I think the most purely risible, ‘laugh out loud and roll on the floor’ headline of the current presidential campaign must be this one: Tim Walz’s Masculinity Is Terrifying to Republicans
This unintentionally hilarious take has been committed by one Frances Wilkinson, in an opinion piece for the entity known as Bloomberg.com. I do not know anything about Frances Wilkinson, but will venture a couple of guesses here: one, that she doesn’t really know any Republicans personally; two, that she is as acute a judge of what constitutes masculinity-fearing-Republicans as Rachael Gunn (the notorious Raygun of the Australian Olympic breakdancing team) is of break-dancing technique; and three, who the heck is terrified by the masculinity of a guy who looks like a live-action movie version of Elmer Fudd anyway?
I will concede that aspects of Tim Walz’s political persona are terrifying to contemplate in a political context – but his masculinity, such as it exists, is not one of them. His determinedly progressive policies, long-time and personal close ties to China, the way that he rolled over for BLM (AKA Buy Large Mansions) and allowed local rioters to Burn Lots o’ Municipalities, and how local police went all Stasi on ordinary citizens sitting on their front porches during the Covidiocy lockdowns … all that does send a frisson of unease down my spine at the thought of him inflicted on the nation rather than a single state. Minnesota voted for him as their governor; presumably they are happy with him. If he is what the good people of the State want in a civic leader, they should keep him, and spare the rest of us from the Walz brand of Minnesota Nice.
There is also a bit of ruction in the media about Walz’s career as a member of a National Guard unit. I’ve got nothing to say about his time of service in it; not my service, not my specialty, and his time of service barely overlapped mine. Like John Kerry’s time in the Navy, it’s only really fitting for those in service with him to pass judgment on how he performed during that time. Taking retirement so suddenly, cutting short a six-year commitment, and command training school, just before deployment to a conflict, or at least, to a place where conflict is likely to happen? Eyebrows raised, skeptically – but there ought to be no shame in considering the prospect, deciding that “f**k it, I’m getting too old for this game” and then gracefully training up your replacement, advising your command and comrades, and supporting them from home after they have all deployed. What does stick in the craw of military veterans is the unavoidable fact that Governor Walz bowed out of participating in a deployment to a conflict zone … but since has demanded respect and consideration as if he had deployed with them as a senior NCO. If that’s the sort of masculinity that Frances Wilkinson means for conservatives to be terrified by … I’ll have a couple of shots of whatever she is drinking. (I’ll bet it’s expensive, and if so, I’d like a case. It must be the good stuff…)
Comment as you wish: terrified or amused?
Well said.
CPO USNR Ret
I can imagine Minnesota Republicans voting for him just to get him that much further away.
MCS
I can imagine Minnesota Republicans voting for him just to get him that much further away.
Which reminds me of an oldie but a goodie. Vaughn Meader: The First Family, Vol. 2, Part 1/5 @ 3:40
Blogger Grim, with military background, had this to say about Tim Walz’s not going to Iraq and leaving the National Guard: Grim’s Hall: This Would Be Really Embarrassing if His Defenders Understood the Culture.
I’ve got family in Minnesota, and “Minnesota Nice” is a thing. They are probably all in on Walz though we don’t talk politics ever.
While I fully respect Grimm’s point of view, and generally agree with both him and Sgt Mom, by my reading Walz was never in the game. His only prior deployment was non-combat.
I find it both fascinating and completely unsurprising to note that Walz has been in politics for decades and yet his brazen and easily discovered deception about his military service has never made it into the public eye before now.
Why is that, exactly? Where was the Gee Ohh Peeee?
I’d bet the voters of Minnesota would have been interested to know about all that before electing him governor.
But then again, I have trouble believing that any American election in any state with a big city controlled by the left ever has anything resembling a real election.
Is this only coming out now because Trump is the candidate and he is having people actually looking into his opponent’s history?
I recall that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who went after John Kerry and exposed him as a POS had nothing to do with George Bush or his campaign. Hence, I’d bet that if Nikki Haley had somehow become the nominee none of this would be known and we’d all be getting treated to Kerryesque lectures about the awesome military heroism of Command Sergeant Major Walz.
More GOP failure, in other words.
Were I a Democrat, I’d be absalutly incandescent at the thought that these three clowns were the best the party could do. The dotard, the moron and the popinjay. Shapiro should have been a serious contender for top of the ticket with actual accomplishments, but he was too Jewish for veep. Who thought that would be an issue in 2024? No doubt, google could provide a translation of the Nuremberg laws for incorporation into the party platform.The palpable sense of relief from others as they were passed over in the selection process was comical.
Now the same clowns (i repeat myself) that gave us covid lock downs and cops feloniously assaulting citizens are going to control inflation by dictating grocery prices. surely that will work. It won’t really matter what the shelf label says if the shelf is empty. The money spent on food will surely go down and the government bean counters and media stooges will count that as a win. These same media stooges have been rather incurious as to by just what authority she could do this, or why, if it’s such a good idea, they aren’t doing it already. They are overall a rather incurious lot, though it’s not like they would get any answers if they were impertinent enough to ask any questions.
“Minnesota voted for him as their governor”
Given the amount of vote-fraud out there, I’m not so sure of such claims any more.
but he was too Jewish for veep
It’s also possible that Shapiro rejected Kamala’s offer.
If so, another point in his favor.
There seems to be too much of a tendency on both sides for candidates to wait around to be anointed the “successor” next time. I guarantee it’s not from an excess of modesty. If a president rapidly approaching vegetative state and an historically unsuccessful primary candidate don’t constitute a prime opportunity, there’s never going to be one. The system should work by candidates fighting it out, not by whoring themselves out to mega-donors. Let the donors follow the polls not make them.
It’s also possible that Shapiro rejected Kamala’s offer.
I had heard the same thing as well and originally thought that it was due to the requirement that he largely forswear his pro-Israel positions. However there’s another possible explanation.
Over the last 100 or so years, how many people who were the VP on a failed presidential ticket ever gained the nomination in later elections? I count two, FDR in 1920 and Dole in 1976. (you could count Mondale in 1980, but he was an incumbent) All the others disappeared, mostly without a trace. Quayle and Lieberman had runs in 2000 and 2004 but neither made it very far.
In other words there is little benefit to being on a losing ticket. Why? Well there’s the stench of defeat, but I think the other part is that presidential nominees pick a VP for a lot of reasons such as ticket balancing and regional or swing state concerns. However a dynamic, up and comer? Those people aren’t typically considered because they might outshine the top of the ticket, Kamala Harris being the case in point (she didn’t even make it to Christmas in the 2020 race)
The one exception to a VP selection was George H.W. Bush who finished second to Reagan in the 1980 primaries and was picked to unify the party. He did go on to win in 1988, but he was the first sitting VP to do since 1836.
Then there is Joe Biden… and Kamala, otherwise known as Ron Klain’s insurance policy.
So being VP on a ticket really doesn’t do anything to promote your presidential ambitions. Somebody like Shapiro who has his own national buzz isn’t gaining anything by hitching onto Kamala. He’s young enough to run in several future elections and yeah who knows what the future may bring (ask Hillary about her inevitable march to the 2008 nomination), but Shapiro is smart to sit this one out. They need him more than he needs them.
Besides if you were the Democrats have spent the past 4 years promoting people based on how they could be manipulated (no independent power base), why would you want Shapiro?
“Comment as you wish: terrified or amused?”
Angered.
Sergeant, USMCR (1982-92)
I wouldn’t have been voting for Shapiro in any event. I do draw attention to all the prospective veeps paraded over the auction block for Kamala to examine their teeth and check for lameness. He was an example of someone that would have been a serious contender for the top spot with at least some appeal to anyone not a straight D voter in a non manipulated and browbeaten field. We see this all the time where some CEO drives a perfectly good company into the ground to pursue some grand vision.
The one thing that Waltz should kill dead is the notion that someone’s “veteran” status says anything in particular about what they stand for. Remember that no genocide/terror/purge has ever failed for lack of willing executioners and that the standing armies have supplied the majority.