RUTHFULLY YOURS

The Democrats have just begun their convention in Chicago, the hope being that anti-Semitic protests don’t become riots, Steven Spielberg’s stage-management goes off without a hitch and — fingers tightly crossed —  Kamala Harris doesn’t get too close to a microphone and go off script.

Just such a moment came to pass in Pennsylvania on Sunday, when the anointed candidate strayed too cvlose to reporters and couldn’t resist delivering one of her trademark word salads.  Her thoughts on democracy, such as they are, are below.

In the background, if body language is anything go by, Veep candidate Tim Walz seems a little uncomfortable.

These are the things we stand for and these therefore are the things we fight for! And that’s what our election is about.

Our election is about understanding the importance of this beautiful country of ours in terms of what we stand for around the globe as a democracy.

As a democracy, we know there’s a duality to the nature of democracy. On the one hand, incredible strength when it is intact. What it does for its people, to protect and defend their rights. Incredibly strong.

And incredibly fragile. It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it. And that’s what this campaign is about.

This campaign is about a recognition that, frankly, over the last several years there has been this kind of perversion that has taken place, I think. Which is to suggest, that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down, when what we know is the real and true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up. That’s what we see as strength.

Anybody who is about beating down other people is a coward! This is what strength looks like. So we know what we are about, we know what we stand for. And one of the beautiful things about these next 79 days is what the people in this room already have been doing and know. Let’s build community, let’s reinforce community.