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~Is it me or is Kamala's personality becoming even more appealing as she enters the final stretch?
This is who she really is.
No substance just a campaign fueled by vengeance, hatred of @realDonaldTrump and contempt for half of America.
They'll get more desperate in the final 2 1/2 weeks. pic.twitter.com/iU4xKVpeJP
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) October 17, 2024
~The Al Smith Dinner is one of those rituals of American politics that has been rendered impossible by the Politicization of Everything and the Criminalization of Opposition. If the above is how Kamala really feels, why would she want to be doing good-natured Celebrity Roast shtick at some Papist Friars' Club? So, at a time when she was polling rather better than she is now, she declined an invitation to attend - the first presidential candidate to do so since Walter Mondale.
Which, as I recall, didn't exactly work out for Mondale.
Neither the organisers nor the attendees were happy about the snub. As guests arrived at the Waldorf-Astoria, they were greeted by the traditional trio of life-size cardboard cutouts - the host, Cardinal Dolan, flanked by the two nominees. Except that the Kardboard Kamala was turned with her back to the crowd.
Her absence loosened the restraints on the sole remaining candidate. This was a good line, and went down well with a Catholic crowd:
Bet Gretchen Whitmer wishes she hadn't done that ridiculous video.
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) October 18, 2024
With recent polling showing Catholics in Pennsylvania joining an ever lengthening list of critical demographic groups she's underwater with, Ms Harris opted to modify her initial no-show and offered a pre-taped video appearance. Which conveniently enabled her to rely on the same showbiz professionals that made her Karburetors-for-Kamala ad so effective.
How'd it go? Well...
The audience just booed Kamala Harris' pre tape at its conclusion. Have never seen this at the #AlSmithDinner. https://t.co/lX0oOFwIt2
— Raymond Arroyo (@RaymondArroyo) October 18, 2024
You want another good Trump line?
Trump: "Governor Walz isn't here, but don't worry, he'll say that he was."
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) October 18, 2024
And one more...
President Trump is COOKING:
"I used to think Democrats were crazy for saying that men have periods. But then I met Tim Walz."pic.twitter.com/0uNUpSvcqW
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 18, 2024
It was an impressive performance given that Letitia James, New York Attorney-General, was sitting in the row behind. Even Jean Valjean didn't play Open Mic Night with Javert sitting on the dais.
Whether any of this makes a difference, who can say? Trump now leads in all the swing states, but only by percentages well within the Dems' Margin of Steal. In normal functioning societies, Election Day is the climax. But, as we learned from its weaponisation in 2016, what matters in America is the republic's uniquely unique "peaceful transfer of power". However it goes in November, on the evidence of the above video of Ms Harris, Trump will be lucky to make it to the end of January.
~Yesterday's big news was the death of Hamas's head honcho, the architect (supposedly) of the October 7th massacres:
🚨BREAKING NEWS : A photo has been making the rounds on social media showing what's claimed to be the body of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Reports suggest a major attack happened tonight in the Rafah area. However, it's still unclear if Sinwar was actually the target. pic.twitter.com/VnwSbVhxl5
— Eli Afriat 🇮🇱🎗 (@EliAfriatISR) October 17, 2024
Sinwar was a blood-soaked monster. However, given that his groupies in the west's polytechnic left are apparently turned on by the scenes of gang-raped Jewesses being driven around Gaza as the menfolk spit on their corpses, Israel's decision to release the footage of his final moments is appropriate and necessary. Here a wounded Sinwar attempts to take down the Zionist drone come to inspect him:
Yahya Sinwar last moments, with covered face and injured hand throwing a stick at an IDF drone filming him.
He was found with an UNRWA ID and over $10k cash. pic.twitter.com/3FgScH2Gnw
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 17, 2024
The Israelis are being very methodical in the dispatch of the Hamas/Hizb'allah bigshots. Re that bit about ID, the UNRWA has degenerated from being the only UN agency dedicated to one group of people and their descendants in perpetuity to a mere front group for Hamas. Hence all these unfortunate "UNRWA teacher" IDs in the rubble:
Hi @antonioguterres 👋
— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) October 17, 2024
This is the ID carried by Sinwar's bodyguard 👇
An "UNRWA 🇺🇳 Teacher".
Any comments? pic.twitter.com/TkZ0A7bvRP
~Speaking of Palestinians, last year one of their number fatally stabbed seventeen-year-old Ann-Marie and her boyfriend Danny on a train from Kiel to Hamburg. Ibrahim, as he is known in the German press, plunged his blade into the young lady thirty-eight times.
Just another EU Diversity Stabbing of the Day: in Germany, there are now dozens of stabbings every twenty-four hours. Who can keep track of any one in particular?
Well, Michael Kyrath can because Ann-Marie was his daughter. Last week he had the opportunity to confront the hapless chancellor Olaf Scholz on live TV. For our American readers, if you think Ms Harris was foolish to agree to a sit-down with Bret Baier, imagine her submitting to questions from a panel of "angel moms":
Michael Kyrath (49) spricht bei RTL über den Tod seiner Tochter Ann-Marie (17), die bei der schrecklichen Messerattacke von Brokstedt (Schleswig-Holstein) starb. Bundeskanzler Scholz wirft er vor, nicht genug zum Schutz vor Angriffen wie diesem zu tun.https://t.co/1XRkknmH9U pic.twitter.com/kbHAiFjzQe
— Sven Hartmann (@Hartman0049) October 9, 2024
Herr Kyrath was withering:
There are parents standing at the grave or at the coffin of their children, stroking their child's hand for the last time in their lives. And this hand is ice-cold. You don't have children, you can't imagine it.
Chancellor Scholz, like his predecessor, has no need to imagine it: per the formulation attributed to Stalin, one stabbing is a tragedy, a thousand is a statistic. But, in Germany as in the rest of the west, it is a direct consequence of government policy. How long will their subjects put up with it? Or will ancient nations meekly agree to exit the stage of history one stabbing at a time?
~In this eighth year of The Mark Steyn Club, we're very appreciative of all those who signed up in our first flush and are still eager to be here as we cruise on towards our first decade. We thank you all. For more information on the Club, see here.
