Why are so many Americans quick to define people only by their political beliefs? America has changed because it wasn’t always like this.
On Monday, Helena Moreno was sworn in as the new mayor of New Orleans. Moreno’s friend, former VP Kamala Harris, did the swearing in. On our show today on WWL-AM-FM-WWL.com and the Audacy app, a few people expressed deep disappointment that Kamala Harris, who also ran against Donald Trump for president, was selected by Moreno to do the swearing-in ceremony.
The criticism of Kamala Harris doing the swearing-in ranged from - [paraphrasing] - “she’s a liberal Democrat” to “Biden only selected her because she was a female person of color” to “what qualifications does she have anyway.”
First of all, the quick, instinctive dismissal of Kamala Harris shows eagerness with which many Americans want to re-debate the past as if it matters. I think it’s more a case of giving people an opportunity to place the “Right-Wing Badge” on their chest and profess their political beliefs of right vs. left. I am not talking about ALL conservatives or ALL Republicans, but I am talking about the right-wingers who are so defined by their political views that they simply cannot resist any opportunity to promote their politics.
Kamala Harris, as a political figure, is yesterday’s news. Turning the presence of the former vice president into a political debate is a sign of clinging to the past. For all the conservatives who criticize liberals for not letting go of the past, you do the same thing when you re-debate anything relating to Joe Biden at the mere sight of his VP swearing in New Orleans’ new mayor.
And I love the callers into talk radio who continue to mispronounce Kamala’s name. Most of those who do this are obvious samples of the Americans who have been brainwashed by the conservative media echo chamber. Right-wing talk radio set out to purposely mispronounce Kamala’s name as a way to dismiss her or demean her and obviously many trapped in that conservative echo chamber show signs of being brainwashed into mispronouncing her name.
It’s KA’-mala - not Ka-mala’.
One caller who mispronounced her name was named Darrel. So, I referred to him as Dar-rel’ to demonstrate how mispronouncing one’s name can be degrading.
And the criticism of Biden and Harris went on. There was the idea that Kamala Harris was selected ONLY because she was a female of color. Okay, so what? Republicans also select vice presidential running mates based on their ability to attract voters - not on their ability to best run the country in the event that situation would arise.
Dan Quayle was one of, if not the most, bumbling vice presidents in modern political history. Selected by George H.W. Bush as his VP running mate in 1988, Bush selected Quayle because he was younger and to counter Bush’s more moderate views, Quayle was super conservative and attracted the conservative Christians. Quayle was also from the Midwest, Indiana, and was chosen to attract the important states of Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana. Let’s remember a couple of Quayle’s best comments: “It’s time for the human race to enter the solar system” and trying to repeat the line from the United Negro College Fund, which was “The mind is a terrible thing to waste” Dan Quayle said, “What a waste it is to lose one’s mind.” And, yes, Kamala Harris was selected because she might relate to certain demographics, too.
Politics are an important part of our lives. What we believe and how we vote are important to each of us and to America, collectively. But dredging up debates of the last election because a former vice president is part of the sweating-in ceremony of the new mayor of New Orleans just reminds us that there are Americans who solely define themselves by their political badges and their feelings of belonging are directly tied to the opportunities they have to espouse those political beliefs.
Kamala Harris swearing in Helena Moreno does not represent any new deviation in the perception New Orleans voters have of Moreno.