Harris Visits Spice Shop; Right Makes Big Dill of It

By Michael Woyton

The Right is all bent out of shape because Vice President Kamala Harris took off a few minutes over the weekend from debate prep to visit what the convicted felon called on Truth Social “an ultra Left Wing, Trump Hating, spice shop,” according to reporting from Rawstory.

Former president Donald Trump even went so far as to say Penzey’s Spices has “terrible, overpriced product, and calls for ‘unity.’ ” As if “unity” is a bad thing.

In her campaign stop in Pittsburgh, Harris visited the shop, spoke with other customers and even hugged a woman who was very emotional.

Penzey’s is known for its emails touting its spices that are peppered with commentary about politics from a liberal point of view.

Bill, the owner of Penzey’s, sent an email advert Sunday evening talking about Harris’s visit.

“Because of all she is and just who our customers are, the video of her visit has been continuously playing on tv news and received millions and millions of online view ever since,” he wrote.

“There are good reasons views have spread like wildfire,” Bill wrote. “She’s a cook. She cares. And in our store built to celebrate the kindness at the heart of cooking, surrounded by kindred caring cooks, the goodness of the moment went off the charts. Whoosh!”

Of course with the good publicity comes the not-so-good.

Bill said that “never has the media of the right tried as hard to boycott us or ‘Bud Light’ us as they are trying right now.”

He said that lots of angry emails are coming his way, as well as a spotlight from “Fox & Friends,” one host of which called Penzey’s “the meanest spice shop in America.”

A portion of text on Penzey’s website was read over the airwaves: “Going forward, we would still be glad to have you as customers, but we’re done pretending the Republican Party’s embrace of cruelty, racism, COVID lies, climate change denial, and threats to democracy are anything other than the risks they legitimately are.”

Bill wrote that he very much wanted those words read so every Fox viewer could hear them, and in this case, they were read by Fox itself.

He said the Right being angry at his store and the attempts to boycott him was punishment for welcoming Harris into his store.

“They are also doing this in hopes of deterring any other store from doing the same,” Bill wrote. “Not letting them win at this would be a good thing.”

At this writing, Penzey’s website is unresponsive (server error), but the company’s Facebook page is still active.

Lead art from Penzey’s Facebook page.

‘Shrub’ Weighs in on Prez Race as Only He Can

By Michael Woyton

So former president George W. Bush continues in retirement providing the type of leadership we came to expect from him during his administration. I really wonder what Barbara would think of her son.

Hell, even Liz Cheney and her father, Dick, have weighed in and are voting for the Harris/Walz Democratic ticket.

There’s No Explaining Trump’s Appeal

By Michael Woyton

Video of the convicted felon babbling about child care at the Economic Club of New York this week is bothersome enough on its own.

What sticks in my craw are the reactions — or lack thereof — of the audience and the panelists/questioners to his “word salad.” Actually, I think it aspires to “word salad.”

If these are indeed the titans of NYC economy, then I am certain that they, and their stockbrokers, are immensely satisfied with how the stock market and the economy has fared for them during the Biden/Harris administration.

Then why are they applauding and nodding their heads when former president Donald Trump stands before them and speaks gibberish?

The moneyed class cannot be blind to all that the man represents — anyone who has lived in New York knows Trump — but they still want to be able to keep more of their money through his deficit-raising tax cuts. It’s only the money for these people, by and large. They know — or feel — they will make it through an endless authoritarian presidency just fine, thank you very much. See Russia and its oligarchy.

And there’s the thing I will never understand about Trump’s rise to the presidency and taking over the Republican Party.

There were so many things — mocking a disabled reporter, saying John McCain is not a hero because he was captured, the misogyny, multiple felony convictions — that should have ended his political career.

But he was given and continues to be given a pass.

The mainstream media helps by constantly playing clean up after Trump says something. After the Economic Club of New York appearance, The New York Times called his answer to child care “jumbled,” and not an incomprehensible mess.

Moreover, the press will gloss over what the convicted felon said and in the next breath complain that Vice President Kamala Harris needs to add more context to her tax policies.

We need reporters to stop pulling their punches and actually report what Trump is actually saying.

Donald Trump cannot put a coherent thought together and cannot explain his policy decisions.

The 2024 presidential campaign cannot and should not be covered as if it were normal.

‘It Does Not Have to Be This Way’

CV or Not CV, That Is the Question

By Michael Woyton

The brouhaha about Vice President Kamala Harris not putting a stint at a fast-food restaurant on her professional résumé is seriously much ado about nothing?

My journalism résumé contains nada prior to 2002 — because there’s no room for anything more than two decades ago. Certainly, it wouldn’t be of interest to a headhunter or an HR person that I freelanced on a regular basis with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra during college or worked at a jewelry factory to put myself through grad school.

It seems the GOP is searching for things to muddy the waters as far as Harris is concerned.

And if that’s all they can come up with, fine.

https://twitter.com/MamaSissieSays/status/1829275037620179371

Chefs Stir Up Donations for Kamala’s Campaign

By Michael Woyton

UPDATE AUG. 31, 2024: In an Instagram post, Susan Feniger said Cooking for Kamala raised more than $225,000.

Black women recently got together on a Zoom call and raise a million bucks for Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. Then there were members of the LGBTQ community, White Dudes, Comedians and others livestreaming for dollars.

On Thursday, there was definitely something in the oven when Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell organized Cooking for Kamala, a livestream video, with chefs and foodies on hand to talk and answer questions, cook some of Vice President Kamala Harris’s favorite recipes and raise some money for her campaign.

Padma Lakshmi, Joe McHale, Rep. Eric Swalwell and Susan Feniger during the livestream Cooking for Kamala fundraiser. (YouTube screenshot)

The 90-minute livestream event was co-hosted by Padma Lakshmi, of late from “Top Chef,” and Joel McHale, who had a role as an ultra-cruel chef in “The Bear.” Chefs and celebrities appearing during the event included José Andrés, Giada de Laurentiis, Ruth Reichl, Susan Feniger, Stuart O’Keeffe, Mary Sue Milliken, Patton Oswald and Rosie O’Donnell.

According to the on-screen tally, more than $219,000 was raised to support Harris’s campaign by the end of the cook-fest.

Swalwell said that the total amount of donations would likely exceed the goal of $250,000.

Watch a recording of the livestream here:

Andrés spoke with McHale about cooking with Harris.

He said that she is a terrific cook, who “rocks in the kitchen,” adding that Harris once cooked him a paella.

Andrés said that, as president, Harris will make sure no one in the country goes hungry.

He also spoke highly of vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz’s tater tot hot dish.

Chef José Andrés speaking with co-host Joel McHale. (YouTube screenshot)

Swalwell said that there were giveaways such as signed cookbooks and dinners that people could still try to obtain by donating through the Cooking for Kamala website.

Recipes cooked during the livestream were:

X Labels NPR Article About Trump Arlington Visit as Spam

By Michael Woyton

Elon Musk’s social media platform formerly called Twitter applied a “spam” or “unsafe” warning for a while on a posting published by the national news organization NPR about the campaign of convicted felon Donald Trump and his visit to Arlington National Cemetery.

A little background:

On Monday, the former president was at the national cemetery to commemorate the third anniversary of a deadly attack in Afghanistan that resulted in the deaths of 13 service members, NPR reported. The attack took place during the disastrous withdrawal of troops, for which Trump blames President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

During the visit, Trump’s campaign staffers had a physical altercation with a cemetery staff over a violation of federal law prohibiting using military cemeteries for campaigning purposes, NPR said.

The Trump campaign released a video showing the presidential candidate laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and joining Gold Star family members at graves in a section of the cemetery — Section 60 — where recently departed military personnel are buried.

NPR reported that the Trump campaign “was not authorized to film or photograph in Section 60, and two campaign staffers “got in a physical and verbal altercation with the Arlington staffer” when she tried to prevent the filming.

While the family members said they gave Trump’s people permission to document the moment, they did not have the power to suspend the rules, Arlington officials said.

In response to the accusation of the altercation, the Trump campaign responded by saying the woman cemetery staffer was “mentally ill” and a “disgrace,” Mediaite reported.

The U.S. Army said the employee at the cemetery decided not to press charges against Trump’s staffers. The Army said she acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption.

The NPR article in question was published Thursday and is headlined “Army says Arlington National Cemetery worker was ‘pushed aside’ by Trump aides.”

A tweet by reporter Stephen Fowler said the former president shared a TikTok video that likely violates a federal law against using military burial grounds for campaign purposes.

At this writing, the article is no longer flagged as unsafe or spam, but readers have to wonder why Musk’s social media platform formerly known as Twitter would allow a media organization such as NPR to be treated that way.

Just because an article doesn’t please Trump or his trumpers is no reason to try to censor it.

And keep in mind that the convicted felon has seldom shown himself to be a fan of people who served in uniform. He famously called American war dead “losers” and “suckers,” Foreign Policy wrote, and has mocked “the very idea of service, sacrifice or discipline.”

None of this is lost on veterans.

He Said That To Vlad? No Way!

By Michael Woyton

Gotta wonder what demographic the convicted felon believes will be persuaded by his rather strange exchange with Elon Musk about talking to Vladimir Putin about invading Ukraine.

I’m guessing it’s people who still think it’s the early 1990s.

And why isn’t it a bigger story that former president Donald Trump was speaking differently Monday night compared with the way he spoke during his Mar-a-Lago press conference?

Trump Lied 2 Times a Minute During Presser: NPR

By Michael Woyton

Anyone who was really listening to the “press conference” that former president Donald Trump held Thursday in his Mar-a-Lago country club could tell that many things coming out of the convicted felon’s mouth at the very least didn’t ring true.

Since then a few news outlets have fact-checked some of the more egregious misrepresentations, including the infamous — and false — Willie Brown emergency helicopter landing story. 

But NPR on Sunday published its massive undertaking: outlining “162 misstatements, exaggerations and outright lies” uttered during the 64 minute presser.

“That’s more than two a minute,” NPR reported. “It’s a stunning number for anyone — and even more problematic for a person running to lead the free world.”

NPR said that, yes, politicians spin, fib and misspeak, but there is an expectation that any errors will be acknowledged and corrected.

“But what former President Trump did this past Thursday went well beyond the bounds of what most politicians would do,” the news outlet said.

SEE ALSO: O’Donnell Calls Press to Task over Trump ‘Press Conference’

The NPR article is quite a read, and it is important to keep in mind that none of the reporters pushed back on anything that Trump said.

I think my favorite checked facts concerned the process by which Vice President Kamala Harris was elevated from President Joe Biden’s running mate to leading her own ticket.

Fact Check Nos. 32-34 had Trump saying, “And I’m no Biden fan, but I’ll tell you what, from a constitutional standpoint, from any standpoint you’re looking at, they took the presidency away. … And they took it away.”

NPR responded,” There’s nothing in the U.S. Constitution about picking presidential candidates. This is a party process, and everything has been done within party rules. And, again, the presidency wasn’t taken away: Biden is still president.” 

It’s pretty well documented that Trump plays fast and loose with the truth. The Washington Post said that in the first 100 days of his presidency there were 492 “suspect claims,” with more than 30,000 over the four years.

The real questions that remain are, Does Trump believe it’s OK to continuously lie, or does he have no grasp on reality?

Walz’s Hotdish Specialty Hits Campaign Trail

By Michael Woyton

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz likely drove another stake into his wholesomeness by posting a recipe on the site previously known as Twitter for Tim Walz’s Turkey Trot Tater-Tot Hotdish.

I intend to try making it because I’ve only made one hotdish in my years in the kitchen, and it didn’t put me off trying another. (I think that one was inspired by Amy Klobuchar.)

Reading Walz’s recipe brought back memories of working at King Features Syndicate back in the 1990s where one of the other editors and I were intrigued by the Family Circle presidential spouse cookie baking competition.

It was, of course, the time when Bill Clinton was running for president and Hillary Clinton famously said in response to having a job at a law firm (no other first ladies were gainfully employed at the time) that “I suppose I could have stayed home, baked cookies and had teas,” according to Time.

Family Circle got Barbara Bush to agree to a bake-off with Mrs. Clinton, which the future first lady, secretary of state and Broadway producer won. I’m not saying that was a turning point in the campaign, but … a win is a win.

Back at King Features, I challenged Sandy, who had the cubicle next to mine, to duplicate Bush’s cookie recipe and we’d bring both recipes in and have our co-workers sample them. I’m proud to say my effort producing Hillary Clinton’s Chocolate Chip Cookies won more votes from the other syndicate employees.

Full disclosure: I slightly reheated my cookies in the break-room microwave, which I believe gave me an edge, though HRC’s recipe was the superior one. IMHO.

Fast forward to 2024 and Walz’s hotdish.

I’m wondering if Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance will be offering up a hillbilly-ish version of a hotdish to compete with Walz.

If and when he does, we’ll let you know.

Perhaps someone will agree to a hotdish bake-off with me.

Top image from Wikipedia