I’m sure many –if not most– of you have read about Tulsi Gabbard’s recent defection from the Democratic Party. Following are the reasons she listed in her Twitter post (as reported by ABC News). After you read them, I have a couple of things for each of you to consider.
“I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms, are hostile to people of faith & spirituality, demonize the police & protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans, believe in open borders, weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents, and above all, dragging us ever closer to nuclear war.”
I know it will be extremely difficult, but I want you to read her remarks again and this time, try to see them from the “other side’s” point of view. I’m asking you to do this because this is exactly how the Republicans see the policies and goals of the Democrats. Yes, she has thrown in some uncomplimentary adjectives, but AT ITS CORE, what she has written is a common perspective among Republicans.
Now I realize I may get pushback on this but in my opinion, she did make a couple of valid points. In particular, the one about Democrats being hostile to people of faith and spirituality. The blog world has demonstrated this on more than one occasion.
And Democrats do approach immigration much differently than Republicans. (I’m not asking for discussion on this … just making a point.)
Please understand, I’m not defending Tulsi or her decision. I think many Democrats have questioned her political stance for quite some time, so this move is NO surprise. But I do think some of the things in her statement carry some validity. (However, knowing my reading audience, I’m sure I’ll get pushback. 😉)
P.S. For additional reading related to her claim about Democrats being a “cabal of warmongers,” see this article. It’s dated 2020, but worth a look-see. And here is more on her decision if you’re at all interested.
Nan's Notebook 
For my reaction, I tend to think “good riddance”. It has been obvious for some time that she does not belong in the Democratic party.
As for her statement — it seems she spends too much time listening to FOX news.
I think she is wrong about people of faith and spirituality. Mostly, the Democrats support the establishment clause of the first amendment. They don’t think the government should be taking sides on these issues.
I also disagree with here about wokeness. Yes, there are some progressives to whom that criticism applies. But, as I see it, most Democrats are not liking where those progressives are going.
LikeLiked by 8 people
“under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers”
To me the republicans have been more involved in starting wars.
“driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms”
To me wokeness is simply trying to make a country that looks out for all of us equally. Anti white is simply bringing forth the last, so we can change and not make the same mistakes of the past.
And god doesn’t give us our freedoms. We do through participation in our government.
“are hostile to people of faith & spirituality, demonize the police & protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans”
Perhaps on the hostile to religious folks, but I know of plenty of democrats who are also religious, just not the nut case variety.
Most police are good and do their job well, but racism and cruelty and unnecessary killing have to be addressed.
All of us want people to obey the law, but we want people treated fairly and not with hints of racism.
“believe in open borders”
The trumpers don’t want any immigrants in here, but we not only need them for jobs we won’t do, but our country is based on being a refuge for people seeking safety and a decent life for them and their families. A procedure needs to be fixed and established because the cruelty of busing and lying to asylum seekers unannounced is not humane.
“weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents”
When an opponent commits treason and inflames and coordinates an insurrection…well no one should be above the law and that is a very serious crime.
“and above all, dragging us ever closer to nuclear war.”
That is absurd…that is all on Putin. If it was a republican President, but not trump, they’d be the hawks they have always been. Trump would give in and withdraw and stop aid only because it would benefit his benefactor, Putin.
LikeLiked by 7 people
PS…I think she has been a Republican all along….maybe it’s her military background…
LikeLiked by 6 people
Oh yes … all the signs point to this. One wonders why she decided to join the Democratic party in the first place! (Can you imagine what would have happened if she’d won the presidency? Egads!!!)
LikeLiked by 3 people
As a member of the Air Force Reserve, why she hasn’t she been court-marshalled …
LikeLike
Don’t know much about her…what has she done that might illicit that?
LikeLike
I am not sure I agree vis a vis war mongers. Hillary Clinton, along with Saint Barrack, were deeply involved in the Libyan fiasco that to this day has created waves of terror and death across the entire Sahel. For that reason alone whenever liberals correctly wish for W and his crew to go on trial at the Hague, my response is “as long as the Obama team joins them”. Cruise Missile Liberals are as destructive as Neocons.
plus let’s look at history: WWI: Wilson D; WWII: Roosevelt D; Korean War:Truman D; Vietnam War: Kennedy D; Afghanistan: largely initiated by the saintly Peanut Farmer Carter D; East Timor Genocide: Carter again D
Now some of the wars were perhaps necessary or forced. But history does not support the claim the Republicans are MORE warlike. Even wars started by Republicans bloc were continued by Dems (Afghanistan, Iraq)??
so again, as much of a strange reactionary as she is….this is not a mere talking point with no basis.
LikeLike
proud of myself. only one typo/autocorrect error!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I cannot believe you are going here, Nan, whatever your reason. Put this post on a MAGAt blog, and find out whether they want her or not.
All I am hearing from her is propaganda, and I get enough of that from OF on Jill’s blog.
I have not heard a word about Ms Gabbard’s dilemma, if such it was. We get real news in Canada, I don’t consider this real news.
Last I heard, America is a highly xian nation, and if the Dems are so anti-xian how did they ever get elected in the first place? No, the comments on religion, and particularly spirituality, are odious. If she wants to become a MAGAt, good for her. Sounds like she ran under false pretenses as a Dem in 2020. Let her riding have the last say of whether they still want her representing them or not.
LikeLiked by 5 people
I realize that sometimes it’s difficult to understand U.S. politics!
Consider yourself lucky that you live in Canada. Yes, I’m sure you have your own problems, but I doubt they compare with some of the nut cases we deal with.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I don’t know about that, Nan. The ruling Alberta UCP just elected Danielle Smith as the party leader, which means she is suddenly the Premier of our province. A great number of Albertans had no say in that, so technically she does not have a mandate to do anything extreme. Except that she inherited a majority of elected representatives from the last asshole who tried to do extreme things and got told to lewve. She wants to make Alberta a sovereign province which would mean she could thumb her middle finger at the federal gov’t. Even she has no idea what that would mean for our province, but she is trying anyway. And she is also trying to pass a bill that gives everyone the right to refuse a vaccine, even in the middle of a pandemic, without penalty. (Nurses could refuse to get vaccinated, and still work alongside patients and hospital personnel who think it is i portant to be vaccinated.) She is catering to a small and loud-mouthed group of Albertans because she only cares about pleasing them, and pissing everyone else off because we did not elect her last time she ran. These are just a couple of the things she is planning. Gail and I are preparing to move out of Alberta if she gets re-elected as Premier next year.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hello Rawgod. That is the maga model of governing. Republicans like DeathSantis are doing the same thing. Republicans running for office right now pander to the smallest most rabid base to get the primary and then try to seem more moderate to get elected. But they then when they are in office revert to the extreme positions they took during the primary. It seems the days of people seriously wanting to have a functioning government are gone and those people replaced by ideologues who are more concerned with forcing people to live according to their religion or hates. Hugs
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hugs to you and Ron, Scottie. The human maggots (no offence intended to actual maggots) are fighting for their very lives. They cannot stand the idea of people progressing to wokeness, if I can call it that. In the end they will lose, progress will happen. What remains to be seen is whether the world survives long enough to outlast the MAGAts and their ilk.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I read about Ms Smith after she was named Premier. She sounds like somebody the Conservative kooks out in Alberta would just love. That she wants to try to challenge the carbon tax again (good luck with that), and ignore SCC rulings she doesn’t like, leaves me concerned about the future of our country.
LikeLike
Jason Kenny was bad. Danielle Smith is mad, as in totally insane. She caters to the worst of the worst of Alberta rednecks. She wants to pass a bill making it impossible ever again to make people get a vaccination against anything. Sge declared anti-vaxxars were the most discriminated agaibst people in at least the last 50 years. The butch knows nothing about discrimination.
Just as an aside, I used to hang out with Danielie’s aluenated lesbian sister in Vancouver. Danielle hates LGBTQ+2 people, and wiuld have them all killed if she could. Of Alberta rednecks knew about her sister, they would crop her like a lead balloom.(No word of a lie!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Honestly, does anyone have any idea who she is talking about? Who is this mythical “cabal” she intones?, and what wars are they trying to start?
Senators protecting defense contractors? Of course. Warmongering cabal? I do not see it.
LikeLiked by 6 people
I thought she was a bit “off” way back when she was running for Pres. And my opinion hasn’t changed. At least now her thinking will be accepted –even welcomed– in her “newly” chosen party.
LikeLiked by 3 people
FYI, I’m the head of the warmongering cabal she speaks of and it’s all true. I get together every Tuesday night with Tom Hanks, Hillary Clinton and Bruce Springsteen to war monger and eat the meat of republican babies. She’s very smart to have figured us out. What a gem of a human genius she is. Thank our Lord Satan that she’s no longer one of us, eh.
LikeLiked by 6 people
Mom? Is that you?
LikeLiked by 3 people
I’ve never been a fan of Ms. Gabbard and I share Neil’s sentiment … good riddance to her.
Two points …
First, I’m just getting a bit tired of this talk about ‘woke’. People speak as if being aware of racism, inequality, climate change, etc. is a bad thing. Woke = educated and compassionate = humanitarian. If that’s a bad thing, then I’m living in the wrong place or time.
Second, she claims that Democrats are “hostile” to religious people. I don’t know whether to laugh or throw something! I fully support the right to freedom of religion, but I think most of us bristle when one group’s religion is shoved down our throat, when one group threatens to force us into their cult. Perhaps it is the religious right who are ‘hostile’ to our rights to be non-believers or Muslims or Buddhists or Buthidars!
Good bye to Ms. Gabbard … she burned her bridges and the GOP is welcome to her.
LikeLiked by 7 people
US politics always sounds like one of those supposed reality shows.
“On Fix News tonight, it can be revealed that Democratic Senator for Choochoomama county, Sally-Mae Hardon, wears panties made from old Confederate flags.
This was confirmed by her housemaid Missy Joanna Jackson whose great great grandmother was once arrested and flogged for seducing General Stonewall Jackson.
Ms. Hardon is now crossing the floor and plans to join the Republican party. As a lifelong lover of cats she wants to serve under a leader who likes pussies.
Remember, if it’s real news, then you’ll hear it on Fix.”
LikeLiked by 5 people
Why would this woman go from a party that she thinks sucks to a party of lies, guns and the Trump brainless crowd. Would you not go on as an independant or leave politics altogether? From her statement she clearly was a plant by the Republican party.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Anyone who uses the rather ridiculous made-up pejorative ‘Woke’ doesn’t have my respect. As for the idea that the Democrats are against religion – what!!!???!!!
The current president spouts god at any and every opportunity. Just as here in the UK, the religious classes are un-representatively religious. Unlike here in the UK, some in the Democrat party recognise the need to separate church from state.
As for her comments about warmongering and risking nuclear war, well it sounds as if she’s a Putin sympathiser. And why not, she’s almost as much of a Fascist as he is! ;¬]
LikeLiked by 5 people
Have tp disagree with your statement on “woke.” It is only a pejorative to feckless Repughs. For all others “wokeness” is a badge of honour. Consider where the nitching is voming from. If Repughs are against something, you know it’s a good thing for everyone else.
LikeLike
not to ALL of us. It’s shorthand description for an irrational fringe that DOES exist on the Am rican Left. not to channel tildeb here, but I am not so dismissive
LikeLike
You are going to have to explain yourself all over again, please, sir. Your comment makes no sense in response to my comment. Maybe it helps to know about this group, but treat me like a 5th grader who has no concept of what you are trying to say. I know nothing.
LikeLike
ok. I would only say that woke is more commonly used than you might expect. not just derisively by right wingers. And to quote tiledb it does reflect, for some, a world view that is more questionable, even dangerous, than we might blithely believe. Silver Apple Queen had a much better comment that better expresses some of my concerns.
LikeLike
Well, people I know, including myself, enjoy being called woke. To us it means caring about others, not concentrating on ourselves first. And variations of that.
LikeLike
Just to clarify to all …
“Woke” is defined by Merriam-Webster thus:
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can live with that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
fair enough. As others have said, being woke is not all bad. But like everything it can be taken to dangerous extremes.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yeah his was an excellent comment by Lady Me née green over at Butterflies and Wheels:
Woke is definitely a term people use about themselves, and the mindset it describes is every bit as anti-liberal as anything coming from the right.
“Woke” was originally a black American term meaning “aware of (particularly racial) injustice,” but now it refers to a particular strain of “social justice” ideology that is drenched in critical theory. And the people opposing Wokeness are not all right-wingers, or even conservative.
There are now academics publishing articles claiming the concept of childhood is oppressive and ageist. This includes bald statements that children can “choose” their sexual partners and it is oppressive and Western to anathematize said partners.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think she is likely a Russian agent sent to sow discord in the Democratic ranks. She may no longer be useful for that so she is moving on.
LikeLiked by 3 people
So much to unpack from her Twitter comment. THEN even MORE to unpack with her own perspective and perceptions versus what the DNC and many/most Democrats say and do. 🙄 But Nan, your point is indeed valid.
And THIS is why I became an Independent over 25-yrs ago… like Senator Bernie Sanders. 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
I left the Democratic party a long time ago. I would NEVER consider becoming a Republican but I have real issues with the Dems. Not Gabbard’s issues. I don’t think the Dems are any more warmongers than the GOP, for instance. Nobody wants war. & according to my son, who’s in the Army, most of the troops are Republicans.
As for so-called “wokeness” … I think the Democrats are pushing a lot of people away (myself included) with identity politics. When a candidate is unable to say what a woman is, then there’s real problems. (A woman is an adult human female, nothing else). While I deplore the GOP’s attacks on trans children, on the other hand, there is NO reason whatsoever to be teaching gender ideology to children AT ALL. This is something that should remain in college.
So yeah, the Democrats have problems with their messaging & what they stand for.
From where I’m sitting, I don’t think they stand for anything at all.
Once upon a time, they stood for labor, strong unions, the working class, voting rights, women’s rights, civil rights, a strong safety net, good jobs for everyone. But since the time of the Clintons, they have been Republican-lites & they have shredded the safety net, union, labor relations, stood by while civil rights have been eviscerated, let the courts go to right-wing Christian radicals without a protest, & let the rich become richer while the middle class has all but disappeared. Ya wanna know why? Because the Dems in power have all become as rich as the richest of the rich GOP.
I used to work for the Democratic party here in New York State. On a local level, I saw what was happening. If it was about identity politics, it was all good, because you don’t really have to do anything when it’s identity politics … just wave a rainbow flag & say the proper pronouns & denounce people as “terfs” or “bigots” … all of which is meaningless politically. Yeah, you feel righteous but nobody is really getting anywhere. It doesn’t help anyone at all. Which maybe is the whole point. It’s about posturing, not governing.
The real work is strengthening EVERYONE. Forget about those stupid identities. Do you think the GOP breaks everyone down into identities? FUCK NO. They’re all Republicans. They know what they want & they are totally focused on getting it. It’s about time the Democrats got back to that laser focus. Anyone remember FDR & the campaigns of the 1930s? It was ALL about bringing prosperity to the PEOPLE. Not making various identities feel good about themselves.
The Democrats lost their way & they need to get back on track or they will be losing many more people. I know that I am not the only one.
LikeLiked by 3 people
👏👏👏👏👏👏❗❗
LikeLiked by 1 person
this is such an amazing comment SAQ. when we have activist celebrating “cut my nipples off day”. on YouTube…for children😩😳😳😳😳
LikeLike
I might have thought that way in the past, but I’ve learned that sexuality and gender are not always as black and white as we imagine. Same sex attraction, and feelings of being in the wrong body gender wise can be affected, but are mostly genuine. The ‘i’ in LGBTQi+ (did I get everything in? ;¬]) refers to people who’s physical form isn’t clearly one gender or the other – in many of these cases, gender is determined at birth in an arbitary manner. I know that some LGBT campaigners can be over-zealous. But at the same time, the lack of understanding from women who are cosily confident of their own gender seems brutal – particularly from feminists, who really should know better. I think we need to put aside assumptions and have an open, informed and respectful dialogue about gender issues.
LikeLike
Oh please. Gender & sex are NOT the same thing. & sex is observed at birth, not assigned.
I do not have a gender. I am a woman. I do not “identify” as a woman. I don’t HAVE to. I AM a woman.
Mixing up terms does not change the meaning of those terms, as much as people may want those terms to change.
& keep blaming all this on the feminists. There’s a long history in that.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sex & gender are generally used as interchangeable adjectives to describe the same thing (with the added complication that the word sex is also used to describe sexual activity!) To clarify what I said before, not every baby is born with genitals that can be clearly identified as male or female. How lucky you are to have such a clear gender!
I referred to feminists because it’s my understanding that many of the women who are railing against LGBT rights are feminists, but perhaps I’m mistaken about that?
Your attitude seems to me to be very much ‘I’m alright, Jack!’ Is it so unreasonable of me to expect people to have empathy for, and make some attempt to accommodate, those who don’t have the same clarity about their gender; either physically, or psychologically?
LikeLike
here here. literary lad may have drunk the koolaid but….
where do we stop? there are Internet communities where people sincerely identify as wolves …or dragons. she nice self i.d. is the mantra, how do you deny the 23 year old basement dweller who sincerely believes he is a werewolf. He certainly saves money on razor blades and shaving cream!
as for those evil feminists. i’m sorry, he may have been amusing, but Eddie Not z are IS creepy and 13 year old girls who reacted badly to his invading their lol have a point. feminists are correct to protest when biological males invade their sports, their rape counseling sessions, their PRISONS. look at photos f the 35 year old guy who decided he was really a woman.
And don’t bring the LGB into it. According to trans activists, we do t really exist. i am really a woman, dontcha know? my favorite story was the biologically male, conventionally masculine dude who likes women. But that is not special enough. No he is now a lesbian. Who as a class are “sexual racists” for being disinterested in sex with biological males. Horrors! They may need to be raped by themselves r “girl d$&)s”
why do I care? because I hate irrationality and delusion and will hate how this weird mania is taking over the left.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I know that some LGBT campaigners can be over-zealous.
REALLY??!!? I hadn’t noticed … 😲
LikeLiked by 1 person
don’t attach T to the LGB. they are not the same and not allies. unless you want the nonsense promoted by literary lad taught in schools. Like Portland, but here boy and girl are now evil Western colonial inventions.
LikeLike
And I say to you, Brian, this post is NOT about the LGBTQ or the LGB or any other combination of letters. It is about Tulsi Gabbard’s “transition” to the Republican party. PLEASE stay on-topic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
noted. we did touch on the way is issue and I got sidetracked. no more
LikeLiked by 1 person
…and before you decide to rubbish other people’s comments, and throw insults around, I suggest you undertake some proper academic research – it isn’t my fault the world doesn’t fit your narrow view of it.
LikeLike
I initially trashed this comment, LL, but had second thoughts in that you need to be aware of my Blog Rules, which include this: “belittling comments … will not be tolerated.” You have been warned.
LikeLike
much of this research is extremely questionable and trendy. Remember some “scientists” in the early 20th century were all about studying skulls to demonstrate the inferiority of the “lesser” races. Science and research can fall pray to the same nonsense as religion and politics. And in none of that research is there any documentation that “men can be women because they feel like it”. Especially, as Silver Apple Queen noted. advocates for this nonsense cannot even provide a definition for “woman”.
I promised “no more” so this is it from me.
LikeLike
You’re pushing it, Brian. If LL responds, both comments will be removed. Fair warning to both of you.
LikeLike
Ha, sarcasm! JK Rowling and her friends are insulting and abusive and attempt to deny people the right to lead a fulfilled life – is it any wonder Trans people get angry?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Quibble on one point: the faith and spirituality thing. “Faith” is a christian dogwhistle with “spirituality” an olive branch to (white) not-christians that leaves “common cause” open to interpretation. She stuck it in there to feed the sense of victimization, beg a little sympathy.
All the more despicable she’s of some weirdo Hindu cult that believes in thousands of gods (not that there’s anything wrong with that) with perhaps the most elitist this side of God’s Chosen People of views as to who is human and who is not. She’s not a christian, she’s not even “white”, yet here she is blowing dogwhistles at the christian white nationalists.
Been obvious for a long time she a Russian stooge …
LikeLiked by 5 people
in my limited experience, nobody is as unpleasantly classist as a Brahman caste person. After all, they deserve being on top because of karma
LikeLike
Hello. Nan I wont give you pushback nor go through her statement as others have done that very well. I would like to address something that only two people hinted at. She works for Putin. Just like Ron Johnson, and several other well known republican office holders and some that don’t / did not get to hold office long like Gen. Flynn. Gabbard has gone on Fox time after time touting the talking points Putin wanted, she is know to be against the Ukraine assistance, against NATO, and she is pictured with Putin before. She is either an active agent for him or like trump a useful idiot. Putin took over the majority of the Republican Party and the right wing media by buying the politicians with donations and the media with money. Remember the NRA donation scandal when Russia gave 30 million to the NRA that then donated it to a PAC supporting trump. Same thing. So for those who say she has a job of sabotaging the democrats and stirring up anger and public unrest you are correct. By the way, this woman and her family have been virulently anti-LGBTQ+ and a long time opponent of same sex marriage. Her father ran a cult. Hugs
LikeLiked by 5 people
Really, Nan?
You wrote, “…she did make a couple of valid points. In particular, the one about Democrats being hostile to people of faith and spirituality.”
This is not the position of the Dem Party. Some people maybe. Some Dems/Greens/Libertarians or whatever. Not all. SOME.
In my opinion and observation, many, if not most, Dems play much nicer than Reps. And yes. The Evangelical religious (political) right is nuts and dangerous.
Maybe this lady can run for something as a Rep. The dude running for Lt. Governor here in TX is a former Rep. So what?
I do wonder what the heck you’re trying to insinuate. I should be nicer?
I just mailed my November ballot. We cannot vote straight ticket any more. I can’t decide if I like that or not. With the exception of US congress, they listed all those running unopposed and declared them winners. All were Reps. That is how a one party system works.
LikeLiked by 1 person
OK, if you noticed, as related to the demonstrated hostility towards people of faith and spirituality, I explicitly wrote: “The blog world has demonstrated this on more than one occasion.” This does NOT mean that every Democrat is hostile, but there are some who have definitely demonstrated it via social media anonymity. So, in essence, I would saying the same thing as you — “Some people maybe. Not all.”
Overall, I totally agree that Dems play MUCH nicer than Repugs, but they (we) are not entirely guiltless. We all have our outliers. 🙂
In any event, I think we are well served by the fact that Tulsi has shown her true colors.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for clarifying, Nan.
OMG!!! “Repugs.” I am gunna use that.
I agree that some folks are crude, rude, ugly, and socially unacceptable. I can control exactly one (usually).
I never (okay, very seldom) demean anyone over religion, but I will make my points, as do you.
I was raised Catholic. Guilt is our thing. We are, because of Adam and Eve and being born, guilty in every way. (Sarcasm) 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
I myself prefer Repughs. These people are cavemen and cavewomen.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Repughs is my word of the week. 🙂
LikeLike
☺
LikeLiked by 1 person
From onlineslangdictionary.com —
Repug: abbreviated form of “repugnant” used as an insulting term for a Republican.
😊
LikeLike
Repugh — dictionary of rawgod — A repugnant Republican politician who shows characteristics of being so backward the only word he can truly use correctly is “ugh!” (And I am not even sure about “Ugh!”)
LikeLike
pugs are such cute, fun dogs. Troughs is definitely better.🤪
LikeLiked by 1 person
damn auto correct. Repughs
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike
Sounds like a right wing nutjob R word salad. What the hell was she doing pretending to be a D in the first place?
Sounds to me like this dingus and MTG will get along great.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Her unhinged rant reads exactly like something I would expect to find from the MAGA nutjobs.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Does Tulsi Gabbard give any examples to back up her claims? What is she referring to by “warmongering”? Surely not the catastrophic retreat from Afghanishtan? Nor the considerable restraint the entire west (USA included) has shown in Ukraine? Or even the continued support by US government run by Democrats for Sweden and Finland to join NATO, despite Russia having made clear they see any NATO expansion as a hostile act? These are opposite examples of actual war mongering (like by the latest Bush administration) but it is, as she expected her supporters, voters and the entire audience to know what she is referring to. What is it? Is this a common theme in US politics today?
“God given rights”??? Wich god is she referring to, if she is a Hindu?
Much of what she talks is gibberish to me, but the way she expresses herself is like from the populist handbook. She blames some obscure “elitists” when clearly she is part of the social elite and can hardly be blamed for being very bolshy. She uses very generalizing language letting the audiences to fill in the gaps for their own comfort, while leaving the populist open for interpretation with deniability, but sending “hidden” messages of bitter hatred using the dogwhistle technique. If a politician says that some demands for changes in the society have gone too far, they are always going to get support across the political spectrum, because in a way they are right. There are always people demanding too fast changes for the society to cope with and some demands stand on very poor moral grounds. Though demands for equality rarely are immoral, they may go against the values of those benefiting from the systemic inequality and sometimes even the values of those suffering from it. These are the hallmarks of the populist fishing for support from the most ignorant segment of the society. Are they not?
LikeLiked by 4 people
This observation is so spot-on (and not just as related to Tulsi) — “She uses very generalizing language letting the audiences to fill in the gaps for their own comfort”. She has learned well from her (new?) party leaders.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I hadn’t heard of the ‘ dog whistle technique’ before. It’s a great way to describe how people such as Tulsi Gabbard operate. And ‘populist fishing for support from the most ignorant segment of the society’ – that’s spot on! She insinuates a lot – the harm is as much in what she doesn’t say as what she does.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Indeed. President Trump and a lot of his base in extremist right have used the dogwhistle, not so much to hide their agenda as to pump up the lie, that their freedom of speech is being limited (when infact, they are held accountable for the evil their racist, discriminative and toxic lies cause) and to give them deniability, if ever challenged, to bear responsibility for lying, or spreading hatred. It kind of backfired by causing the J6 riot and subsequent piss-poor insurrection, when Donald said the demonstration and march on Capitol should be “peacefull and patriotic” and the most ignorant segment of his supporters thought it was supposed to be a sarcastic remark in light of him having first aroused their anger and feeding them with the silly notion, that the election was somehow rigged. It also worked, because it is now hard to get him to answer for what he did, altough from what he did not do, it is fairly obvious what he wanted to happen.
Perhaps Tulsi is not quite there… yet, with Trump et all, but to me it seems, she shares their problem of not knowing how to determine what is moral and what the real world is actually like.
LikeLiked by 2 people