle said...

Are her pants crisply creased?

rehajm said...

Appears formidable but really isn't. That's what I got, too.

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, I certainly did not see “Harris’s fearless, cut-the-crap rhetorical style” on display during the Kavanaugh hearings, but I watched much less than you did. Was it not on display there?

Seeing Red said...

Brooks was wrong then and he’s wrong now.

LYNNDH said...

"He does not demonize his opponents and tells audiences that he does not think George Bush is a bad man." - What was the author. deaf?

rehajm said...

Since apparently it's the platitudes that matter can we make like Barack and comment on her level of hotness?

rhhardin said...

... highly educated elite meritocrat, Oakland street fighter, crusading, rough-elbow prosecutor, canny machine pol and telegenic rhetorical brawler. She is also probably the toughest and most hard-nosed progressive on the scene right now....

And she has a cunt.

tim in vermont said...

Show me something where she's thinking on the spot and saying words that come straight from her head that show a "fearless, cut-the-crap rhetorical style" that could "pulverize Trump in a debate."

Come on man, this is the New York Times! They don’t “show” you, they “tell” you.

Henry said...

David Brooks source material:

Your awesomeness, it shines too bright! But I can't help but look!

tim in vermont said...

Schultz has a far better story of a rise to self-made billionaire from the projects of Brooklyn.

Have you ever noticed that “reckless” and “using her looks” pretty much describe accurately any of these fawning descriptions of her?

robother said...

She will slay those evil achievatrons Trump and Schulz, with her amalgam of Oakland street-fighting skills and "cut-the-crap rhetorical style. Making the world safe for beta males like Brooks again.

WisRich said...

mockturtle said...
Are her pants crisply creased?

2/1/19, 9:12 AM
------

Heh, beat me to it.

Fernandinande said...

"[Harris] The senator and presidential hopeful went to bat for dirty prosecutors[scroll down halfway], opposed marijuana legalization, and championed policies that endanger sex workers[sic]."

Seeing Red said...

... highly educated elite meritocrat, Oakland street fighter, crusading, rough-elbow prosecutor, canny machine pol and telegenic rhetorical brawler. She is also probably the toughest and most hard-nosed progressive on the scene right now....


Already bullied news people to back down because they made her look bad.

Bob Boyd said...

The word came down about Obama, Brooks did his job. Looks like the word has come down about Harris too.
Now Dems can quote Brooks to show how centrist and reasonable they are and neverTrump Republicans will know what their most deeply held values are for at least the next couple years.

tim in vermont said...

I would rather have her be the reckless, oops, I mean “ballsy” prosecutor in a paperback novel, than a president and commander in chief of the most powerful engine of destruction in the world.

Mark said...

rehajm said...
Kamala is fop approved!


More like fap approved.

tcrosse said...

Will she make Spartacus cry?

rcocean said...

Does any write for the New York Time Op-ed page that's intellectually honest and not a moron?

Why are they so boring and Lame?

iowan2 said...

Obama's 8 years proved him to be an empty suit.

People like Brooks, writes and opines like anytime previous to when he hit 'post' on this piece never happened. Obama, yet to this day is supposed to be the grand Orator. The first part of his term, the media was constantly telling us how his next speech was going to be historical in addressing XXXXX. "The next GREAT SPEECH" was going to bend the arc of history. Today nobody looks to any of his quotes to buttress an argument. Obama is not considered to be inciteful on any subject. Today he plays OZ behind the curtain. How apt is that metaphor?
.
I guess it is so, early getting excited about any of this is such a waste of effort. Don't know about Harris, but Brooks is an idiot

Molly said...

Did he fail to point out that she's "articulate and bright and clean"? There's a racial attitude in this hagiography that supporters of the politicians do not want anyone to notice.

gspencer said...

When you set your sails on the opinion of David Brooks you can be certain you're heading for the Scylla and Charybdis. Like Biden, Brooks is one of the luckiest people ever to know people who'll write him a paycheck.

~ Gordon Pasha said...

Kamala Harris is the living embodiment of Rule # 1. Attractive, smart, slutty, and a bit crazy. She'd make a great mistress but not a good wife.

Wince said...

Nothing disappoints, eventually, like a hyperbolic build up.

Amadeus 48 said...

I can’t wait for the Spike Lee film: “Jungle Fever meets Bamboozled: the David Brooks Story.”

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

KKKamala will be a wrecking ball. To our lives.

Of course, punishment and prosecution of innocent lives, are in vogue on the left.

Martha said...

“highly educated elite meritocrat” —who worked hard on her relationship with Willie Brown

Sydney said...

Kamala Harris is perfect. She's a cross between Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama. What's not to like?!

Tommy Duncan said...

"...highly educated elite meritocrat..."

She rose quickly through the political system through her highly educated and elite handling of Brown's willie.

Lucid-Ideas said...

David Brooks is a crypto-liberal posing as a conservative whenever he has spare time from fluffing his wife's lover.

Jesus David, just come out of the Democrat closet already.

J. Farmer said...

Mark Kleiman still holds the award in my book for the most over-the-top praise of Obama. And that is a crowded field. In a bloggingheads with Glenn Loury, Kleiman actually declared Obama the "smartest president since Jefferson" and the "greatest moral leader of our time." Oooookay.

ga6 said...

"She had a perfectly ironed slip. Demonstrating a wonderful self discipline...D Brooks 2019

Tommy Duncan said...

David Brooks' column is embarrassing to read. Has he no self awareness? How much was he paid to write that crap?

tim in vermont said...

and telegenic rhetorical brawler.

I thought that was a bad thing. I thought that was why it was fiercely urgent to replace Trump... I just can’t keep up.

lge said...

The robotic apparatchik David Brooks missed his calling. He would have made a great successor to Molotov (also a robotic apparatchik), heaping fulsome praise on Stalin .

tim in vermont said...

Has he no self awareness? How much was he paid to write that crap?

You answer your own question.

Limited blogger said...

I sense zero excitement being generated for Kamala.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The democrat party is the party of killing full term kids, open border, vote fraud, tax rape, Hollywood preach, and corrupt D-party media hacks.

Mike Sylwester said...

They’ll want somebody who seems able to pulverize Trump in a debate

What do you think of sanctuary cities for illegal aliens?

Do you agree with the communities that perceive ICE as being like the Ku Klux Klan?

Do you advocate the elimination of ICE from the Federal Government?

Have you ever discussed ICE with anyone at the Kasowitz Benson & Torres law firm?

Chuck said...

Obama didn’t personally attack Republicans as long as he had a whole media world to do it for him.

tim in vermont said...

Anybody play the multi player game Fortnight? 100 players parachute into a slowly constricting space, killing each other until one remains. It’s a meme crying out to be made. Put the candidates face on Fortnight avatar’s bodies. Each time one is knocked out, you have a scene of one of the still alive players taking all of their shit and moving on.

lgv said...

meritocrat? Oakland street fighter?

"Harris was immersing herself in the gritty world the rest of the achievatrons were rising away from...."

Sure, the decision to be a prosecutor was merely to help people, and had nothing to do with a calculated political path to where she is right now. She didn't want want the achievatrons wanted, but wait, didn't she end up there? Undoubtedly, becoming a prosecutor was all about altruism. That's why she followed it by working for the public defenders office. Oh wait, nevermind.

This article should have a disclaimer: "Based on a true story". That's the line they use for fictionalized historical accounts.

Bottom line, NYT and WAPO are all in. Waiting on CNN.

tim in vermont said...

“achievatron” was a malapropism for “apparatchik.”

Dave Begley said...

Puff piece of this century!

No quotes from Mrs. Willie Brown?

From what I've seen of her in the Senate, she wouldn't even be a good divorce lawyer. "Judge Kavanaugh, what do you have to say about this unsworn statement - recently released by a woman - that you sexually abused her? This woman has never been cross examined. Just admit you attacked CBF; you white male, you."

KKH is not intellectually honest or impressive.

Limited blogger said...

I haven't heard what percentage of our wealth Kamala wants to confiscate?

Dave Begley said...

Her main qualification is that she is a good looking biracial woman with no real record; she's a blank slate.

mccullough said...

Kamala flunked the bar exam. Brooks forgot to mention that. She flunked an important meritocratic test. That’s why she ended up a prosecutor.

But she is shrewd and ambitious like Hillary.

Casting Couch Kamala. Suck and fuck Willie for $200,000 sinecures paid by the taxpayers in California and Willie used his juice to get her elected district attorney. A Star is Born

Maillard Reactionary said...

That double chin of hers makes her look like someone from a Don Martin cartoon.
https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/square_medium/0/77/391808-181544-don-martin.jpg

Just being cruelly neutral here.

gahrie said...

Anybody play the multi player game Fortnight?

I've tried, but I don't last very long. I'm not quick enough mashing buttons. Civ, Age of Empires, World of Warcraft and Diablo are more my style.

Dad Bones said...

She's probably put more blacks in jail than anyone who's ever run for president. That's not a great selling point to black voters.

Lewis Wetzel said...

The Brooks column is a string of cliches.
If Harris is so good, why did she have to sleep her way to the top?

Dave Begley said...

KKH has no children. Why didn't she give Willie Brown another Love Child?

Being a Single Mom (never married edition) would make her PERFECT.

tim in vermont said...

I have already made known my price for support for her. Willie Brown set the market.

Seeing Red said...

Stephen Green sums it up pretty well.

Legalized infanticide, outlawing private insurance, a wealth tax, drastically increasing the income tax, taking control of the entire economy in order to micromanage the climate… nothing radical to see here, nope.

Andrew said...

I used to like Brooks. Bobos in Paradise, for example. I also enjoyed him when paired with Mark Shields on the Newshour. But I simply can't take him seriously anymore. He has lost all of his credibility, and his language is increasingly pretentious. Most importantly, he has no understanding of Trump or the people who voted for him. Did Brooks pay any attention to the Kavanaugh hearings? Did he listen to Kamala Harris then? Anyone who can respect that woman (or Booker, or Feinstein, or virtually any of the Dems) after watching those hearings has no integrity or discernment.

Dave Begley said...

At some point in the campaign, KKH will tell the world that she aborted Willie Brown's Love Child. Who could dispute her?

Land slide.

J. Farmer said...

@Lewis Wetzel:

If Harris is so good, why did she have to sleep her way to the top?

I am no fan of Harris' politics, but is this really fair? San Francisco DA, California AG, and US Senate are all elected positions. Was Harris fucking the entire electorate?

Earnest Prole said...

Dunno about all that, however, Willie Brown was one of the greatest political strategists ever, running the state of California in cooperation and competition with its Republican governors in the manner of Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog. So if Kamala Harris paid any attention at all, she will be a formidable political force.

gilbar said...

She went to a prestigious school.... before going to law school, zooming up the political ladder and marrying a partner at a prestigious law firm.

hmmm, didn't marry until 2014? seems like Brooks is leaving off a step or two. Oh, wait! here it is: "She is famously comfortable in BEDrooms of the very wealthy.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

"Legalized infanticide, outlawing private insurance, a wealth tax, drastically increasing the income tax, taking control of the entire economy in order to micromanage the climate… nothing radical to see here, nope."

When a government takes over and manages the economy - that is called fascism.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

David Brooks is paid well to be a democratic hack. I do wonder if he believes his own crap? Probably.

mccullough said...

Farmer,

You don’t have to fuck all the voters. Just those in charge of those who count the votes. That would be Willie Brown.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Howard University SAT score is 1190.
Temple University is 1230.
Villanova University is 1370.

I have never heard Temple nor Villanova referred to as elite.

mccullough said...

I like Willie Brown. It’s sad to see guys like him dying off. Guy was a Master Hustler and Chiseler.

Big Mike said...

Was Harris fucking the entire electorate?

@Farmer, according to many people, she only fucked over the poor people.

J. Farmer said...

@mccullough:

Willie Brown was in charge of counting the votes for Attorney General and US Senator?

Dave Begley said...

When Barack said KKH was the best looking AG in the country he declared that he wanted to get into her pants. Who wouldn't?

mccullough said...

Given how smart Harris parents were, she was an underachiever. Basically she was bright but lazy. Sort of like Obama but he upped his game in college. As a black female, Harris scores must have been pretty low to not end up at a better college or law school.

J. Farmer said...

@Big Mike:

@Farmer, according to many people, she only fucked over the poor people.

That may very well be true. As I said, I don't share Harris' politics, but I also don't see much point in getting vicious, cruel, and personal with someone because you disagree with them politically. Attack the policies, attack the record. Resist the school yard temptations.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

But with LOVE!

mccullough said...

Farmer,

It was a joke. I said he was in charge of the people who were in charge of counting the votes. They all owed their jobs to Willie. A patronage joke.

Birches said...

Intersectionality is the only reason anyone thinks she's formidable. They're just reverse engineering to find out other reasons. Soft bigotry of low expectations.

J. Farmer said...

@Dickin'Bimbos@Home:

When a government takes over and manages the economy - that is called fascism.

I am not sure what exactly "takes over" means, but the government has been managing the economy since the days of Hamilton.

Birches said...

Kamala's husband is white. No one wants to talk about that. Why? Screws up their matrix.

mccullough said...

Harris is vicious. I have no problem with being vicious wbout her. She might become president but she’s still just Willie Brown’s most-successful whore.

mccullough said...

Harris husband is not only white he’s Jewish. She likes the Jew money just like LeBron James.

J. Farmer said...

@mccullough:

Harris is vicious. I have no problem with being vicious wbout her. She might become president but she’s still just Willie Brown’s most-successful whore.

I guess your parents never taught you the elementary lesson that two wrongs do not make a right.

Harris husband is not only white he’s Jewish. She likes the Jew money just like LeBron James.

You have to up your trolling game, mccullough. This is lame even by your standards.

Dave Begley said...

Recall that Hillary and Bill agreed that Webb Hubbell would be Hillary's sperm donor. Hillary had to have at least one child so that the Clintons would appear "normal." A political calculation.

Does that make KKH abnormal because she is childless by choice?

The leaders of France, UK and Germany are all childless.

J. Farmer said...

@Dave Begley:

Does that make KKH abnormal because she is childless by choice?

The leaders of France, UK and Germany are all childless.


If a woman wants to prioritize career, particularly a political career, it is probably better that she opts not to have children. That seems preferential to having a child and then forcing him or her to take a backseat to your career. I caught flak back in '08 for saying that I didn't think it was a good idea for Palin to run for VP while having a small special needs child at home.

mccullough said...

Farmer,

My parents didn’t teach me that. Your guess is correct. Kavanaugh’s parents taught him that bullshit. Ask his family how that worked out for them. Ask the Covington kids.

Turn the other cheek doesn’t work againt some folks.

I grew up in the 80s. Mutually assured destruction works.

I agree that making fun of black anti-semitism, embodied by the likes of King James, was a lame joke. I’ll do better.

Big Mike said...

That may very well be true. As I said, I don't share Harris' politics, but I also don't see much point in getting vicious, cruel, and personal with someone because you disagree with them politically. Attack the policies ...

@Farmer, I certain am attacking her policies, as they were when she was a prosecutor. Building a “tough on crime” reputation on the bodies of the impoverished is a policy issue if ever one was.

tim in vermont said...

There’s manage, and there’s micro manage, Farmer. There’s managing the money supply and interest rates, and there's things like commanding carmakers to “build a car for de volk” or maybe “build a car called de Volt.”

Seeing Red said...

Does that make KKH abnormal because she is childless by choice?

The leaders of France, UK and Germany are all childless.

Different priorities and look how well it’s turning out for them.

J. Farmer said...

@mccullough:

Turn the other cheek doesn’t work againt some folks.

"Attack the policies, attack the record," is not turning the other cheek.

Sebastian said...

"The rest of the achievatrons... like I guess the "partner at a prestigious law firm" she acquired as one of the achievements Brooks admires."

Right. Honest question: marriage and "dating" Willie B aside, what are her achievements?

Nonapod said...

Claiming she's a "meritocrat" certainly seems a bit silly given her history and her professed political positions. But whatever. People like Brooks seem to throw out descriptors like that to stir feelings. It doesn't matter if they don't really make any sense or hold up to any scrutiny.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Farmer - are you subbing for LLR Chuck today? Cause you sound just like him.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

If the media wanted to tear her apart - they would.

The media want to support her, so she becomes "Formidable"

Nothing is real - only the manipulations by THE PARTY press.

J. Farmer said...

@Big Mike:

@Farmer, I certain am attacking her policies, as they were when she was a prosecutor. Building a “tough on crime” reputation on the bodies of the impoverished is a policy issue if ever one was.

That's of course fine. I was referring more to comments like "whore' and "slept her way to the top." Whatever one thinks of Harris as a politician, she is still somebody's daughter, somebody's sister, somebody's wife. I don't find that kind of talk particularly useful. And I must admit I have a bit of a visceral distaste for men being cruel towards women. Call me old fashion.

J. Farmer said...

AJ Lynch:

Farmer - are you subbing for LLR Chuck today? Cause you sound just like him.

You don't need to be of any particular political persuasion to find vicious personal attacks against people distasteful. It's what used to be called at one time in the distant past "good manners."

mccullough said...

Farmer,

Attacking the policies and record makes her sound like a legitimate person. She’s not. She’s vicious. I don’t care if I agreed with her policies, whatever they are at this moment. I’m sure they will change.

She deserves to be treated like she treats others.

And pointing out that she received $200,000 a year for being on state boards that Willie out her in because he was fuxking her is attacking her record.

She’s a whore. She didn’t “date Willie.” She tucked him for money. It wasn’t even his money. It was the taxpayers money.

That’s her record.

papper said...

Kamela Harris failed the bar exam the first time she took it. People can make all types of excuses, but she isn't that bright.

J. Farmer said...

@mccullough:

Calling someone a "whore" is not attacking their record. It's putrid and distasteful. Willie Brown did not make Harris DA, AG, or Senator. The voters did.

mccullough said...

More likely she failed the bar exam because she is lazy. Same reason she fucked Willie to get more money. She probably could have made her way through hard work but why bother.

Harris is not a hard worker. She’s bright enough. But lazy. W had the same problem. Bright but lazy. Why work hard when your Dad can grease the skids for you.

hombre said...

Harris got her political start and two high paying appointments under - literally - Downtown Willy Brown, not through merit. Her reputation as a prosecutor was for going after the easy stuff, truancy, prostitution, which she misleadingly called “sex trafficking”, etc.

As a Senator, she has not distinguished herself as a legislator, but by going after appointees with politically charged, uninformed questions that frequently and unconstitutionally discriminated against Catholics.

Nevertheless, she is a woman and “of color” and for those reasons good enough for sexists and racists including, evidently, the unctuous David Brooks.

FIDO said...

I am no fan of Harris' politics, but is this really fair? San Francisco DA, California AG, and US Senate are all elected positions. Was Harris fucking the entire electorate?


It is fairer than not. Her sales pitch for those positions was 'I did X appointed position'.

Without those two appointed positions, she would not have the credibility with the electorate to even consider her.


Just like Hillary Clinton. She failed to pass the bar, was IIRC thrown off the Nixon investigation, and had a sinecure of a seat on the Rose Law Firm.


Intellectually, she was 'baking cookies at home'.


Did Hillary get elected in NY because she was so 'qualified' or was it all name recognition for an appointed position (Wife of Bill, as opposed to Mistress of Bill)?

So please don't tell me that there is no power politically in being appointed. She was 'appointed' to the Nixon team, appointed to be WiB, appointed to the NY Senate seat, and appointed to the SecState position.

And she ran for president.


The difference between her and Kamala is skin tone. Both slept their way to the top. I even hear they both carry bottles of hot sauce in their purse.

The only difference between those two and Empress Theodora is that Theodora was an honest whore.

AZ Bob said...

It could be worse. David Brooks could jump on the Ocasio-Cortez bandwagon. Or, has he? I don't know because I don't read the NY Times. I let Ann read it for me.

Tinderbox said...

I get so tired of both parties' desperate tendency to latch onto a star of the moment, praising them to the skies and treating them like some kind of new Messiah. The countdown to backlash used to take months but in the Twitter age seems to take only about 2-3 days if it's a Republican, slightly longer if it's a Democrat.

mccullough said...

Farmer,

Willie Brown put her on two state boards that paid her a combined $200,000. That makes her a whore. It’s impressive that she used those sinecures and Willie’s backing to get herself elected. But she is still a whore. She fucked Willie for money. Taxpayer money no less.

It’s impressive that W used his Dad to help himself get elected governor of Texas. Didn’t hurt in his election for President either.

I’m sure Harris and W have mutual respect. The Bright But Lazy





FIDO said...

Farmer, Democrats have had a long history of smoke filled rooms deciding who will run and win in an office.

So asserting that this is not possible makes you seem stupidly naïve or disingenuous. Once again, see Hillary Clinton and NY state.

Sebastian said...

"Claiming she's a "meritocrat" certainly seems a bit silly"

Exactly. Even Brooks should be able to intuit that progs are all anti-meritocrats now.

Or perhaps he is playing a very subtle game: by touting her as an "achievatron," he is actually delegitimating her in the eyes of her fellow progs.

Wilbur said...

Rev. Slick teaches Kamala to bowl.
https://youtu.be/fXsY-PbMtmQ

J. Farmer said...

@tim in vermont:

There’s manage, and there’s micro manage, Farmer. There’s managing the money supply and interest rates, and there's things like commanding carmakers to “build a car for de volk” or maybe “build a car called de Volt.”

Sorry I missed this comment initially.

Government regulation of the economy in the 19th century went far beyond those kind of macromanagement. Land grants, loans, and financial subsidies were handed out to railroads, and numerous other businesses received a variety of special favors from Congress. There were high taxes on imports to protect local businesses, and a loose immigration policy was pursued to provide business with cheap labor. Government forces were used to break up railroad strikes.

Government involvement in the economy has been part and parcel of the American system since its inception. See Louis Hartz and The Myth of Laissez Faire

Martin said...

Interesting that after 12+ years, including the 8 yrs of Obama's Presidency, Brooks learned absolutely nothing about politicians or himself. The latter suggests a mind-boggling level of hubris and narcissism on his part.

Or, he really likes hard left biracial Democrats who try to hide their real politics in order to appear more centrist to the centrist rubes--similar to how he pretends to be conservative, to fool those rubes.

Hard to parse this any other way. As a moderate conservtive, I would only offer, "Fool me one, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me," to anybody who might be tempted to listen to Brooks. (Not that he fooled me in 2006-08, but clearly some people bought it.)

J. Farmer said...

FIDO:

So asserting that this is not possible makes you seem stupidly naïve or disingenuous. Once again, see Hillary Clinton and NY state.

I never said that such a thing was "not possible," but there's a difference between having evidence and pulling something out of your ass. If there is evidence that Harris won the race for District Attorney, Attorney General, or Senator fraudulently, please point me in that direction.

Yancey Ward said...

It should embarrass Brooks to have that old Obama essay resurface- Brooks was laughably wrong on just about every single aspect in describing Obama the President. He will turn out to be wrong about Harris, too, because Brooks just isn't all that perceptive- he is easy to fool.

hombre said...

JFarmer wrote: “...but I also don't see much point in getting vicious, cruel, and personal with someone because you disagree with them politically. Attack the policies, attack the record. Resist the school yard temptations.”

Downtown Willie Brown has virtually asserted that he boosted her political career while and after she was his girlfriend - the leftmedia came up with the “they dated” bullshit - including two lucrative political appointments. You can imagine a distinction between “slept her way to the top” and “screwed her way out of the starting gate” if you wish, but it is a distinction without a difference. It is indicative of her character and there is nothing indecorous about pointing it out.

iowan2 said...

If a woman wants to prioritize career, particularly a political career, it is probably better that she opts not to have children. That seems preferential to having a child and then forcing him or her to take a backseat to your career. I caught flak back in '08 for saying that I didn't think it was a good idea for Palin to run for VP while having a small special needs child at home.

We are starting to have a higher percentage of people that choose not to have families. The people that I know that make that choice are extremely selfish, and live in a bubble of constant entertainment, or work, not very involved in simple things like education, or ball games or community events. Things we do because are presence is required to be there to rear our children. It leaves them unable to understand basic values of a huge swath of the population they claim to represent. There was a time, that a President needed military experience. That was easy, because this nation was born of war, and it took war to sustain this nation. Men that are natural leaders, usually grew that character trait. A requirement of the people for the Presidency. Being a parent was taken for granted. Exceptions are rare.
I dont trust couples that dont want children

mccullough said...

Brooks will eventually realize that the meritocracy he defends isn’t meritocratic.

Except in professional sports there is no meritocracy in the US. That’s why sports are popular. No one gives a shit who Tom Brady’s dad is and LeBron didn’t need to tuck someone to get drafted.

Rick.T. said...

"an amazing amalgam of different elements"

By funny coincidence the dentist put some of that in a back molar last week.

Kevin said...

He has a compulsive tendency to see both sides of any issue....

He could not see people who liked their doctor not being able to keep their doctor.

Nor could he see insurance rates rising, rather than falling, as he forced policies to include more and more items.

So like GWB, he got the big decisions wrong no matter how deliberate and nuanced his decision-making process might have been.

Kevin said...

David Brooks: the Republican at the NYT who falls in love with all the Democrat candidates...

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

There is nothing wrong will calling the democratics who rule over us - government whores.

It is who they are.

mccullough said...

Brooks is a world-class brown nose. That’s his meritocratic trait. He knows how to suck up to the right people at the right time. He’s got a good gig at The Times.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

I'm not surprised that loathsome piece of shit Brooks is gushing over Senator sidepiece. This was the same guy who left his longtime wife for some young piece of ass.

Fuck David Brooks and the rest of the cuckservatives.

J. Farmer said...

@mccullough:

Willie Brown put her on two state boards that paid her a combined $200,000. That makes hr a whore. It’s impressive that she used those sinecures and Willie’s backing to get herself elected. But she is still a whore. She fucked Willie for money. Taxpayer money no less.

I admire your capacity to pull things out your ass and state them with absolute certitude. Of course you ignore the fact that Harris became deputy district attorney of Alameda County several years before she ever met Brown, and she was brought into the San Francisco City Attorney's office by Louise Renne.

@FIDO:

It is fairer than not. Her sales pitch for those positions was 'I did X appointed position'.

Without those two appointed positions, she would not have the credibility with the electorate to even consider her.


Oh really? How closely were you following the San Francisco District Attorney race in 2003. Do you realize that Harris' association with Brown was brought up by both of Harris' opponents during the election. So her success in the election had nothing to do with being a deputy DA for 8 years or working in the City Attorney's office for 4 years. It was because of all that name recognition and cache she got serving on the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board for six months and the Medical Assistance Commission. Right.

FIDO said...

Who said 'fraudulently'?

The districts where she ran, and won, were incredibly safe Democrat seats. If she was chosen as THE Democrat candidate in San Fran, are you suggesting that San Francisco would elect a REPUBLICAN instead?

In 2010, she was essentially hand picked by President St. Obama to win in the general. In the Primary, none of her competitors got even half the number of votes she did and she had a rather massive war chest of Seven Million Dollars. Where did she get this huge amount of money for a job that pays $150,000?

She was selected for that position and had strong backing by lawyers and media groups to win that position. These groups can offer a lot more than just money. Free press and free legal aid.

So...is this proof? No but it is massively suggestive. Is that smoke I smell?


papper said...

Hilary failed DC exam at the same time that she passed Arkansas exam. Different than failing the only bar exam you are taking. Maybe Kamela Harris is lazy in addition to not being that bright. You don't have to work that hard to pass the bar exam.

Kevin said...

"The more [you're fed] about Kamala Harris [from her handlers], the more formidable she appears."

To quote Robert Redford's character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid:

"You keep writin' Brooksy, that's what you're good at."

FIDO said...

Deputy DA. Having worked in a DA office briefly, that means a person in a small shitty office doing a lot of boring work who wasn't smart enough to get a job in a private law firm...or wanted to win in politics.

Since she failed the bar...

FIDO said...

The Arkansas bar exam is not in the same league as the D.C. bar exam, according to her biographer.

She blamed 'missing Bill' as the reason that she failed. We clearly shouldn't elect these flighty women whose heads are turned so easily by smarmy men into office.

mccullough said...

Farmer,

Gimme a break. I’m not taking about the jobs at the DA’s office.


While she was in the DA’s office , Willie Brown our her on:

1. California Unemployment Indurance Appeals Board and

2. Medical Assistance Commisssion


Did you know this? I guess not.

Didn’t your parents teach you to look shit up before you start shooting off your mouth,

For a guy who pretends to be so well-informed you don’t know much. Maybe you should read more and pop off less?

Skeptical Voter said...

Brooks saw her in a pantsuit with a perfect crease. And as for prestigious schools---well Howard ain't Harvard; and Hastings Law is neither Boalt nor Stanford. Flunking the California Bar exam on the first go round is not unheard of--but typically Hastings grads pass the Bar exam on the first shot at a rate of about 80%. So Ms. Harris is in the lower 20th percentile of Hastings grads. Color me only mildly impressed.

chuck said...

Scott Adams rated Kamala's charisma at zero.

FIDO said...

It was because of all that name recognition and cache she got serving on the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board for six months and the Medical Assistance Commission. Right.


Well, that and the fact that Willie Brown whispered in the correct ears to say 'hey, let's pick her!' as he was adjusting his fly. Or are you suggesting that Willie Brown was totally uninvolved in the selection process of who would be allowed to run for AG, bending ears and arms accordingly?

FIDO said...

For a guy who pretends to be so well-informed you don’t know much. Maybe you should read more and pop off less?

He did mention that.

mccullough said...

Farmer,

She got $200,000 of taxpayer money for fucking Willie Brown. You are just embarrassing yourself.

You can point out all her electoral success. The rest of us are touting her prostitution at taxpayer expense.

And she ended up at the DA’s office out of law school because she flunked the bar exam. That’s not impressive. She’s lazy.

mccullough said...

FIDO,

I know. He’s pretending that I was talking about her jobs at the DA’s office. I didn’t say she fucked her way into those jobs. She ended up at the DA’s office because she flunked the bar exam.

Farmer is just being disingenuous.

J. Farmer said...

@FIDO:

Who said 'fraudulently'?

You will have to be more specific as to what "smoke filled rooms deciding who will...win in an office."

The districts where she ran, and won, were incredibly safe Democrat seats. If she was chosen as THE Democrat candidate in San Fran, are you suggesting that San Francisco would elect a REPUBLICAN instead?

What do you mean "if?" I thought you had all the down low on the 2003 San Francisco District Attorney election. She ran against two-time incumbent and Democrat Terence Hallinan.

So...is this proof? No but it is massively suggestive. Is that smoke I smell?

Massively suggestive of what? I still haven't heard of any impropriety. Except that she was endorsed by Obama(!). You also forgot Boxer, Feinstein, and Pelosi.

Birkel said...

This billionaire owned rag is awesome.
Trust the billionaire owned propaganda.

Unknown said...

Didn't she famously date Willie when ahe was about 15 years old?

mccullough said...

She didn’t date Willie. He fucked her like he fucked a lot of other women. Kamala is just the most famous.

J. Farmer said...

@mccullough:

While she was in the DA’s office , Willie Brown our her on:

1. California Unemployment Indurance Appeals Board and

2. Medical Assistance Commisssion


Did you know this? I guess not.

Didn’t your parents teach you to look shit up before you start shooting off your mouth,

For a guy who pretends to be so well-informed you don’t know much. Maybe you should read more and pop off less?


Didn't your parents teach you to read? Look I what I wrote 10 minutes before you posted your vituperation, dipshit: " It was because of all that name recognition and cache she got serving on the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board for six months and the Medical Assistance Commission. Right."

James K said...

“Harris’s fearless, cut-the-crap rhetorical style”

As opposed to Trump's fearless, cut-the-crap rhetorical style? Somehow one is admirable, the other unpresidential.

madAsHell said...

Mr. Brooks is gonna need another set of knee pads.

Big Mike said...

Whatever one thinks of Harris as a politician, she is still somebody's daughter, somebody's sister, somebody's wife.

... and somebody’s mistress?

@Farmer, I should have resisted, but you teed it up so perfectly.

J. Farmer said...

@mccullough:

She didn’t date Willie. He fucked her like he fucked a lot of other women. Kamala is just the most famous.

Harris and Brown's relationship in the mid-90s was noted in the press at the time. And after Harris left the Medical Assistance Commission, Brown appointed his buddy Philip Ryan to the position. Brown had already been well known in California at the time for appointing friends and acquaintances to various positions. There is a difference between giving a job to someone you're involved with and offering a job to someone in exchange for sex. As best we know, this was an example of the former, how much ever McCullough would like in his puerile mind for it to be the latter.

tim in vermont said...

I am just going to refer to j Farmer as ‘Sheldon’ from now on, he probably doesn’t understand why.

mccullough said...

Farmer,

I missed your bottom comment to FIDO. My fault.

I don’t see what her working as an assistant DA has to do with anything I wrote. I never said she fucked her way into those jobs.

I said she ended up at the DA’s office in the first place because she flunked the bar. Maybe she was a great prosecutor. I don’t give a shit.

She got paid $200,000 of taxpayer money because she was fucking Willie Brown.

If you want to change the subject to say she got her assistant DA jobs on her merits then fine.

She flunked the bar and the Alameda County DA’s office isn’t and wasn’t a tough place to get an entry level prosecutor job. It’s where people who flunked the bar their first time go to work.

Maybe she got the job as an assistant prosecutor in SF because of merit. Maybe Willie made a call to make it happen.

Since you are so well informed I’m sure you know that Willie didn’t lift a finger to get her in at the SF DA’s office. That’s something you would pretend to believe.



J. Farmer said...

@Big Mike:

@Farmer, I should have resisted, but you teed it up so perfectly.

"Mistress" seems a little much to describe a relationship with a man who had been estranged and separated from his wife for more than a decade.

And considering that I voted for president a man who is a serially philanderer who has paid hush money to hookers, I am not going to make much a deal about a person' sex life.

Skippy Tisdale said...

"Government involvement in the economy has been part and parcel of the American system since its inception."

Shorter J. Farmer:

Government manipulation today,
Government manipulation tomorrow,
Government manipulation forever!

J. Farmer said...

@tim in vermont:

I am just going to refer to j Farmer as ‘Sheldon’ from now on, he probably doesn’t understand why.

Haven't watched Big Bang in a while; the premise got mucked up after they started pairing all the main characters up.

By the way, Tim, notice how I am capable of engaging your arguments without having to say anything about you personally. There's a lesson in there for ya.

Sam L. said...

I can't believe anything Brooks writes or says.

James K said...

There is a difference between giving a job to someone you're involved with and offering a job to someone in exchange for sex.

The subject is Harris, not Brown. The difference between getting a job because you're involved with someone and getting a job in exchange for sex seems less significant. Neither reflects well on her.

Quaestor said...

David Brooks is a crypto-liberal posing as a conservative whenever he has spare time from fluffing his wife's lover.

Brooks is a conservative in that he is dedicated to the conservation of the Power Elite.

mccullough said...

Farmer,

Please give us the credentials of all the people Willie I stalked on various boards.

The guy he appointed after Harris got paid was a long-time friend and lawyer who was in his 50s.

I never said Willie only helped out the women he fucked. He helped out others as well.

Since you are so well informed, please list all the women Willie fucked from 1988 through his term as mayor.

Then we can see what Willie did or didn’t do for his girlfriends.

Thanks

tim in vermont said...

The thing is Sheldon, she is just the evil side of #METOO. You can deny it if you want. I don’t have any problem pointing out to the pussy-hatted among us that she is as much a part of #METOO as Harvey Weinstein. This “hear no evil, see no evil” attitude is all well and good if politics weren’t being treated as a blood sport by our partisan press.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

I heard the reason she flunked the Cali bar the first time was because she gave a boring and clock watching blowjob to the proctor. The second bar she had to give up anal to pass.

AlbertAnonymous said...

"... highly educated elite meritocrat, Oakland street fighter, crusading, rough-elbow prosecutor, canny machine pol and telegenic rhetorical brawler. She is also probably the toughest and most hard-nosed progressive on the scene right now...."

Is ANY of that true?

'highly' educated? why because she went to some liberal elite school Brooks admires?

elite? means what you want it to mean, and i don't need a so called "elite" as my President

meritocrat? Jesus H. Does anyone believe she's that? Slept her way to the top. Thinks I deserve nothing because of my "privilege" and the color of my skin, and thinks that others deserve special favors/treatment because of the color of their skin

Oakland Street Fighter? When? While she was attending elite schools and getting highly educated?

Crusading, rough elbow prosecutor? WTF Brooks.

Did he write this while jerking off?

tim in vermont said...

Tim, notice how I am capable of engaging your arguments without having to say anything about you personally. There's a lesson in there for ya.

So, hypothetically, if a guy is 7’2” and keeps bumping his head on the door frame, I am not supposed to suggest he might duck next time because that is getting into the area of his person?

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mccullough said...

Farmer wants to change the subject to Harris accomplishments as an assistant DA.

She flunked the bar out of law school but eventually passed it.

Farmer is free to fill us in on all the trials and plea deals she handled in Alameda and SF counties.

Then compare those to her colleagues.

J. Farmer said...

@James K:

The subject is Harris, not Brown. The difference between getting a job because you're involved with someone and getting a job in exchange for sex seems less significant. Neither reflects well on her.

Giving a job to someone I am involved with and offering to give a job in exchange for sex with someone I'm not involved with does not seem like a "less significant" difference to me. Getting an appointment because of a personal connection is not a good look, but it's an exceptionally common practice in all layers of government all over the world.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J. Farmer said...

@tim in vermont:

So, hypothetically, if a guy is 7’2” and keeps bumping his head on the door frame, I am not supposed to suggest he might duck next time because that is getting into the area of his person?

Telling him to duck is not "getting into the area of his person." Telling him he is too tall would be a better analogy. And therein lies your answer. How about identifying what I said that you think is factually incorrect or illogical as opposed to making some vague assertion about my constitution.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Funny how Brooks didn't mention anything about her debut performance at the Kavanaugh hearing.

That was an excellent opportunity to show she is:

"Oakland street fighter, crusading, rough-elbow prosecutor, canny machine pol and telegenic rhetorical brawler. She is also probably the toughest and most hard-nosed progressive"

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mccullough said...

Full moon,

Brooks didn’t mention that Harris flunked the bar. It cuts against the elite and meritocratic narrative.

Brooks also doesn’t delve into her record as an assistant prosecutor. Neither does Farmer.

tim in vermont said...

Republicans seize on liberal positions to paint Democrats as radical. - WaPo

Ha ha ha ha ha! At least they didn’t say “pounce” so they can learn!

J. Farmer said...

@mccullough:

Farmer wants to change the subject to Harris accomplishments as an assistant DA.

If you want to engage in discussion, please at least have the intellectual honesty and integrity to not distort what I have said. And what I have said repeatedly is that while I have no sympathy for Harris' politics, I do not think it is fair to say that she "slept her way to the top" or to use crude aspersions like "whore." I stand by those claims, and nothing you have said has convinced me otherwise. Perhaps it is best we now bring this topic to a close.

bagoh20 said...

A rube like me needs help with some things. Here's one:

Why do they call them "intellectuals"? How do you get the title? How can you lose it?

J. Farmer said...

@bagoh20:

See l'affaire Dreyfus.

bagoh20 said...

Brooks doesn't need anything from a President, so he can opine without consequences. Being wrong in the chattering class is kind of like having a cold. It comes, it goes, no lasting effect no matter how many times it happens.

AZ Bob said...

She ended up at the DA’s office because she flunked the bar exam.

Not true. The DA's office has plenty of adroit legal minds. You may be thinking of the public defender's office.

(Just joking.)

President-Mom-Jeans said...

Wilbur, I thought I was the only one who automatically thinks of the Ugandan Giant when I hear about Senator Sidepiece. Excellent clip.

tim in vermont said...

"Telling him he is too tall would be a better analogy. “

No, it’s not Sheldon. Which is my point. I like your comments, but you make a lot of sweeping judgements. Willie Brown wouldn’t have chosen her as a lover, and therefore a friend, if she wasn’t highly sexually attractive. Can I prove it beyond reasonable doubt? No. This is politics, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. It’s probably the same reason she married a successful partner in a law firm. I spend time occasionally in places where there are lot of affluent people. The percentage of good looking women jumps markedly. I guess I can’t say that there is anything to that either.

mccullough said...

Farmer,

You said that Kamala didn’t get her job at the SF attorneys office because of Willie Brown.

So I didn’t distort what you said. So you must know Willie didn’t make a call to his friends in that office to get her that gig.

You don’t know that. Given how Willie works and how Kamala got his hekpnbegore, it’s a good inference that Willie pulled some strings.

You could try and rebut that inference by telling us her record at the Alameda DA and showing us she was anything other than average.

If you don’t want to do that, then fine. Brooks just bullshitted his column by not delving into that either. Rough elbows, Oakland street fighter bullshit.

But you brought it up, not me.



walter said...

bagoh20 said...Brooks doesn't need anything from a President, so he can opine without consequences.
--
One consequence is more DC circles invites for a token Republican who "gets it".

President-Mom-Jeans said...

I'm not sure why J. Farmer is so insistent for white knighting for that whore, I assume he believes it is the most likely candidate who could get elected that will lead to his dream of the state of Israel being destroyed.

J. Farmer said...

@tim in vermont:

Willie Brown wouldn’t have chosen her as a lover, and therefore a friend, if she wasn’t highly sexually attractive. Can I prove it beyond reasonable doubt? No.

I presume like in most male/female sexual relations, women tend to be attracted to status and power and men towards youth and beauty. That doesn't contradict anything I have said above. I have never denied that Harris and Brown were involved in a romantic relationship, and this was discussed in the California press while it was happening in the mid-90s.

J. Farmer said...

@President-Mom-Jeans:

I'm not sure why J. Farmer is so insistent for white knighting for that whore, I assume he believes it is the most likely candidate who could get elected that will lead to his dream of the state of Israel being destroyed.

Yawn...please try harder...

walter said...

Well..it was an affair, an affair within a power structure that appears to have garnered appointments/jobs.
Spare us the anodyne terms like "dating" and "romantic relationship".

President-Mom-Jeans said...

"Yawn...please try harder..."

Sorry, I'll do better. I assume J. Farmer's white knighting for this trashbag ho is because he believes it is the most likely candidate who could get elected that will lead to his dream of the death of every jew in the solar system.

Was that a better representation of your motivations?

mccullough said...

Farmer said he wanted to talk about Harris record and her policies.

Now he doesn’t want to talk about her record as a prosecutor in Alameda. Or apparently her record on those two state boards Willie put her on.

I guess he just wants to talk about her policies, whatever they are. Her spokesman just clarified she doesn’t want to get rid of private health insurance even though she just said she did.

Her policies seem to be in flux.

But there’s no doubt she’s a whore.



J. Farmer said...

@mccullough:

You said that Kamala didn’t get her job at the SF attorneys office because of Willie Brown.

That isn't what I said. I said that she was "brought into the San Francisco City Attorney's office by Louise Renne."

So you must know Willie didn’t make a call to his friends in that office to get her that gig.

You can't know something didn't happen.

You don’t know that.

And neither do you. You're making an accusation based on what you think might have happened. Excuse me for exercising a bit of credulity as opposed to just acting like an accusation is the same as the established truth.

So it's your assertion that Willie got her the job in 2001, because she slept with him six years earlier? That's some magic pussy right there.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Failing the bar exam = shut up.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

""The more you learn about Kamala Harris, the more frightening she appears.""

*fixed.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Agreed. It's not a good idea to throw around accusations that are not proven.

Unless you are a democrat and/or a member of The Party Media.

mccullough said...

Farmer,

I don’t know if Willor got her that job in 2000. She may have fucked other guys to get it.

J. Farmer said...

@mccullough:

Farmer said he wanted to talk about Harris record and her policies.

It's frightening how incapable you are of rendering my position honestly. Never once did I say I "wanted to talk about Harris record and her policies."

What I said exactly was "attack the policies, attack the record."

But there’s no doubt she’s a whore.

And there's no doubt you're a crude prick. So what?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I'm sure the media will get to the bottom of all of Kamama's various political power climbing. If they find something negative - the media will ignore it. Actually, they won't look.

J. Farmer said...

@mccullough:

I don’t know if Willor got her that job in 2000. She may have fucked other guys to get it.

Or you might just be an asshole. Opinions differ.

Big Mike said...

@Farmer, I voted for the same man, and I do not regret it. But I am irked (yes, I know, you live to irk people) by your feeble efforts to invoke the Clinton defense ("just a little lying about sex").

Sometimes one's private sex life has no bearing on one's fitness for office -- I argue that the incumbent President is an example -- and sometimes it does. In the case of Kamala Harris, I believe that it does. I do not begrudge her boinking anyone she wants to boink, but if she used her sexual contacts to elevate herself over other, possibly better-qualified and more capable, individuals then I think it does say something about her fitness for office. Can you convince me that this did not happen?

Rick said...

And considering that I voted for president a man who is a serially philanderer who has paid hush money to hookers, I am not going to make much a deal about a person' sex life.

This misunderstands the nature of the criticism. In Harris' case the relationship, sexual or not, raises questions about whether her qualifications are legitimate. This is not true of Trump's relationship with anyone.

The better comparison to Harris' situation is Kushner. He has qualifications as a successful businessman but those qualifications are questioned because people assert or suspect those were not earned but received due to his relationships. Are the people defending Harris also defending Kushner from this similar and common criticism? If so I haven't heard it.

On second thought there is a Trump comparison, people question his credentials because of his relationship with his father. Are any of these people defending Harris defending Trump from accusations his qualification as a successful businessman is impugned because he inherited his wealth? Not that I know of.

Also note that the people defending Harris generally impugn Trump for his sexual relationships even though those had no bearing on his qualifications.

So the resulting effect seems to be that criticisms of Trump even less relevant than those targeted at Harris are legitimate but nevertheless Harris must be protected.

Big Mike said...

What I said exactly was "attack the policies, attack the record."

@Farmer, I did just that, and you are unhappy at the result.

Big Mike said...

@Rick, thanks for your support.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

J. Farmer, you don't have to keep myladying to this gutter sloot. Shes not going to fuck you, you don't have anything to offer her.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

I'm waiting to see what Peggy Noonan thinks.

Bilwick said...

Brooks loves the crease in her panties.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I KKKamala were a Republican, her sex life would matter.

mccullough said...

Farmer,

You are quick to start calling other people names. You are not the dispassionate commenter who is above the fray after all. Didn’t your parents ever tell you two wrongs don’t make a right?


So saying Louise Renne brought Harris into the office isn’t implying that Harris got that job on her own? That Aillie Brown god t pull any strings?

Renne and Brown were close political allies. Of course you know that.

You are disingenuous. You comment in bad faith and can’t take it when people disagree with you. You distort other people’s comments and ignore their points that undercut your argument.

You are also a hypocrite as well as a dipshit, an asshole, and a prick.



J. Farmer said...

@Big Mike:

@Farmer, I did just that, and you are unhappy at the result.

If you notice, most of this back and forth has been between McCullough and myself. Go back and look at my responses to you. The first was, "That may very well be true." The second was, "That's of course fine. I was referring more to comments like 'whore' and 'slept her way to the top.'" And lastly I wrote that, "'Mistress' seems a little much to describe a relationship with a man who had been estranged and separated from his wife for more than a decade."

You're going to have to explain how any of what I wrote to you indicates that I was "unhappy at the result" of you criticizing her policies or her record.

J. Farmer said...

@Rick:

So the resulting effect seems to be that criticisms of Trump even less relevant than those targeted at Harris are legitimate but nevertheless Harris must be protected.

I am not defending "the people defending Harris." Most of them are, presume, driven by partisan desires to protect her political ambitions. I have no interest in protecting Harris' political ambitions, I don't share her politics, and there is about a zero percent chance that I would vote for her. Questioning someone's credentials or qualifications is well within the bounds of acceptable discourse. I don't consider calling a woman a "whore" an example of that.

Big Mike said...

@Farmer, fair enough. You don't want to defend her policy of building up a "tough on crime" reputation by hammering poor people instead of the children of privilege. Here's a take on the policies and record that you'll like even less.

J. Farmer said...

@mccullough:

Didn’t your parents ever tell you two wrongs don’t make a right?

Indeed they did. And I remain an imperfect person.

Renne and Brown were close political allies. Of course you know that.

If you want to make the case that Harris got her job in the City Attorney's office because of Brown, by all means provide the evidence. Pulling something out of your ass is not evidence.

You are disingenuous. You comment in bad faith and can’t take it when people disagree with you. You distort other people’s comments and ignore their points that undercut your argument.

No, actually, I quote exactly what people say and then give my response. But please do give me an example of where I distorted your comments. I won't hold my breath.

J. Farmer said...

@Big Mike:

You don't want to defend her policy of building up a "tough on crime" reputation by hammering poor people instead of the children of privilege. Here's a take on the policies and record that you'll like even less.

As i have said repeatedly on this blog, I am an ethno-nationalist with white separatist sympathies. I don't need any convincing to not vote for Harris. Her position on immigration alone is enough to make me never vote for her.

hstad said...


What a naked propoganda piece full of ignorance and outright free marketing for Harris. So she's touted as the new kind of feminist when in truth she's the old kind of bimbo getting head by sleeping with Willie Brown - LOL! ".....“Yes, I may have influenced her career by appointing her to two state commissions when I was [California] Assembly speaker. And I certainly helped with her first race for district attorney in San Francisco,” Brown wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle..."

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