Checking all the baggage

Things were going so well for the Democratic Party, it's a shame they had to hold a convention. With the Harris-Walz ticket on a major roll, there was nowhere to go but down. Shining a spotlight on all the party's old warhorses is sure to start re-entry into reality.

Last night's convention kickoff saw President Biden hand the torch of leadership over to Vice President Harris. Perhaps the most poignant moment in Joe's lengthy speech was when he turned around and took off his shirt to show his recent stab wounds. Particularly noteworthy was the one from Barack Obama, just to the left of the scar from the knifing he had delivered eight years ago. There were also some teeth marks visible, which dental records have traced to Nicholas Kristof.

Then Hillary got up, and hoo boy, you had to shudder. There's no scarier message for the Democrats right now than her standing there saying, in effect, "A vote against Kamala is a vote against me." The Willy Loman of politics, liked but not well-liked, is a liability, not an asset.

AOC took a turn at the podium as well, throwing red meat to the MAGA line that Harris is a communist. This is asserted by the same Republican types who are in thrall to butchers like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. but the "commie" label is one of their favorite tropes. So let's feed it, shall we?

With so many precious moments already behind us at that point, you might have hoped that the convention would be pronounced finished for another four years, but no. They've got three more treacherous days and nights to go. Tonight the Obamas will speak, and apparently Barack will ascend into heaven directly from the arena as opposed to dealing with the traffic to O'Hare. To cancel him out, Mr. Radical Left himself, Bernie Sanders, will hop up on the stage to reinforce the whole "commie" image for the swing state voters.

Tomorrow night we'll get the other Clinton, Willy, slithering around, grinning creepily, biting his lip, conjuring up many wonderful memories. Such a turn-on for the young people, especially women. Presumably he'll refrain from drawing a Jeffrey Epstein analogy, which J.D. Vance stupidly did the other day. To round out the night, maybe the DNC will beam Monica Lewinsky in on the Jumbotron for a few comments, live via Zoom from Vince Foster's gravesite. 

Harris won't actually give her rap and accept the crown until Thursday, by which time who knows how much damage will have been done.

And of course, the corporate media will pounce, no matter how smoothly everything might go. They crave those clicks that only Trump can bring, and they'll fight to keep them. As just one example, today the scoundrels at the New York Times are "fact-checking" the convention speeches. Can you imagine? Everybody knows and expects that there will be lots of hyperbole at a convention, but the Times picks now to "fact-check." "Misleading." "Exaggerated." "Needs context." You know what, New York Times? Stick it.

Maybe there will be some sort of deus ex machina that salvages the week – is Taylor Swift or Beyonce in the house? – but I can't help but fear that by Friday, Harris-Walz will be in somewhat worse shape than it was last Sunday. With so much on the line, that's not good.