October 10, 2023

"[Kamala Harris] has remained a vacuum of negative space, a vessel for supporters and detractors to fill as they choose, not least because she refuses to do so herself."

"'My career, for the most part, has not been one of being focused on giving lovely speeches or trying to pass a bill,' Harris said to me.... 'And so that’s how I approach public policy. I’m probably oriented to think about, What does this actually mean, as opposed to how does this just sound?' Harris has leaned on this sentiment for years.... It reflects a figure who is fundamentally uncomfortable with having to make an affirmative case for herself to the public — and feels she shouldn’t have to...."

From a long article by Djeneba Aduayom, "In Search of Kamala Harris/After nearly three years, the vice president is still struggling to make the case for herself — and feels she shouldn’t have to" (NYT Magazine).

Top-rated comment: "Feels she shouldn’t have to??? That explains everything. What she should do is step down. Biden is too old but having a VP that the American people believe can do the job [would] put that concern to rest. Harris is not that VP - no matter what she thinks she is owed. Her ego could destroy this country. Literally."

55 comments:

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Far be it for me to defend Kamala Harris, but you know it's bad when the No 2 is expected to outshine the big guy.

RideSpaceMountain said...

"Feels she shouldn’t have to??? That explains everything."

Careful now...that sentiment applies to Hillary as much as Kamala. Hell, "feels she shouldn't have to" applies to a large cohort of American women in general.

Kamala's just picking up on the cues Hillary and the sisterhood have left her for 30+ years, "you're awesome and you're owed this, you really shouldn't have to!"

Dave Begley said...

At this point, America would be better off with Harris as President. Biden is both senile and corrupt. He needs to be removed by the 25th Amendment.

Harris is married to a smart guy. I'd take my chances with him.

mikee said...

Ah, give her a chance! The people running the Biden presidency would do just as good a job running the government with her as President. Absolutely no difference, I'd guess.

Enigma said...

"Her ego could destroy this country. Literally."

She slept her way up the ladder in California with Willy Brown, and then became an arch hypocrite and destroyer of black and brown lives for prosecuting MJ crimes while she herself was lighting up. She was portrayed as a (nominally) "black" female candidate, but widely considered a talentless diversity hire after her own presidential campaign went down in flames.

She "refuses to do so" because she can't do diddly squat. She's as much a puppet as Biden, and the Party selected her precisely because she had a price to be their puppet. Blame the puppet masters for destroying the country -- they have billions of dollars and aren't shy about spending for selfish political gain.

Big Mike said...

It reflects a figure who is fundamentally uncomfortable with having to make an affirmative case for herself to the public — and feels she shouldn’t have to...."

So yet another entitled Karen.

Joe Smith said...

When you've lost the NYT readers...

Crimso said...

Sometimes there's not more there than meets the eye. Sometimes it's less. A lot less.

Jake said...

Let's be honest. Ms. Harris wouldn't be able to make a case for herself even if she had to. There's no case to make. She's the quintessential empty suit.

n.n said...

Lowered expectations.

Rabel said...

"a vacuum of negative space"

Did he just call our VP a Black Hole?

That's rude.

The Crack Emcee said...

This is going to haunt this nation for the rest of it's days.

MadisonMan said...

When you don't have to campaign for your position, a certain feeling of "I'm due this" creeps in. (See: Clinton, Hillary)
I see the Times is trying to prop Harris up here. Where this is obviously going: a 25th Amendment insurrection, although the Times won't call it that.

Yancey Ward said...

Harris is a dimwit, but she is more competent than Joe "Shit For His Brains" Biden.

Real American said...

Of course, she feels she shouldn't have to. She's never had to make a case for herself. There's no case to make. What has she ever done that qualifies her for high public office? She's ambitious and others have moved her career along for her. In California she had a D next to her name on the ballot and that was sufficient. Even Joe Biden picked her solely because she's a brown woman. Not her vacant list of public achievements. There's nothing there. She's an empty pantsuit with the voice that makes nails on the chalkboard sound like Mozart.

Mark said...

Kamala Harris SHOULDN'T have to make a case for herself.

She is a Black woman. The first woman VP and likely first woman president. THAT is all the case she needs.

If utterly incompetent and dangerous white men can be president, so can an utterly incompetent and dangerous Black woman and it is misogynist and racist to say otherwise.

Static Ping said...

Considering that being a politician is mostly about selling policies and selling yourself as the right person to forward those policies, this is one of the most baffling statements I may have ever heard. Joe Biden, who is an idiot at governing to the point that it is impressive in the same way that, say, Commodus was impressive, is genuinely good at selling himself, which is the only reason why we have been cursed with his "presidency." Kamala has just admitted she is less competent than Joe.

Of course, I am not sure what else I should have expected from someone whose entire political career was based on giving out sexual favors.

rhhardin said...

She's a whore.

Evita Peron made a state visit to Franco, and her motorcade was booed with shouts of Puta! Whore!

Evita complained to Franco.

"I've been retired from the military for over a decade," said Franco, "but people still call me General."

Jamie said...

Unfortunately she took a job that was explicitly billed as "co-president." How she feeeels about having to prove her merit means nothing.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

OMG I agree with the top rated comment on NYT magazine. What is the world coming to?

But seriously, how clueless to you have to be to know the world views you as a cackling cipher unable to hold an adult conversation but still insist to the friendly on-her-side media that she doesn't feel the need to define her role or her ideas because she doesn't feel she should have to? The old maxim comes to mind: You can keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool or open it and remove all doubt.

Okay then, maybe she is onto something. Her talking won't help. Honesty certainly wouldn't. Blank slate it is then.

rehajm said...

a vacuum of negative space. Ouch...

'Tis the season to vent all this crap. Come the first of the year we're gonna lipstick up this political pig and send it out there. Don't worry we're gonna game it again...

readering said...

Trying to think of which VPs grew in the office in my lifetime. Walter Mondale. Who else?

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

I follow her on X. Damn near every post is race-pandering for votes. She milked that hip-hop party at her house for the better part of a week, multiple times per day. Everyone should follow her. It provides a great opportunity mock her in the comments.

pious agnostic said...

She's simply lazy.

Iowan2 said...

Harris is not even a real Democrat. If she were, she would have fashioned an internal overthrow, and Biden would have been gone in the first 18 months.
That hasn’t happened proving that Harris has failed the test.
Go back and look at Obama‘s first two campaigns for office. Both of his opponents were forced to drop out of the race. That’s how Democrats prove they’re Democrats.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"The Crack Emcee said...
This is going to haunt this nation for the rest of it's days."

Only a fool clicks a link with zero context. Just ask the Rick-Rolled.

Do better.

Maynard said...

If utterly incompetent and dangerous white men can be president, so can an utterly incompetent and dangerous Black woman and it is misogynist and racist to say otherwise.

Gee Mark. You seem to be saying that any criticism of Kamala as POTUS is racist and misogynist, despite that fact that she is utterly incompetent.

That's modern liberalism for you.

TaeJohnDo said...

Vacuum...sucks....sucked to move up.... That's her!

JIM said...

She's incompetent and unlikable. Despite her calling Biden a racist and a misogynist, he still picked her as his VP. Not because of merit, because she checks the right boxes from a political perspective. To vote for this pair of jokers one must discard all morality and principle.

madAsHell said...

Harris is married to a smart guy. I'd take my chances with him.

That's an oxymoron. Smart guys don't fall for women like her.

Patentlee said...

When Harris had to make a case for herself as the Democrat Presidential nominee in 2020, she failed miserably.

rehajm said...

Kamala Harris has remained a vacuum of negative space

…to quote my favourite VW commercial: She’s definitely suckin’

Leland said...

If the election in 2020 was legitimate, as we are told it was fortified, then Harris is the Vice President and doesn’t have to prove she deserves it. She certainly doesn’t have to step down. I didn’t vote for her, but those that did that have buyer’s remorse are the fools that didn’t vet either Biden or Harris. They are who they always were.

victoria said...

Ouch... How afraid are the conservatives of a well educated, competent black woman? Typical right wing responses. Chickens

Vicki from Pasadena

madAsHell said...

You know.....at some point, Kamala is just a mean high school girl. Trust me, I dated one.......once.

Mikey NTH said...

Most people explain and justify themselves by their actions. What do the actions of Kamala Harris reveal? A vapid empty vessel that got to her position by patronage?

B. said...

Djeneba Aduayom Is the photographer. The story was written by Astead W. Herndon.
No Paywall: https://archive.ph/fgpCM

B. said...

No paywall: https://archive.ph/fgpCM
The author is Astead W. Herndon

Joanne Jacobs said...

It's one thing for her to say she's not focused on making speeches, but she also doesn't care about passing legislation? What's left?

Joanne Jacobs said...

It's one thing for her to say she's not focused on making speeches, but she also doesn't care about passing legislation? What's left?

chickelit said...

I wonder just how steeped Harris is in say totalitarian Government like in China where leaders are chosen and not elected. Being from California, which is owned to a greater extent by China than most realize, this makes sense.

Maynard said...

Ouch... How afraid are the conservatives of a well educated, competent black woman? Typical right wing responses. Chickens

Who are you talking about Vicki from crazyland?

Janice Rogers Brown? Condeleeza Rice? Candice Owens? Sage Steele? Winsome Sears? etc.

Asking for a friend who wonders if you know your ass from a hole in the ground.

Mason G said...

"Asking for a friend who wonders if you know your ass from a hole in the ground."

It's nighttime now, so it'll probably take some time for VfP to go out to the backyard and sort that out. Your friend will need to wait for an answer.

chickelit said...

Harris is the first ever candidate to scorn midwestern fly-over she primaries. And she has the shitzpah to say “why should I care.

Mark applauds her skin color.

Skeptical Voter said...

I sorta have to agree with Maynard re Vicky's characterization of Kamala as a "well educated competent black woman".

Kamala went to Howard University. Nothing wrong with that but Howard isn't Harvard.
Kamala went to Hastings Law School. Nothing wrong with that but Hastings isn't Yale Law, Harvard Law, nor Stanford Law.

Kamala got such a good education that she flunked the California Bar exam the first time she took it. That's sort of a tradition among high flying Democrat Women--Hillary Clinton flunked the DC Bar Exam (if you can fog a mirror you can pass the DC Bar Exam) the first time around.

Kamala got the start of her career in Oakland. Gertrude Stein famously said of Oakland, "There is no there there". The same can be said of Kamala's competence--there is no there there.

gadfly said...

The fact that Biden and Harris still head the 2024 Democrat Ticket is weird. Biden is too old and Harris is incompetent.

Worse, Biden's choice to keep her on the ticket reflects badly on his judgment.

Of the candidates from any and all parties, only "Krispy Kreme" Christy makes any sense.

gadfly said...

Dave Begley said...
At this point, America would be better off with Harris as President. Biden is both senile and corrupt. He needs to be removed by the 25th Amendment.

Dave, perhaps you don't recognize all forms of senility but it amazes me that you believe Biden to be corrupt but you utter not even one bad word about the Former Guy - that other senile and really corrupt candidate. Trump needed to be removed from office but after multiple opportunities, the Republican hierarchy refused to do so, and sadly they have become as dishonest as he has always been.

gadfly said...

Dave Begley said...
At this point, America would be better off with Harris as President. Biden is both senile and corrupt. He needs to be removed by the 25th Amendment.

Dave, perhaps you don't recognize all forms of senility but it amazes me that you believe Biden to be corrupt but you utter not even one bad word about the Former Guy - that other senile and really corrupt candidate. Trump needed to be removed from office but after multiple opportunities, the Republican hierarchy refused to do so, and sadly they have become as dishonest as he has always been.

Blackbeard said...

Harris checks three boxes that are important to the Progressives: She's black, she's female and and she's on the Left. To mention that she's a flaming incompetent who built her career on being Willie Brown's mistress would be racist and sexist.

And she could well be our next President. Thus do civilizations end.

Big Mike said...

Ouch... How afraid are the conservatives of a well educated, competent black woman? Typical right wing responses. Chickens

The set of all competent Democrat black female politicians seems to consist of Barbara Jordan and … hard to think of anyone else competent. Tulsi Gabbard? She’s more Samoan. Kamala Harris is an embarrassment.

The set of all competent Republican black female politicians includes Condi Rice, my Lt. Governor Winsome Sears, Mia Love, Crystal Wright, among others.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Thank you Vicki! That was a much needed humorous break in an otherwise momentarily somber blog. Competent! LOL

Howard (not that Howard) said...

I can't believe Veep isn't having a resurgence. The only thing real life Selina Meyer is missing is an actual sense of humor.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

She ain’t no Winsome Sears! Now THAT is a competent strong black woman.

B. said...

Please correct your post 5(3 photo was taken by Djeneba Aduayom—she’s not the author.

Jim at said...

Ouch... How afraid are the conservatives of a well educated, competent black woman? Typical right wing responses. Chickens

It wasn't conservatives who knocked her out of the race before the first ballot was cast in Iowa, you twit.