The long heat wave – Kindness of neighbors – Kamala Harris as Biden’s running mate – Trump seemingly dumbfounded – Harris assumes the offensive – Evening statistics
This entry is mainly political; not much happened on a personal level. I was a little more active today than I was yesterday, but not by much. The chronic heat is beginning to affect me. Usually during the summer we have occasional spells of more moderate weather to mitigate the days of extreme heat, but for this summer the tropical temperatures have been more or less continuous – though it is true that the nights have cooled down a little since July. I will try for more activity tomorrow. Also, I will be spending a good part of next week in central Pennsylvania, where the hiking I’ve planned for the excursion should keep me in harness.
There was one pleasant episode today. My neighbors have been encouraging their children to learn about gardening and they have successfully grown several vegetables. As often happens with home gardens, they came up with more produce than they were able to use all at once. The children said that the extras should be given to their neighbors, and as a result I among others was presented with two handsome specimens of squash.
Joe Biden has picked Kamala Harris as his running mate: a good choice, it seems to me. Her outlook has been described as progressive, but she never seemed comfortable with the extreme Sanders/Warren contingent of the party. In addition, she has spent years as a district attorney with a reputation for being severe on violent offenders. She is not likely, for instance, to sympathize with those who advocate an over-lenient treatment of felons. Of course the fact that she is the first black woman to be selected on a presidential running slate played a part in determining Biden’s selection; but, more importantly, she is intelligent and well-spoken and, being twenty years younger than Biden and appearing younger still on account of her undoubted energy, she will probably infuse a much-needed dose of vigor into the Democratic campaign. It is even possible that she may talk Biden out of his strange delusion that every single one of the black Americans – all forty million of them – vote and think alike.
In person she displays such a dramatic contrast to so many politicians who have recently been in the limelight that it seems remarkable that she and they are in the same profession. There is evidence of a strong bond of affection between her and her husband; she has a warm relationship with her stepson and stepdaughter and also, rather surprisingly, with her husband’s first wife; and she and her husband have a net worth of slightly under $6,000,000 – comfortable, certainly, but not excessive for two people in well-paid professions who have put savings by over the years. She has not gotten rich through kickbacks or book deals or delivering over-paid lectures at universities; and this, to my mind, is a point very much in her favor.
Harris is not an especially surprising choice – her name has been mentioned for months as one that Biden was mulling over – and yet her selection appears to have taken Trump by surprise nonetheless. Generally he has excelled at denigrating his opponents by means of a single adjective – Hillary Clinton as “crooked,” Biden himself as “sleepy” – but, mirabile dictu, he seems to be at a loss to come up with a telling insult for Harris. Since personal insults are his principal means of conducting a campaign – he is quite incapable of voicing a sustained debate, on any issue – some experts are speculating that Trump is fumbling and is at a loss as to how to pursue his re-election. I hope it is so, though this may be wishful thinking on their part. Whatever else may be said about Donald Trump, he is not likely to give up power without a prolonged struggle. I could wish that the polls were less favorable towards Biden, because the numbers might lull him and his supporters into smug assurance of victory, just as they did with Clinton in 2016. If I were among Biden’s advisors I would be urging him to pursue the campaign on the assumption that the voters are undecided and that every effort possible must be made to sway their opinions by November.
Harris herself, I’m happy to see, seems to be operating on this principle. She has lost no time, for instance, in assailing Trump for his disastrous reaction to the coronavirus. I could summarize what she said, but I don’t think her actual words can be improved upon: “This virus has impacted almost every country, but there’s a reason it has hit America worse than any other advanced nation. It’s because of Trump’s failure to take it seriously from the start. His refusal to get testing up and running, his flip-flopping on social distancing and wearing masks, his delusional belief that he knows better than the experts — all of that is the reason an American dies of Covid-19 every 80 seconds.”
The Democrats need to keep hammering on that point relentlessly, just like the Roman statesman Cato who ended all of his speeches in the Senate, on whatever subject, with “Ceterum censeo delendam esse Carthaginem”: Carthage must be destroyed – in other words, Trump has to be turned out of the White House at any cost.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 20,785,729; # of deaths worldwide: 751,541; # of cases U.S.: 5,359,563; # of deaths U.S.: 169,112. The recent downturn appears to have been only temporary; we’re back up to over 50,000 new cases and well over 1,000 deaths for the second day running.