August 9, 2024

"Adopting joy as a political shield has also allowed Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz to throw some bare-knuckled punches at Mr. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio."

"Ms. Harris, a former prosecutor, has targeted Mr. Trump for his many legal problems — 'I know Donald Trump’s type,' she now likes to say, to uproarious applause and chants of 'Lock him up' that she only recently began to discourage. Mr. Walz has castigated Mr. Trump for 'servicing himself' instead of helping others, and made an off-color reference to a debunked rumor about Mr. Vance and furniture. Both Democrats do it with a smile, and the crowd eats it up.... Of course, Ms. Harris’s joyful-warrior approach has so far not been substantive from a policy perspective...."

Writes Katie Rogers in "Harris Used to Worry About Laughing. Now Joy Is Fueling Her Campaign. Democrats are smiling again, and so is a vice president who once weighed the political risks of cheerfulness. The high spirits are also providing air cover for scathing attacks on Republicans" (NYT).

But maybe get-happy is policy enough: "In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt adopted the song 'Happy Days Are Here Again' to offer a promise of a bright future to Americans stricken by the Great Depression.... In a time of war and economic recession, Barack Obama’s likeness was plastered on a poster [with] the message... 'Hope.'"

125 comments:

Dave Begley said...

I still think that Sheena Easton song, "Sugar Walls" has a good prospect of being the campaign theme song. Or maybe "Happy."

doctrev said...

Yeah, watching a pack of scumbag liberals pretend to be sugar and sweetness while making up insane lies isn't even news, Professor. I don't think they realize how much their tactics have made Trump possible, especially now that Bush/ Romney are openly allied with the scumbags. It's the primary reason DeSantis/ Haley were turfed out like rotten meat.

rhhardin said...

On the great depression, people should just snap out of it, one President involved remarked.

Leland said...

Don’t you have to be present to throw a bare knuckle punch?

rhhardin said...

The key will be seeming to mean well, which hooks women voters.

RideSpaceMountain said...

"Mr. Walz has castigated Mr. Trump for 'servicing himself'"

Spot on. I hear Trump has commissioned himself a Major General already. He plans to clinch another star by October. Typical Trump. He blew right past the enlisted and field grades.

See how it's done Ranger Walz?

Big Mike said...

Of course, Ms. Harris’s joyful-warrior approach has so far not been substantive from a policy perspective....

Which is the point … of course.

Drago said...

Here's Harris holding an electric vehicle charger as if it were the same thing as pumping gas....probably as she ponders the sigificance of the passage of time

https://x.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1821767942884757849?t=c4j1b73SKtQxI9ANG0ojkA&s=19

Democratic Paychecks for Perks/ Dems for Demolition of Democracy/ fake-cares 4-U said...

More Fawning press. Welcome to Soviet America. Soon to be Maduro's Venezuela.

Democratic Paychecks for Perks/ Dems for Demolition of Democracy/ fake-cares 4-U said...

"Bare knuckle punch."

The leftists cannot help themselves, can they?
More Violent rhetoric from the Democrat Party press.

Money Manger said...

The Times today also ran an approving story about how strategically clever Harris is being by not talking to the press, that is to say press like the Times.

The balancing viewpoint in the article was of the "Republicans pounce", in tone.
Just incredible.

Kate said...

Trump was joyful, too, before they shot him.

AlbertAnonymous said...

More media fellating…

Ugh

Achilles said...

Pretty silly stuff even for the Democrats.

They are running out of clapping seals. Every day they are losing supporters who accept the humiliation it requires to support this failed campaign.

Esteban said...

The Dems don't do interviews and don't take tough questions. The media doesn't demand it from them. I don't care for Trump even a little, but he doesn't hide.

Michael K said...

The longer this goes on the more obvious that this is all there is to her campaign. Will she actually show up for a debate?

Sebastian said...

"castigated Mr. Trump for 'servicing himself' instead of helping others" Even by prog standards, a bit odd: servicing himself by giving up a nice life, risking his fortune, exposing himself to constant deep-state attack and lawfare and eventually assassination?

"made an off-color reference to a debunked rumor about Mr. Vance and furniture" Ah, yes, the sort of lie that is a joy to progs.

Iman said...

“Joy”? Fuck me running, if I don’t find that the lamest most ridiculous recast of of an inebriated, halfwit politician ever.

Narr said...

Joy, to the world, was a beautiful girl,
But to me Joy meant only sorrow.

Howard (not that Howard) said...

Giggling buffoons as leaders of the free world. Idiocracy is here, 500 years early.

Democratic Paychecks for Perks/ Dems for Demolition of Democracy/ fake-cares 4-U said...

Enjoy the clusterfuck that is the left's massive mail-in cheat-to-vote. Welcome to USA in decline. Epic Socialist failures ala Venezuela. But ABORTION! on demand!

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Except IMHO her laugh is joyless, mirthless a nervous-sounding filler when she can't or won't answer questions. Further, I don't believe her exaggerated enthusiasm and exuberance for Venn diagrams or big yellow school buses. The catchword that comes to mind is not "joy" but "inane."

That's a steep hill to climb and all the puffery-filled press in the universe won't overcome public perception once she takes the stage and opens her yap.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Sounds like a retread of yesterday's Politico journo-BJ she got for the cleverness of not talking.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

His sunny optimism and doesn't get and will never get respect by the press. The People however...

RideSpaceMountain said...

A woman who couldn't get more than 1% support in an actual election is commanding 100% of her party's devotion. I have beachfront property in Arizona for sale if anyone's interested. No price, just OBO.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I used the same analogy but I guess it's really more cunnilingual in nature.

I Shouldn’t Have Left the White House said...

Trump got nicked in the ear by an assassin’s bullet and Harris is already dominating this news cycle — what’s a guy gotta do to get media coverage ?

Sally327 said...

Joy is good. C. S. Lewis wrote a whole book about it ("Surprised by Joy"). And I'm not surprised Harris and Walz are both full of glee at what they've gotten away with. They make horror movies about characters like this, the laughing, friendly-acting creature that gets next to you and then sucks away your soul.

It is possible that these two are in that first wave of outer space aliens who have infiltrated the planet and assumed human form to strip away our lives and resources and then fly away to wreak their destruction on some other unsuspecting and defenseless population elsewhere in the galaxy. They write books and make movies about that kind of thing, too. Supposedly fiction, of course, but it could be real. I think we're about to find out.

mccullough said...

Trump got shot, got up, and is out campaigning. The Last Boomers can’t compete with that.

Meade said...

“Get up Stand up Don’t give up the fight”

Howard said...

Trump is selling himself as the only solution to certain gloom and doom. We're on the cusp of a depression and WWII with illegal drug dealers rapists, murderers and lunatics are overrunning the country.

MayBee said...

Reminds me of Anne Boleyn’s theme, “Most Happy”

Meade said...

‘I Shouldn’t Be Here, I Should Be Dead!’
(25 days ago)

Michael K said...

If Harris \Walz get in (I won't say elected), the "cusp" will be behind us. I have worried that this may be a poisoned chalice for Trump. Maybe it's too late but the other team has brought us here.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne aka Doug Emhoff's Pimp Hand said...

Joy? More like delusion.

Marcus Bressler said...

Mark Tapscott at Instapundit wrote: "HAVE YOU HEARD? When a politician continually evades answering a question, he or she is dancing to the Harris Walz." Thanks for the suggestion. Here is my contribution:
My parody of "The Weiner Schnitzel Waltz" by the great Tom Lehrer (his version in the first comment). He says of his creation, "Here we have the Viennese waltz type of the Franz Lehar/Johann Strauss school".
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐳
Do you remember the night I held you so tight,
As we danced to the Kamala Harris Walz? (tra la la)
The music was rap, but the setting was Indian,
We met at a book signing, I think it was Didion.
I was blind to your obvious faults,
As we danced 'cross the scene
To the strains of the Kamala Harris Walz
Oh, I found some cocaine in the loo (tra la la)
I was high by the time I got through (tra la la)
I didn't know as I snorted that line
That Hunter was the one that had left it behind
It was I who voted for Trump (tra la la)
You said he was Orange Man Bad (tra la la)
I was just done with my ballot writin'
When it got counted it was now for Biden
Kamala's words are a mess (tra la la)
Her appointments will be men in a dress (tra la la)
Revealing for all of the voters to see
Her allegiance to LBGT and “He is a She”.
I remember the night I held you so tight,
As we danced to the Kamala Harris Walz
I whispered the Constitution and mentioned Free Speech,
You told me that was Hate and I'd learn what you'd teach
I drank Diet Coke, you drank Kool Aid, of course!
And we cackled quite mean
To the strains of the Kamala Harris Walz.

Quaestor said...

I think we all know the difference between joy and demented giggling.

MadisonMan said...

It's not like Harris/Walz can campaign on their beliefs, because they run counter to what so many Americans can countenance. Who wants more government censorship, like Walz? Who wants more unrestricted immigration, and more war, like Harris?
Result: they can just campaign on "Trump Bad", and hide from any inquisitive Press.

DINKY DAU 45 said...

is there any more info on the registered republican shooter that KILLED ONE and wounded three at the trump rally? Do you think if it was a democrat who did that the media would be quiet? HARRIS /WALZ dominating news cycle and its not even the convention yet?

Drago said...

"Trump got nicked in the ear by an assassin’s bullet "

A majority of the New Soviet Democraticals do not believe that happened.

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

Someone is posting from The Silly Talking Point Buffet where you grab lots of different items and pile them high! And you are weeks behind on the talking points.

Sad!

Democratic Paychecks for Perks/ Dems for Demolition of Democracy/ fake-cares 4-U said...

Rich - the Democrat Party press in action. Glad to see you are impressed with your Soviets.

Drago said...

Always the unnecessary signal of anti-Trump sentiment prior to criticizing the dems and/or making note of anything positive about Trump.

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Quaestor said...

@ Dinky Dau 45

Democratic Paychecks for Perks/ Dems for Demolition of Democracy/ fake-cares 4-U said...

Rich - Your corrupt Party's paid Patsy - killed an innocent man. Waiting for you to care.

Drago said...

Lets test drive this: The Dems don't do interviews and don't take tough questions. The media doesn't demand it from them. Trump doesn't hide.

AZ Bob said...

I know what a joyful laugh sounds like and her's is not a natural result of joy. She injects her drawn-out cackle as a means of drawing in the listener after failing to make her point. “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?" What?

Here is a good example and note how uncomfortable her audience is when giving polite applause.



Real American said...

Kamala's "joy" is the embodiment of "ignorance is bliss."

Inga said...

Being joyful and having fun while campaigning… what?! It’s an American Carnage I tell ya.

I Shouldn’t Have Left the White House said...

JD Vance conveniently leaves out Walz's well known solidarity with union labor. Having stronger unions that can counter-balance the power of corporations is an important part of re-balancing the US economy.

The faux populism of JD Vance conveniently ignores that, and goes back to relying on the generosity of corporations to somehow improve the lives of workers (through appeals to things like on-shoring etc.) despite evidence to the contrary for forty-plus years.

Skeptical Voter said...

Rich and Inga are cheerful--whilst the Kackler gets in the car with Thelma and Louise and prepares to drive the USA over a cliff.

Temujin said...

Whatever happened to 'needed gravitas'?

Achilles said...

There is his Gab account where he is promoted illegal immigration and hated Trump.

Harris/Walz can't even answer questions from a fawning press. It is a joke you are stupid enough to think Harris's campaign will last past Trump's opening statement at the debate.

Achilles said...

After Walz is inked in and democrats can't replace him Tim Walz is going to have Gold Star Moms talking about how he abandoned his unit and his soldiers and their sons died in Iraq after Walz abandoned them.

Walz is a piece of Sh**. Only stupid people like you will still be around.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Oh look everybody, random nobody Esteban doesn't like Trump. We can all rest easy knowing that this absolute nothing thinks he's a better man than Donald Trump.
Hey Esteban, go fuck yourself.

William said...

The bards used to sing of arms and the man. More recently they sing of the guitar and the man. Everyone knows of Dylan's decision to forsake the acoustic and face down the mob at Newport with only his courage and an electric guitar. Can anyone here name a combat veteran from Vietnam who achieved such fame for an act of valor. The only combat veteran most people can name is Lt. Calley. There were no Sgt. Yorks in that conflict......The bardic class when they're not celebrating their failed love affairs and anguished souls, sometimes branch out into politics. The Kamala Walz will prove to be a sprightly dance. We were tired of the Biden Shuffle. This new craze will be more animated and take the nation by storm.

Iman said...

this damn cackling clown
there is no joy in Cudville
how now dinky dau

planetgeo said...

Watching all the Harris-Walz "joyful" rallies reminds me of an earlier era of self-improvement cults (like EST) and hyper-energy motivational guru gatherings (like Tony Robbins). Lots of losers in mid-life crises bouncing in unison with guru-coordinated pretensions of joy. Wait a while. It wears off.

I Shouldn’t Have Left the White House said...

MAGA Republicans are trying to create a scandal. When there is no scandal. It's actually amusing they are questioning a man who was in service. And backing a man, who tried to stay out. It's says more about the Republican Party than it does Walz.

But yet Vance does not seem to be bothered by Trump's multiple deferments. Weird!

PM said...

Here in SF, Kamala succeeded by being Nancy Pelosi's meat puppet. No breathing soul in this city - and I mean no one - has, would or ever could consider her Presidential material. She's a ninny.

Rocco said...

Kamala Harris said...
"I know Donald Trump’s type."

Which type is that? Is it the black guy who liked to smoke a little weed that she would lock up while doing the same? Or the convicted guy who was later cleared of all charges that she refused to release from prison?

John henry said...

You know who else practiced joy and happiness as a presidential candidate?

"the hump" who also enabled a corrupt president and was also a November loser.

Actually he was a loser his whole life, as well.

John Henry

MayBee said...

Yes! I was thinking of NXIVM and Synanon. Both cults that insist they are full of joy

Democratic Paychecks for Perks/ Dems for Demolition of Democracy/ fake-cares 4-U said...

More lies. No one is questioning his service. He lied about serving in a war zone. He didn't.

Democratic Paychecks for Perks/ Dems for Demolition of Democracy/ fake-cares 4-U said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Democratic Paychecks for Perks/ Dems for Demolition of Democracy/ fake-cares 4-U said...

"Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, on at least five occasions as governor of Minnesota, hosted a Muslim cleric who celebrated Hamas‘s Oct. 7 attack last year on Israel and promoted a film popular among Neo-Nazis that glorifies Adolf Hitler, the Washington Examiner found.

The imam, Asad Zaman of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, joined other Muslim leaders in May 2023 for a meeting about mosque security with Walz’s gubernatorial office in Minnesota. Zaman also spoke at a May 2020 event to call for peaceful protests with the governor during the riots in Minnesota sparked after George Floyd’s death. In April 2019, the cleric delivered an invocation before Walz’s state address — just months after Zaman called for an end to a government shutdown at a press conference with Walz in January 2019.

Zaman, moreover, attended a May 2019 event that Walz hosted for Ramadan, social media posts show."

Inga said...

Exactly. If Vance were sincere he would’ve never agreed to run as VP for Trump. How can he stand next to him knowing what he’s said about those who serve in the military? “Suckers and losers”. And yes he said it. General Kelly spelled it out clearly in his book and Kelly is far more believable than Trump. Trump, a man whose own Generals grew to despise and mistrust him. Vance is a fraud, he’ll say anything he thinks will get him some power, he’s unprincipled, slimy and weird.

Former Illinois resident said...

Fake expressions of supposed "joy" don't substitute for meaningful policy platform and governance experience. Harris and Walz are B-star performers cast in a situational comedy called "2024 Election; The Joy Campaign". Neither is a particularly skilled actor, so both resort to slapstick rituals of waving to crowds, wide-tooth forced grins, and constant self-pats to their chest-area to convey simulated conviviality.

We are in a terrible situation here.

narciso said...

Save me from these morons

Jersey Fled said...

If Harris is a former prosecutor, she must know how bogus those 141 charges against Trump are. Yet she and her friends continue to claim otherwise.

That makes her a liar.

Jupiter said...

Wait! I see a pattern developing! The people (I use the term loosely) who write for WaPo and NYT always say nice things about Democrats and bad things about Republicans! I know, it's hard to believe, but if you pay attention, you can see it.

Inga said...

“In the days that followed, Mr. Trump came up with an even more remarkable idea — he would not only bring the Taliban to Washington, but to Camp David, the crown jewel of the American presidency. The leaders of a rugged militant organization deemed terrorists by the United States would be hosted in the mountain getaway used for presidents, prime ministers and kings just three days before the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that led to the Afghan war.”

NYT

rehajm said...

They’re stealing again, so it doesn’t matter…

Michael K said...

The UAW, run by communist Reuther, drove the auto business to Japan. Nice try, though, idiot.

Aggie said...

Well.... Anything to avoid talking about the economy, inflation, foreign adventures with untraceable cash gifts in the billions, the national debt, interest rates. Let's keep it simple: We're enthusiastic ! We're excited !. They're weird! They're creepy stalkers!

narciso said...

Yes desperate hungry and cold give me more of that

Michael K said...

Inga repeats the DNC lies. No surprise from the dullard. The generals when Trump was president were all Obama generals. No real men got past Obama. Even Mattis, who I though was tough, was bamboozled by Elizabeth Holmes.

Michael K said...

More idiocy from the dullard. Trump was going to negotiate with them. Whether his would have worked, I don't know but Biden just turned tail and ran leaving all the equipment behind plus 13 dead troops.

Inga said...

Old senile doc doesn’t seem to understand that in Walz inviting these Muslim leaders, Walz was also trying to negotiate and make peace in the community?

Rabel said...

Jeremiah vs Pepe.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

Happy Harris

Achilles said...

Walz got busted down to E8 after he betrayed his unit. You don't even know how rank works.

I look forward to your tears. There were hundreds of people under his command and thousands of families that are going to get their revenge on this disgusting and cowardly betrayer.

Inga said...

Old senile doc must’ve forgot when Trump considered the Generals he hired as “his” Generals, I guess he found out differently.

“When Donald Trump was president, he would routinely refer to “my generals” and “my military,” as though the men and women in our nation’s armed forces, from the top on down the line, hadn’t taken an oath to defend our nation’s Constitution, but to Trump himself.

Trump, speaking to John Kelly, a retired four-star general who was serving as the president’s chief of staff: “Why can’t you be like the German generals?”

Asked Kelly, “Which generals?”

“The German generals in World War II,” replied the president.”

masslive.com

I Shouldn’t Have Left the White House said...

“Your corrupt Party's paid Patsy - killed an innocent man. Waiting for you to care.”

Trump claims he was saved by the "grace of almighty God.

What about the gentlemen that was killed? Did God favor him less?

Rocco said...

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...
"Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, on at least five occasions as governor of Minnesota, hosted a Muslim cleric who celebrated Hamas‘s Oct. 7 attack last year on Israel and promoted a film popular among Neo-Nazis that glorifies Adolf Hitler, the Washington Examiner found.

So Walz was caught getting into bed with both a live cleric and a dead Hitler.

Achilles said...

Walz was trying to make peace with muslim leaders by letting them burn people's businesses and steal their stuff in 2020. He supported the looting and burning and murder.

Walz was trying to make up for being a cowardly betrayer and not going to Iraq by bringing death and destruction to Minneapolis.

Jamie said...

Oh, relax, guys. I spent last year wishing Trump wouldn't run, but I've been all in on him for a while.

Achilles said...

It is fun to watch Inga jump on debunked hoaxes and flail. You are a stupid clapping seal trying to defend a coward and a traitor. As soon as Walz is confirmed and they can't switch him out he is going to get utterly destroyed.

Walz is the first Vice Presidential Candidate in history to not have a press conference and answer questions about his nomination. He has been hiding from the press for a week now.

Keep clapping your flippers and barking. We need them to think there is enthusiasm.

Drago said...

Inga, taking time out from her russia collusion/hoax dossier lies and drink bleach hoax lies and the fine people hoax lies and all the other hoax lies, continues to push the losers and suckers hoax lie.

What else can she do at thispoint. To call into question any of the hundreds of almost daily hoax lies launched at Trump over almost a decade would cause the entire house of cards she has constructed in her little head to collapse down around her feet.

She still believes the hookers peed on a bed for Trump in Moscow! "The dossier was mostly proven correct" she told us!! Even after Deripaska, the Brookings Institute employee admitted he and his pals made it all up over drinks at a DC bar and fed it to Glenn Simpson at Fusion GPS!!!!

LOL

Achilles said...

Nobody really knows how God works much less the plans of such an entity.

What we do know is that you and the rest of the democrat party are evil, violent and murderous and you are only mad that the shooter missed.

MadTownGuy said...

"Joy is fueling her campaign." Oh joy. A happy dictator.

planetgeo said...

Whether the great pretenders are joyful or not, the realities they're trying to ignore are tough to keep avoiding. Like how exactly can they even respond to something like this devastating piece in the satirical Babylon Bee: "Tim Walz Clarifies That He’s Never Been To Iraq, But He Has Been To Downtown Minneapolis Which Is Basically The Same Thing"? I mean, besides shutting down the Babylon Bee and putting its owners on the Terrorist Watch List along with Tulsi Gabbard. (Which they may in fact be planning to do if they win.)

Rt41Rebel said...

GEORGE: Yeah. I think we really got something here.

JERRY: What do we got?

GEORGE: An idea.

JERRY: What idea?

GEORGE: An idea for the show.

JERRY: I still don't know what the idea is.

GEORGE: It's about nothing.

JERRY: Right.

GEORGE: Everybody's doing something, we'll do nothing.

JERRY: So, we go into NBC, we tell them we've got an idea for a show about nothing.

GEORGE: Exactly.

JERRY: They say, "What's your show about?" I say, "Nothing."

GEORGE: There you go.

(A moment passes)

JERRY: (Nodding) I think you may have something there.

JK Brown said...

"joyful-warrior" is a reframe after someone pointed out the OG Happy Warrior of 1968.

U.S. Senate: Hubert Humphrey: A Featured Biography
Known as the “Happy Warrior,” Hubert Humphrey represented Minnesota in the Senate from 1949 to 1964, presided over the Senate as vice president from 1965 to 1969, and then returned to the Senate again in 1971.


Minnesota land of Happy combative Democrats?

Jamie said...

I think what you meant to say was, "An assassin's bullet missed killing the former president by a quarter of an inch thanks to a head-turn."

Don't be a jerk just because you hate Trump, Rich.

donald said...

One man’s political shield is another man’s cackling idiot who doesn’t have an answer.

Esteban said...

Sorry you are having a bad day Michael. Hopefully tomorrow is better.

Esteban said...

Fair criticism Drago.

Jamie said...

Remember the flying party that periodically raids cities and towns for booze in Life, the Universe and Everything,? I can't recall how long the party had been going on, but it was into its ?second? generation - something like that. When Arthur Dent and friends accidentally appear at the party, the revelers - who are WAY past joy and well into mania because by this time they've exhausted every possible source of pleasure, descend on Arthur's bag (or maybe it was Ford@s) and pull out a bottle of retsina. "A new pleasure!" they exclaim, and carry it off to get drunk in yet another way.

That's what this putative "joy" seems like to me. They know they're supposed to be happy, but the best they can do is act it out unconvincingly.

Rocco said...

William said...
"Everyone knows of Dylan's decision to forsake the acoustic and face down the mob at Newport with only his courage and an electric guitar."

Not me. I vaguely remember hearing he faced controversy for going electric, but thought who cares whether he's plugged in or not?

"Can anyone here name a combat veteran from Vietnam who achieved such fame for an act of valor."

Forrest Gump

"The only combat veteran most people can name is Lt. Calley."
I didn't know who he was until I just Duck Duck Go'd him. But from the context I assumed he had to do with My Lai. If people remember Calley, they should also know Hugh Thompson's name, as he intervened in the massacre.

"There were no Sgt. Yorks in that conflict."

Three off the top of my head, and I don't know much about the Vietnam conflict.

Roy Benavidez (and a SF recon team) took on a significantly larger NVA force. (Battalion? Regiment?) In 1981 when I was in high school, it was a national news item when his Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. And again two years later he made the national news again when he shamed the Department of Defense into agreeing to give benefits to Vietnam veterans that they had been promised.

In a couple of hours in Operation Bolo, Robin Olds' unit shot down half of North Vietnam's top of the line MiG-21s that had been devastating US air forces.

Doug Hegdahl memorized the names and details about several hundred American POWs kept in the infamous Hanoi Hilton. He also observed and and memorized key intelligence details about the then largely unknown facility. Hegdahl had played stupid during his captivity, and the Vietnamese released him in a prisoner swap. He was sent to the 1970 Paris Peace talks and embarrassed the North Vietnamese on the world stage detailing their mistreatment of POWs.

Witness said...

morning in america

Marcus Bressler said...

I laugh my ass off at Dems/Libs who bring up service in the military as a qualifying or disqualifying factor -- they literally are the ones or children of the ones who SPIT on soldiers returning from Vietnam, calling them "baby killers". Oh, wow, I just realized another irony of the left.... Baby Killers Inc.

John henry said...

I agree with you Rich about the need for strong unions. Two caveats thouvh

Management needs to work hard to make unions unnecessary. It has been my experience that bad management begets obnoxious unions.

Organization of unió a needs to be voluntary achieved via fair elections with se rrt ballot. Democratically, in other words.

John Henry

Lazarus said...

FDR and Obama said things are terrible, but I bring you hope, and they are inspiring. Trump said things are terrible, but I bring you hope, and he's "dark" and "threatening."

"Happy Warrior" goes back to FDR's description of Al Smith in a nominating speech at the 1924 DNC. It comes from Wordsworth's poem, "Character of a Happy Warrior." Roosevelt was no intellectual, but he might actually have known the poem (or at least Smith's advisor and speechwriter knew it).

Hubert Humphrey adopted the "Happy Warrior" meme, and even spoke of the "Politics of Joy." His catchphrase -- real or invented by mimics and comedians -- was "I'm pleased as punch to be here ..." With a name like Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. it's hard not to be a little ridiculous. Still, Humphrey was a more substantial figure than Harris or Walz.

"Surprised by Joy" was originally another poem by Wordsworth. I suppose Wordsworth was a very joyful guy, but was he really that happy when there weren't any daffodils around to frolic in?

John henry said...

Ot but to forestall argument, I am fine with "union shops" where you have to join the union to work in a company? Don't like that? Don't know take a job in a union company.


I do think all unions should periodically have recertification elections. Say every 10-15 years.

I am against the idea of closed shops (you have to be a union member to be hired) generally, at least.

John Henry

Michael K said...

And, of course, the idiot ignores Rick Rescorla. He was not only a hero in war but he got all his employer's people out of the WTC on 9/11, then went back to check for stragglers.

Michael K said...

The UAW has had a bit of trouble with elections to join the union in those factories in the South.

effinayright said...

At this point I'm just making the rubble bounce, but....only boomers remember Dylan's pivot to electric; the rest were too young or not yet born.

As for combat veterans: how about Ike, JFK, Chester Nimitz, Omar Bradley, George Patton, MaArthur, LeMay, Clark Gable, Glenn Miller, Jimmy Stewart, John McCain, David Petraeus, Gen. Flynn, Bob Dole, Daniel Inouye....

.As for Sgt Yorks in VietNam, there were 4 Medal of Honor recipients...

Face it----unlike you, William, we're not contemptuous of the average American as you are---and certainly not as ignorant. (Admit it---Calley was the only combat veteran YOU could think of!)

effinayright said...

Only boomers remember Dylan's pivot to electric; the rest were too young or not yet born.

As for combat veterans: how about Ike, JFK, Chester Nimitz, Omar Bradley, George Patton, John McCain, David Petraeus, Curtis LeMay, Clark Cable, Charles Bronson, Jimmy Stewart, Glenn Miller, Gen. Flynn, Bob Dole, Daniel Inouye.....

Admit it: Calley is the only one YOU could think of.

As for Sgt Yorks in VietNam, there were 4 Medal of Honor recipients...

Face it----we're not nearly as ignorant as you are, and we certainly don't share your contempt for average Americans.

FGH said...

The effort of ridicule is to kill. Men’s laughter sometimes exerts all its power to murder. …
Humor is the folly of assemblies. Their ingenious and foolish ridicule shuns facts instead of studying them, and condemns questions instead of solving them. …
Of all the lava which that crater, the human mouth, ejects, the most corrosive is joy. To inflict evil gaily is a contagion which no crowd can resist. All executions do not take place on the scaffold; and men, from the moment they are in a body, whether in mobs or in senates, have always a ready executioner amongst them, called sarcasm. There is no torture to be compared to that of the wretch condemned to execution by ridicule.
—Victor Hugo, “The Man Who Laughs”

Vance said...

So Inga will work hard to tell us how wonderful Harris is for prosecuting and trying to jail David Daledin and slapping gag orders on him to prevent him from revealing the evils of planned parenthood literally butchering alive babies to sell their body parts. Mr. Daledin released the videos today that Harris was trying to jail him to prevent him from releasing. They are guaranteed to make Inga swoon! All sorts of talk from planned parenthood doctors and executive about "if the baby is coming too quick, stop it here and rip off a leg... that's how we avoid the ban on partial birth abortions!" Just what Inga and Rich and their soulless love of unlimited abortion adore!

I'll bet that Althouse doesn't touch this issue, though... the videos are really, really, really bad and anyone who supports abortion if they have any kind of soul at all will run screaming in terror. I judge Althouse as not being a supporter of literally murdering and dismembering babies for profit, so she'll probably try to hide on this issue that is going to haunt Harris.

Democratic Paychecks for Perks/ Dems for Demolition of Democracy/ fake-cares 4-U said...

“Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, on at least five occasions as governor of Minnesota, hosted a Muslim cleric who celebrated Hamas‘s Oct. 7 attack last year on Israel and promoted a film popular among Neo-Nazis that glorifies Adolf Hitler”

Democratic Paychecks for Perks/ Dems for Demolition of Democracy/ fake-cares 4-U said...

Leftist Soviets like Inga don't care about innocent live babies torn apart for the left's pocket lining. Kamala is happy because she knows she too is in line for a great deal of pocket lining.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

The new today is that Strength Through Joy is more Walz’s cup of tea…..

Whatta shitshow.

Jim at said...

It's all fake, propped up bullshit. The inevitable crash and burn is going to be spectacular.

Saint Croix said...

Nice!

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

It just keeps getting worse for Stolen Valor Walz;

"NEW: Newly uncovered video shows Tim Walz *thanking* Nancy Pelosi after she recognized his service "on the battlefield" which never happened.

C-SPAN displayed a chyron that claimed Walz was an "Afghanistan War Veteran."

Pelosi: "I want him to know how much we all appreciate his service to our country, whether it's in the classroom or on the battlefield."

Walz: "Well, thank you, Madam Speaker, and thank you to the leadership here."'

https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1821995629352251421?t=18_hlNfuowkXsogoTwkmSw&s=19

Rusty said...

Carlos Hathcock

n.n said...

The joy of human rites. The joy of Mengele dreams. The joy of redistributive change (e.g. progressive prices). The joy of ethnic Springs. The joy of Diversity. The joy of Green blight. The joy of [catastrophic] [anthropogenic] immigration reform. The joy of American Civil Liberties Unburdened. And other liberal themes.

Sebastian said...

Harris' joy is just as a real as her love of Mingus.

boatbuilder said...

How about we stand you up and try to nick you in the ear with a bullet. How would you feel about that?

Craig Mc said...

Shorter NYT: Sluuuuuurp!