Tulsi Gabbard

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Tulsi Gabbard (1981–) is an American politician, and from 2013 to 2021, was one of two Congressional Representatives from Hawaii. She is of European and Samoan ancestry, and is the first Hindu member of the Congress.

She was the youngest woman to be elected to a U.S. state legislature, and served in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 2002 to 2004. Directly following this she served in an Iraq combat zone from 2004 to 2005, and was later deployed to Kuwait from 2008 to 2009.

She was the vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013 until 2016, when she resigned to endorse Bernie Sanders for President. She is a relatively moderate Democrat[1][2][3] in a heavily left-leaning district, and her support for Sanders was a convenient way to counter a primary challenger from the left.[4] As a result, her reputation as a progressive has been called into question (and as of 2020, more or less destroyed).[5]

It would, perhaps, be instructive to review a variety of voices that have, in the past, praised Ms Gabbard. Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, expressed admiration for her political talent. Mr. Bannon is a former chair of Breitbart News L.L.C., the parent Company of Breitbart News, which he declared "the platform of the alt-right."[6] Richard B. Spencer and David Duke, the white nationalist leader and former KKK leader, endorsed her candidacy. [7] Former Representative Ron Paul, whose son Senator Rand Paul has inherited his fathers seat at the libertarian crazy car, praised her “libertarian instincts,”[8] while Franklin Graham, the influential evangelist, has found her to be “refreshing.”[9]

She announced on January 11, 2019 that she was running for President of the United States in 2020.[10] In March 2020, Gabbard ended her campaign (after winning no contests and remaining in the single digits for polling) and endorsed Joe Biden.[11] Before then, she announced that she would not seek reelection to the House of Representatives.

On the issues

Gabbard opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, calls for a restoration of the Glass-Steagall banking regulations, wants to stop mass surveillance of Americans by repealing the PATRIOT Act, supports raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour,[12] and favors single-payer healthcare like many Democrats after the passage of Obamacare.[13] She supports marijuana legalization.[14]

In 2014, Gabbard said she was "conflicted" on the CIA's use of torture, saying that the "debate carries on" as to whether torture leads to accurate intelligence, and although she would not like to see any person being treated inhumanely she would do everything in her power to keep Americans safe in a ticking time bomb scenario.[15]

Gabbard supports "sensible"[16] gun control.[17]

Tulsi's base of support comes from Indian expatriates, many of whom are BJP sympathizers or supporters. She's networked with plenty of them.[18] She thinks that it is important to identify the enemy by using the phrase "radical Islamist terrorism."[19]

Gay rights

“”To try to act as if there is a difference between 'civil unions' and same-sex marriage is dishonest, cowardly and extremely disrespectful to the people of Hawaii who have already made overwhelmingly clear our position on this issue… As Democrats we should be representing the views of the people, not a small number of homosexual extremists.

—Tulsi Gabbard in 2004.[20][21]

Her record on LGBT issues is moderate.[22] The Gabbards started in politics as homophobic activists.[23] In 2016, the Hawaii Democratic Party's LGBT Caucus issued strong support for Gabbard's primary opponent, Shay Chan Hodges.[22] A decade earlier, Gabbard was a pro-life opponent of same-sex marriage, just like her Republican father, Mike Gabbard. In her early 20s, Gabbard protested against a bill that would have legalized civil unions for same-sex couples and delivered a speech in the Hawaii State House against a resolution that was meant to target anti-gay bullying in public schools.[24] Gabbard objected to teaching students that homosexuality is "normal and natural" and worried the resolution would be "inviting homosexual-advocacy organizations into our schools to promote their agenda to our vulnerable youth."[24]

When Honolulu magazine emailed Gabbard's father to clarify his former relationship with Chris Butler's Hare Krishna group, Tulsi responded "it’s clear to me that you’re acting as a conduit for The Honolulu Weekly and other homosexual extremist supporters of Ed Case."^{File:Wikipedia's W.svg}[23] Despite being followers of Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa (a.k.a. Chris Butler), whose cult was founded after breaking away from the Hare Krishnas,[25] Mike Gabbard publicly claims to be Catholic while Tulsi identifies as Hindu.[26] He and Tulsi have been running a nonprofit called Stand Up for America, with the mission of promoting patriotism and unity of the US.[27]

To her credit, Gabbard has since apologised and says her "views have changed significantly since then."[28] Nowadays, she has a 100% rating from the Human Rights Campaign.[note 1] While she rebuffed a 2013 offer for a meeting with the Hawaiian LGBT Caucus, she is a member of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.[28] Gabbard herself once cited her time in the military, seeing the dangers of theocratic rule, that made her change her mind on her public position on marriage equality.[22]

Trans rights

By December 2020, Gabbard introduced a bill that would "clarify Title IX protections to be based on biological sex," meaning transgender athletes would effectively be barred from participating in women's sports. [29]

Foreign policy

“”In short, when it comes to the war against terrorists, I'm a hawk. When it comes to counterproductive wars of regime change, I'm a dove.

—Gabbard in 2016.[30]

Gabbard's perspective on war is that it is terrible but sometimes necessary:

Kim Iversen: You definitely feel strongly about sending our troops off to battle for regime change wars.
Gabbard: Yeah.
Iversen: That it’s clearly an unnecessary cost, often of which is their life. Are you against all wars?
Gabbard: Look, wars are terrible. Unfortunately they are sometimes necessary to keep our people safe. This is the reality of the world that we live in and we have to look at this world as it exists rather than try to exist in a world that doesn't. So the reality is that there are those that seek to do us harm. Unfortunately war is sometimes necessary.[31]

Gabbard voted for the Iran nuclear deal, albeit while still being critical of Iran.[32] She opposes allowing the US to go to war with Iran without explicit congressional authorization. She opposes the US military support for Saudi Arabia's intervention in Yemen.[33] She also said the US has to stand up for Israel, whom she considers to be America's strongest ally.[34] She opposes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions^{File:Wikipedia's W.svg} (BDS) campaign against Israel's occupation of Palestine and cosponsored a bill establishing support for an independent 'demilitarized' Palestinian state without the ability to raise a military force for its defense.[35]

In a 2015 press release, Gabbard was quoted saying that Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi^{File:Wikipedia's W.svg} had shown "great courage and leadership" in taking on "extreme Islamist ideology".[36] Gabbard has also described India's Narendra Modi^{File:Wikipedia's W.svg} as "a leader whose example and dedication to the people he serves should be an inspiration to elected officials everywhere."[18]

Syria

In 2015, Gabbard criticised the United States for not bombing al-Qaeda in Syria and said it was "mind-boggling" to protest Russia's military intervention.^{File:Wikipedia's W.svg}[37] Gabbard was also in favour of directly supporting and arming Kurdish fighters in Syria and Iraq.[38] Gabbard voted to add extra investigation on Syrian and Iraqi refugees coming into into the US, even though the screening process already took between 1.5 and 3 years.[39][40] This would essentially block Syrian and Iraqi refugees from resettling in the United States.[41]

In March 2016, Gabbard was one of only three members of Congress, and the only Democrat, to vote against a resolution condemning violence against civilians by Assad's forces.[42] In January 2017, she went to Damascus and got wined and dined by the regime.[43][44][45][46] Democratic leaders in Congress were not notified of the trip in advance.[41][43] While she has called Assad a "brutal dictator",[47] she does not believe he is an enemy of the United States.[48] She has stated that Syria "would be in a far worse situation if al-Qaida took charge" and is therefore against a regime-change war.[49]

In a press release following the 2017 Khan Shaykhun chemical attack^{File:Wikipedia's W.svg} and Shayrat missile strike,^{File:Wikipedia's W.svg} Gabbard stated:

If President Assad is indeed guilty of this horrible chemical attack on innocent civilians, I will be the first to call for his prosecution and execution by the International Criminal Court.[50]

She made similar comments on CNN, adding that she would call Assad a war criminal if he were found responsible after an independent investigation:

If President Assad is found to be responsible after an independent investigation for these horrific chemical weapons attacks, I'll be the first one to denounce him, to call him a war criminal, and to call for his prosecution in the International Criminal Court.[51]

After an investigation, the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism^{File:Wikipedia's W.svg}[note 2] confirmed Assad's forces were responsible for the Khan Shaykhun attack.[52] However, rather than calling for Assad's "prosecution and execution", according to Gabbard's official website, her position is that "there is evidence to suggest that the attacks [in Khan Shaykhun and Douma] may have been staged by opposition forces".[53] Both attacks occurred after her visit with Assad.

Her website also states that "there is evidence that both the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad as well as the armed opposition groups aligned against him have used chemical weapons (CW) during the Syrian war",[53] apparently in reference to previous chemical attacks. As a guest on The View, Gabbard said "there is no disputing the fact that [Assad] has used chemical weapons and other weapons against his people."[54] Despite this, she has refused to say Assad is a war criminal:

Questioner: Do you remain skeptical, as you were in 2017, that Bashar al-Assad used chemical warfare against Syrian civilians?
Gabbard: I want to correct that because there's been some misunderstanding. There have been reports showing that chemical weapons have been used in Syria, both by the Syrian government as well as different terrorist groups on the ground in Syria.[55]
[...]
Dana Bash: This week, Syrian refugees in Jordan, they requested that the first International Criminal Court case against the Syrian government commence. You met Bashar al-Assad in 2017, do you believe that Assad is a war criminal?
Gabbard: I think that the evidence needs to be gathered and as I have said before, if there is evidence that he has committed war crimes he should be prosecuted as such.
Bash: But you’re not sure now?
Gabbard: Everything that I have said requires that we take action based on evidence. If the evidence is there, there should be accountability.[56]

Bret Baier: In 2017, you visited Syria. You met with Bashar al-Assad. Recently you were asked if he was a war criminal and you couldn’t really say. Can you say it tonight?
Gabbard: Look, like I said earlier, we have to be willing to meet with people who may be adversaries, or potential adversaries or dictators or others, in the pursuit of peace and security. What’s more important than the question that you're asking right now is to focus on the cost of this regime change war on our country.[57]
[...]
Baier: There are people inside the US military, many of them, and inside the US intelligence agencies that believe that Assad was behind the gassing of his own people. You just don’t buy that?
Gabbard: No, what I have said and I have said this numerous times is that the Assad government, the Syrian government, there have been other actors, terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and others, other jihadist groups in Syria, have unfortunately used these chemical weapons in this war that’s currently being waged.[58]

Russian support

“”Al-Qaeda attacked us on 9/11 and must be defeated. Obama won’t bomb them in Syria. Putin did. #neverforget911

—Gabbard on Twitter[59]

Apparently due to Gabbard's support for Russian military involvement in Syria, she has gained financial campaign support from at least two or three Americans who are Russia sycophants: "Stephen F. Cohen, a Russian studies professor at New York University and prominent Kremlin sympathizer; Sharon Tennison, a vocal Putin supporter"; and "Goofy Grapes", an employee of RT.[60] The actual identity of "Goofy Grapes", who gave $1000, is unknown and would therefore seem to be a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act.[60][61] In response to the Daily Beast's revelation of these campaign donations, she responded in a most Trumpian manner, by falsely proclaiming "fake news".[62]

On October 18, 2019, Hillary Clinton said that Russia was “grooming” a candidate to run as a third-party candidate who would help President Trump win reelection through the spoiler effect.[63][64] Later that day, Gabbard went Trumpian again, responding in a tweet by attacking Clinton as the "queen of warmongers."[63]

In February 2019 NBC News published a report charging that "the Russian propaganda machine that tried to influence the 2016 U.S. election is now promoting" Gabbard based on an analysis of the main English-language news sites employed by Russia in the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[65] In October 2019 the New York Times reported that "an independent analysis of the Russian news media found that RT, the Kremlin-backed news agency, mentioned Ms. Gabbard frequently for a candidate polling in single digits, according to data collected by the Alliance for Securing Democracy^{File:Wikipedia's W.svg}."[66]

In 2017 Christopher Cooper, a media consultant with the Potomac Square Group, worked as a consultant to Gabbard. Cooper, a figure in the investigation of the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, has been involved in Russian-sponsored lobbying; during Congressional testimony his lobbying work was referred to as "one the best examples of Putin’s propaganda."[67][68][69][70][71]

Science of Identity Foundation

Gabbard has a number of ties to the Science of Identity Foundation^{File:Wikipedia's W.svg}, a religious sect in Hawaii that has been described as a cult.[72][73] In 2015 Gabbard referred to Chris Butler, the founder of the sect, as her "guru dev" or spiritual master.[72] Butler had been a member of the Hari Krisha movement (ISKCON) since 1970 but later split with organization to found SIF. SIF has sufficient similarities to ISKCON (Vaishnava branch of Hinduism, teaching of Bhakti yoga, similar taboos), that it should probably be regarded as schism of ISKCON. Gabbard's husband, Abraham Williams, has strong family connections to Butler. His mother, Anya Anthony, works with Wai Lana Productions LLC, a company associated with Butler’s wife; Anthony runs Gabbard's political office in Honolulu. Gabbard's father, Mike Gabbard^{File:Wikipedia's W.svg}, said in 2004: "Although I'm not a member of the Science of Identity Foundation, I'm eternally thankful to Chris Butler;" both he and Gabbard's mother served on the board of the Science of Identity Foundation. Gabbard has not answered questions about her ties to the sect, claiming that it is an attack on her Hindu faith.[74]

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gollark: ++deploy several bee

gollark: ++deploy bee

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