(Thank you, Denise Oliver Velez, for posting that Tweet in Gay CA Dem’s terrific diary on Thursday!)
Is there any other top-tier superbly qualified candidate for the office of President of the United States who has been treated with the disrespect Senator Kamala Harris has endured? I think not. And does she still consistently treat others – as she has from the beginning of her long, storied and successful career – with dignity and respect? She sure does.
One thing I know for sure is this: #RespectIsOnTheBallot.
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To start with, please listen at your absolute earliest convenience to this great interview with Senator Harris by Washington Post Opinion Writer Jonathan Capehart.
If you can get through the part where Senator Harris talks about the mothers of homicide victims asking for her by name and coming to see her, personally, when she was in the District Attorney’s Office in San Francisco without tearing up, then you are made of stiffer stuff than am I.
Listen, in particular, to why they came: because their calls to the office for information about the investigations into their children’s homicides were not being returned, because no one seemed interested in pursuing the investigations, because no one else listened to them, and because, when they asked for then D.A. Harris, she met with them and she listened. Hear Senator Harris speak about what she saw and heard: the grieving parents of a dead child. She respected these parents.
And #RespectIsOnTheBallot.
In that same podcast (and I have looked, thus far unsuccessfully, for a transcript of this because I’d be quoting so much of it here if I could), listen to Senator Harris explain why she became a prosecutor; hear her speak about the injustice she saw in the justice system and about how she believed, with her whole heart, that this injustice had to be addressed from the inside out. (I don’t understand why people don’t get this: How can you fix injustice unless you work to fix it? But as with so many other things, here we are.)
That decision of hers took her to a hard place; as she has said, pursuing her goal of righting wrongs by becoming a prosecutor was a journey up the “rough side of the mountain.”
(NOTE: If you are unfamiliar with the Gospel music of the late Rev. F.C. Barnes, whose compositions included Rough Side of the Mountain, you can listen here.)
That rough side of the mountain continues, of course. Because disrespectful behavior towards a black woman Senator is unsurprising from those most afraid of her. They have reason to be afraid; the Orange Debacle in particular. Just imagine her across the stage from him in a debate; shaking off his aggressive behavior, lies and third-grade vocabulary with the dexterity and shade with which she handled Attorney General Barr. No one else would do it as well.
Remember: Those who do not deserve respect should not have it. And #RespectIsOnTheBallot.
And to those who have earned it: SHE hears you. SHE has your back. SHE deserves your support on the Rough Side of the Mountain.
Respect for the broad-based coalition of Americans who support her, in the face of attacks on “identity politics”:
"It's a term that, I find, is raised whenever we're talking about issues that are essentially civil rights issues," she said. "About race, gender, orientation, religion — things of that nature. And it is raised with the intention of marginalizing the issue. Or shushing or shutting us up. And here's the thing about it: When we talk about where America stands on these issues, that's not about identity politics — someone's identity. It's about America's identity. Where America stands on those issues is about America's identity.”
(snip)
"Unity for the sake of unity is not unity. Unity — true unity — is not just, 'Hey, everybody come under one roof and let's sing a kumbaya song.' That's not unity. It's not unity to say, 'Hey, you guys, you should be a little bit quieter about your thing.' That's not unity. Unity is when everybody is in the room and there is mutual respect and acknowledgment about issues that each faces — that's my vision of unity. And I know we can get there.”
Des Moines Register
Respect for Teachers
Respect for our LGBTQ Brothers and Sisters.
Respect for Veterans.
Respect for Those Who Grow and Harvest the Food We Eat
Respect for Those, Like Her, Who Proudly Claim Southeast Asian Heritage.
Respect for Hardworking Black Families.
Respect for Seniors.
Respect for Children.
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This is not (entirely) the diary I was planning for today - but this stupidity got me fired up:
As per usual, apparently, because it was the Friday of a holiday weekend, the punditocracy at The New York Times and the Washington Post both had very-serious-thumbsuckers about the so-called implosion/unraveling/disintegration of Senator Harris’s campaign, because of course they did. This obituary has been written so many times by so many people since, what, last Independence Day?, that I’m surprised it isn’t available as an online Journalistic Mad-Lib somewhere. Who knows? Maybe it is. Frankly — and I know I’m stealing this, but I cannot remember from where -- I wish they’d just send flowers instead, because the hard-working volunteers in Iowa and everywhere else deserve some (but would probably deliver them to local nursing homes or hospitals because that’s who they are).
My candidate – our candidate -- is not unraveling or imploding or disintegrating. Her campaign is not. She is working this race the way she has worked every race she’s ever been in (all of which, by the way, she has won). Her constancy is one of the things about her that I admire most. The core values of her message have never changed, and at the heart of those, I think, is respect – for the Constitution, for the rule of law, for this country, and, in particular, for all the people in this country who, like those mothers of murdered children, have been ignored or overlooked or disregarded or marginalized or otherwise treated without it. #RespectIsOnTheBallot.
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What Will Kamala Do For Me?
Kamala2020 info and links are below!
Newpioneer has rounded up some highlights of her sponsored legislation here. snowman3 has rounded up some more legislative highlights here. Gay CA Democrat lists 21 bills or proposals here.
Want to know more about her positions and plans? Read about Kamala’s Agenda for the People, and her Policies for the People.
Or go straight to an agenda item: Affordable Housing, Children, Climate Change, Communities of Color, Criminal Justice Reform, Disabilities, Economic Justice, Education, Foreign Policy, Gender Equality, Gun Violence, Health Care, Immigration, Infrastructure, Labor, LGBTQ+ Equality, Veterans, Voting Rights & Our Democracy.
Go straight to a policy: Kamala's Medicare for All Plan key points and full policy. Kamala’s Plan to Set Fair Prescription Drug Prices key points and full policy. Kamala's Rent Relief & Lift Acts key points. Kamala’s Plan to Transform the Criminal Justice System and Re-Envision Public Safety in America key points and full policy. A Climate Plan For The People key points and full policy. Kamala’s Plan For Action On Gun Violence key points and full policy. America's Teachers Deserve A Raise key points and full policy. Reproductive Rights Action key points and full policy. Holding Corporations Accountable For Pay Inequality In America key points and full policy. Kamala’s Partnership With Rural America key points and full policy. Kamala's Children's Agenda key points and full policy. Kamala’s Commitment To Fight For Organized Labor key points and full policy. A New Roadmap to Citizenship for Dreamers key points and full policy. Kamala’s Commitment to Full Inclusion and Civil Rights for People with Disabilities key points and full policy. Fighting for Justice for Sexual Assault Survivors full policy. Combating Violent Hate key points and full policy. Kamala’s LGBTQ+ Plan To Provide Equality And Dignity For All key points and full policy. Kamala’s Promise to America’s Veterans and Military Families key points and full policy. Closing The Opportunity Gap key points and full policy. Closing The Homeownership Gap key points and full policy. Kamala’s Plan To Honor Tribal Sovereignty And Lift Up Native American Communities key points and full policy. Kamala’s plan to invest in infrastructure and build for America’s future full policy. Kamala’s Plan of Action for Asian Pacific Islander Americans full policy.
Please remember to visit our community group page Kamala2020 and give us a follow! That way all our group efforts will appear in your stream; this makes it easy for everyone to keep up with our latest posts. As always, any who would like to join our group please leave us a comment and we’ll get your invitation right out to you!
If you’d like to volunteer to host one of our Kamala 2020 diaries, please leave your comment in the ”Calling all Volunteers” thread.
Even if you can’t commit to a weekly spot due to your busy schedules, guest bloggers are always welcomed!
Please volunteer! Come share your story about why you support Kamala! YOUR VOICE MATTERS!
Upcoming schedule:
Monday — December 2nd — DigitusImpudicus
Thursday—December 5th— Eccaba
Saturday—December 7th--thumbsupcecil
Monday—December 9th— Your voice matters!
As we get closer to the first votes being cast the schedule is beginning to fill up. Let your voices be heard!
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Phone bank! ”At present, our country needs women’s idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else.” - Shirley Chisholm.
TODAY!!!!
Colorado! Fundraiser in Denver, Monday, December 9th, at 5:30 p.m.
There are different tiers for tickets, starting at $20.20.
More phone bank opportunities! You can help from home!
And please don’t forget to donate:
If you’re on Twitter, please follow@KamalaHarris and @SenKamalaHarris
(if you’re not on Twitter, bookmark to ersatz follow)
on Instagram: @kamalaharris
and facebook: KamalaHarris
Group Guidelines
The Kamala2020 community group has been created to positively support Senator Kamala Harris, and not to engage in negativity towards other Democrats running in the 2020 primaries.
All should be made to feel welcomed here. What’s not welcomed here is petty bickering over any of our preferred candidates, or personal attacks on fellow Democrats. We’re not responsible for the actions of others who may offend, insult or attempt to sow discord and disunity — that’s on them.
What we are responsible for are our own words and actions — that’s 100% on us.
I’d like to ask all group members, as well as those dropping by who support or are interested in Kamala’s bid for the nomination, that we not respond to negativity from other campaign’s supporters with even more negativity. Let’s do better than our best and respond with respect, humor or try to hold our peace. Recipes and cat pics work, too 😃
Doing no harm costs us nothing... pie-fights will cost us everything.