Welcome back in for Al’s Afternoon Tea, our chance to stop and sample some of the latest news.

Clock Ticking Down to Biden Speech … and on His Presidency?

We’re just a few hours away from an Oval Office address from Joe Biden. It’s scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern time. The president is supposedly talking about his reasons for deciding not to continue seeking reelection. Is it possible he’ll also be announcing his resignation? So far, Biden is insisting he’s finishing out his term. Then again, he was also insisting via his surrogates as late as Sunday morning that he was staying in the race.

No doubt Biden would want to drag himself through to January 20, rather than be the first to resign for health reasons. But it’s also possible when he returned to the White House for the first time since whatever medical situation occurred in Nevada last week that he looked around and went, “Why bother? Who needs it?” For three and a half years he’s taken every opportunity to flee the place, and with Harris now the focus of all the attention and already taking over events previously scheduled for him, what motivation does he have for sticking around? Why wouldn’t he rather be at the beach eating ice cream?

If Biden does not resign, don’t be surprised if he spends the remainder of his time in office phoning it in.

Curiously, Biden’s speech comes a mere 12 days before the fiftieth anniversary of Richard Nixon’s resignation.

Barricades in Front of the White House?

Barricades have been set up around the White House in advance of Biden’s speech. This seems odd, if all he’s doing is filling in the details of why he’s dropped out of the race. A resignation would draw a crowd. However, there are also tens of thousands of pro-Hamas types causing trouble on Capitol Hill who will likely pay a visit to “Genocide Joe” while in the neighborhood. Plus Biden will be meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tomorrow.

Harris’s First Major Act as Candidate: Snubbing Israel as Pro-Hamas Forces Descend on Capitol

Vice President Kamala Harris — the president of the Senate and the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president — boycotted today’s address to Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This comes less than nine months after the slaughter of 1,200 Israelis, while those who did it still hold Americans hostage.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson described Harris’s snub as “outrageous to me and inexcusable.”

It comes a day after pro-Hamas, pro-genocide demonstrators stormed the U.S. Capitol building and the Canon House Office Building. An estimated 20,000 tried to shut down the speech today. None of Harris’s friends in the media are calling them insurrectionists.

With Poll Bump Harris Begins Vetting Process for Running Mate

The undemocratic swap of Joe Biden for Kamala Harris at the top of their ticket has given Democrats a boost. According to several polls, Harris has jumped to a virtual tie with Donald Trump. She’s even ahead nationally in a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Expect her to have a great honeymoon. But like a reality TV wedding, expect the bloom to fade.

She’s got the Biden record without Biden’s old likability.  She can’t beat Trump on substance, and going nasty will only remind people how unlikable she is. And as we said about crotchety Biden, if Donald Trump is the nicer one on stage, he’s guaranteed to win.

Still, her campaign will have a lot of razzle dazzle, star power, and magic tricks. And it will be dirty.

In her first rally, Harris played the former prosecutor running against a convicted felon. The downside of that approach is, “Yeah, you conspired to put a lot of people away — particularly young black men — to boost your own power” or “Sure, you’re tough on putting away your political enemies. Rapists, arsonists, and killers, not so much.” Then there’s moments like this where she argues that “it is backwards to think more police means more safety.”

“Police are outdated”?!?!?

Is this the America YOU want to live in.

Get EVERYONE you know out to vote Trump.

America will FALL under Kamala. pic.twitter.com/cZyYJIVKHe

— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) July 24, 2024

Harris does have to undertake the serious business of picking a running mate, and she’s begun the vetting process. (As if the ones actually running things haven’t been working on this issue for months.) Early talk mostly centers around white males with state government experience.

Here’s one likely possibility.

Okay, that’s a joke. Though Stream buddy Dr. Michael Brown makes a wonderful point on X:

Since VP Harris is now running for president, can the Democratic party answer the big question of the hour, namely, what is a woman? And what would be the significance of having the first woman president if we don't know what a woman is? What does it even mean?

— Dr. Michael L. Brown (@DrMichaelLBrown) July 24, 2024

The progressive Harris would love to check off some DEI box for VP. And would love to avoid someone who will overshadow her. (So basically she is going to look for a clone of her husband.) MSNBC says Harris is seriously considering Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, whose only qualification is mismanaging the train wreck in East Palestine, Ohio,, wrecking our supply chains, watching airline safety crumble … oh, and being loudly gay, then vanishing on “maternity leave” during a time of crisis. 

Rumors are swirling about Harris picking Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. CNN said the other day he might face backlash because he’s Jewish. Given Harris’s snub of Netanyahu, her administration’s disinterest in the antisemitism infecting our campuses and streets, and the party base’s support for Hamas, that backlash would come from within.

What is Shapiro noted for? In 2020, he was Pennsylvania’s attorney general. He guaranteed that no matter how it looked on Election Day, Joe Biden was going to win the state. He wasn’t psychic. He just knew he would not investigate any irregularities — like middle-of-the-night ballot dumps. 

The Secret Service Urges Donald Trump to Stop Holding Outdoor Rallies

Here’s a better idea. Do your dang job. Admittedly, until we learn the truth of what really happened — how much was due to ineptitude, how much to indifference, how much to malice — perhaps Trump might want to contain things a bit. Indeed, NBC News reported this morning that Trump has agreed not to hold the large outdoor rallies anymore.

However, we also know who the Secret Service works for: the same people who have labored mightily to keep Trump boxed in a courtroom. They are desperate to slow and stop him by any means necessary. We also know that Kamala Harris couldn’t match an outdoor rally of Trump’s – even in a blue state — unless Taylor Swift was doing a free concert during the middle of it.

Here’s a question: Is the Secret Service also urging Harris not to hold  outdoor rallies?

CNN Upset Trump Says Secret Service Didn’t Protect Him

On Tuesday, Trump wrote  on Truth Social, “The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!”

This upset CNN’s Jim Acosta, whose greatest claim to fame is spending four years nipping at Trump’s ankles. Acosta actually declared it was “wildly irresponsible” for Trump to say the Biden/Harris administration didn’t protect him.

“Anyone thinking that must have a hole in their head.” Acosta didn’t actually say that, but he might as well have. Trump may bring back energy independence, but he’ll also be bringing back into the spotlight Trump-obsessed media blowhards like Acosta.

In a more serious vein, now that Harris has been coronated as the Dems’ nominee, the media is walking in lockstep, including rewriting their own history. Axios hit Republicans and the Trump campaign for referring to Harris as the border czar, a “title she never had.” However, someone immediately pointed out on X that was precisely how Axios described her in 2021.

NEW: The media is now claiming VP Kamala Harris was never the ‘Border Czar’ as the Trump campaign starts ramping up attacks.

You don’t hate the media enough.

March 24, 2021: “Biden puts Harris in charge of border crisis” – Axios.

July 24, 2024: “The Trump campaign and… pic.twitter.com/tN6uMeL8CL

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 24, 2024

On the Stream Menu

Dr. Michel Brown just posted “Donald Trump and the Mystery of Project 2025.”

Our Nancy Flory’s new edition of Ripple Effects is out: “Archeological Research Affirms Accuracy of Biblical History.”

Meanwhile, Stream contributor Jules Gomes offers “The Hound of Heaven Hunts Muslims in Rome.”

 

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.