Let's face it, Kamala Harris won!

UPDATED Oct. 8, 10 a.m. with more details.

OPINION

Sen. Kamala Harris didn't have to come out and say to Vice President Mike Pence, "You're is a crock of sh*t," her facial expressions said it for her.

Harris and Pence held their Vice Presidential debate Tuesday evening at the University of Utah.  By general consensus, the Democratic nominee for Vice President won because -- really -- how can anyone defend the atrocious record of the Trump administration on almost any topic?

The economy? The military? Taxes? Health plans? Racism? Foreign Relations? Coronavirus? Really, Pence couldn't speak to any of these topics without uttering a lie  or inventing a fantasy world.

When Pence tried to interrupt Harris, she quickly reminded him, "Mr. Vice President, I am speaking!" with a smile and an expression that said, "Child, don't interrupt me!"

When Pence stated an obvious untruth, a look of incredulity from Harris on the split screen, said, "Are you kidding me?"

Harris had to strike the delicate balance between being an aggressive black women that turns off a certain segment of the viewership and being respectful without being a pushover.

Harris, like Biden in last week's debate with Donald Trump, played by the rules of the debate. Like I have said before, Republicans don't abide by the rules. Their only rule is win at any cost which could mean lying, cheating or speaking over your opponent, which was all employed by Pence.

Talking over, louder and longer than women is something men do a lot. Pence was no exception. Ignoring time limits, he continually spoke longer than the allotted 2 minutes and often ignored the question in order to repeat the GOP talking points. It got me yelling at the moderator to take control and enforce the time limit.

The debate was historic in that Harris, whose father is Jamaican and whose mother was Indian, is the first woman of color on a major party presidential ticket. Both of her parents immigrated to the U.S. for their education.

Although Pence kept talking over Harris and the moderator, who was also a woman, Harris' facial expressions said a lot, with a furrowed brow, a slight eye roll, a shaking of her head, a smile or a glare.

The debate was mostly civil compared to last week's fiasco when Trump ignored the debate rules and time limits. That appears to be the GOP strategy though because Pence employed the same tactic. It appeared that Pence had the most air time because of his constant interruptions and speaking over the time alloted. Attempts by the moderator to cut him off were completely ineffective and ignored.

Both candidates said what they wanted to say. Harris emphasized the poor leadership of the Trump-Pence administration and Pence relied on repeating the outright lies.

The U.S. relationship with China was a major topic, mostly centering around the economic impact of Trump's trade war resulting in loss of jobs in manufacturing and agriculture.

Most troubling perhaps, was Pence's refusal to denounce the violent tendencies of white supremacists, and dodging the question of a promise of a peaceful transition if Biden was to win the election.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this article is news laced with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions. 

Cast of Hamilton delivers a message of diversity to Mike Pence

THERE ARE some privileges to getting elected as Vice President. Gov. Mike Pence took advantage of his newly acquired position of influence by securing the-most-difficult-to-obtain tickets to the musical Hamilton.

I wonder if he got the message from the performance Friday night (Nov. 18).

For certain, he received the message from the cast. As the play ended, the actor who played Aaron Burr, Brandon Victor Dixon, acknowledged that Mr. Pence was in the audience, thanked him for attending and added, “We hope you will hear us out.” He then began to read the message written by the show's creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Vice-president elect Pence, who has also advocated for funding for gay conversion therapy, got booed by a significant number of audience members. 

I wonder if Pence — who has said "Congress should oppose any effort to put gay and lesbian relationships on an equal legal status with heterosexual marriage," and "Congress should oppose any effort to recognize homosexual’s (sic) as a 'discreet (sic) and insular minority' entitled to the protection of anti-discrimination laws" — knew that the cast was filled with queer people, people of color, immigrants and children of immigrants.

According to one audience member, the audience gave a standing ovation during the play at the line, “Immigrants, we get the job done,” one theatergoer, Christy Colburn, wrote on Twitter.

She added: “Crowd went NUTS at King George’s lines ‘when people say they hate you’ & ‘do you know how hard it is to lead?’ He had to stop the song.”

Upon hearing of the incident, President-elect Donald Trump couldn't hold back and had this to say on Twitter on the following day:

The cast was not "harassing" Pence. I thought they were very respectful. Dixon had this to say in response:

Pence listened to the message and was seen walking out of the theater smiling. But did he HEAR the message?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Earlier versions of this post was in error. Javier Munoz did not read the message to Pence.

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Kaine, Pence, Quijano and Purvi Patel, the woman arrested under Indiana's 'feticide' law

Sen. Tim Kaine, left, and Gov. Mike Pence

I WONDER if Purvi Patel was watching the debate between the vice presidential candidates Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

It's too bad that Patel wasn't brought up by moderator Elaine Quijano, the first Asian/American to moderate a major debate at the presidential ticket level.

Even if she did, the candidates might not even hear her because of their tendency not to listen to her. The way she was treated by the two white men demonstrated a lack of respect for the Asian/American woman. Both men interrupted Quijano 26 times and often speaking over and ignoring her attempts to rein them in.

Women know what Quijano was going through. Oftentimes, in business meetings usually dominated by men, women are ignored or not heard or not given a chance to speak.

Unlike the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, women became a topic of discussion - even if it was inadvertent. But it took a woman to lead the two men to start talking about women and issues affecting women.

Elaine Quijano moderate the vice presidential debate.

Although Kaine has been criticized by some for being too aggressive and talking over Pence's response, Kaine's comments had more substance. If you can read the debate without the visuals of an animated Kaine attacking Pence, you can see he gave some really meaty responses. Towards the end of the debate, when the subject turned towards abortion, Kaine asked his Republican opponent, "Governor, why can’t you trust women to make this choice for themselves?

“Why don’t you trust women? Why doesn’t Donald Trump trust women to make this choice for themselves?” asked Kaine.

Finally, Kaine, a practicing Catholic, gave one of the best responses on how he can reconcile his religious beliefs with a woman's right to choose.

"That’s what we ought to be doing in public life: Living our lives of faith, our motivation, with enthusiasm and excitement, convincing each other, dialoguing with each other on important moral issues of the day," said Kaine. "But on fundamental issues of morality, we should let women make their own decisions."

“Donald Trump and I would never support legislation against women who make the heartbreaking choice to end a pregnancy,” said Pence in the closing moments of the debate. 

Yet, that's exactly what he did as Indiana's governor. Under his watch, Indiana became the first state in the nation to convict of woman of feticide for self-inducing an abortion.

Purvi Patel

In July 2013, Purvi Patel sought help at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Mishawaka, Indiana for heavy vaginal bleeding. At first, Patel did not tell medical staff that she had been pregnant, but she later informed doctors that she had had a miscarriage at home. There is no dispute that Patel ordered drugs online to induce an abortion, but it was disputed whether Patel actually delivered a live baby. Also disputed was whether Patel knew the gestational age of the fetus. Evidence at trial showed that Patel believed she was only around 12 weeks pregnant. In 2015, a jury convicted her of feticide and neglect of a dependent.

But the Court of Appeals disagreed, ruling that the intention of the feticide law was to prosecute third party actors who attack pregnant women, not women who self-induce abortion, and thus did not apply to Patel’s case. This ruling provided a legal precedent against the use of feticide laws to punish women who have abortions, women who are suspected of having abortions, and women who miscarry. The state declined to appeal the case to the Indiana Supreme Court.

Patel is the first woman in the country to have been convicted of feticide for self-inducing an abortion.

Just last month on Sept. 1, the charges against Patel were dropped after spending a year behind bars, and she was spared a 20-year prison sentence. The case demonstrates the dangers that women face under Gov. Pence’s rule.

Although Pence did not sign the law under which Patel was convicted, neither has he used his power to change it. In fact, pro-abortion rights activists have pleaded with Pence to clarify the law so it can’t be used in the future to punish other women. So far, Pence has refused.

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