W.J. Astore
Further Thoughts on Tulsi Gabbard’s Confirmation Hearing
Once upon a time, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard was the future of the Democratic Party. Born in American Samoa. A woman of color. A military veteran who’d served in the Iraq war. A Hindu. She represented diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her politics were broadly progressive. And thus she was quickly given a position as vice chair of the DNC. That’s where the trouble began.
Because Tulsi believed in an equitable and fair process for the 2016 presidential campaign, when the DNC then was controlled by Hillary Clinton and her acolytes. The primary process was, in a word, rigged, with outsider candidate Bernie Sanders never having a fair chance to win the nomination despite his enormous popularity. So Tulsi resigned her position as vice chair even as she backed Sanders, earning the unending enmity of Hillary Clinton and the entire DNC establishment.
Tulsi was a candidate for president in 2020 in the Democratic primaries, where during one debate she demolished then up-and-comer Kamala Harris, another Clinton acolyte. Harris fizzled as Tulsi endured, despite smears by the Clinton wing that she was a Putin puppet. Tulsi never had a chance, of course, as Barack Obama intervened to throw the primary to Joe Biden, already a man in physical and mental decline.
After that, Tulsi sought another way, becoming an independent until she decided, obviously because she’s politically ambitious, to endorse Donald Trump and to turn Republican. I can’t say that I blame her. When Democrats are suggesting you’re a possible traitor to your own country, or at the very least a useful idiot for Putin and Assad, even as you wear the uniform of the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel, what was she to do?
As I watched yesterday’s confirmation hearing for Tulsi, I was once again struck by her intelligence, knowledge, and poise. A skilled speaker, she thinks well on her feet. Her answers are direct and clear: no “word salads” like Kamala Harris, no evasiveness, no laughing or giggling when she doesn’t know the answer. If Joe Biden had picked Tulsi as his running mate in 2020, and Tulsi had run against Trump last year, my bet is that America would now have its first woman—and woman of color—as President.
I recently read an article that listed the Democrats’ top presidential candidates for 2028. Not surprisingly, mediocre white males dominated the list: Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania (both fanatical Zionists) as well as “Mayor” Pete Buttigieg. The one female with a reasonable chance, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, has a standard background as a lawyer and a Christian. Most importantly, she’s a party loyalist, so look for her in 2028 as the “diverse” candidate of the DNC.
Of course, Democrats used to have a truly diverse, highly capable, and charismatic candidate in Tulsi Gabbard. She may yet emerge as a strong candidate for the presidency in 2028—as a Republican.
Much like RFK Jr., Tulsi is now hated by the Democratic Party for her nonconformity to corporate interests. Those interests have torn the heart out of the party of JFK, LBJ, and George McGovern. Only a corporate shell (and corporate shills) remains at the national level. And that is truly a shame for democracy in America.
Bracing Views 
Why she should be confirmed….
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-real-meaning-of-the-fight-over-tulsi-gabbard/
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Wonderfully put!
I’m going to share this with family and friends – they need to read it.
If there were a truer example of what the expression “I didn’t leave the Democrat Party; it left me” means, this is it.
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Good article Bill. It validates my view that the majority of Americans always sit in the same general spot on the political spectrum (slightly left of center…hence a slight, general shift leftward over time by the American people). The spectrum itself has changed greatly though, so now Tulsi’s and most of ‘Americans’ values sit in what can be called a moderate Republican spot, but in former times not too long ago would have been called Democrat. And the Dems not sit in a spot that in former times would have been called radical left or communist. The spectrum has moved, but America’s values, in general, have not.
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This is from an “X” posting by a user named Topher Field. Some great insights related to the points you make in your article. I do like his closer that MAGA is actually a unity movement. I agree with him on that…folks are rallying to the values that truly represent America and Americans.
“I think I’ve figured it out. I’ve been watching the US confirmation hearings and something very deep has shifted. It’s more than just the kinds of people being appointed, it’s bigger than a ‘vibe shift’… but I couldn’t figure out what it was. It’s the revolution eating it’s own. Even Democrats are having their eyes opened as they watch their heroes from the last few decades try to tear down the people who COULD have made the Democrats great again… People who SHOULD have been their next generation of Democratic heroes. RFK Jr and Tulsi Gabbard stand out as great examples, and long time Democrat power brokers like Bernie Sanders are trying every trick to destroy them, every weapon, all the things that USED to work, and it’s blowing up in their faces. The Revolutionary Old Guard are trying to eat their own children, and are being devoured by them instead. These senate confirmation hearings are highlighting the fact that MAGA is actually a unity movement, with the best of the Republicans AND the best of the Democrats, taking the country forward together and leaving the decrepit old guard behind.”
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All this talk of Pete Buttigieg for president makes me nauseated. He is unqualified and his appointment as Secretary of Transportation was an act of pure corruption given as a gift for him dropping out of the presidential race.
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