Vice-President Kamala Harris Is Doing A Good Job

Lately, I have been hearing a few people (even some Democrats) saying President Biden should replace Vice-President Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket. 

One reason they give is because the Republicans are demonizing VP Harris - painting her as a left-wing radical. There are two flaws in that argument.

First, Republicans want voters to think all Democrats are left-wing radicals. And they would do the same to anyone running with President Biden.

Second, it is simply not true. Ms. Harris has always been moderately progressive. She has never been a radical, and has governed in a moderate way in every elected office she has held. 

The naysayers also claim she has not made headlines since becoming vice-president, and therefore is not helping the Biden administration. But it's not the job of the vicepPresident to upstage the President, and Harris has never tried to do so.

And her lack of coverage is more a fault of the media than Harris. The current media meal ticket is coverage of Donald Trump (whether positive or negative). After their coverage of Trump (and then Biden) is done, there is little room for coverage of others - and it would be the same for any other running mate.

The truth is that Vice-President Harris has done a very good job. President Biden has tagged her to lead the campaign on two issues - abortion and voting rights. And the results of the 2022 election show she was effective. She is currently campaigning for the Democrats on both issues, and I expect she'll help produce a lot of votes for Democrats in November.

She was also tasked with trying to come up with solutions for the border crisis. Unfortunately, the Republicans have blocked all efforts to do anything on that issue. They would rather have it as a campaign issue that to fix it. No one can be successful on this issue until the Republicans are ready to cooperate.

Kamala Harris has been a good vice-president. Democrats should be thanking her for that, and working hard to see that she and President Biden are re-elected.

Transcript Of VP Harris Speech To Munich Conference

This transcript of Vice President Harris' speech to the Munich Security Conference is from Whitehouse.gov:

Well, it is my honor to be back at the Munich Security Conference.
 
As many of us remember, last year, on this stage, I warned of the imminent invasion of Ukraine by Russia.  And let us all recall: Many at the time wondered how we would all respond.  Many wondered: Could Russia be stopped?  Would NATO come together?  Would NATO break apart?  And would Ukraine be prepared?
 
Colleagues, today, a year later, we know. 
 
Kyiv is still standing.  (Applause.)  Russia — Russia is weakened. 
 
The transatlantic Alliance is stronger than ever.  (Applause.)  And most importantly, the spirit of the Ukrainian people endures.
 
And under Joe Biden, President of the United States, our country has demonstrated decisive leadership.
 
As President Biden often says: The United States will support Ukraine for as long as it takes.  We will not waver.
 
And today, at this Munich Security Conference, I will describe what we all continue to have at stake: the moral interest, the strategic interest, and the reason Ukraine matters for the people of America, for the people of Europe, and for people around the world.
 
First, from the starting days of this unprovoked war, we have witnessed Russian forces engage in horrendous atrocities and war crimes.  Their actions are an assault on our common values, an attack on our common humanity.
 
And let us be clear: Russian forces have pursued a widespread and systemic attack against a civilian population — gruesome acts of murder, torture, rape, and deportation.  Execution-style killings, beatings, and electrocution.
 
Russian authorities have forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of people from Ukraine to Russia, including children.  They have cruelly separated children from their families.
 
And we’ve all seen the images of the theater in Mariupol, where hundreds of people were killed.
 
Think of the image of the pregnant mother who was killed following a strike at a maternity hospital, where she was preparing to give birth.
 
Think of the images of Bucha.  Civilians shot in cold blood.  Their bodies left in the street.  The jarring photograph of the man who was riding his bike.
 
Think of the four-year-old girl who the United Nations recently reported was sexually assaulted by a Russian soldier.  A four-year-old child.
 
Barbaric and inhumane.
 
Long before I was Vice President of the United States, I spent the majority of my career as a prosecutor, beginning as a young lawyer in the courtroom and later running the California Department of Justice.  I know firsthand the importance of gathering facts and holding them up against the law.
 
In the case of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, we have examined the evidence.  We know the legal standards.  And there is no doubt these are crimes against humanity.  (Applause.)
 
The United States has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity.
 
And I say to all those who have perpetrated these crimes and to their superiors who are complicit in these crimes: You will be held to account.
 
In the face of these indisputable facts, to all of us here in Munich: Let us renew our commitment to accountability.  Let us renew our commitment to the rule of law. 
 
As for the United States, we will continue to support the judicial process in Ukraine and international investigations, because justice must be served.
 
Let us all agree, on behalf of all the victims, both known and unknown, justice must be served.  Such is our moral interest.
 
We also have a significant strategic interest.  The fight in Ukraine has far-reaching global ramifications. 
 
No nation is safe in a world where one country can violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another — (applause) — where crimes against humanity are committed with impunity; where a country with imperialist ambitions can go unchecked.
 
Our response to the Russian invasion is a demonstration of our collective commitment to uphold international rules and norms.  Rules and norms which, since the end of World War Two, have provided unprecedented security and prosperity not only for the American people, not only for the people of Europe, but people around the world.
 
Principles that state that sovereign nations have a right to peacefully exist, that borders must not be changed by force, that there are inalienable human rights which governments must respect, and that the rule of law must be preserved.
 
Indeed, this moment has tested our willingness to defend and uphold these rules and norms.  And we have remained strong, and we must stay strong.  Because if Putin were to succeed with his attack on these fundamental principles, other nations could feel emboldened to follow his violent example.  Other authoritarian powers could seek to bend the world to their will through coercion, disinformation, and even brute force.  The international order upon which we all rely could be at risk.
 
So, in the interest of global security and prosperity, one of our defining missions is to uphold international rules-based order.  And nations around the world agree.
 
Consider, more than 140 countries voted at the United Nations to condemn Russia’s aggression and to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in defense of the core principles of the U.N. Charter. 
 
Of course, we have also seen nations like North Korea and Iran send weapons in support of Russia’s brutal war. 
 
We are also troubled that Beijing has deepened its relationship with Moscow since the war began.
 
Looking ahead, any steps by China to provide lethal support to Russia would only reward aggression, continue the killing, and further undermine a rules-based order.
 
Again, the United States will continue to strongly support Ukraine.  And we will do so for as long as it takes. 
 
The American people, you see, are in awe of the resolve of the people of Ukraine, in awe of their resilience and righteousness, their willingness to fight for freedom and liberty, and the extraordinary tenacity and leadership of President Zelenskyy.
 
In fact, joining me in Munich are distinguished members of the United States Congress.  Republicans and Democrats.  Members of the House of Representatives and the United States Senate.   And they are here together because they understand the stakes.
 
The leadership of these members has been vital to America’s support of Ukraine.  And President Biden and I know that their support for Ukraine will continue.
 
We also know Ukraine will continue to be supported by a united transatlantic community.  (Applause.)
 
So, Putin thought he could divide NATO.  Remember where we were a year ago.  In this, he has failed.
 
The NATO Alliance is stronger now than ever before, and the United States commitment to NATO and to its Article 5 is ironclad.
 
Just look at our track record over the past year.  Just look at our multilateral cooperation.  Together, we have provided historic assistance to Ukraine.  Together, we have dealt Russia a strategic failure.  Together, we have imposed unprecedented cost on Russia.  And together, we have pursued energy security and reinvested in our collective defense.
 
And we have come together to stand for our common values and our common interests and our common humanity.  I have no doubt that this unity will endure.
 
I also have no illusions about the path forward.  There will be more dark days in Ukraine.  The daily agony of war will persist.
 
The global ripple effects will continue to be felt by countries near and far — from Africa, to Southeast Asia, to the Caribbean. 
 
But if Putin thinks he can wait us out, he is badly mistaken.  Time is not on his side.
 
To be sure, Ukrainians will continue to be tried and tested, just as they have been over this past year.  Transatlantic unity will continue to be tried and tested.  And I am certain that Ukraine will rise to the task, that the United States and Europe will rise to the task.
 
So, my last point: America will continue our leadership in defense of human dignity, in defense of rules and norms, and in defense of freedom and liberty.  There is too much at stake to do anything less.
 
Americans know well the meaning of independence.  We believe in the fundamental importance of sovereignty and rule of law.  And we will always stand on the side of justice.
 
Colleagues, I do believe we all know when future generations look back at this moment, they will see that we understood the task before us and rose to the occasion.
 
And so, to you I say: The United States of America is proud to be your partner in this noble pursuit.
 

Thank you.  

We Must Face The Truth - Even When It Is Painful To Do So

Republican state legislatures across the country are busy trying to whitewash United States history. They don't want our schools to teach the uglier parts of our history (like slavery, racism, genocide, discrimination, etc.). It's an effort to preserve their power, which is based in white supremacy.

But it's time to move past that and embrace a belief in equality for all citizens, and then make that equality a reality in this country. But that cannot happen until and unless the face (and teach) the truth about our history -- warts and all.

Recently, Jonathan Capehart interviewed Vice-President Kamala Harris. The following is part of his column written after that interview:

“We just have to speak truth no matter how painful it is to speak or hear,” Harris told me Friday during a telephone interview. “And the truth remains that racism is real in America. Sexism, homophobia, transphobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia — these things are all real in our country. To speak it doesn’t mean that it is about a wholesale attack on the country. But it certainly is about saying, ‘Look, let’s also not approach this with a sense of naivete or denial.’”

Harris is the first Black person, first South Asian and first woman elected vice president, which explains why Harris said, “I feel a heavy weight of responsibility to use the bully pulpit I have in a way that is about elevating public discourse and engaging in public education about issues that [others] may not have thought about or haven’t been presented with a certain perspective.”

That perspective is invaluable, especially this week. For in the annals of America’s fraught history with race, this seven-day period we are now in is most wretched because of what we must remember.

May 25 marked one year since the murder of George Floyd by a White Minneapolis police officer. May 31 and June 1 will mark 100 years since the Tulsa race massacre that killed as many as 300 Black people in a hail of bullets and airdropped turpentine bombs, and completely destroyed their prosperous Greenwood community known as Black Wall Street. In the sweep of history between those two tragic events, so much has changed, and yet too much remains the same.

But we talk more openly and honestly about race and racism today. That “we” includes President Biden and Harris. Many of their predecessors handled issues of race the way we tiptoe across the thinnest of ice — if they didn’t avoid them altogether. Biden and Harris are not afraid to take them head-on — perhaps because the omnipresent subject of race has become so unavoidable. . . .

What happened in Tulsa was more than a tragedy. Harris called it “a crime.” A crime that White Tulsa initially tried to blame on their Black neighbors before pretending it never happened. A crime that Black Tulsa and Black America would never forget. Harris told me it was “the intentionality” of the crime that stands out for her.

O.W. Gurley bought 40 acres of land in Tulsa in 1906 and called it Greenwood. The Black community that grew from it thrived despite Jim Crow laws meant to stunt Black citizenship and advancement. The intentionality involved in creating such success was met by the intentionality of White Tulsa to destroy it.

“This was not an accident. This was not a fight that got out of hand,” Harris said. “It was purposeful destruction.”

That 100-year-old crime and the 2020 murder of George Floyd speak to America’s never-ending cycle of progress and regression on matters of race. Harris believes we can break this cycle, “but in order to have significant change, there needs to be real, significant intervention.” That means tackling the racial wealth gap by addressing access to capital for minority-owned businesses, expanding homeownership and widening access to broadband. All issues Harris has been working on since taking office.

Still, deeds have to be matched by words. “So there are a lot of things that we need to do. But we have to speak truth, and I have to tell you that’s where we can’t let up. Again, no matter how difficult it may be to hear,” said Harris.

After four years of an administration that flooded the American people with white nationalism, White grievance and their attendant lies, speaking truth is exactly what this nation needs from the White House right now. And I’m all for Harris being unafraid to speak it.

Poll: Biden & Harris Strong Leaders (Harris Slightly More)

The chart above reflects the results of a recent Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between February 19th and 22nd of a national sample of 1,500 adults,  with a 2.7 point margin of error.

It shows that a majority of American adults believe both President Biden and Vice-President Harris are strong leaders. Somewhat surprising (for me), Kamala Harris is viewed slightly stronger than Joe Biden.