August 17, 2023

OPEN THREAD: This is your moment.

Posted at 9:30 pm by Glenn Reynolds

HOW IT STARTED: Kamala… They Are Coming for You.

If Biden is set to go, Kamala Harris must go first. A half century ago, when the Republican Establishment thought Nixon’s days as president were numbered, they decided they didn’t want VP Spiro Agnew around. So Agnew pled no contest to a felony charge of tax invasion. Gerald Ford became vice president, Nixon resigned, Ford became president, then in 1976 lost to Jimmy Carter. Watergate played a role. Can Biden scandals do it this time?

If they can’t find anything compromising in the past of Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom could fulfill his pledge to appoint a black woman to Dianne Feinstein’s Senate by convincing Feinstein to resign, then appointing Harris to her seat. Better yet, Harris then could displace Chuck Schumer and become the “first woman” and “first black woman” to be Senate majority leader. (She’s relatively young; if she transitions, Democrats might back her for president in the future.)

* * * * * * * *

The powers in the Democratic Party can no more gamble on Kamala than on Joe. If either is on the ticket, more than the White House is at stake. Republicans would expand, not lose, their House majority. And Democrats would certainly lose their precarious hold on the Senate. Their best hope is an election that again is a referendum on Donald Trump; but regardless of who the Republican nominee is, not a referendum on Joe Biden or Kamala Harris.

Kamala must go before Joe does, certainly before Joe announces he won’t run.

One way or another — Kamala, they’re coming for you, and then Joe.

–Arnold Steinberg, the American Spectator, July 2nd.

How it’s going: It’s Getting Serious Now: L.A. Times Kicks Off the Dems’ ‘Dump-Harris’ Movement.

The Times’ George Skelton knows that the left, unlike the right, never turns on its own, and that a public acknowledgement of Harris’ manifest incompetence would be damaging not just for her, but for Old Joe himself. After all, the putative commander-in-chief has repeatedly praised her and declared as recently as May that she “hasn’t gotten the credit she deserves.”

* * * * * * * *

His plan for doing this involves Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California SSR), who is ninety years old and manages to make Old Joe look as if he’s sharp as a tack. Feinstein, Skelton writes, “is a problem for California because she’s no longer capable of fully representing the nation’s most populous state — a world-class economic power — in the Senate.” And thus the solution to the Democrats’ problems presents itself: “Feinstein could resign from the Senate and Gov. Gavin Newsom could appoint Harris to replace her. Biden then could find a more popular running mate, one more acceptable to voters as a potential successor.”

That successor could be, say, Newsom himself, although the left’s fondness for him as a possible future presidential candidate pays insufficient attention to the fact that he has presided over an unprecedented flight of patriots and other sane people from the Golden State.

No sooner does Skelton raise the possibility of Harris replacing DiFi and clearing the way for the Democrats’ dream candidate (well, the Dems’ real dream candidate would be a gay trans Marxist person of color, but if they can’t find one of those, then a more ordinary Marxist will have to do) than he dismisses it: “A great idea. But it’ll never happen because it would take all of the president’s persuasive and coercive powers to pull off. And he doesn’t seem the type likely to do that.” Indeed, not only has Feinstein said that she is going to remain in the Senate until her term ends, but Harris is unlikely to give up being a heartbeat away from pretending to be president for another Senate gig. What’s more, it’s essentially out of the question that Old Joe could persuade either of them to take this course, as the man can barely formulate a coherent sentence, much less charm two egomaniacs into being humble.

–Robert Spencer, PJ Media, today.

 

Posted at 4:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

INDUSTRY LEADER: Sandy Munro Describes Tesla Technological Lead and Speed of Innovation. “Sandy Munro takes apart all of the leading cars in the world and analyzes costs and technological from the materials and components. He describes in this interview how Tesla achieved dominance in all drivetrain and electrical efficiency in all aspects of electric cars that matter since the Model 3 six years ago.”

Posted at 4:00 pm by Glenn Reynolds

RIP: Colorado nature photographer John Fielder dies after lengthy struggle with cancer. “During a career that spanned 40 years, Fielder worked to protect Colorado’s ranches, open space and wildlife. Over 50 books have been published depicting his Colorado photography. In January 2023, he donated his Colorado photography to History Colorado. The museum is the home of a collection of more than 7,000 photos distilled from 200,000 he made since 1973, and which are now available to the public for personal and commercial use.”

I have two of his books and his work, like Colorado, is breathtaking.

Posted at 2:49 pm by Stephen Green

ACADEMIA AS A STATUS GAME: Which BLM Research Gets Cited?

In academia, citation is the coin of the realm. With occasional exceptions, professors cite more of what they value. Academics whose work is widely cited are then more likely to gain grants, tenure, promotions, and status. Since professors seek approval from administrators, funders and sometimes students, more broadly, citations demonstrate what the whole higher education industry values.

Does higher education value policy and administrative reforms likely to save black (and ideally other) lives? Or does higher education care more about virtue signalling and promoting a broad leftist agenda to enhance the power and status of academics and their institutions, whatever the impacts on most other human beings?

Take a wild guess.

Posted at 2:30 pm by Glenn Reynolds