By now you must know that Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. I said in my posting yesterday that he, Josh Shapiro and Mark Kelly were the favorites. However:- Walz is 60 years old, not from a battleground state and is not a particularly effective orator. He simply has not done much.
- He is an ideal match.
- Caucasian male.
- Is a hunter who owns guns, but is a strong proponent of control.
- Represents the common man.
- Is not Ivy League...like JD Vance. Chadron State College in Nebraska and Minnesota State University vs Yale.
- Is not flawed...like JD Vance.
- Is not elitest...like JD Vance.
- Is calm and reassuring...unlike JD Vance.
- Common man?
- Enlisted in the Army National Guard when he turned 17. Then the National Guard in 1981, in heavy artillery. Nebraska Citizen-Soldier of the year in 1989. Gained the rank of command sergeant major.
- In 1995 was arrested for DUI, but has been a teetotaler ever since.
- Married his wife Gwen, a fellow teacher, in 1994, taught geography and coached the Mankato West High School football team in Minnesota to its first state championship in 1999.
- Was a public school teacher for 20 years.
- Volunteered for the John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign and was appointed coordinator for his county.
- Retired from the National Guard, after 24 years, in 2005.
Elected to the U.S. Congress in 2006 from a Republican district, and on his swearing in, became the highest-ranking retired enlisted soldier to ever serve in Congress. Ranked as the 7th-most bipartisan House member. Kept getting re-elected, until he decided to run for governor in 2018, easily won, and was re-elected in 2022.
- Was governor of Minnesota in 2020 when the George Floyd incident erupted in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, resulting in police reform.
- Advocate for legalization of marijuana, which became legal in Minnesota last year.
- Supported LGBTQ rights.
- Condemned the Hamas after the 7October2023 attack, and while indicating that Israel has the right to defend itself, indicated that what was happening in the Gaza Strip as unacceptable.
- Supports abortion rights, and has a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood.
- Member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
- Has now been married to Gwen for 30 years. They have two children.
- Is the one who first described Donald Trump and other Republicans as weird.
Yes, I might have been reserved yesterday, but in hindsight, the selection of Tim Walz has a home run for Kamala Harris, and will be an ideal partner to defeat Donald Trump and JD Vance on November 5.
About Mark Kelly? He sent me a message this morning.
Hi Patrick,
If you have a minute, I wanted to send you a note about the last couple of weeks.
I never expected to find myself in this position.
I’m the son of two police officers who lived my dream of becoming a U.S. Navy pilot and a NASA astronaut.
My wife Gabby was always the elected official in our family, until her career in Congress was taken from her by a gunman.
I stepped up to run for the U.S. Senate because I saw an opportunity to make a difference and serve my state and my country in a new way. As you know, we had two hard-fought campaigns in 2020 and 2022. You had my back every step of the way, and because of it, we were able to flip this seat and protect it just two years later. Representing Arizona in the Senate is the most important job I’ve ever had.
But this isn't about me. It never has been.
It’s about the future of our country. It’s about whether our kids grow up with fewer rights than the generations before them. It’s about whether our economy creates opportunity for everyone, or is rigged for billionaires. It’s about whether we strengthen our alliances, or see them shredded.
That’s the choice our country faces right now: move forward with Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz, or be dragged backward by Donald Trump and JD Vance.
Tim has years of experience representing Minnesota both in the House of Representatives, where he served with Gabby, and as Minnesota’s governor. In that time, he has shown up time and time again for working families and I know he’ll continue that work in the White House.
Gabby and I are going to do everything we can to make Kamala Harris and Tim Walz the next president and vice president of the United States, and I’m asking you to join us.
- It is a family tradition in Louisiana and Sweden to eat crawfish. I grew up in Hawaii, where no one I know, till today, would think of consuming that crustacean. I searched, and Yelp says here are the ten best restaurants for a crawfish boil in Honolulu, for we have Cajun food here, too.
I also lived in Baton Rouge, and the crawfish capital of the world is Breaux Bridge, less than 10 miles from Lafayette and 48 miles from Baton Rouge. Went to two Crawfish Festivals there. Ate a lot of boiled crawfish. Also, Cajun food surrounded by zydeco sounds. Actually, there are scores of crawfish festivals in the U.S., all throughout Louisiana, but also Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Texas, Georgia and California. They are generally held in the spring into May.
Mondo also went to LSU, from where I graduated, as he was a track and field teammate of Sha'Carri Richardon, also a Paris Games medalist. But he left for Sweden in 2019, so it's not like he just escaped from the USA to represent Sweden.- He easily won the pole vaulting event over American Sam Kendricks, breaking the Olympics record.
He already holds the world record at 6.24 meters, one centimeter short of 20.5 feet. So, with no competition, he raised the bar one centimeter.- There were 69,000 fans in the Stade de France, where the final ceremonies will occur on Sunday.
- He missed on his first attempt.
- Again missed.
- Why take a chance of injury for a third try?
- Crowd chanted: Mondo! Mondo! Mondo!
- At 10:17 PM Paris time, took off and clearly made it. New World record.
Ran over to kiss his girlfriend, fashion model and influencer Desiré Inglander.- Chatted with King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden after setting the record.
- Watch all the above.
- Band played Dancing Queen, for ABBA is Sweden.
- Mondo says he not only lives in Sweden, but feels Swedish.
1. USA: Gold 24 Silver 31 Bronze 31 - Total 86
2. China: Gold 22 Silver 20 Bronze 16 - Total 58
3. Australia: Gold 14 Silver 12 Bronze 9 - Total 35
- NBC will have Jimmy Fallon and Mike Tirico co-host, plus Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir.
Ceremonies will not be on the River Seine but the Stade de France, their national stadium.- Program will be called Records, featuring over a hundred performers (world renowned singers), acrobats, dancers and circus artists to be a visual spectacle.
But also solemn and emotional, spiced with a lot of celebration.- Of course, flags of the nations, parade of athletes and handover of the Olympic flag to Los Angeles for the 2028 summer games.
- The moment will be strategic, for with the powder keg called the Middle East and the War in Ukraine, how often do we all (well, Russia was banned, but they deserved this) work together in unison, with politics absent, where patriotism provides therapeutic loyalty for events that offer fair and equal competition? Honor the past, embrace the present and work together again for the future.
- Finally, the U.S. and World stock markets all rebounded.
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