Stumbling, Bumbling Kamala By Doris O’Brien
Ooh-la-la!, oui, oui! Kamala Harris has finally gone to Europe — and at taxpayers’ expense. Yet despite CNN’s glowing description of the “chumming chemistry” between the vice president and France’s President Emmanuel Macron that “signaled a relationship back on track” after the canceled submarine contract crisis, the meeting did little by way of burnishing the vice president’s image.
Of course, nobody who has seen Kamala hovering behind the president like a straddle-legged, uniformed prison guard would expect her to sweep onto the continental scene with the same panache as, say, a Jackie Kennedy or Princess Di — and certainly not swathed in the same head-turning, headlining haute couture. Nor does Kamala, pantsuits notwithstanding, generate the same interest as someone like Hillary Clinton.
Perhaps the intention of her boringly severe tailored “look” is to make her appear to be a no-nonsense woman of business. The only problem is that thus far, Kamala has come across as all nonsense and very little business. As for the outcome of the Paris meeting, Harris summed it up eloquently by saying, “We have a lot of follow-up stuff.”
Beyond that, she got some less flattering play about her trying to effect a French accent. And then there was that bit of comic relief supplied by “The Second Gentleman,” Doug Emhoff — whom Biden recently referred to as “The Second Husband” — to the effect that his wife taught him to cook during the pandemic so he would not burn down the apartment. (Not to worry. The Second Couple moved into to the newly renovated Number One Observatory earlier this year.)
But downright sad for the vice president is the fact that she can no longer explain her failure to visit the southern border by facetiously pointing out that neither had she been to Europe.
Okay, so Cackling Kamala is no fashionista or wordsmith. Nor does she even appear to be taking up a signature collectible, such as secretary of state Madeleine Albright’s pins. But that is the least of Veep Harris’s failings. As her popularity plummets and the criticism of her role in this administration rises, she has become demonstrably more frustrated.
As a result, the Beltway buzz is that Kamala has begun to gnaw testily at the presidential hand that feeds her. The word is out that she is demanding to be put in charge of more challenging assignments. Her claim to be strategically digging at the “root causes” for the kudzu-like illegal migrations to America has done nothing to promote her viability.
Perhaps she should, instead, turn her concern to the “root causes” of why Joe Biden tapped her as his vice president in the first place, considering he swore at her after she criticized his record on racism.
And more importantly at this point, she might be more concerned about where her future (if any) lies within the Democrat ranks. Maybe she should ask herself why, in being tapped for Biden’s running mate, she was as gushingly flattered by him as he was gratuitously flummoxed by her. After all, they had come to loggerheads during one of the televised presidential debates, when wannabe Kamala ripped into Biden as a racist who had been against school busing and had authored a prison reform bill that only resulted in the incarceration of more blacks.
All we know is that candidate Biden was feeling around for a woman “of color.” He had other possibilities, such as Susan Rice, who at least seemed more qualified for the position. Maybe Biden figured that someone else with international experience was not needed on the ticket, since he himself is such an expert in the field. Or perhaps he simply turned the decision over to his handlers, who, despite Harris’s low likeability index, viewed her as an attractive enough black female candidate from an important progressive state.
Whatever the reason, Joe’s vice presidential pick was the first in a series of blunders that have characterized his lack of judgment. And as with his other egregious mistakes, he is trying to ignore this one and pretend his fraying relationship with Kamala is as much “garbage” as his detractors’ exaggerated claims about inflation, energy dependence, enormous payouts to illegals, and dire political tidings portended by the Virginia elections.
During their electoral victory lap, the cozy winners and their elated spouses huddled together to watch the fireworks light up the night sky. But it wasn’t long before the appearance of a united front also started to explode. Now, about ten months into the job, Kamala seems more flustered than flattered. And Old Joe’s sleepy eyes are being opened to the fact that her abysmal unpopularity (around 28%) is further pulling down his approval ratings.
During the campaign, voters really didn’t know much about Kamala Harris except that they did not want her to be the presidential nominee. Ironically, she gained some traction when she “took on” Joe Biden for what she characterized as his past racial bigotry. Still, she dropped out of the race soon afterward, having run out of both support and steam. Maybe the same gestalt reminiscent of Obama’s picking low-ranking Joe as his running mate appealed to the Democrat standard-bearer. Kamala would be grateful…and pose no threat.
But now it seems the golden gloves are off. As AT writer Monica Showalter revealed in a recent article, Kamala is again accusing Joe of racism, only this time, it is against her personally.
Apparently, Joe thought he could smooth things over by accompanying her on a long, breezy trudge across the lawn of the White House to sign the new something-trillion “Build Back Better” (or Bitter?) bill and to let her speak on its behalf.
This gambol might have been intended as a sort of exhilarating Julie Andrews “the hills are alive with music” moment. But for Kamala — with her drab pantsuit captured at an unflattering camera angle and her face obscured by her long windblown hair — the lawn lope was anything but a walk in the park.
Meanwhile, Old Joe, mincing along, tidy and frail, appeared to have little hint as to what was happening. Earlier in the week, he had gotten confused at a signing ceremony for an executive order regarding tribal lands, querying, “Where is everybody?”
And where are Democrats at this point? Clearly worried — even those who, until recently, felt smugly insulated by the liberal media. But c’mon, man — let’s get real! Biden’s cognitive and physical deficiencies have deteriorated since he took office and will likely continue in the same direction as his poll numbers.
The election of 2024 is three years away, a lifetime in politics. Chances are that Mad King Joseph will not last long enough to personally hand over his crown, let alone run again.
Even at that, one gets the feeling that were it not for the creature cackling in the wings, Biden might be hoist — sooner rather than later — with his own party’s petard.
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