Thursday, November 24, 2016

A little more about that troubling meeting between Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard and Donald Trump.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:  

Gabbard, a favorite of incoming White House senior counselor Steve Bannon, is the first congressional Democrat approached to have a face-to-face meeting with Trump—and the first Bernie Sanders supporter to do so as well. Sensing criticism from the left for taking a meeting with Trump, she put out a statement in which she justified her foreign policy meeting as necessary so that the left and right could find “common ground.” 

But she also included pro-Assad apologia in the mix, arguing that the United States should not confront Russia because it could lead to conflict and indicating that the Assad regime should remain in place, calling any attempts to remove him as “illegal.” 

“I shared with him my grave concerns that escalating the war in Syria by implementing a so-called no fly/safe zone would be disastrous for the Syrian people, our country, and the world,” Gabbard said. “It would lead to more death and suffering, exacerbate the refugee crisis, strengthen ISIS and al Qaeda, and bring us into a direct conflict with Russia which could result in a nuclear war.” 

That might sound like standard issue progressive anti-war rhetoric, but coupled with her past statements and actions, it’s more of a plea to let Assad be. In March, for instance, Gabbard was the only Democrat and one of just three members of Congress to vote against a resolution condemning violence by the Assad regime against civilian populations. 

And she has long been a defender of the Putin regime, writing for example in September 2015, on the first day of the Russian intervention in Syria, “[I]t’s mind-boggling that we protest Russia’s bombing of these terrorists.” Russia is responsible for attacking U.S.-backed opposition forces in Syria, an aid convoy delivering relief to civilians, and medical facilities. 

By taking the meeting with Trump and making such a statement afterward, critics argue, Gabbard is giving the Trump administration the guise of bipartisan support for ignoring Assad’s war crimes, which include bombing civilian populations and the use of chemical weapons. Gabbard and Trump also see eye to eye on closing the door on refugees. 

“For years, both individuals have advocated a free pass for murderous dictators, while intensifying scrutiny on mothers and children sitting in refugee camps who would like to come to the United States,” said Evan Barrett, a political adviser to the Coalition for a Democratic Syria, a Syrian-American opposition umbrella group. “Tulsi is very much a part of the inward-facing mind-set that gave us President-elect Trump, and no one should be surprised when they join hands to appease despots and shut the door to the world’s most desperate people.”

You know I have been concerned about Gabbard ever since she quit her post with the DNC to  endorse Bernie Sanders, and now there is growing evidence to suggest that she may not be the true blue Democrat that she has painted herself to be.

In fact she once responded to criticism of her father's anti-LGBTQ statements with this e-mail: 

“I smell a skunk,” [Gabbard] wrote. “It’s clear to me that you’re acting as a conduit for The Honolulu Weekly and other homosexual extremist supporters of Ed Case.”

That does not sound like something most Democrats would say, now does it?

Oh and the comments from her father that she was defending were these: 

When HONOLULU interviewed Gabbard in 1992, he told the magazine, "Homosexuality is not normal, not healthy, morally and scripturally wrong." At the time, he also suggested that the repeal of sodomy laws across the country in the '60s and the American Psychiatric Association's decision in the '70s that homosexuality was normal and not a mental illness, led directly to the AIDS epidemic of the '80s.

Yeah, I think it is becoming clear what Gabbard's attraction to a Trump administration might be.

And it appears that she is under serious consideration to be included in it as well.

13 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:19 PM

    Gabbard may seem like a real Dem because she’s from Hawaii and cares about the environment, but she’s very conservative in ways that rankle even the hawkish Dems. She served in Iraq for a couple years and thinks this makes her an expert on all things war-related. She’s been in congress for three years but acts as though she’s as experienced as Daniel Akaka, who she got her start with, was. She thinks she knows more than the president and the very experienced John Kerry. She mouths off routinely and has joined with the GOP on complaining and tweeting about Pres Obama not referring to “radical Islamic terrorist.”


    She isn’t Indian but her family are Hindus and she is very much anti-Muslim and there are numerous quotes about this. She has repeatedly insisted that nothing will change a Muslim’s mind and heart. She scoffs at aiding Muslims financially and otherwise and believes that the whole problem with Muslims is the fact that they are Muslims. It boils down to a hatred of the Muslim faith. And she has said it’s not a real faith. (She, by the way, comes from a pretty cloister Christian background and finished her high schooling at an all-girls school in the very religious Philippines (I married into a Filipino family—trust me when I say the extreme Catholic superiority complex is almost unbearable). She is very much involved with India’s anti-Muslim nationalist movement with Prime Minister Modi at the head—Modi is a Trump business partner--and she supports the Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, and its lead activist Vijay Jolly, who are very anti-Muslim no matter what they may claim.


    She is tied to Jolly, who is also tied to Netanyahu, who is very tied to Sheldon Adelson, who is very tied to Trump. Jolly and Bibi are anti-Pakistan and anti-China buddies. Trump has received millions from Adelson during this election season. There are all sorts of connections, and we have seen how Trump has been focusing lately on his India contacts and hotel plans. It’s very disturbing to see how all these bigwigs are tied to Trump. And now he’s been interviewing Gabbard and has nominated the Indian SC gov to be the UN ambassador. I’m all for diversity, but this just reeks of something crooked.


    And Gabbard was very vocal about being against TPP. She was also against the bailout that got us out of the recession. She has a bachelor’s in business but acts as if she has continued to study and understands everything involved with the economy. Between business and religion and war, she acts as if she knows it all. She has had this attitude for years now and is only thirty-four.


    I can't accept her behavior toward President Obama and members of his Cabinet. She makes me sick with her lack of respect.


    Here are two good links if you want to know more about her:


    http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/curious-islamophobic-politics-dem-congressmember-tulsi-gabbard

    http://www.telegraphindia.com/1161110/jsp/nation/story_118413.jsp#.WDeHi33ZC5w

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:07 PM

      thanks for that

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2:30 AM

      The only point I disagree with is that the Fundagelical Whackadoo Prostestantism invaded the Phillippines about 30 years ago and since then you find far more repugnant faux-Christian spouting off from that sector, not the Catholics.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous5:07 PM

    Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen wrote that Trump once asked, “Is it wrong to be more sexually attracted to your own daughter than your wife?” However, that quote was removed before the column was published Tuesday.

    Ivanka was only 13-years-old when that remark was allegedly made. And today, he’s the president-elect and an admitted Pussy Grabber.

    http://addictinginfo.org/2016/11/24/uncovered-ivankas-response-to-fathers-remarks-about-wanting-to-bang-her/

    The reporting appeared in an advance version of the column that was circulated on Monday for publication on Tuesday and thereafter. It appeared as an aside after the introduction of Jared Kushner, which still appears in the final column:

    Jared Kushner, our Tom Hagen, who married Trump’s stunning daughter Ivanka — “Can I ask you something?” Trump asked someone I know, about his then-13-year-old kid, “Is it wrong to be more sexually attracted to your own daughter than your wife?” — has lately lost some of this Boy Scout aura. It turns out Kushner’s admission to Harvard was preceded by his father’s $2.5 million pledge.

    Outlets received another version of the column later in the day, with the text between the “—” removed. None of the sites that syndicate Cohen’s column appear to have published the quote in the draft.

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/tamerragriffin/trump-asked-if-its-wrong-to-be-attracted-to-his-daughter?utm_term=.ukOVyqPr9#.rm83NV1R7

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:30 PM

      http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/if-he-wasnt-my-father-i-would-spray-him-with-mace-ivanka-trump-admits-truth-in-2006/

      drumpf and daughter make me sick...

      Delete
  3. Anonymous5:20 PM

    O/T Springtime for Hitler in America.....

    -----------------------------
    Germans Watch, Aghast, as Trump’s America Begins to Take Shape

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/22/germans-watch-aghast-as-trump-s-america-begins-to-take-shape.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous5:47 PM

    @4:19, your post was very intelligent and informative. Thank you for taking the time to write it.
    Much more so than Gryphen's, which seemed to need emphasize her support of Bernie Sanders.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous6:09 PM

    troubling Ivanka @ 24"“If he wasn’t my father, I would spray him with Mace.”
    http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/if-he-wasnt-my-father-i-would-spray-him-with-mace-ivanka-trump-admits-truth-in-2006/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous7:31 PM

    Looks to be another Putin cock sucker...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous7:41 PM

    That Tulsi is a real BEOTCH!!! A DINO (Democrat In Name Only)!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous8:04 PM

    Never liked nor trusted her, she is all about Tulsi. She's like Sanders, as soon as being other than a Democrat serves her purpose better she'll be gone.

    It may be only a matter of time before she's running as a mainland Republican.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous8:35 PM

    She's quite manly-looking wonder if that ever was an issue or he homophobic dad ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous7:53 AM

    Why is Gryph spouting neocon talking points about Assad and Russia?

    ReplyDelete

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