"What a waste it is to lose one's mind," Vice President Dan Quayle said during an address to the United Negro College Fund in 1989, mangling the organization's motto. "Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is."
All he had to say was, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."
The cringe was strong in that brief moment, so strong that I only had to look up Quayle's misquote to make sure I'd remembered it exactly — and I had. Partly because, as someone who started doing public speaking in high school, I know that sick feeling, the icy ball in the stomach that comes from screwing up an easy line in front of hundreds or thousands of people.
But mostly I remember because the media wouldn't let it go for years. When I searched online to verify the '89 Quayle misquote, the best result was from a 1992 Los Angeles Times op-ed. The media drilled that line into our heads like a kindergarten phonics lesson.
Quayle flubbed one line. Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee, is infamous for tossing word salads like a coked-up spider monkey with a giant bowl full of Scrabble tiles.
Well, Harris is infamous on the Right because we pay attention to what goes on behind the media's curtain. If the Lefty press gave Harris anything like the coverage they gave to Quayle, she'd have been laughed off the national stage years ago. As Longtime Sharp VodkaPundit Readers™ know, I've been doing my bit to help that along.
But I digress. Today, it's my solemn duty to present to you the latest non-statement statement from Harris, who was asked on an airport tarmac over the weekend, "Will you work with the GOP on the border issue?"
Recommended: Harris Says 'I Will Not Be Silent' About Dead Kids in Gaza War — Unless They're Israeli Kids
Before I show you the minute-long video of her reply, I'll ask you to keep an image in your mind — it might even be one of those images you're personally familiar with. It is the image of a middle-school student whose teacher just asked her to come to the front of the class to talk about the book she'd been assigned to read...
...but she only read the back cover.
Been there? Done that? Most of us have. But most of us aren't one heartbeat and/or one questionable election away from the Oval Office.
With all that in mind, watch:
Reporter: Will you work with the GOP on the border issue?
— The Investigative Examiners (@TruthorConseq12) July 27, 2024
Harris: (I'm still trying to figure out this response!) pic.twitter.com/YUfcThaOb9
How is it possible to say so many words without conveying a single fact or thought? Just ask the kid who has to speak for a minute or two about "The Oxbow Incident" without having read it — and don't ask me why that quite particular example came to mind.
I never thought I'd feel pity for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who wouldn't know what "security" was if it snuck across the border and laced his Wheaties with a lethal dose of fentanyl. But watch him over Harris's shoulder. He seems to be thinking, "And I thought my old boss was an idiot."
With that, you and I both probably need a break. Have you reached the point I just did? After writing not one but two Kamala Harris pieces in my first four hours at work this morning, I am done. There will be nothing more from me about her for at least the next 24 hours.
You're welcome, America.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member