Vance to Harris: "Go to hell"

If this little exhibition of crass, ungentlemanly behavior toward a woman is an indication of his debate tactics when he meets Tim Walz, then Kamala Harris will be the primary beneficiary. Here's the clip, and you need only watch the first 16 seconds.

His remarks yesterday about his candidate's flagrant violation of federal law at Arlington National Cemetery were entirely unrelated, to use Vance's word, to the disgraceful incident. That's to be expected. He's a master at the dodge. But he also stepped onto dangerous ground, which, I trust, Mr. Walz will readily make the viewing audience aware of.

Vance's misdirection centered on "what happened" at the Kabul, Afghanistan airport — that gruesome day in 2021 when 13 U.S. service members lost their lives in a terrorist bombing. Ever since, President Biden has been the sole target of blame for the tragedy. Some of that blame is fairly placed. But Trump shares as much if not more culpability for the service members' deaths. 

While still dishonoring the presidency in countless others ways, Trump signed a U.S.-withdrawal agreement with the Taliban  The deal signed included the trustworthy Taliban's consent to "prevent any group or individual in Afghanistan from threatening the security of the United States." That, of course, would further include a Taliban promise to abstain from murdering American soldiers.

There was so much Trumpian ineptitude and giveaways to a cutthroat enemy in the agreement it can be difficult to isolate its more wretched components. One, however, leaps out to this day. Trump agreed to the U.S. release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners, many of them either bona fide terrorists or in apprenticeships. And one or more of them might well have been involved in the deadly Kabul airport bombing.

The frequency of reputable journalism's readership among American voters is appallingly low, thus huge swaths of the electorate were unaware of Trump's immensely pro-Taliban agreement that posed such danger to the men and women of the U.S. military that awful day. (Incidentally, on behalf of Afghanistan's vastly abused female population, I have come to believe that U.S. withdrawal was an ignoble act, perhaps better left undone.) And they remain unaware.

Again, I trust Mr. Walz will correct this mass oversight when JD inevitably launches into a repeat of today's counterfeit umbrage. He even got an assist today from David Sanger, The Times' foreign affairs correspondent.

"If the Harris campaign is looking for devastating time capsules," wrote Sanger, "it might start with a photo of Mike Pompeo, then the secretary of state, standing in Doha with a leading member of the Taliban. Later Mr. Pompeo declared: 'I met with them myself when I was in Doha; I looked them in the eye,' as Taliban members swore to oppose Al Qaeda and abide by the accord." 

I gather Pompeo overlooked that vital second step of looking them in the eyes — that of seeing their souls. It sure worked for George W. Bush when he sat with Vladimir Putin. 

Comments

[VoiceOfReason]

And speaking of Vance and the Taliban, I see very little daylight between the Taliban's recent restrictions on women and what Vance wishes were true in America.

[Anne J]

Republicans should just change the name of their party to the "He Man Woman Haters'Club. Does J.D. Whatshisname realize how off putting and misogynistic he is? And why is he so obsessed with people who don't have children that they gave birth to, conceived through sex only, (no IVF allowed!)

When I was 18, I had a baby girl and gave her up for adoption? Is the couch lover seriously saying that the nice couple who adopted my daughter are lesser parents because they didn't conceive her themselves?

[Anne J]

Once again, PM, I am not convinced, at least in the case of JD Whatshisname that a v.p. pick has an impact on the ticket. Vance is the lowest rated veep candidate in at least 40 years, and the more he opens his mouth, the lower his ratings drop.

[PM]

Anne, did you mean "no impact"? Who knows? There's always a first. But still I doubt it.

[Anne J]

Yes, I think I did mean no impact. Sorry about that!