Leland Vittert’s War Notes: ‘Holistic’ vs. ‘Mentally Impaired’

NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.  

‘The Gibberish Factor’

Watch tonight: Bill O’Reilly joins to talk about Donald Trump’s unwillingness to help himself. 

• His new column focuses on “the gibberish factor,” highlighting Kamala Harris’ “holistic” approach to things … which we explained last week. 

Republicans’ biggest problem remains Trump:

• Republicans have an advantage, but the dislike for Trump is so large the race is tied. 
• Politically speaking …
  • Millions are without power, and thousands need rescue
  • There are numerous new conflicts in the Middle East
  • Americans are still being held hostage in the Middle East
  • A sitting Democrat president does not have the capacity to serve 
  • A port strike is imminent
  • The economy does not work for most working-class Americans 
  • The Democratic administration admits thousands of criminals and some convicted murderers are in country illegally and wandering our streets 

As we pointed out last week, the joyful warrior of Vice President Kamala Harris wants “holistic” approaches to problems, which translates to things that never work:

• More government mandates
• More government spending
• More taxes 
• More government planning 

And she’s either tied or ahead in the polls.

Rather than talk about the issues above, Trump has ramped up rhetoric over the weekend:

• He called Harris “mentally impaired”
• Said immigrants will “slit your throat” 
• And advocated for a day where cops could be “extraordinarily rough” 

When forced to choose between a “holistic” approach and “extraordinarily rough” and “mental impairment,” they will choose holistic. 

Are Hispanics Racist?

The anti-Trump intellectual crowd tells us racists support former President Donald Trump — that must be news to the record number of Latinos now supporting him. 

• Steve Kornacki goes through their poll on NBC — it’s worth watching by clicking here. 

From our data guru Steven Joachim, linking to an NBC article:

• “Possibly important poll released yesterday by The NBC News/Telemundo/CNBC.
• “Harris leads among Latinos – but if it holds, not by the amount (+14) she needs to (probably) win.
• “Consider – Dems won this group by +44 pts in 2012, +38 pts in 2016 and +33 pts in 2020 (according to exit polls).
• “This also shows you the trends – Latino support (again if this holds) for Democrats – down 30 pts since 2012.”

The New York Post has a few ideas about why Latinos are abandoning a party that took them for granted. 

Maria Hinojosa claims on MSNBC that Hispanics are supporting Trump because they “want to be white.” 

• Thought bubble: Can you imagine the outcry if someone on Fox said whites supporting Harris just want to be Black?!?!?! 

You don’t know what’s good for you … let us tell you:

• Retired General Stanley McChrystal: Don’t vote based on politics.
• New York Times Editorial Board: Harris is the “only patriotic choice for president.” 

The real problem: Leave it to America’s most out-of-touch politician, John Kerry, to explain why the First Amendment must go to fix all our problems. 

Care about People Like Me

Pollsters tell you a key predictor of presidential victory comes from who gets the higher score in the question “(insert candidate’s name here) cares about people like me.” 

Be honest: It’s hard to see either Trump or Harris caring about anybody but themselves, but that’s besides the point.

Unthinkable devastation: Water, power and communications are three things we wake up and take for granted — they’re all knocked out and might be for months. 

• Over the next month, Western North Carolina and Eastern Georgia will become ground zero for the presidential race. Not only are they swing areas in swing states, but they give the candidates a chance to show they “care.”
• Figure it a casting call for “comforter in chief”:
  • Trump is visiting parts of Georgia today — will he throw paper towels again? 
  • Harris says she is leaving the campaign trail to visit FEMA headquarters — to do what exactly, who knows.
    • Greg Price points out the picture of Harris “working” on Air Force Two leaves a lot to be desired. 
  • Biden spent the weekend on the beach and said the hardest hit areas didn’t need more aid or help, which will only fuel the debate on aid for Ukraine versus Ashville and Augusta. 
• Brutal: The Tennessee National Guard deployed 700 people to the Middle East on Sunday — if only they were available to help in their own state. 

‘Too Liberal’ vs. ‘Too Weird’

The VP debate tomorrow will come down to Vance pushing Walz as too liberal and Walz pushing Vance as too weird. 

• Low expectations: A slew of stories try to set the expectations low for Gov. Walz
  • From CNN: “‘How’s debate prep going?’ one person at an exclusive high-dollar fundraiser asked Walz as he stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows in mega donor Alex Soros’ penthouse living room in Manhattan on Monday.
  • “‘As teachers, we are trained to answer the question, and we train our students to answer the questions,’ the person recalled Walz saying. ‘That’s not how this goes.’” 
• Look back: Tim Walz won’t directly answer any question — he walked away when asked about Hamas executing an American hostage.
• Thought bubble: He’s had a lot of practice over the past six weeks ignoring questions — why is this a problem for him?
  • The leaks saying Walz worries he will disappoint Harris are pretty transparent.  
• Reality check: You want to be vice president of the United States and you can’t spend 90 minutes defending your record?  
• Bed you make: Walz’s lack of media interaction makes President Biden look accessible — will the basement strategy backfire for lack of practice? 

Ground War

“Is Iran’s ‘axis of resistance’ collapsing under Israeli attacks?” writes a stunning NBC News article laying out Israel’s incredible military successes over the past few months. 

• Fact check: This happened because Israel defied the Biden administration. 

Look back: One year ago, Jake Sullivan said the Middle East was the quietest it had been in 20 years …

• He’s still the guy running American foreign policy so no surprise they keep getting it wrong. 
• Today, the Biden administration warned against an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon.  

If you read one thing: Eli Lake thoroughly explains and then debunks the absurdity of the Biden foreign policy that encourages deescalation to prop up Iran. 

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board writes, “Mr. Biden has undermined the U.S. ability to deter adversaries because he fears any escalation, ceding the advantage to Iran, Russia and China. Israel can’t afford such indulgence. Its survival is at stake.”

• Like sheep: “Fears grow of an all-out regional war as Israel escalates attacks on Iran-backed proxies,” CNN’s banner wrote this morning.

Try this – 

• Iranian proxies decimated by Israeli airstrikes look for a way out of conflict 
• Israel airstrikes decimate and befuddle Iranian proxies
• Iran looks for a way to save face and regime as Israel saves the Middle East
• Iran abandons both Hamas and Hezbollah as Israel embarrassed the ayatollah 

From The Atlantic: “Tehran’s strategy of relying on Hezbollah and other militant groups to provide an Arab-forward defense against Israeli or American attacks on Iran’s homeland or nuclear facilities appears to be failing, potentially decisively.” 

Yet, the Biden administration and their supporters keep blaming Israel – I wonder why.

Nasrallah Remembered

By any objective measure, Hassan Nasrallah earned himself a one-way ticket to hell, and his demise leaves the world a better place. 

• His army butchered tens of thousands of Syrians fighting against the Assad regime
• Hezbollah’s terrorist attacks both in Lebanon and abroad killed hundreds of Americans and dozens of Israelis
• Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel targeted civilians 
• Hezbollah turned Beirut from the Paris of the Middle East to mini-Tehran 
• His vile hatred of Israel, Jews and America inspired terrorists around the world 
• We could go on and on 

But The Associated Press, New York Times and Washington Post lionized him as the freedom fighter of our time.

• The Associated Press headlines, “Charismatic and shrewd: A look at longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.”
  • They continue, “Idolized by his Lebanese Shiite followers and respected by millions of others across the Arab and Islamic world, Nasrallah held the title of sayyid, an honorific meant to signify the Shiite cleric’s lineage dating back to the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam.”
• The New York Times: “Mr. Nasrallah did not know about Hamas’s plans for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people, U.S. officials said, and almost certainly would have objected to them. While he did have Hezbollah conduct cross-border rocket strikes, driving Israelis from their homes in northern Israel, he did not let the conflict escalate further.”
  • They also write, “Mr. Nasrallah was opposed to Israel, which he called ‘the Zionist entity,’ and maintained that there should be one Palestine with equality for Muslims, Jews and Christians.”
    • Funny that they leave out Hezbollah’s sworn destruction of the state of Israel. 
• The Washington Post: “Among his followers, Mr. Nasrallah was seen as a father figure, a moral compass and a political guide.” 

Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.