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Al’s Afternoon Tea: Harris Break Into Urban Accent Again. Political Blackface … or Unsure of Her Own Identity

By Al Perrotta Published on September 3, 2024 •

Al Perrotta

Welcome back in for Al’s Afternoon Tea! Let’s nibble on some of the happenings over the holiday weekend.

Two Crowds, One Line, Two Accents

In this morning’s Brew, we talked about how Kamala Harris’ body language and voice during her CNN interview (and let’s face it, the rest of the time as well) suggest she’s unsure of herself and what she believes. Yesterday,  Harris offered another example of how she either doesn’t know who she is or is engaging in the worst form of pandering.

She made two appearances yesterday, delivering the same speech. In Pittsburgh, in front of union workers, she sounded like a client of Professor Henry Higgins. However, in Detroit, in front of an urban audience, Harris suddenly sounded like Mammy from Gone With the Wind while delivering the exact same line.

Sure, Meryl Streep runs through a bunch of accents, too, but at least she does them in different movies.

It’d be one thing if Harris rose out of the hood in the Deep South. Slipping back into the accent of your childhood would make sense. (How funny it was to hear my mom get around her New Jersey friends, and suddenly sound like the owner of Paterson pizzeria!) But Harris spent her childhood in Canada as the child of Jamaican father and Indian mother. She has as much connection to the experience of black people in the Deep South as a Royal Mountie.

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When you think of it, is what Harris has done here that different than putting on black face? (Kind of reminds us of another Canadian, actually …)

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama during the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey.

At the very least, after all the nation’s been through since COVID hit, no one’s in the mood for inauthenticity. And the nation can’t risk someone who is this uncomfortable with who she is and what she believes.

There’s a great line from the Springsteen song “Better Days”:

It’s a sad man, my friend, who’s living in his own skin and can’t stand the company.

Perhaps Harris should dump the high-paid advisors and image makers, and look upward to find out who she is and what she should believe instead:

For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. (Proverbs 3:26)

Hamas Kills Six Hostages After Israeli Concessions

A week after his parents pleaded at the Democratic National Convention for his release, Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin was found executed, shot in the back of the head, along with five others in a tunnel in Gaza over the weekend.

Hamas terrorists took the 23-year-old, along with hundreds of others, during the October 7 massacre, and has held them in brutal captivity for nearly 11 months. But that hasn’t kept American college students from celebrating the terrorist group on their campuses; the “demonstrations” last spring rocked the nation, and antisemitism continues to rise on college campuses even now. Even after this weekend’s murders, Hamas and Hezbollah flags are flying high at protests. 

And yet, who is under pressure to offer concessions? The terrorists? No, Israel. Joe Biden emerged from the sands of Rehoboth Beach long enough to say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to do more to secure the release of the remaining hostages. When asked by reporters if Netanyahu has done enough, Biden responded with a flat “no.”

Over the weekend, Netanyahu issued a powerful statement rebuking Biden’s claim, pointing out that Israel agreed to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire plan mere days ago — and all they got in response were six executed hostages.

“What message does this send Hamas?!” asked Netanyahu. “It says, ‘Kill more hostages. Murder more hostages and you will get more concessions.’”

How’s the President?

Meanwhile, Biden seemed to be slurring his words during that brief appearance even more than before he dropped out of the race over a month ago.

 

But at least he’s not “unburdened by what has been.”

Meanwhile, close your eyes, then open them to look at this picture.

Quick. Are these two at a rally or at a funeral service? 

If Harris starts sinking in the polls and Biden’s health sinks further, what are the chances the Democrats and other powers that be push Biden to immediately retire to give Harris an election boost?

Where Does the Election Stand?

We have 62 days until Election Day, and just a week until the Great Debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. The Harris campaign has reason to feel a little nervous. She did not get a post-Democratic National Convention bounce. Her rise after taking over the ticket from Biden has started to dissipate. New polls from Trafalgar and Inside Advantage show Trump with a slight edge in all the swing states but Georgia.

The good news for Harris is that those Trump leads are within the margin of error. Also a new USA Today/Suffolk national poll gives her a five-point lead, though even that is within the poll’s margin of error — meaning the race is essentially a dead heat, assuming the polling is accurate, which is a generous assumption. The bad news? Harris is polling behind where both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden were in their races against Trump at this point, and if her run in the 2020 Election is any indication, the longer she runs, the worse she’ll do.

Now, in the year’s other much-anticipated head-to-head battle …

Joey Chestnut Breaks His Hot Dog-Eating Record in Epic Battle with Rival Takuro Kobayashi

On Labor Day, eating champ Joey Chestnut squared off against his greatest rival Takuru Kobayashi for the first time in 15 years in a hot dog-eating event billed as the “Ultimate Beef.”

In the end, Kobayashi ate a personal best of 66 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. But it was nowhere near enough. Chestnut shattered his own world record, downing 83 dogs. Joey credited his rival for pushing him to his best.

Kobayashi rose to fame in 2001, winning the Famous Nathan’s Hot Dog July 4 Competition six years straight. Then Chestnut came along, and has won 16 of the Nathan’s competitions since then. The two had not gone head-to-head since 2009. Kobayashi stopped competing in the July 4 event after refusing to sign an exclusive deal with Major League Eating, and Chestnut was not allowed to compete at Nathan’s this year after he inked an endorsement deal with a rival vegan hot dog brand.

But when they met up in Las Vegas on Monday, Chestnut emerged as top dog.  

On the Stream Menu

Stream contributor Jennifer Hartline is back with some straight talk for 45 and his running mate in “Open Letter to Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.”

Jason Jones updates us about both the amazing and the awful in India with “Mass Conversions of Hindus Escalates Persecution of Indian Christians.”

 

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.

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