Debate Preview: I Interviewed Kamala in 2016 and She Was Just as Bad as on CNN

In 2016, California Attorney General Kamala Harris was running for the U.S. Senate. It took some wrangling, but our Editorial Board at the Orange County Register scored an interview with her. It was on a speakerphone in our office at 625 N. Grand Avenue in Santa Ana, a building once housing 2,500 employees but now empty because of the changes in the business.

Even then, such an interview over the phone lines was normal, although today all our interviews are done that way because everybody works from home. The days of in-person interviews, which I always enjoyed, were coming to an end. There was great joy in needling those who rule us. The best was getting John McCain’s dander up during his failed 2000 presidential campaign with my questions about him being a fanatical warmonger.

The main thing I remember was Harris’ hesitancy in answering our questions. It seemed to me she was either flipping through an answer book, or reading from a computer monitor on which somebody sealed in another room was typing answers.

I was reminded of that last week in her brief interview on CNN with Dana Bash. Part One is here. Part Two is here. Harris was hesitant and looked at her notes, confirming my impression of eight years ago. Here’s how the New York Times’ reporter on the Harris campaign, Reid J. Epstein, described it:

She was methodical and risk-averse in the 27-minute interview, performing like a top seed in the early rounds of the U.S. Open tennis tournament trying to hold serve, survive and advance to the next round — in this case, her Sept. 10 debate with former President Donald J. Trump.

She will not enjoy such advantages in the debate. Trump is salivating like Pavlov’s dog at the thought of demolishing her the way he did Biden in their June debate. It will be on ABC. Here’s how Trump described it on TruthSocial in his usual subdued style:

I have reached an agreement with the Radical Left Democrats for a Debate with Comrade Kamala Harris. It will be Broadcast Live on ABC FAKE NEWS, by far the nastiest and most unfair newscaster in the business, on Tuesday, September 10th, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Rules will be the same as the last CNN Debate, which seemed to work out well for everyone except, perhaps, Crooked Joe Biden. The Debate will be “stand up,” and Candidates cannot bring notes, or “cheat sheets.” We have also been given assurance by ABC that this will be a “fair and equitable” Debate, and that neither side will be given the questions in advance (No Donna Brazile!). Harris would not agree to the FoxNews Debate on September 4th, but that date will be held open in case she changes her mind or, Flip Flops, as she has done on every single one of her long held and cherished policy beliefs. A possible third Debate, which would go to NBC FAKE NEWS, has not been agreed to by the Radical Left. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

My goodness, I can’t wait for four more years of this. The least our politicians can do for us – after doing to us such things as rob us, send our children to useless wars, entangle us in endless laws and lie all the time – is provide entertainment. And in my profession of an opinion writer of 49 years, this sort of amusement is what I live for. Especially as I no longer can quiz John McCain in person because we don’t do in-person interviews now and he’s dead.

If you want to see a really good interview, watch Trump’s with Lex Fridman, just over an hour. Fridman has become one of the best interviewers around, a computer nerd version of Joe Rogan. A couple times Trump brought up the most important issue: we are at the greatest threat of nuclear annihilation in history. The reason is the comatose presidency of “Joe Biden,” or whoever is running his administration. That topic must come up at the debate or it’s pointless. Do you need to know more about the Democrats’ Campaign of Joy?

This is from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists:

Ominous trends continue to point the world toward global catastrophe. The war in Ukraine and the widespread and growing reliance on nuclear weapons increase the risk of nuclear escalation. China, Russia, and the United States are all spending huge sums to expand or modernize their nuclear arsenals, adding to the ever-present danger of nuclear war through mistake or miscalculation….

Last year, we expressed our heightened concern by moving the Clock to 90 seconds to midnight—the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been—in large part because of Russian threats to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine. “Today, we once again set the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight because humanity continues to face an unprecedented level of danger.

One of the best YouTube channels providing perspective on world affairs is The Duran, made up of Alex Christoforu, a Greek American, and Alexander Mercouris, a Greek-Brit. Their latest, at 37 minutes, is titled, “Ukraine blame begins.” It’s clear the Russians now are on the march and there isn’t anything Ukraine, NATO or the ultimate string-puller, the Biden people (whoever really running the show), can do about it. Except introduce U.S. forces, such as declaring a “No Fly Zone” over Ukraine, meaning a direct U.S.-Russia War.

Which means this is a dangerous time. It wouldn’t mean just Top Gun-style dogfights over Ukraine, pitting U.S. F-35s against Russian SU-57s, but massive missile strikes at military bases on both sides, beginning with U.S. bases in Romania, Poland, Germany and the UK. Then how can nuclear war be avoided?