Nikki Haley took a cheap shot at Kamala Harris over a tweet that offended Fox News’ tender sensibilities.
The Vice-President had urged Americans to "enjoy the long weekend" over Memorial Day without mentioning the sacrifices made by American troops. Fox went nuts. And Haley piled on with her retweet of Harris’ tweet with the comment “Unprofessional and unfit”.
Haley was making the usual ‘lowest common denominator’ play to the base that conservatives reflexively trot out. And any vestigial hope that Haley was a thoughtful conservative went out the window.
Anyone following her political arc was unsurprised. Like many other Republicans, she traded in an early antipathy for Trump for slavish devotion to his cause and a robust defense of his dismal record. She took a job in his administration as US Ambassador to the UN. Not an unreasonable career move. But since then she has been as dedicated an orange ass-kisser as the rest of them.
Haley is considered intelligent. And as a woman of color, her election to the governorship of South Carolina speaks to political skills. So it is hard to believe that it didn’t occur to her that her beating up Kamala Harris for lack of respect for the military wouldn’t remind people of her old boss’s notorious remarks about America’s service members.
In 2018, the man who had run once away from a fight canceled a memorial visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris. He blamed rain, saying “the helicopter couldn’t fly” and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true. Reportedly he was worried about his hair. And four people in the party heard him ask, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” And on the same trip, he referred to the 1,800 marines killed at Belleau Wood in 1918 as “suckers”.
Trump denied it. But he’s a confirmed liar. And his loathing for the military is on the record — infamously he dismissed John McCain's heroism. “He’s not a war hero. I like people who weren’t captured.”
Now Haley has chained herself to that legacy
BUT THAT’S NOT THE WORST OF IT.
As bad as Haley’s tweet was, she unbelievably topped it. She tweeted a picture of herself, arm-in-arm with her newly grown son, at the beach, with the comment, “Thankful on this Memorial Day for the blessings of family and spending time with my little one”.
Where the hell is the appreciation for the military she demands? How can you be so stupid as to excoriate a political opponent for an ill-considered tweet — and less than 24 hours later do the same.
And hers is so much worse. At least Harris wished others well. Haley made what is nominally a solemn holiday commemorating war heroes, all about her and her family.
The hypocrisy is stunning.
Especially when you note that Vice-President Harris spent the morning with President Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at Alington laying a wreath and saluting the bravery of America’s men and women in combat.
Haley has no political position at the moment. No one expected her to post pictures of her paying respects. And no one begrudges her a long weekend off. It's the nature of American holidays. They start with some noble purpose and end up being an occasion to eat, drink, and shop.
But for a politician, who still thinks she has a political career, the stupidity is stunning. However, as right-wing commentator Rick Wilson pithily observed, “Everything Trump Touches Dies”. And in this case, what’s dead is Haley's political future. Especially as the object of her political infatuation rejected her request for a pilgrimage to Mar a Lago. And has shown no interest in promoting her future.
So sad. But at least she has company — Rubio, Graham, Cruz, et al. (Can you imagine being at that barbeque?)