When John McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his running mate in 2008, it marked the downfall of what was otherwise a well-organized campaign for the presidency and led to America electing the first Black president, Barack Obama. Is Donald Trump’s choice of J.D Vance akin to anointing him the next Sarah Palin, and will it yield similar results?
Only time, and the voters, will tell.
The Next Sarah Palin
Those running for president typically choose a running mate from a competitive state to balance the ticket, so political pundits were shocked when Trump chose J.D. Vance, who is from the Republican stronghold of Ohio. Many had hoped Trump would select a running mate from one of the swing states, such as Pennsylvania or Wisconsin.
Perhaps Trump was still stinging from the “disloyal” act of his own Vice President, Mike Pence, for failing to overturn the 2020 election results. Or perhaps it might just be Trump being Trump. With his massive ego, he may have assumed that his choice didn’t matter so long as he selected someone who demonstrated absolute loyalty.
Like John McCain, who Trump has openly mocked on numerous occasions, Trump may be experiencing “buyer’s remorse” as Vance continues to shoot the campaign in its political foot with his verbal gaffes as past comments are unearthed that are damaging, embarrassing and downright bizarre!
Vance wasn’t always on board the Trump Train. In fact, he referred to Trump as a “moral disaster” and “America’s Hitler”. That’s not exactly the type of glowing endorsement you would expect from someone chosen to be your second in command.
With Joe Biden stepping aside, the Trump campaign switched its target to presumptive Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. Or, at least they tried to. Their pivot was a scattershot approach, where they tried throwing everything at the wall in hopes that something would stick in their attacks on Harris.
She’s too soft on crime. She’s too hard on criminals. She’s an Ultra Liberal. Well, considering how far right the Trump campaign is, even a political centrist would be considered far left.
Never known for their originality, Trump supporters even tried resurrecting the birther controversy they used to taunt President Obama with during his time in office by claiming Harris was ineligible to run because neither of her parents were born in this country.
Apparently, the Constitutional requirements aren’t part of the MAGA Constitution because Harris definitely checks all the boxes for being able to hold the highest office in the land.
The U.S. Constitution states that the president must:
Be a natural-born citizen of the United States
Be at least 35 years old
Have been a resident of the United States for 14 years
And then J. D. Vance punched his ticket to board the crazy…er..Trump train. In one bizarre rant, he claimed he would be called a racist for drinking Diet Mountain Dew. He continued with his unexplainable defense of the ubiquitous soft drink, which some have called “the symbol of White hope and despair”. He then went on to mock Kamala Harris’s laugh while emitting his own weird cackle.
Many referred to the comments, and Vance’s own awkward laughing at his own jokes as “cringe”.
(Editor's Note: It was damned weird, too.)
Trump’s support among suburban women has never been his strong point. He was forced to soften his stance on abortion, much to the chagrin of his White Christian base, to try to woo their votes, but stuck to outdated talking points that indicated they should take the “stand by your man” approach when selecting a president.
J.D Vance threw fuel on this proverbial fire when a 2021 interview with Fox News was discovered and shared by 2016 Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. In the interview, Vance attacks Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and even Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for not having biological children.
In the interview he states:
"We are effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too."
Needless to say, the “childless cat ladies” comment did not go over well, especially coming from the party that wants to ban in vitro fertilization, a method thousands of women have used in an attempt to have children of their own.
So, keep up the good work, J.D.! I’m sure there will be a spot for you somewhere. Perhaps you can come up with your own brand of soft drink or even a new kind of pillow. Vance, who was once seen as the heir apparent to the MAGA dynasty, may just be the next Sarah Palin.
Vance and Project 2025
Before we leave J.D. to go off to whatever private Hell awaits him at Mar a Lago, it should be noted that he has a rather unique connection to Project 2025, which has been called a blueprint to Trump’s second administration, should it occur. While the Trump campaign has tried to distance themselves from the Draconian proposals contained in the 900+ page right wing manifesto, Vance has embraced it, or at least he has done so with its primary author, Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation.
You see, Roberts also has a book coming out. And the forward to this dark vision of America: Dawn's Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America, is written by none other than Vance himself. In it, Vance reflects the violent rhetoric embraced by several Republicans who suggest a Civil War would erupt if Trump loses the 2024 election.
In writing the foreword Vance states: "We are now all realizing that it's time to circle the wagons and load the muskets. In the fights that lay ahead, these ideas are an essential weapon."
The Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 are referenced in the first sentence of the book's description, which also claims "America is on the brink of destruction."
"Chapter by chapter, it identifies institutions that conservatives need to build, others that we need to take back, and more still that are too corrupt to save: Ivy League colleges, the FBI, the New York Times, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Department of Education, BlackRock, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy, to name a few," the description reads.
"All these need to be dissolved if the American way of life is to be passed down to future generations."
Despite this, Vance’s spokesperson asserted that Vance’s foreword had nothing to do with Project 2025.
But Vance wasn’t done endorsing the lunatic fringe. He has praised the book written by Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec. The book, titled Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions (and How to Crush Them), describes civil rights activists and member of the Black Lives Matter movement as communists and socialists. It also calls the January 6th insurrection a hoax, while also praising those who participated in the melee as “well-meaning patriots”.
While both labeling those on the left as socialists and calling the January 6th insurrection a hoax are standard MAGA talking points, labeling those on the left a “unhuman” sets a dangerous precedent. It effectively grants the right to murder Democrats because, since they aren’t really humans as we know it, we aren’t killing anything vital. This is reflective of the Nazi propaganda used to exterminate the Jewish population during the Holocaust and even America’s own dark past when slaves were viewed not as people, but property to be used as needed.
Keep those recommendations coming, J. D.! The infomercial world needs people like you!
I Won’t Back Down (Until I Do)
Joe Biden’s downfall came during the first of what was to be two presidential debates. His complete lack of clarity and slack-jawed appearance made him ultimately realize that, in order for democracy to survive, he would need to step aside.
When Kamala Harris emerged as the Democratic front-runner, Trump initially said he would be happy to debate her instead of Biden “Any time. Anywhere”. But since the Olympics are currently underway, Trump has now decided he will enter himself in the Backpedaling event. At first, he complained that he had agreed to only debate Joe Biden. Then he whined about the debate sponsor, ABC, and its moderator, George Stephanopoulos. He demanded the debate be moved to his right-wing propaganda network, Fox News.
He is now claiming that he won’t commit to debating Harris until a Democratic candidate is chosen. Yet, he debated Joe Biden after ducking every contest with his Republican opponents during the primaries despite Biden not yet having the official endorsement of his party.
Trump’s own daughter in law, and chosen RNC chair, Lara Trump, released a song in praise of her father-in-law. In what can best be termed a drunken karaoke rendition, the younger Trump sang (?) the late Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” as a mantra for the elder’s refusal to back away from any challenge.
Perhaps it’s time to change your tune, Lara. But please, don’t sing his praises anymore!
We are at a critical time in our nation’s history. The lunatics are threatening to take over the asylum and murder those who disagree with them.
The time for action is NOW!
Vote Blue!
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