Karen Bass and Scientology

Karen Bass speaks at a Scientology ceremony in Los Angeles, April 24, 2010. (Youtube/Scientology)

As I write this, I don't know who Joe Biden will pick as his running mate.

But it seems clear that it will not be Karen Bass.

Bass looked promising for a time. From what I understand, her name was put forward by Christopher Dodd, a close adviser to the former VP, as a counterweight to Kamala Harris, the obvious choice, but one to whom Dodd has acquired an aversion.

Bass (I hear her name is pronounced like the fish, not like the guitar) is in many respects a standard issue grassroots 'progressive' activist. She is also the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Biden needs to show that he knows who got him this far, and he has to make nice with Sanders loyalists. Bass would do both.

But ... there is the matter of Scientology. It is a pyramid scheme masquerading as a cult so it can masquerade as a Church. It is secretive and violent, and treats blackmail like the greatest of all sports. Leah Rimini has done some fine work exposing it. The animated television show SOUTH PARK has done some even better work ridiculing it, a fate it richly deserves.

And, given this, Bass' effusions about how wonderful Scientology is, probably spell the end for her as a potential VP choice.

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