If you’ve been following what the media has been churning out in recent weeks, surely you heard the great news. Kamala Harris is an awesome person. If you didn’t before, you now know that she’s a brilliant, compassionate, and deeply caring individual.
Numerous articles and columns have been written recently explaining to us how wonderful Harris is. My view of Harris used to be that she was a callous individual, indifferent to suffering and willing to do what she thought she had to do to advance her political career. Now, given all of this new information, I’m not so sure. Perhaps it’s time for me to update my beliefs about Harris.
Jason Kander, the former secretary of state of Missouri, wrote a piece this week where he recounted how Harris was the only person that would check in on him as he retreated from the political arena and received treatment for PTSD he suffered from as a veteran.
Kander wrote, “At best, we’re friendly acquaintances who used to work in the same field. And that’s my point. She is the type of person who is thoughtful enough to treat a peer like a peer, even when that person has bowed out and is no longer really a peer at all. And that’s the kind of everyday decency I believe she’ll bring to the presidency.”
This insight into Harris’ personal interactions certainly paints her as a thoughtful person who cares about the struggles of others despite having little to gain.
Katie Porter wrote about her time working with Harris, recounting how compassionate she was despite Porter needing to care for her newborn. Porter wrote, “We changed lives on the ground. That’s how Kamala is: She sees things through, not stopping until people get help, because she cares about our families. When she called me to offer me the job as California monitor, I had a 2-month-old. Like many working moms, I had to bring my infant to work because she had nowhere else to go. […] I nervously confessed that I had my baby with me. Kamala didn’t hesitate. She asked how my baby and I were doing and how her siblings were adjusting. She wasn’t making small talk; she genuinely wanted to know.”
Despite not birthing any children of her own, she is able to connect to and empathize with the challenges of a working mother – personality traits which are certainly desirable to have in our highest office.
If she truly does embody these great virtues, then why has she shown such callousness when her actions have mattered the most?
In 2011, the Supreme Court ordered California to release thousands of nonviolent prisoners who had been determined to pose little risk to the public. The problem was that California’s prisons were extremely overcrowded, which created truly awful conditions for the inmates. The court claimed that it violated their right against cruel and unusual punishment.
With all of the power she wielded as California’s Attorney General, she fought tooth and nail to keep these suffering inmates in custody. A prisoner was dying per week because of poor medical care and overcrowding. In the Supreme Court’s opinion, Justice Anthony wrote that as many as 54 inmates had to share a single toilet and that suicidal inmates were placed in tiny cages for 24 hours at a time.
Of course, Kamala knew of these inhumane conditions but repeatedly delayed proceedings and flat out ignored court orders to the point that they considered holding the state in contempt of court. She went so far as to challenge the Supreme Court’s authority to make such determinations … about the Constitution.
Why did she fight so hard against the Supreme Court’s orders? According to a memo from lawyers in her office, releasing prisoners would lose the state some of that cheap labor they provide. Personal anecdotes aside, Harris has acted cruelly and callously when she has had the opportunity to show kindness and ease suffering.
After serving 13 years of his 27 year to life sentence, a judge ruled that Daniel Larsen was innocent and to be released. Harris challenged the release, claiming that Larsen didn’t provide proof of his innocence in time.
So perhaps I won’t be updating my beliefs about Harris. What should be clear is that this is all part of a plan by the left-leaning media to bombard us with heartwarming stories with the intent of changing Kamala Harris’ image. The extent of this ridiculous PR project can be appreciated by reading an article by a New York Times columnist titled, “The Meaning – and Power – of Kamala Harris’ Smile” where he wrote that he “can’t stop noticing and basking in her happy face.” I was creeped out to say the least.
But a virtuous and compassionate person doesn’t fight so hard against the easing of suffering and so vigorously to avoid dislodging the continued administration of cruelty. Even if you correctly believe that Trump is an awful person, our presidential candidates don’t necessarily come in opposites.
Rafael Perez is a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the University of Rochester. You can reach him at rafaelperezocregister@gmail.com.
