Thursday, August 22, 2024

Links - 22nd August 2024 (1 - Harris-Walz)

Yashar Ali 🐘 on X - "The U.S. Secret Service is apologizing to a Massachusetts salon owner after an agent covered her security camera with duct tape and broke into her salon by picking the lock so that its bathroom could be used by various people for a two-hour period.  After the two-hour period, Secret Service agents left her salon unlocked and left the tape covering the camera.  The woman was told by others that the lead Secret Service agent was directing people to use her salon’s bathroom without authorization.   The agents were in the neighborhood to secure the area ahead of a Kamala Harris fundraiser. The woman understood she needed to close her salon but didn’t expect the rest of what happened.  @JayShams  reports   Full Story: https://bit.ly/4dFoQOO"

Eric Abbenante on X - "Kamala Harris thinks 'the cloud' literally 'exists above us': "No longer are you keeping those private files in some file cabinet. It's on your laptop, and it's then therefore up here in this cloud, that exists above us. It's no longer in a physical place." There are physical servers across the world that contribute to the 'cloud' you dolt.  Do you want a president who has a Zoolander level of comprehension of technology?"

Eric Abbenante on X - "I've never heard a politician repeat their talking points as often as Kamala Harris. Meaning, when she makes a mistake, she makes it multiple times. Here are 3 separate instances where she calls young people dumb:
"They can be really stupid. That's why we make them live in dormitories."
"When we put them in college, what do we do with them? We put them in dormitories. Why? Because they make stupid decisions."
"What else do we know about this population 18-24? They are stupid. That's why we put them in dormitories."
'They make stupid decisions' well hopefully young people prove you wrong by not voting for you, Kamala."

very moisturized on X - "Tampongate is funny but it really affirms the delusions of feminists who invent this alternate reality where men who behave like bitchass losers are rewarded with bucketloads of pussy, and sidestep the frustrations of real life men who behave like bitchass losers and get none."

Meme - Crémieux @cremieuxrecueil: "When Hillary Clinton ran for president, her campaign featured the most policy-devoid advertising of any recent campaign.  It feels like the Harris campaign is taking this to a new extreme."
"Bush vs Gore. Bush vs Kerry. McCain vs Obama. Romney vs Obama. Trump vs Clinton. Policy, Personal, Both"
the Rich @Duderichy: "Harris Walz campaign website has nothing on policy Imfao
HARRIS WALZ
MEET KAMALA HARRIS
MEET TIM WALZ
TAKE ACTION
STORE
DONATE"

MSNBC guest celebrates 'joy' of Walz having his 'boss be a Black woman,' says he's a 'PSA for White folks' - "Anand Giridharadas, a guest on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," said that there was "joy" in Gov. Tim Walz having his "boss be a Black woman" on Wednesday and added that he was a "PSA for White folks.""

Ian Miles Cheong on X - "Kamala Harris' popularity may be the result of extensive astroturfing, but if it didn't work they wouldn't be doing it -- and it is working. Big time.   Unless the Trump campaign and the Right gets its collective head in the game and plays to win, Kamala is the favored candidate. That's what the betting markets and the polls are all saying.   No amount of coping and excuses about how Kamala's popularity is fake can change the fact that she now has momentum. It's Trump's race to win. He isn't going up against an Alzheimer's patient anymore. Kamala has unburdened herself of what has been.""

Meme - Faiz @fshakir: "Great message from Kamala today: "It will be a day 1 priority to fight to bring down prices. I'll take on big corporations that engage in illegal price gouging. I'll take on corporate landlords that unfairly raise rents. I will take on Big Pharma and cap the costs of drugs.""
Dr. Sydney Watson @SydneyLWatson: "How could she ever seriously promise to "bring down prices" when her other policies will cause them to inflate further?"
PointBreak0191 @PGard0191: "So Kamala actually thinks the way to "bring down prices" is to just mark everything down. Wow. She has no knowledge of Economics. Companies won't sell without profit. Is she really THAT stupid"

Mike Maples, Jr on X - "I don’t care who people vote for. But I sure wish that basic economic and financial literacy was a high school requirement. This “message” plays into the opposite."
mark pincus on X - "Omg. Its the same crazy ideas we heard from Biden. Price caps on food and rent. How does this even come up in a capitalist free market?"

Scott Adams on X - "The price capping approach is the end of civilization.  Every economist agrees, and that’s why you won’t see an economist interviewed on MSNBC.  Democrats generally have a “goal” approach. This alleged “price gouging” issue is one example.   Goals are for losers. Winners use systems.    Republicans have a “systems” approach: Reduce regulations, make sure everyone follows the rules, and favor merit over identity. Lots more.   Democrat policy is often irrational because it focuses on skipping to the goal without a well-designed system to get there. DEI, climate, and price capping are examples.   Another example is Pelosi saying her main goal is keeping Trump out of office. Compare to Republicans who want the election systems to be designed to detect any rigging and free speech maximized. The best ideas win under such a system.   It’s come down to inexperienced and dumb voters versus smart and/or experienced voters. The smart and/or experienced voters have a systems worldview.   This is a somewhat recent situation. Trump brought systems thinking to a higher level in politics. He frames most issues as systems.    Once you see it, you realize he has always been the smartest player in the game."

Meme - "Virtually identical
Tommy Vext @TVext: "this had me fucked up"
*Kamala Harris, Jar Jar Binks*
"Meesa lower prices if elected. Meesa no tell you how, and meesa can no do right now."

Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately" on X - "A year after Richard Lakin, a 76-year-old retired Connecticut elementary school principal, was brutally murdered, Senator Kamala Harris visited the terror university that had honored his killer."

Benny Johnson on X - "Kamala Harris asked who her favorite rapper is. She has a complete mental breakdown on-camera. This is why they won’t let her do interviews. She has a lower IQ than Biden and is less likable"

Eric Abbenante on X - "Angela Rye shocked that her 'Best Rapper Alive' question stumped Kamala Harris. Harris initially chose Tupac, and Rye had to remind Harris that Tupac died nearly 25 years ago:
Angela Rye: "Best rapper alive?"
Kamala Harris (2020): "Tupac"
Angela Rye: "He's not alive."
Kamala Harris: "I keep doing that."
Angela Rye: "Keep going."
Kamala Harris: "Who would I say? There's so many... I mean, you know. There are some that I would mention right now because they should stay in their lane."
Angela Rye: "I want to know who one of those are."
Kamala Harris: "Keep moving. Keep moving Angela."
'How do you do, fellow blacks?'
This is why Hiding Harris is running away from the debates that would ask tough questions. Maybe even questions that would be tougher than 'Best Rapper Alive'."

Andrew Stiles on X - "The easy life of a Democratic press secretary:
- NYTimes requests comment on Kamala's joyful laugh
- Politico wants to know where Tim Walz gets his hats
- The Atlantic asks if either candidate likes food
- Jen Rubin needs suggestions for her column"

Tim Walz repeatedly hosted Muslim cleric who celebrated Oct. 7 and shared pro-Hitler website link - "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 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.  Walz’s ties to Zaman could serve as problematic baggage for the Minnesota governor as he campaigns with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. News of the ties also comes after a Washington Free Beacon report this week found Walz spoke at a 2019 event with an antisemitic scholar who has defended terrorism against Israel...   Zaman, meanwhile, has used his Facebook page over the years to share official Hamas press releases, blog posts on antisemitic websites slamming Jews, and, in one 2015 instance, a link to a piece on a website for a pro-Hitler film called The Greatest Story Never Told. The propaganda movie was released in 2013 and is a favorite among antisemites and QAnon conspiracy influencers, according to the Anti-Defamation League...   In recent years, Zaman has also appeared to equate Hamas committing terrorism to Israel defending itself. State records reviewed by the Washington Examiner show Walz’s administration has awarded over $100,000 in funding to MAS Minnesota.  “If Palestinians are punished for electing Hamas, why is Israel not punished for electing this genocidal maniac as its leader?” Zaman said in May 2021. He was replying to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who stated, “I’ve killed lots of Arabs in my life — and there’s no problem with that,” in the context of catching terrorists...   “It is astounding that with all the available public reporting and information about the iniquities of Imam Asad Zaman and MAS Minnesota that Gov. Walz has repeatedly given public platforms and taxpayer money to this extremist,” Westrop told the Washington Examiner. “Across the country, Islamists hungry for government support will surely welcome Walz as vice president.”  The Muslim American Society was once described by federal prosecutors as being “founded as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States,” court records show. The MAS, which the United Arab Emirates designated as a terrorist group in 2014, came under fire in 2019 after a video surfaced online of children at an event held by its Philadelphia chapter calling for the murder of Jews.   “We will chop off their heads, and we will liberate the sorrowful and exalted Al-Aqsa Mosque,” two young girls said at the event"
The cope will be that Walz didn't endorse all that himself, but the left always jumps on the opportunity to demonise non-left wingers who are seen with those they hate, even if they only take photos with them on one occasion

Coddled affluent professional on X - "It’s amazing what Kamala’s campaign has revealed about her capabilities.  Kamala can’t credibly articulate an economic policy vision, or how she hopes to manage China, Ukraine, or the Middle East, or explain why she did a 180 on all her policy positions from 2019.   She can’t discuss any of the important things she would do as president. She doesn’t even have to come up with the policy herself. All she has to do is repeat in public what her advisors tell her in a semi coherent manner. But even doing that in a friendly interview setting is too much of a risk for her."
Left wingers keep claiming she is "qualified". But all they do is point to the positions she has held, rather than actual achievements

Meme - Kamala Harris: "This is where I keep my accomplishments" *empty cupboard*

Sunny on X - "Walz Day One: Jokes about sex with a couch
Walz Day Two: Lied about his rank and military service
Walz Day Three: Used fake names to hide public records as governor.
Walz Day Four: Repeatedly hosted a pro-Hitler Islamist and gave him state money."

MAZE on X - "2009. Congressman Tim Walz sends a farewell message to some soldiers actually deploying to Iraq. In the message, Walz claims that he is a "retired Command Sergeant Major." Lying about one's rank in a farewell message to soldiers deploying is about as dishonorable as it gets."

Cynical Publius on X - "I want to explain the difference between JD Vance and Timmy Walz.  Vance was in combat.  He served in al Anbar Province at the height of the Iraq insurgency, and every American there at that time was in imminent danger of death or dismemberment from IEDs, 107mm rockets and 82mm mortars.  Nevertheless, Vance said in his book that he never saw combat.  This was because he thought that saying he was (even though he WAS) would dishonor the Marines who were in firefights daily with the enemy.  He was being modest.  Walz, OTOH, not only never saw combat, he RAN from combat, and then he bragged about his non-existent combat experience.  That right there says all anyone needs to know about the character and morals of these two men."

National Guard Disputes Tim Walz's Military Biography - "The Minnesota National Guard is disputing Governor Tim Walz's military biography, saying that the Democratic vice presidential candidate did not hold the rank of command sergeant major at the time of his retirement.  Army Lieutenant Colonel Kristen Augé, the state public affairs officer for Minnesota National Guard, told Just the News on Wednesday that the governor did not retire as "Command Sergeant Major Walz" in 2005, as stated on Minnesota's official website, but as master sergeant "because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy." A soldier who does not complete the requisite coursework is automatically demoted, according to Army regulations... It is not the first time that Walz has faced scrutiny over his military background.  When he first ran for governor in 2018, two retired senior officials with the Minnesota National Guard wrote an open letter criticizing Walz for retiring shortly before his battalion was to set for an active-duty deployment in Iraq, quitting months after they were ordered to mobilize and "leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging." "He had the opportunity to serve his country, and said 'Screw you' to the United States. That's not who I would pick to run for vice president," Thomas Behrends, one of the retired officials who signed the letter, told the New York Post"
Damn misinformation! They need to be deplatformed!

Thread by @DrewHolden360 on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "🧵Thread🧵  I know it’s difficult to keep track of all of Tim Walz’s “stolen valor,” exaggerations & false claims about his time in the military.  I tried to compile as many as I could, as well as a few egregious cases of the media spinning for him.  Buckle in, there’s a lot. ⤵️
First, the false claims. To avoid a sort of journalistic stolen valor, I want to be clear: others did this work.  I’ll try to source as well as I can, starting with the latest Walz whopper: saying he took part in the Afghanistan surge in a 2010 debate.  From @NoVA_Campaigns:
There’s been a lot of good reporting. Perhaps none better than from @ChuckRossDC of the Free Beacon.  His first is on that Afghanistan claim, citing Walz’s repeated description of himself as a veteran of “Operation Enduring Freedom,” the gov’t name of the fight in Afghanistan. @ChuckRossDC also scooped that Pelosi thanked Walz for his “service on the battlefield.”  Rather than point out that he wasn’t ever on a battlefield, Walz thanked her back.
Walz has trotted out other versions of this “battlefield” claim.  As @JDVance pointed out recently, Walz—while trying to ban “assault weapons”—compared them to weapons he had carried “in war.”  The problem? Walz has never been on a battlefield. Or in a war. In fact, when Walz’s unit deployed, he retired, leaving his soldiers in the lurch without one of their senior officers.  Unsurprisingly, the soldiers who did deploy don’t exactly think fondly of Walz. @CaitlinDoornbos & @jchristenson_ talked to them. And Walz has also made it a habit to mislead about his rank when he retired.  Here’s @AsheSchow with the explainer:
And, finally — and pivoting us to the spin on this — the campaign claimed that Walz chaired the House Veterans Commitee.  He didn’t, but as @PhilipWegmann points out, tons of outlets didn’t bother to fact check these claims, including @AP and @nytimes. @CBSNews did, too, on Instagram.  Theirs is allegedly a “fact-check.”  What facts are here? And how are they checked, exactly? Most outlets corrected their reporting when it became clear that none of them bothered to interrogate what the Dems had told them about Walz’s supposed chairmanship.  But not @USATODAY. Might be a good time to correct!
That wasn’t all from that @USATODAY piece, though.  They also claimed that these attacks were an example of “swift boating,” a reference to criticisms of Kerry in 2004, used as a stand-in for unsubstantiated or baseless claims related to a candidate’s military service. Lots of other outlets have done this, too.  Here’s @politico, @CNN, @washingtonpost and @NPR (because I can only have four screenshots in a tweet). And two more from @MSNBC and @NYMag.  The only problem? None of these claims are unsubstantiated! Non-mainstream journalists did the actual work of investigating them.  Perhaps the corporate press could learn a thing or two about what real journalism entails. Because there’s more where that came from.  Rather than investigate the actual claims, @CNN fact checked the criticism from @JDVance.
@washingtonpost fact checked the real reporting from @ChuckRossDC and the @FreeBeacon.  The “facts” elucidated by their “checking” here are less than convincing. Give them a read. @AP did this, too. The convenient timing of his retirement apparently isn’t evidence of anything.  Nothing gets by these guys.
Back to @CNN, who went out of their way to validate my disdain for “analysis.”  They called @JDVance’s criticism a “troll.”  Actually providing the public scrutiny to someone seeking to be one heartbeat away from the nuclear codes.  That’s somehow a “troll.”  Okay.
And then there were the efforts to obfuscate by providing context.  I thought it couldn’t get worse than this @nytimes headline.  Then I read the piece. Here’s just a couple highlights (more at my newsletter piece on the subject.) I’m running out of space but I couldn’t leave out this ridiculous headline from @MSNBC.
For the takedown of @voxdotcom, read this great thread from @peterjhasson...
instead of applying the least bit of scrutiny or accountability for a Democratic candidate for VP, the media are actively trying to hide the blemishes on his resume. Apparently, the press would rather talk about Walz’s vibes.  How about some journalism instead?"
Making Sense of Some Tim Walz Service Claims
The left seem to be especially attached to this fake news, probably because they are motivated to contrast Walz and Vance's military records to diss the latter

Meme - Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald: "Not even herd animals are this flagrant about it. You tell me how and why corporate media constantly speaks from the same exact script this way, verbatim. #KamalaIsJOY"
"THE JOY SURROUNDING THE HARRIS-WALZ TICKET"
"Don't underestimate the power of joy."
"Harris Used to Worry About Laughing. Now Joy Is Fueling Her Campaign."
"Harris and Walz seize on joyful message in contrast to darker Trump themes."

Coddled affluent professional on X - "The inevitable organizational endpoint of DEI is an at-best mediocre diversity figurehead placed in an important executive role with everyone else constantly scrambling to make up for leadership shortcomings. This can happen in any scenario including a presidential election."

kang on X - "Wrote about Kamala, the candidate who wasn’t there. She hasn’t done an interview, answered a tough question,has no policy section on her website, and turned a vague vision for the country into a huge polling surge."
Coddled affluent professional on X - "The media economy is now predicated on flattering readers and indulging whatever their fantasies and emotional needs are in the moment. The public is trained to have this expectation. Look at how angry the responses are to Kang simply acknowledging the reality about Kamala."

‘JD Vance Is Weird,’ Says Guy Who Signed Bill To Put Tampons In Boys' School Bathrooms | Babylon Bee

Meme - EducatëdHillbilly™ @RobProvince: "The Walz family was making sure Antifa knew it was safe…"
Hope Walz @hope_walz: "could someone who actually has followers rely to the masses that have gotten "national guard" trending that the guard WILL NOT be present tonight?? there is a lot of misinformation that is further spreading fear and chaos at the scene of the protests.. the guard can not be sent in within minutes. it takes time for them to deploy because they come from all over the state. to be clear, the national guard will not be present tonight."
sean lim @SeanLimMN: "URGENT: if you're at the protest GET OUT NOW. National Guard and SWAT en route. They're almost here and will be using city buses to arrest everyone / as many people as possible. Get everyone out. Screenshot, retweet and share this."
Hope Walz @hope_walz: "just because someone asked for something doesn't mean it's happening right away or even happening at all. i don't know about swat but what i do know is the guard will not be present arresting people tonight."
David Strom @DavidStrom: "Hope Walz has apparently left Twitter. Here is her tweet giving intel to the rioters."

Meme - "Left wingers when they make up a story about JD Vance humping a couch *cheerful*
Left wingers when others make up a story about Tim Walz drinking horse cum *upset*"
Without double standards, the left wouldn't have any standards at all

Meme - "Today you will hear the name Tim Walz. You've never heard this name before but now you think he's best."
NPCs: "Tim Walz is best."

Meme - *How do you do, fellow kids meme* "How do you do my fellow folksy midwesterners who give tampons to little boys"

Memw - Andy Ngô @MrAndyNgo: "Several members of the "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" have been charged with s—x crimes, including child s—x crimes, in just the last year. You harm the representation of gay people by elevating the status of that group so often."
Senator Scott Wiener @Scott_Wiener: "When the worst people you know are triggered because you went to Folsom Street Fair & think the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are cool"
"Republicans are weird"
Senator Scott Wiener @Scott_Wiener: "Attacking Tim Walz as "Tampon Tim" - because he expanded access to tampons, thus making life more affordable - is weird tbh. "Tampon Tim" is a compliment. People should hav..."
"Tell us more about weirdness, Scott"

Meme - Geiger Capital @Geiger_Capital: "Tim Walz (60) has ZERO investments.
- No stocks
- No bonds
- No crypto
- No real estate
- No index funds
- No mutual funds
- No private equities
- No retirement accounts
The potential VP is… financially illiterate."

unusual_whales on X - "Tim Walz’s net worth is less than the average American’s, per FORTUNE. Together with his wife, Gwen, his net worth is $330,000, per WSJ Do you think this is good for a politician?"
i/o on X - "Two reactions: Having more politicians with personal finances resembling those of the average American seems like a good thing. But how does a 60 year-old five-term US congressman and two-term state governor (both six-figure positions) have, along with his educator wife, only $330,000 in net wealth? It does suggest a lack of financial discipline."

Meme - "Make America Burn Again
Harris Walz 2024"

Meme - "What media bias?"
*Time cover of Donald Trump with 'meltdown'* *Time cover of Kamala Harris with 'Her Moment'*

Meme - "I RETIRED AS A COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR"
"NO YOU DIDN'T"
"No, BUT I CARRIED AN M-16 IN COMBAT"
"NO YOU DIDN'T"
"No, BUT I DID DEPLOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST"
"YOU WERE 'DEPLOYED' TO ITALY"
"YEAH, BUT YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT IT'D BE LIKE IF DID"

Tim Walz’s 2006 campaign falsely described details about his arrest for DWI in 1995 - "When Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz first ran for Congress in 2006, his campaign repeatedly made false statements about the details of his 1995 arrest for drunk and reckless driving.  According to court and police records connected to the incident, Walz admitted in court that he had been drinking when he was pulled over for driving 96 mph in a 55 mph zone in Nebraska. Walz was then transported by a state trooper to a local hospital for a blood test, showing he had a blood alcohol level of .128, well above the state’s legal limit of 0.1 at the time.  But in 2006, his campaign repeatedly told the press that he had not been drinking that night, claiming that his failed field sobriety test was due to a misunderstanding related to hearing loss from his time in the National Guard. The campaign also claimed that Walz was allowed to drive himself to jail that night.  None of that was true."

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