kamalaharris

Crime Time

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Long before Kamala Harris was named Border in Chief she ran quite poorly for Commander in Chief.   Prior to that she was a Senator, and prior to that she was the Attorney General for the State of California.

As AG her number one job was to prosecute individuals that the state felt were guilty of a crime.  You would think she knows a criminal when she sees a criminal.  You would also think that she would know well enough to refrain from jumping to conclusions until facts around such cases are researched.

Back in 2019 when the Jussie Smollett circus came to a town known as Chicago, Kamala tweeted, “@JussieSmollett is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know. I’m praying for his quick recovery. This was an attempted modern-day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.”

Well, that didn’t age well.  Madame VP has yet to tweet or publicly speak to the Smollett guilty verdicts nor her rush to judgment.  Remember BBR lecture no. 23- never let facts get in the way of a good narrative.

There are/were so many lessons to be learned right there in the Windy City.

But, the Mayor of the Windy City, Lori Lightfoot disagrees.  You would think she would know better as well.

Her thoughts?   She essentially told the retail community to fix the crime issue themselves.

She specifically mentioned security guards at the door, entrance cameras, merchandise “either chained and roped or put behind glass” and customers being “buzzed into” stores.

On Thursday, Illinois Retail Merchants Association President Rob Karr flatly rejected all of the mayor’s ideas.

He branded the suggestions “extraordinarily disheartening,” “misinformed” and “false”—yet another example of how Lightfoot “continues to point fingers and play the blame game.”

And he continued, “We’d be getting screamed at for [racial profiling].  And furthermore, it would push more people to simply go online. Why would you go to a store if you can’t touch, feel and try on the merchandise?”

And online is where the stolen merchandise is going for resale. Looks like these mobs “fence” the goods on Al Gore’s internet.

As if brick-and-mortar didn’t have enough problems dealing with online, now they are paying for the products, displaying them, losing the cost dollars when stolen, and watching online third-party “retailers” gain 100% profit from them.

If the local government won’t help, how about the federal government?

Twenty CEOs at major retailers sent a letter addressed to congressional leadership on Thursday asking lawmakers to pass legislation to help curb illegal business activity by anonymous vendors online.

What to do?  What to do?

With her border now under control, maybe Biden can assign the former AG, now VP, to tackle this difficult situation.

Her judicial eyesight is so good she can spot a crook on a snowy night at 4 AM from hundreds of miles away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Not Ask Why?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Why ask why?  Someone has to now more than ever.

Why is Biden imposing a travel ban from foreign countries today when the Omicron variant is already here and previous variants never left?

Why is Biden leaving the southern border open while closing down air travel to help prevent the spread?

Why aren’t we wearing two masks everywhere we go as some Einsteins (de Blasio) suggested many months ago?

Why can’t someone, anyone, in the medical community tell us how the body’s own immune system is fairing vs the jabs?

Why should we stop at a booster to a booster?  Why not five after four?

Why is Pfizer stock doing so well?

Why do we fire head coaches left and right when they have a losing record and  Anthony Fauci is still in a position of power?

Why is every government vaccine mandate getting turned down by courts of law at every level?

Why doesn’t Biden get the blame for all of these covid deaths under his watch as Trump did?

Why blame presidents for covid deaths in the first place when the virus is going to do the virus thing?

Why did the administration call the worst inflation “transitory,” for months on end, reappoint Fed Chairman Powell, and he tells Wall St that it’s time to remove the word “transitory” from our inflation discussions?

Why do most of the mainstream media describe the tragedy in Waukesha as “an SUV” that ran into the people at the parade and not a “deranged, murderous driver”?

Why do three different independent polls in the last week have Biden’s approval rating at 38, 41, and 43% just a year after 81 million voted for him?

Why would Jen Psaki have a lower job approval rating than Biden if such a poll was taken?

Why did it take so long for CNN to “indefinitely” suspend Chris Cuomo?  Why did they only suspend him?

Why did Jeffery Toobin only get indefinitely suspended?  Why did they bring him back?

Why do we need to spend a trillion to improve our roads and airports if we can’t drive or fly anywhere due to the previous or next covid wave?

Why is there an inheritance tax after the deceased has already paid income tax, capital gains tax, and sales tax on the money earned or spent?

Why did Nancy Pelosi buy a $25 million beachfront mansion in Florida if she fears that the ocean is about to swallow the land due to that pesky climate change problem?

Why will Beto O’Rourke run for Governor of Texas after losing to Ted Cruz for the Senate years ago and failing miserably in his Democratic nominee for President run?

Why will the press ask him if he’s running for President after he loses in the gubernatorial attempt?

Why are members of VP Kamala Harris’ administrative/support staff leaving in droves?

Why not ask why?  Someone needs to more than ever.

 

 

 

 

Big Stage, Bright Lights

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Be careful what you wish for.  Sometimes the big stage and the bright lights are too big and too bright.

Ask the Kenosha prosecuting attorney if he agrees with the above.  He’s either smart reaching for a mistrial or real dumb at his job.  We’re picking plum dumb.

The Rittenhouse case is going so poorly that you would think the witnesses he called were defense witnesses.  The judge has all but tossed him from the courtroom.

If you got behind a microphone and asked “why was Kyle Rittenhouse even there?” should you also ask yourself why were the protesters there?  Ah yes, they were protesting (rioting and burning down the town) because of perceived social injustice.

However, the video proved otherwise, and it’s not even debatable.  The DOJ investigated and declined to press any charges against the officer.  It was deemed a necessary shooting.

But, never, ever let facts get in the way of a good narrative, especially in an election year.

Well, if you can’t make a case against the officer, try the “white supremacist” AK-toting teenager. Somebody has to pay.

We would ask LeBron James, but we already know that he isn’t afraid of the bright lights.  He tweeted after Rittenhouse took the stand and broke down, “what tears?????”  There are plenty King, you just aren’t looking in the right place.

Blake is paralyzed.  Two protesters are dead.  Shop owners lost their place of business.  Employees lost their jobs.  All for nothing.  Nothing.   Maybe King James should devote more time to furthering his expertise on human relations in the People’s Republic of China.

There is blood on the hands of more than Rittenhouse in this one.

Ask Kamala Harris if she agrees with the above.

The VP, her nervous laugh, and “cringe-worthy” moments travel together.  This time she descended on France for whatever reasons that pale compared to the mess that this side of the pond is in.  Undeterred, Harris broke into some drivel about “The Plan” in front of worldwide cameras and decided now was a good time to throw in a bad attempt at a French accent.

You can run, but you can’t hide.  And, she can’t run for any office again and be taken seriously.  And, the race is on.  She’s trying to run from the Biden Administration and the Biden Administration is trying to run from her.  Ten months into the second-highest job in the land and her approval rating sits at 28%.

As a reminder, she was so popular in the party that she withdrew from the presidential nominee process before the first primary with a less than a 1% poll number.

Ask Joe Biden, when he wakes up if he agrees with the above.  His approval rating stands at 38%.

Why? Afghanistan, border chaos, vaccine mandates, out-of-control social program spending, decades high inflation, a November 2nd ballot box wake-up call, and Senator Joe Manchin comes to mind.

Sunday his Department of Energy Secretary took to the talk shows.  Jennifer Granholm said oil is a global market “controlled by a cartel, the cartel is called OPEC.”  To think that just a dozen months ago America was darn near energy independence.  Asked if she would ask the US producers to ramp up production, she laughed loudly and said, “that is hilarious.”

Folks paying $4-6 a gallon don’t get the joke.  Inflation is the biggest tax on the low to middle-income families you can assess.  They spend all that they make to provide for their families.  The more things cost, the less they can buy.

Be careful what you wish for.

 

 

Ten (Five) Piece Nuggets-Random

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Today we continue with our lighter summer menu.  If you’re a swimmer digesting five nuggets cuts your out-of-water time down as well.  Enjoy.

  1.  The nation’s VP was at it again.  On Thursday’s “CBS This Morning” Harris responded on whether she’d compromise by agreeing to voter ID provisions to pass voting legislation by stating that we shouldn’t downplay the impact voter ID laws could have. Because to some, voter ID means, “you’re going to have to Xerox or photocopy your ID to send it in to prove that you are who you are.” And many people live where “there’s no Kinko’s, there’s no OfficeMax near them.”  We wonder if 1) you could show up at the polling place with your ID, or, 2) take a photo of it with your phone, or, 3) go to any local library, DMV, or post office and get a $0.10 copy made, or 4) use your in-home printer to make one?  Also, she failed to mention Office Depot, but we digress.
  2. Here comes Pfizer to the rescue.  Pfizer is ready to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its coronavirus vaccine, outlining Thursday a top-up shot within 12 months could dramatically boost immunity and maybe help ward off any virus mutant.  The Delta variant cometh.  Pfizer’s Dr. Mikael Dolsten told the Associated Press early data from the company’s booster study suggests people’s antibody levels rise five- to 10-fold after a third dose, compared to their second dose months earlier.  This could mean that Biden’s house-to-house calls will need three trips to “get er dun.”   Will Moderna recommend four shots?  The inoculation race is on.
  3.  The husband of our Speaker of the House, Paul Pelosi perfectly timed the market again. Mr. Pelosi bought Amazon call options just six weeks before the Pentagon announced it was canceling a multi-billion dollar contract with Microsoft and starting a new one that opened a door for Amazon’s participation.  On Tuesday, the Biden Pentagon abruptly announced it was canceling its multi-billion JEDI cloud services contract with Microsoft and starting a new one that Amazon could compete for.  Amazon zoomed to an all-time high the day of the announcement.  On May 21, 2021, Pelosi purchased more Amazon call options worth as much as $1,000,000.  It was his second timely market move in the last three years on government contracts and cloud computing.  Nothing to see here.
  4. Moving on.  In Paris for Fashion Week, James Harden was stopped by police on Thursday but not arrested, the city prosecutor’s office said.  French media reports said that the Brooklyn Nets star, who has been seen around Paris with rappers Kanye West and Lil Baby, was on the street when a car was stopped after police smelled cannabis.  To be clear, Harden was not in the car, just a concerned visiting citizen. After accepting an Olympic invite, Harden had to withdraw due to a lingering hamstring injury.  Did the Nets’ team doctor prescribe traipsing around Europe as part of his rehab? Sounds good.  Maybe the weed in the car was nothing but a medicinal delivery.
  5. Halfway through the Major League Baseball season, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the +125 betting favorites to represent the NL in the 2021 World Series?  Who is the favorite in the AL?  It’s the Houston Astros at +175.  The San Diego Padres are the second choice in the NL at +330 while the Chicago White Sox are second in the AL at +250.  Can you imagine a repeat of the 2017 WS pitting the Dodgers vs. the then cheating Astros?  To quote Vin Scully, ” you can almost taste the pressure” if that matchup were to happen.

It rains quite a bit(too much) in the south this time of the year.

Today

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Today either marks the end of the wildest and whackiest four years in Washington D.C. or it begins the second and final four years of likely the same.  We have a few observations and a few points to ponder.

  1.  No one outworks The Donald.  His campaign stops (rallies) in the last 10 days have been far, wide, and far too numerous to count.  At the age of 73, he ended his last one last evening in Grand Rapids, MI at about 11:45 pm.  After an Air Force One ride back to D.C. he tucked himself into bed at 4:00 AM.  He’s already yapping this AM on Fox and Friends.
  2. The Biden campaign, or more accurately the strategy to minimize it, is the oddest in this writer’s 60-year memory.  And, second place isn’t close.  Trump in 2016 was unconventional.  Biden in 2020 was unseen.  Having a few cars show up while you pontificate into a microphone on a stage is, well, weird.  When he asks them to blow their horns if they agree is, well, very weird.  Could the contrast between the Trump rallies and the Biden hornblowers be more overt?
  3. Crystal clearly the DNC’s strategy has been to minimize Biden’s gaffes/weaknesses all the while consistently pounding on Trump.  It was the plan since the day he took office.  It will be written about for years to come.  And, it may very well succeed.  Trump’s words, more than his actions, around the COVID pandemic played right into the DNC playbook.
  4. Do people really understand that if Biden is elected, Harris could be President in the very near future?  All jokes Biden jokes aside, it’s a very real possibility, isn’t it?  Maybe that’s ok with the “get Trump out at all costs,” or “anyone is better than what we have” crowd.
  5. Polls can tell you almost any story you want to hear if you dig deep enough into the numbers behind the numbers.  No matter the side you favor, the results will be fascinating.  How many of the “silent majority” chose only to be heard today?  How many first time voters were there?
  6. It would be a major surprise if Trump won the popular vote.  He lost it by 3 million four years ago.  But, elections are determined by electoral college votes.  And that sets up major announcements tonight as state by state results roll in.
  7. It seems that Pennsylvania is the lynchpin.  Both camps have spent a lot of time there recently.  The path or paths to victory are for either side tighten dramatically with a loss there.  It’s not for his health that Biden is stopping in Scranton and Philly today on Election Day.
  8. Put California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington in the Biden win column.  They are done deals and won’t be close.  That means Trump needs the obvious three of Texas, Florida, and Ohio.  If any of those three go blue Trump goes home to Mar-a-Lago, not Pennsylvania Ave.
  9.  Trump could win without Penn, but it’s very uphill.  He’d need the entire rust belt to fall his way.  And, Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina are toss ups to boot.
  10.  Businesses in many major cities are boarding up then closing up early today for fear of civil unrest (read that as peaceful protests) in the streets this evening.  The White House is getting a scale proof fence surrounding it finished up early this AM.  Is anyone concerned what the populous might do if Biden wins?  Of course not.  It’s all about the hate for Donald J. Trump.  It has been since day one.

Get your popcorn ready.

And, buckle up.  It’s going to be a wild ride.

2020.

Tomorrow

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Tomorrow is Election Day.  You already knew that though didn’t you?

Have you already voted?   Good for you if you did.   It seems like it’s more than your right.  It’s your civic duty.

It is estimated that over 80 million mostly U.S. citizens have voted early in these unprecedented, Covid 2020 times.  In 2016 rounded numbers, Hillary Clinton garnered 66 million of the popular votes while now President Trump got 63 million.  So, have 2/3rds of us already voted, or will the 2020 turnout smash 2016?

We’ll mostly know that answer late Tuesday night.  But first, long lines are expected from sea to shining sea tomorrow as well.  Add six feet between us in the lines and, well, pack a lunch.

Experts, pundits, pollsters, news anchors, hired guns, and hacks will tell us who and where voted for whom and why.   Will you, Lionel Ritchie, and your party of choice be able to party all night long?  

For the 50-60 million who haven’t yet voted, we have a dozen sincere questions.

  1.  Why haven’t you?  If you haven’t made up your mind we’re tempted to criticize.  Have we ever been this divided?  Maybe the choice isn’t so clear to you.  If so, we would like to know why.
  2.  Is it because you feel like you’re choosing between the lesser of two evils?  We’d understand that to some degree.
  3.  Four years ago, the ultimate outsider was chosen.  Four years later he’s running against the ultimate insider.  Forty-seven years in one elected office or another is a long time.  If America wanted to drain the swamp four years ago, does it, in a pendulum-like manner, want to fill it back up again?
  4. Can you judge Trump only on his accomplishments?  If you are objective the list is long and productive.  If you can’t look past the bombastic, sometimes crude, sometimes acerbic way of 45, then Biden is your man.
  5. Can you envision Kamala Harris as President?  If you vote Biden, and you live in the real world, you have to know that this is a real possibility.  And, it’s very possible sooner than later, isn’t it?  Is that the plan all along?  It’s a conspiracy theory as crazy as 2020, which means it’s possible.
  6. Biden himself said that the number one qualification he needed in a VP running mate was that she be ready day one to assume the highest office. Is the bait and switch set to roll in 2021?  Hillary once famously uttered about Slick Willie, “if you elect him, you get me!”  If America elects Biden do you get Kamala in the Oval Office?
  7. If you are considering Biden tomorrow, are you willing to put someone in the office who very, very clearly has diminished and further declining faculties?  Do you honestly think that he is fit mentally for the office?  “Neither is Trump!” you scream?  Trump is a lot of things, but you won’t outwork nor outthink him.  Four hours of sleep is his norm.
  8. Speaking of work, does the contrast of the last three weeks mean anything?  Trump’s rallies are far, wide, well attended, and frequent.  Biden’s are few, far in between, and actually have people honking horns in their cars.   How long do you want to feel like the world is ending?  Enough already?  Trump.   More time in the mental basement?  Biden.
  9.  What about Covid-19 and Trump’s mismanagement of it?  Do you honestly think Biden has a magic potion?  What about more lockdowns, even a national mandate you scream?  What about it?  What did the first wave of lockdowns do?  Germany was supposedly a model for how to work through this.  It’s November and their country is raging with new cases as is ours.   It’s a virus.  You can slow its roll, but you can’t stop it.  A vaccine can and Trump is pushing hard.  Too hard?   Cases should not be the barometer, should they?
  10. How was the economy before COVID?  The honest answer from any corner is that it was roaring.  Trump should get some of the credit for that, no?  What is Biden’s plan to maintain, if not grow it?  Raise marginal tax rates?  Raise the capital gains tax?  End fracking!  Transition (his words) out of the oil industry?  None of that sounds like growth. It sounds like government intervention into our lives and the regulation of industries.  Maybe that is a good thing?  Biden is your choice.
  11.  Little has been spoken about foreign policy this cycle.  You know why?  Because on balance, the world is a quiet place.  Nope, it’s not perfect.  It never is.  North Korea is quiet.  ISIS is neutered.  Russia, Russia, Russia you say?  BS, BS, BS Trump says.  China (spreading the China virus aside) is on notice on trade and behavior.  Do you find it odd that China would strongly prefer Biden over Trump?  Do you see any problem at all with Hunter, his dad, and a compromised situation when it comes to interacting with China?
  12. How about our troops?  More are home out of harm’s way, meaning fewer are abroad in harm’s way.  Trump saber rattles, but he doesn’t want war.  Veterans are thankful as well.  Trump’s mandate to his staff was to greatly improve post-service medical care.  It wasn’t good when he took office.  There is work to do, but the progress is real.

Every poll predicts an outcome that is different from the other.   Most have Biden ahead.  Almost all of the 2016 polls were way off.  Most had Hillary ahead.

If America doesn’t like the outcome (assuming we have one) hopefully the protests will be, ahem, peaceful.

Tomorrow will be fascinating.

We’d expect nothing less from the year 2020.

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Life as We Know It

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Our summer of discontent rolls along as the year 2020 continues to disappoint.  We’ve got some nuggets to get you through the start of the workweek.

  1.  Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is a little red in the face.  A few days after announcing that the Redskins nickname and logo were gone, he announced that three of his close inner circle coworkers were as well.  A third party investigation confirmed 15 claims of sexual harassment within.  Snyder wasn’t directly implicated, but his leadership, or lack thereof, was.
  2.  In his statement, Snyder condemned that behavior, and said he wants to set “a new culture and standard for our team.”  Snyder has owned the team for 21 years.  All claims occurred under his reign.  Sometimes it just takes time.  Would he have relented on the Skins name if he didn’t know ahead of time that he was going to get taken to task for this mess as well?  Better to keep the team and say mea culpa than to stand on heretofore principle, eh?
  3.  Speaking of people who had heretofore principle,  Drew Brees thought it wise to tweet out his concerns for the NFL’s lack of concern for the players this coming season.  He’s worried that the league isn’t doing enough to combat/minimize/eliminate that pesky virus that you can’t see that hits you like a blindside linebacker.  Sounds like more Brownie points with his teammates to us.  Perhaps tomorrow he’ll tweet out how unjust the virus is to those facing systemic racism.  Oh, say can you see (see what we did there?) Brees kneeling for the first game’s national anthem?  His two WWII grandfather vets would be so proud of his leadership recently.
  4. A local Arizona TV station scored a rare TV interview with Joe Biden.  News anchor Mark Curtis said, “Arizona is very much in play in 2020, so we appreciate you taking some time and talk to the people of our state.”  “Oh, you’re an important city.  You guys are going through hell right now, are ya?” Biden responded.  Like Phoenix, Biden has risen from the ashes.  Well, sorta.
  5. Speaking of TV, CNN reported “breaking news” yesterday.  Eighty-five infants under the age of 12 months have tested positive in one Texas county they tweeted.  The Nueces County health examiner took to the podium after hysteria broke out and clarified that these have been recorded cumulatively since mid-March.  One is too many, but is 85 too many?  No context was given relative to any other county or age group.  No infants died directly due to the virus, though one died of as of yet undetermined causes.
  6.  Down in Florida, an incredible story is developing.  Nearly 150,000 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported.  The change in the number of hospitalizations or ICU beds needed is negligible.  Are the elderly staying inside?  Is the medicine used in combinations improving outcomes?  Is it a somehow weaker strain?  Maybe CNN can enlighten us on what should be a real story of great interest.
  7.  The peaceful protesters in Seattle decided to spray paint and break the front windows of a downtown Amazon Go storefront yesterday.  Amazon put the “Black Lives Matter” statement front and center on its web page and contributed over $10 million to the cause weeks back.  For the Antifa militants and the other rioters that apparently wasn’t enough.  Is it ever?
  8. Police in Seattle were nowhere to be found as this went down.  Are they ever when it comes to this?  Wait until they get defunded.  Would three out of ten rioters even be able to tell you why they targeted Amazon?  Could it be that over 1,000 police departments across the U.S. have partnerships with Ring, the smart doorbell security owned by Amazon? Additionally, human rights groups have called for the ban of Amazon’s facial recognition technology, Rekogntion, which they argue poses a threat to immigrants and religious minorities.   Why identify criminals in this woke world?
  9. Kamala Harris is the likely VP candidate and running mate for Joe Biden, don’t you think?  Biden has delayed the announcement twice.  He didn’t delay while she recovered from plastic surgery, did he?  Botox?  She got her money’s worth on the high and tight part.  We aren’t judging.
  10. Or did he delay due to warring factions within the party?  A group of “progressives” representing a large proportion of delegates won by Sen. Bernie Sanders in California has signed a letter to Biden urging that he pick a running mate from a shortlist of candidates that does not include local Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA).  She has long had trouble consolidating support from the left because of her record as a prosecutor in San Francisco and California.  Like Amazon, she should not identify nor punish criminals in this woke world.

If the NCAA announces a postponement or cancellation of the upcoming fall season this week, you should pray for one BBR staff member.

 

 

 

Another Different Disappointment From Coast to Coast.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

On January 19 of this year Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California joined the 2020 presidential contest with her goal to win the Democratic Party nomination.

“The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values,” she said in the video. “That’s why I’m running for president of the United States.”

She announced on 1/19 as it was also the day our nation honored the late Dr. Martin Luther King, a timing that she said was “very important” to her.  Amid that context, however, Harris played down the role of race.  “When people wake up in the middle of the night, whether it be a mom in Compton or a mom in Kentucky, she’s waking up having the same concerns,” Harris said.

So with that Harris set up shop on the corner of First and Main St.  She brought her chair, table, and game to attract Americans far and wide and hold their interest.  A high single digit percentage stopped by as she broke out the shells and arranged them just so.

Debate one in June almost came and went quietly until Harris pounced on a “sleepy” Joe Biden late in the evening.   Harris, a black former prosecutor, leaped into the cross-talk with a request to speak “on the issue of race.” She then trained her attention on Mr. Biden, and after making clear that she did not believe he was a racist, proceeded to sharply criticize him for having made “very hurtful” comments about having worked with two segregationist senators.  Harris then also recalled Mr. Biden’s opposition to school busing in the 1970’s and opened up about her own history. “There was a little girl in California who was a part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day,” she said. “And that little girl was me.”  Her desire to downplay the role of race pivoted.

And after that more folks, reaching into the mid teens percentage wise, showed up as she moved the shells randomly to stump the crowd and stump on the campaign trail.  Attention heightened.

Debate two brought Tulsi Gabbard’s attack of Harris’ record as DA of California. Gabbard singled out Harris’ stance on the death penalty, accusing her of keeping “innocent people” on death row and saying she “blocked evidence” that could have helped them. The tense exchange illuminated a complicated piece of Harris’s record as a prosecutor that has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle, with some targeting her refusal to seek the death penalty in the killing of a police officer, and others attacking her decision to defend California’s death penalty from a statewide legal challenge.

And after that less folks, now slumping back into the mid single digits, showed up as she begged folks to keep their eye on the most important shell-the only one with anything hidden underneath.

In an effort to remain viable in the race Harris pivoted again.   She re re reformed her Medicare for all stance a third time.  She promised teacher pay raises.  She promised a middle class tax cut.  She even offered to kiss all of the babies, that’s assuming they made it through the “women’s wellness” needs.  And, she put all of this under one shell, or so she said.

But, her presence sunk further.  Fewer and fewer were interested in the shell game.  Her poll numbers sunk to less than 3% of likely Democratic voters.  So, Harris spoke to what she viewed as her main electability problem last week.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris described electability as the “elephant in the room” of her campaign and wondered aloud whether America is ready for a woman of color to be commander in chief.  “Essentially, is America ready for a woman and a woman of color to be president of the United States?” Harris said in an interview with Axios on HBO. “There is a lack of ability or a difficulty in imagining that someone whom we have never seen can do a job that has been done 45 times by someone who is not that person.”

So, Harris perhaps forgot about one Barrack Obama.  She accused her own party of racism.  That’s what “lack of ability or a difficulty in imagining” means.  This is the same party that successfully saw Barrack Obama ascend from virtually nowhere to serve two terms as President #44.  This is the same party that saw approximately 94% of all African Americans vote for Obama in 2008 and again in 2012. This is the same party that shows Joe Biden polling far, far better with African Americans in absolute numbers and percentages than Harris or Cory Booker in 2019.  Was this party not racist when Harris was polling into the mid teens and running third or fourth, but is now?

Hmm.  Her January downplay of race as relevant in this nomination process now seems so long ago and so hollow.

So, yesterday Kamala Harris did the wise thing.  She announced that her run for 2020 was over.

She folded her chair, folded her table, and packed away her shells.  It turns out that once America focused on that elusive, ever moving, one shell of three, all that was under it was a card.  A race card.  She played it.  Then she folded.