The Democratic Party’s mess will be hard to clean up. By pushing Vice President Kamala Harris forward as the official candidate, and deep-sixing President Joe Biden’s campaign, it’s created a political mess. It’s the party’s fault for lying about Biden’s obvious mental decline. Who’s to blame? The I&I/TIPP Poll has some answers.
Things have gotten worse for the Democrats, not better, with the selection of far-left Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as Harris’ running mate, after the somewhat more moderate Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania backed out of the running.
Apparently, as a Jew, Shapiro didn’t have the stomach to hear extremist, pro-terrorist Democrat demonstrators screaming “Nazi” at him at every campaign stop just for supporting Israel’s right to self-defense against Hamas’ genocidal attacks.
Would you want to be a standard-bearer for a party that increasingly views your very right to exist as “problematic”? Yet Shapiro says he’ll enthusiastically support Kamal Harris’ candidacy. Go figure.
Meanwhile, Walz’s extreme views on a variety of issues are now getting aired, including his opposition to school choice, his letting the once-beautiful Twin Cities burn in 2020 by not cracking down on “demonstrators” during the George Floyd riots, and making Minnesota a “sanctuary state” for illegal immigrants.
Worst of all, just days after being named Harris’ running mate, we’ve all discovered he’s made claims about his military career that amount to “stolen valor,” the phrase used to describe someone who exaggerates his or her military service. That includes claims he carried weapons “in war.” He didn’t.
His issues don’t end there.
The “folksy” Walz compares socialism to “neighborliness.” Seriously? Socialism is without question the worst political system (along with pure communism, its evil twin) ever, with zero economic success stories but more than 170 million people murdered by socialist regimes in the 20th century.
In short, to choose socialism is to choose poverty and death.
Yet, Walz the former teacher is proudly claimed as a “Democratic Socialist” by that wing of his party, as if the “Democratic” somehow softens the odiousness of socialism. It doesn’t. Like any good socialist these days, he’s four-square behind censoring Americans’ “disinformation.” That is, anything he disagrees with.
So the post-“honeymoon” bounce that Harris got from being selected by the Dems as their candidate now might implode as both candidates are revealed to be the furthest-left candidates of any major party ever.
This further lurch to the left traces back to Biden’s disastrous June 27 debate performance with former President Donald Trump, which shockingly revealed that Biden is not mentally competent to carry out the duties of the presidency, if he ever was.
The U.S. media knew about but didn’t report Biden’s age-related problems. Harris also knew but said nothing. Neither did any of the Democratic Party higher-ups. Indeed, they all doubled down on denial.
Who deserves the blame for lying about Biden’s mental infirmity and creating this calamity?
It turns out, there’s plenty of blame to go around.
The national online I&I/TIPP Poll (here and here) asked 1,326 registered voters this question: “How much responsibility do each of the following bear for keeping President Biden’s infirmities from the public?” The choices given were “The American media,” “Vice President Kamala Harris,” and “Democratic party leaders.”
Some 58% of Americans assign “high responsibility” for the coverup to Democratic Party leaders, while only 16% said they earned “low responsibility.” Harris didn’t emerge unscathed: 55% tagged her “high responsibility,” just 20% attributed “low responsibility.” (Some numbers rounded to reflect closest value).
Meanwhile, the media got 50% of the blame for repeating what they knew to be false. Just 19% gave them “low responsibility.”
This isn’t one-sided. Even Democrats agree, by more than 2-to-1, that the media, Harris, and their own party are to blame for hiding Biden’s worsening mental condition from the public. Not since Edith Wilson spent 15 months as acting president (after her husband, then-President Woodrow Wilson, suffered a disabling stroke) has a bigger political fraud been perpetrated against the American people.
So more than half of Americans believe that the Democratic Party, including Harris, and the media conspired to lie to the public about the health of a sitting president, a lie that had and continues to have serious consequences for the country’s safety and well-being. With growing threats around the world – from Russia, China, Iran, Islamist terrorists, among a host of others – they have done all Americans a disservice.
In another revelation from the I&I/TIPP Poll this month: 56% of Americans agree with the following statement, while just 32% disagree: “The process the Democratic Party used to select its nominee for president did not yield the strongest candidate.”
I&I/TIPP posed one other question on this topic, asking respondents the degree to which they would agree or disagree with the following statement: “The process the Democratic Party used to select Kamala Harris as its nominee was undemocratic.” 52% of the survey respondents agreed, while 37% disagreed.
For the record, in our view that “process” was the most undemocratic selection of a candidate in modern presidential history. Harris faced no opposition and never garnered a single vote for her candidacy in a primary.
No, she was “selected” by an electronic tally of 4,000 Democratic delegates originally pledged to Biden, following heavy interference from the Democratic Party’s top officials and influencers, including Biden himself. It wasn’t democratic at all. Period.
One final “agree” or “disagree” reaction from voters: “I lost significant faith in the Democratic Party because it did not disclose Biden’s health issues during the primary process.”
Of those in the poll, 56% agreed, while 37% disagreed. Once again, a third of all Democratic voters agreed, along with 81% of Republicans and 55% of independents.
Can such a party any longer be called “Democratic” in any sense of the word? Even Democrats know the answer.
TIPP Takes
Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, And More
1. Hamas Casts Doubt On Joining New Gaza Cease-Fire Talks – D.W.
Israel has accepted talks to finalize a truce deal in the Gaza war, but Hamas questioned the fresh proposals. It said mediators should instead implement a previous plan and “compel” Israel to comply.
Both Israel and Hamas are being pressured by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar to meet for new talks to finalize a Gaza truce and hostage-release deal. The summit is slated for Thursday in either Cairo or Doha. Israel said it would take part, while Hamas initially said it was studying the offer.
2. Israeli Intelligence Believes Iran Has Decided To Attack It: Report – Reuters
The Israeli intelligence community believes Iran has decided to attack Israel directly and may do so within days, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said, citing two sources.
The attack would be in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July, Ravid added. Israel has not claimed or denied responsibility for the killing.
3. U.S. To Deploy Guided Missile Submarine To Middle East: Pentagon – Reuters
While the USS Georgia, a nuclear-powered submarine, was already in the Mediterranean Sea in July, according to a U.S. military post on social media, it was a rare move to publicly announce the deployment of a submarine.
The U.S. military had already said it would deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the Middle East as Washington seeks to bolster Israeli defenses.
4. Ukraine And Russia Trade Claims Over Nuclear Plant Fire – BBC
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces had started a fire at the plant, which Moscow’s forces have occupied for more than two years. Zaporizhzhia’s Kremlin-installed governor said Ukrainian shelling caused the blaze.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog said it saw “strong dark smoke” coming from the facility but said ” no impact was reported” for nuclear safety.
5. Investigative Journalist Urges West To Withdraw Reporters From Russia To Prevent Arrests – RFE/RL
Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev has urged Western news organizations to withdraw any correspondents working in Russia, saying the value of having reporters there is outweighed by the risk of having them seized and used by the Kremlin as assets in future prisoner swaps.
“This is a period of time when information from Russia cannot be reported honestly,” the Bellingcat journalist told Bulgarian public broadcaster BNT in an interview.
6. China Condemns Killing Of Hamas Leader, Supports Iran In Defending Security – UPI
China told Iran it condemns the recent assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and supports Tehran’s defense of its “sovereignty, security and national dignity,” according to Beijing’s foreign ministry.
Beijing’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, spoke over the phone with his Iranian counterpart, acting foreign minister Ali Bagheri. According to a statement from the ministry, the two exchanged views on the situation unfolding in the Middle East, and Wang said China condemned last month’s assassination of Haniyeh.
7. Australia, U.S., UK Sign Nuclear Transfer Deal For Submarines – AFP
Australia said it had signed a deal to allow the exchange of nuclear secrets and material with the United States and Britain, a key step toward equipping its navy with nuclear-powered submarines.
The tripartite 2021 AUKUS security accord, which envisages building an Australian nuclear-powered submarine fleet and jointly developing advanced warfighting capabilities, is a strategic answer to Chinese military ambitions in the Pacific region.
8. Vietnam Accelerates Island Building To Challenge China’s Maritime Claims – The Washington Post
While Vietnam has been expanding its presence across a remote collection of rocks, reefs, and islets called the Spratlys since 2021, the country is on pace this year to create more than 1,000 acres of new land there, more than in any previous year.
Not since China carried out its island-building campaign there a decade ago, turning semi-submerged reefs into sophisticated military bases, has the archipelago’s landscape been so transformed. Vietnam has increased its land in the Spratlys tenfold in just three years.
9. Venezuela Opposition Calls For Global Protests – D.W.
Venezuela’s opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, has called for global demonstrations on August 17 to support its victory over President Nicolas Maduro in July’s presidential ballot.
Maduro — who has held the office since 2013 — was declared the winner by the National Electoral Council (CNE), despite exit polls showing the election going in favor of the joint opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
10. Greece Orders Thousands To Evacuate As Wildfires Rage – AFP
Firefighters battled a “dangerous” fire near Athens on Sunday night, with smoke covering parts of the capital in a dark haze. The emergency services issued evacuation orders in several towns, including the historic site of Marathon.
Temperatures are forecast to peak at 102 degrees Fahrenheit in Greece on Monday, with the highest temperatures expected in the country’s west. The Mediterranean country is exceptionally vulnerable to summer blazes, with fires burning daily this season.
11. Women Who Exercise Consistently Are At Decreased Risk Of Injury From Falls In Later Life: Study – NTD
A recently published study in Australia has shown that women less physically active throughout their adult lives were more prone to experience a fall when they reached their 70s.
The study found that women reporting consistently low levels of physical activity over the length of the study experienced “an increased risk of subsequent falls.”
Republished with permission from TIPP Insights
