I am dismayed at how so-called presidential debates have degenerated. Back in 1858, the Abraham Lincoln-Stephen Douglas debates were not presidential debates, but debates among two Senate candidates. When Lincoln won the presidency in 1860, he literally had to sneak into Washington, D.C., disguised in a woman’s dress to avoid assassination. The country was at a boiling-point then. But, at least, the debates were on topics which showcased philosophical differences.

I was glad to see the presidential debate of June 27, 2024. It didn’t provide any insight into new policy positions, but is sure as heck showed me (and the nation) how cognitively impaired Joe Biden is. I still believe he should resign immediately. Our nation’s enemies do not keep a 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. schedule. If he cannot, he is not up to the job of President.

Putting that aside, I don’t think that Kamala Harris knows that our nation is simultaneously a constitutional-republic AND a representative-democracy.....SIMULTANEOUSLY. It is that hybrid system which makes America unique.

People holler “democracy, democracy, democracy”. Well, we are not a pure democracy. In a pure democracy it is “anything goes.”  That would be utter chaos without limits.

It was only briefly mentioned in the Sept. 10, 2024 debate between Harris and Donald Trump that Kamala Harris’s father is a Marxist Professor in Economics.

So who is her father? Donald Harris, 85, is an emeritus professor at Stanford University whose research interests include economic history, macroeconomics, economics of technology, and development economics, according to his Stanford profile. He joined the faculty in 1972 and retired in 1998, according to a description of his professional career. Harris also served as an economic consultant to Jamaica’s government, according to the description. He was a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, where he met his future wife and Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan — though the two later divorced according to a New York report.

So what is Marxism? It is a system that focuses on the flaws of capitalism. It advocates shared ownership. It was developed by the German revolutionary Karl Marx, who had a crusty old beard. He left Germany and studied a lot in London, England. His maternal grandfather was a dutch Rabbi, but his family converted to Christianity before Karl was born. He later became an atheist. Marx and his friend Friedrich Engels jointly wrote “The Communist Manifesto.” Marx heavily relied on Engels for financial support.

When I was a student at Wichita State University in 1982, my professor forced us students to read The Communist Manifesto.  While it may be good to read something to evaluate its pro’s and con’s, I distinctly remember the professor putting a question in a quiz. It read: “What was the last word of the book?” The answer was “Unite.” (I missed it, by the way. In full, it said, “Workingmen of the world, unite!”). That is why Russia was so enamored with communism. It wields an unholy power over the people. It is far worse than socialism. When I told my mother’s first-cousin, Sister Philoema Bahr of Mulvane, Kan., (formerly Olmitz) that I was forced to read that book and be quizzed so intently on it, she was aghast.

That is why I wish Kamala Harris would have held a public debate (or dialogue) with her father, on her economic positions versus her father’s Marxist thinking. I believe that would help me (and voters) more in 2024.

James  A. Marples

Esbon