Let the Shenanigans Begin

The inevitable has finally happened. Though unprecedented in many ways, it was less surprising than an assassination attempt. After increasingly painful pressure from a growing wave of mutinous Democrats—a thing the country hasn’t seen since Lyndon B. Johnson’s ousting in the ’60s—President Joe Biden bowed out of the race citing the “interests of [his] party and the country.” With bruised feelings and buffeted ambitions, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place as the nominee.

With that, the Democrats heaved a sigh of relief and turned to the machinations of their political machine. Either the rank incompetence or the razor cunning of the Washington establishment is in high gear. It’s hard to say when there’s no transparency, but something is certainly afoot. Only four years ago, the word “shenanigans” was all the buzz regarding the 2020 election. Between pandemic restrictions and allowances, there was plenty to shake a stick at regarding questions of election integrity and voter fraud.

Shenanigans were observed and reported at polling stations surrounding unconstitutional Covid modifications regarding mail-in ballots, social distancing, and drop boxes. Also eyebrow-raising were jumps in registration percentages, thousands of consecutively logged Biden votes, and paper-thin victory margins (no one wants to pay for a landslide, of course). All these taken together threw the legitimacy of the election up in the air for many Americans. And fair enough. It remains difficult to believe that sleepy Joe Biden won more of the popular vote than his former running mate, the messianic Barack Obama. Unbelievable.

In any case, all the muttering surrounding such shenanigans was quickly dubbed the “Big Lie” by all the king’s horses and all the king’s men. It became a matter of policy for the mainstream town criers, whenever referring to the 2020 election, to say that it was free and fair—and that Donald Trump and his supporters were lying when they said the election was rigged. Over time, doubts were forced into at least silent acceptance.

And just when we thought that perhaps another pandemic might roll around just in time for the 2024 election, we seem to have a fresh variety of shenanigans on our hands. Anything outside of the normal course of things can create opportunities for cheating. And certainly, what is happening today is not normal. It should not make Americans comfortable to see the normal primary process taken away from them like this. It should not make them content to see the man they voted for canceled as only the Left can cancel. 

The truth about Joe Biden’s condition was well-documented, well-known, and well in hand long before he announced his candidacy. But the party allowed citizens to vote for him, and now they have swept him away rather unceremoniously in order to anoint another of their choosing as they see fit—and not as the voters necessarily would have chosen or seen fit. 

Again, it seems very clear: they let the old timer run—cruelly, even—until now, once it’s too late to enact the normal procedure of selecting a nominee. Thus, Biden has been toppled off the wall, and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men are protesting that, after that debate, they can’t put the president together again. They are blaming his sudden cognitive decline and avowing being blindsided by it all. And promising to make old Joe a hero, they have shouted him off the stage and then praised him from the bottom of their hearts for making such a noble decision. Make no mistake—this wasn’t Biden’s decision.

Let the shenanigans begin. Confusion and chaos are excellent tools to circumventing systems and putting the elites squarely in control without hindrance from an unpredictable or uninformed population. Introduce a little anarchy, a little uncharted territory, and after a shenanigan or two, all the right pieces and all the right people will be in place. And this from those who have been hyperventilating about the death of democracy at the hands of Donald Trump. But their own actions are far more clearly attacks on democracy. 

Just consider how they launched the DOJ at Trump to tarnish his name or sought to remove him from state ballots. And now they have removed their own incumbent from the ballot and are hinting at some mysterious behind-the-scenes process with their delegates to straighten everything out before the Democratic National Convention in August. It’s incredible that all this doesn’t result in more condemnation for such utter hypocrisy and self-service.

While it seems perfectly sensible that Joe Biden should throw in the towel, the timing of all this should certainly raise red flags for Americans who value their vote and for Catholics who guard against falsehood and moral corruption. Say what you will about the Christianity of Donald Trump or the Catholicism of J.D. Vance, they are at least (and at best) the enemies of those who would force a life of lies upon this nation. 

Again, let the shenanigans begin. Does anyone think that after pushing aside one of their own as they have, they won’t do whatever they can, whatever it takes, to secure votes and a crown for an unvetted new ticket topper? Kamala Harris has enough baggage to keep her out of the White House. She already is horribly unpopular, unprofessional, and unlikable. 

Catholics should remember that she more or less openly wants to hurt the Church, holding clear anti-Catholic sentiment, if not animus. As a Californian and a progressive, she is dead set against any institution that denies a woman’s “right” to choose whether her unborn child should die, or that “discriminates” against women in the priesthood, or that teaches homosexuals can’t be “married.” Kamala Harris is a Baptist, but she is also a religious bigot. Catholics should remember that [Harris] more or less openly wants to hurt the Church, holding clear anti-Catholic sentiment, if not animus.Tweet This

She is the most natural choice as a successor, however, especially since she can inherit the Biden war chest of nearly $100 million and get the cash flowing as it should. But getting her votes will be another matter. She would never have made it through a primary, but maybe Biden-pity plus Trump-hate with a few shenanigans on the side can get them their first woman puppet in the Oval Office.

Kamala Harris may have an uphill battle in winning over a baseline enthusiasm from everyday voters, but her militant position on abortion may be enough to earn support from Americans who think abortion is about equality, rights, freedom, and women’s bodies. Harris certainly does not have a winning way about her or seem very intelligent. Her track record as Vice President is rife with failures in her assignments and dysfunction in her office. She has memed herself with her nervous and slightly unhinged laughter whenever she is in a tight conversational spot.

Kamala Harris would be a disaster, and if she becomes the nominee, any ground she gains should be highly suspect. At the same time, she shouldn’t be underestimated, with the pro-abortion donors she has at her back and other powerful allies like Barack Obama. And her reputation for not being a team player may fit hand in glove with the shenanigans required to take the election. (If, in fact, Harris gains the nomination and Catholics want a closer look at what makes her a concern, check out Amateur Hour by Catholic journalist Charlie Spiering.)

It isn’t hard to feel sorry for Joe Biden after this tailspin; neither is it hard to feel glad that he will be relieved of the burden he was obviously struggling to carry. It is sad that he was turned upon by his own colleagues so suddenly and will just barely save face by exiting the race. But all of this smells pretty fishy—and just in time for an election, too. We may have been placed in this awkward position of having a senile president because of the Left’s shenanigans in 2020. 

Let’s be watchful, honest, diligent, and dutiful, therefore, in doing whatever we can to prevent the shenanigans that may be hatching to get Biden out and a nominee in who wouldn’t have passed a primary or shouldn’t win the presidency. In God we trust, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.