Ridiculing the VP is a long American tradition.

The most spoof worthy in modern history is Dan Quayle. If social media were around in his time, can you imagine the amount of guff he’d have taken after he visited an elementary school and incorrectly altered a 12-year-old’s spelling of “potato” to “potatoe”?

Relentless would be putting it mildly.

Fifty years later now comes Kamala Harris taking her turn in the barrel. She’s no Dan Quayle, but give her time. She has potential.

The latest national survey found that Harris has a 29% approval rating. That’s a full 9 points behind President Joe Biden, who himself came in at a horrific 38%.

Friends of Kamala will whisper to you that this is grounded in the inherent bias against women of color in America.

Perhaps.

Before playing the race card, I’d remember that Americans do love to ridicule the vice president. She’s getting cut the same amount of slack as Quayle, Dick Cheney and many other VPs. A healthier way to look at it is that Kamala Harris’ approval ratings may have something to do with, well, the way she conducts herself.

I’m just spitballin’ here.

LET HER RIP, JOE

Jeeze-o, get a load of the latest Joe Biden gossip/news out of Europe. At the climate summit in Glasgow, British reporters write that “informed sources’’ say the Duchess of Cornwall “was taken aback to hear President Joe Biden break wind as they made polite small talk.” “It was long and loud and impossible to ignore,” the source said. “Camilla hasn’t stopped talking about it.”

I guess it’s not just the brain farts of Joe Biden that we have to worry about now. It’s his unauthorized emissions, too.

It must be said, however, that ripping one while British royalty make small talk seems like a righteous thing for an American to do. One point for Joe Biden.

BLAME THE BILLIONAIRES

Who is to blame for the wildfires in the West? Billionaires, apparently.

“A tiny elite appear to have a free pass to pollute. Their oversized emissions are fueling extreme weather around the world and jeopardizing the international goal of limiting global heating. The emissions from a single billionaire spaceflight would exceed the lifetime emissions of someone in the poorest billion people on Earth” — Nafkote Dabi, Oxfam’s climate policy lead.

ONE MORE THING

— Blood is thicker than water, but cheese dip is thicker than blood, so technically queso is more important than family.

— The man who invented the Ferris Wheel never met the man who invented the merry-go-round. They travelled in different circles.

— I tried calling the tinnitus helpline. No answer. Just kept ringing.

— A scientific study finds that fertility is hereditary. If your parents didn’t have any children, chances are you won’t either.

— They said bring a dessert and a game to the party. How’d I do?

As we enter the last 7 weeks of 2021, I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank you for reading this column and our newspaper. Local journalism matters. Until next week, please be kind to all you meet, laugh a little and always question authority.

(Sherman Frederick is a Nevada Hall of Fame journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)