The President Who Never Was
Like Henry Agard Wallace, FDR's second term VP, Vice President Kamala Harris is one step away from the Oval Office. America should hope Harris finds the same denial of fate ole Henry did.
A good friend and conservative ally from Park City (yes, while perhaps fewer in number than your average unicorn herd - but they exist), Jack Rubin, suggested I look at the similarities between FDR's second VP, Henry Wallace, and Biden's VP, Kamala Harris.
Wallace got dumped in favor of Truman in a somewhat similar manner Biden got dumped in favor of Harris.
Initially, I thought there were many similarities but as I dig into a little research, it appears there are more differences than similarities. While Wallace was a Soviet sympathizer and a true believer who ultimately saw the errors of his beliefs, Harris' career history, including her time as Biden's VP, would seem to indicate she is far more the dupe in this 2024 tragicomedy.
I hesitate to use the word “dupe” because I believe, like Biden, she fully understands the Faustian bargain she is making. She is willing to be used, to be prostituted as it were, by the Democrat cabal in exchange for her place in the history books and the lucrative stipends she will receive from the Democrat establishment after she renders her services to the Party.
I am cognizant how Harris got her start through a relationship with Willie Brown, so the analogy to a high-priced escort, willing to assume the persona and to create whatever fantasy whomever is paying for the next hour wants, seems to fit.
I don't necessarily mean that in a sexual nature, nor is that idea limited to the female of the species. Male and female prostitutes create the same illusions (whether political or carnal) for their customers whether those customers are interested in intimacy or influence.
One must keep in mind the goals of the prostitutes are not to live the fantasy but to sustain it just long enough to get paid. All these illusions are temporary. The concerns are about the moment, not what happens to their customers when the night is over, for when the meter runs out, life gets reset to reality.
But isn’t that true for any fantasy? Even the greatest vacation ends. Debbie and I spent a fantastic week in Hawaii for my birthday back in January, but it ended. We lived a fantasy for about ten days and benefitted from it, but we had to come back to our personal and professional responsibilities.
America is being seduced by the fantasy of what they are being told (mostly by third parties) a Harris/Walz ticket could be.
The entire idea of this being a "vibe" election, voting for someone without hearing what they plan to do in their own voice and having those plans questioned by the people who will bear the burden and impact of those plans, is something completely new in America. We have numerous adversarial systems embedded in our society, our justice system, and our government to prevent stupid or harmful ideas from surviving the discussion stage - that is the importance of free speech and open debate.
Of course, there are those who support Harris and who have bought into her "Trust me, I'm lying" proposition. I saw evidence of that when Bill Maher interviewed Quinton Tarantino and Tarantino was vulgarly suggesting that Harris should not speak about her policies and ideas because if she did, she would lose. Tarantino said he didn't care what her policies were, he was going to vote for her anyway.
Tarantino, along with the fawning media, are openly expressing disrespect (well deserved) for anyone who is fooled by Harris' deathbed conversions of beliefs she has seemingly held her entire political career.
I doubt very much that anyone of us would buy any product, sight unseen or tested, based solely on the description of the seller - but it was proven in 2021 that many Americans were willing to get an experimental vaccine injected into their bodies without full awareness or disclosure from the manufacturer, the NIH or the CDC of what it would do and what it would not do - so there is a precedent for Harris' potential ascension to the Oval Office.
I hope Americans have an attention span longer than the three seconds of a goldfish but as of now, I am more than a bit apprehensive how good my odds are.
But back to ole Henry...
I had forgotten what an interesting - and in many ways, tragic - character Wallace was. As I was refreshing my knowledge of him, I ran across a new book (released in January of this year), called "The World that Wasn't" that takes into consideration a wealth of information available to us from sources within records now made public.
I made the point yesterday that many times we don't recognize history when it is being made, and along that line this book looks at what a near-miss it was when Truman replaced Wallace on the Democrat ticket.
Henry Wallace is a fascinating study in how otherwise brilliant people, and make no mistake, Wallace was an extremely bright man, can be seduced by extraordinarily bad ideas, illustrating that sometimes intellect is no insurance against ignorance and in practice, often facilitates the dumb.
I'll post something as soon as I finish the book.
I just got started and it is truly fascinating.
There is a lot I thought I knew, but didn’t.
And here I thought “the president who never was” was going to be about the sarcophagus formerly known as “Brandon.”
To your Multiple points:
“… so the analogy to a high-priced escort, willing to assume the persona and to create whatever fantasy whomever is paying for the next hour wants, seems to fit.”
SO PERFECT.
As for voting for someone without having been told what their policies are, HMM. That seems to be a theme in the land of fantasy and blind allegiance, with a memorable example being Pelosi’s famous words “We have to pass (this bill) so we can find out what’s in it.”
“… fascinating study in how otherwise brilliant people, … can be seduced by extraordinarily bad ideas, illustrating that sometimes intellect is no insurance against ignorance and in practice, often facilitates the dumb.”
Thank you! Perfect description. Understanding where the disconnect is has become an obsessive pursuit of mine in recent years. I still haven’t found it.
There is so much many of us know, but dont.