(Editor's Note: The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement of any political party or candidate, on the part of Newsmax.)
Former CNN host Don Lemon took to the streets of Atlantic City, N.J. over the weekend to see just how excited the people were to have Vice President Kamala Harris as their Democratic presidential nominee.
What should have been a fun day in Democratic Atlantic City, located in Democratic New Jersey, was an eye-opening experience for Lemon.
Most said they were voting for former President Donald Trump.
"Four years ago it, was a lot better. I made a lot more money than I do now," one man said. when Lemon tried to fact-check him, the man laughed in his face.
He asked another, "You’re in a gambling town — who’s your money on?"
He replied, "I’m gonna support the Democratic Party, but I mean, Trump, he’s got it in the bag right now."
A woman put in, "I know nobody likes him but we had good times with Donald Trump. The economy was good, life was good."
Frustrated, Lemon reminded one interviewee that "she’s a vice president. She’s a senator!" another that "she’s was a prosecutor, an attorney general, a senator, a vice president."
But those aren’t accomplishments — they’re titles.
What matters is what she did when she held those titles, and the answer is, not much — or at least not much good — and a lot that was bad.
As the district attorney in San Francisco, she supervised the trial of Jamal Trulove, who spent six years in the California prison system after being wrongfully convicted for murder, and nearly lost his own life after being stabbed by a fellow inmate.
Granted, wrongful convictions happen, but it shouldn’t have happened in this case.
Had prosecutors released exculpatory (exonerative) evidence to the defense as they are required, no jury would have found him guilty.
He was acquitted after a retrial — this time with evidence available to the defense.
Trulove then sued San Francisco and won a $13.1 million settlement.
Maybe Harris should have been disbarred as well, but hey, this is California.
Trulove told the New York Post last week that "I can’t see myself voting for a woman who had something to do with me being framed for murder." No kidding.
Harris didn’t bring much in the way of honor as the state’s top prosecutor either.
While California attorney general, she was presented with evidence that Planned Parenthood was in the business of selling the parts of aborted fetuses, which is not merely ghoulish, but also illegal.
But rather than prosecute Planned Parenthood, Harris indicted David Daleiden, the videographer for Center for Medical Progress (CMP), who collected the evidence.
During a 2019 Democratic presidential debate, then-Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard challenged Harris on these and other transgressions committed by her.
"There are too many examples to cite. But [Harris] put over fifteen hundred people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana," began Gabbard.
"She blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so," which would have been the Trulove case.
"She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California. And she fought to keep a cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way."
CNN reported afterwards that those remarks really got under Harris’ skin, and she never really recovered. Harris didn’t even win her own state’s primary.
Harris’ record as senator and vice president isn’t any better, making them all titles without accomplishment.
She does have one accomplishment she’s had all her life — she the nation’s No. 1 diversity hire. Harris is:
- The first Black-Asian district attorney in San Francisco history
- The first Black-Asian attorney general in California history
- The first Black-Asian U.S. senator in American history; and,
- The first Black-Asian vice president in U.S. history.
And in the end, Harris serves as the best example of why we should never select our leaders on the basis of diversity.
She’s a reminder that merit-based hiring is always best. In a phrase often associated with John F. Kennedy, a Democrat of an earlier age, we should select only "the best and the brightest.”
And that phrase doesn’t come close to fitting Kamala Harris.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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