#gabbard

[roughridingrednecks]

Gabbard

[unwelcome-ozian]

Tulsi Gabbard’s ties to secretive cult may explain her perplexing political journey

Tulsi Gabbard Described as 'Advanced Devotee' in Alleged Cult

Senators Urged To Examine Gabbard’s ‘Deep and Intense’ Ties To Hawaiʻi Sect

Tulsi Gabbard: How an Extremist Cult Shaped the Anti-LGBTQ+ Crusader into Intelligence Chief

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Emma DelRosso

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Opposing the president-elect's nominations

December 2, 2024

Robert B. Hubbell

Dec 02, 2024

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Trump nominated conspiracy theorist Kash Patel as FBI Director and convicted tax fraudster Charles Kushner (Jared’s father) as Ambassador to France. Trump also nominated his daughter Tiffany’s father-in-law, Massad Boulos, as a senior adviser covering Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

Last week I wrote that “Few imagined how bad Trump's nominees would be.” That statement was made before the nominations of Patel and Kushner, nominations that ratcheted up the sickening stream of dangerous, unqualified, and insulting choices that are collectively and individually the worst nominations in our nation’s history.

It is important to understand how disastrous these nominations will be for the US. However, it is not enough to bemoan and condemn Trump's nominations. This newsletter isn’t intended to be a pity party. It is a call to action.

We must flood our representatives in Congress with feedback from constituents demanding that they place the interests of the United States above the revenge agenda of the Republican leader. In the short term, that is what we can do—so we must do it. In the mid range, we can set about defeating Trump's enablers at the ballot box. There must be a political price to pay for supporting party above country and for being cowards when our nation needed courageous leaders.

Before turning to individual nominees, let’s examine the stakes. For once, Trump has been consistent in his actions and has stayed “on message”—in a bad way. His nominations can be grouped into three broad categories:

He seeks to weaken, if not destroy, the US intelligence community and federal law enforcement agencies—in retribution for their temerity in seeking to hold him to account for his crimes. Matt Gaetz (DOJ), Pam Bondi (DOJ), Tulsi Gabbard (NDI), Kash Patel (FBI), Stephen Miller (Depty. Chief of Staff), Kristi Noem (Homeland Security), Sebastian Gorka (Depty. Ass’t to President), John Ratcliffe (CIA), Pete Hegseth (DOD), and Matthew Whittaker (NATO).

He seeks to weaken, if not destroy, the federal government’s healthcare and science expertise—in retribution for their temerity in challenging his lunatic ideas about COVID. Robert Kennedy (HHS), Dr. Oz (Medicare), Jay Bhattacharya (NIH), Dave Weldon (CDC), and Martin A. Makary (FDA commissioner).

Finally, he seeks to destroy the administrative state—a “quid pro quo” to the business community for supporting a candidacy that was designed solely to evade his criminal liabilities. Elon Musk (Government Efficiency), Vivek Ramaswamy (Government Efficiency), Linda McMahon (Education), Russell T. Vought (OMB), Chris Wright (Energy), Brendan Carr (F.C.C. Chair).

Let’s take a look at Trump's most recent nominations

Kash Patel is the sworn enemy of the FBI—so Trump intends to nominate him as FBI Director

Kash Patel is in a love-hate relationship with the FBI. Patel wants to destroy the FBI while converting it into a weapon of political vengeance.

Patel has promised to “shut down” the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. on his first day as director of the FBI and re-open the FBI Headquarters the next day as a “museum to the deep state.” He said,

I'd shut down the FBI Hoover Building on day one and reopen the next day as a museum of the deep state. And I'd take the 7,000 employees that work in that building and send them across America to chase down criminals.

But he has also threatened to use the FBI to harass journalists and politicians who sought to hold Trump accountable for his crimes. Patel said,

[W]e’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections — we’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out.

Note that the man who is supposed to “pursue justice” has said that retribution comes first—and “we’ll figure out” why the FBI is harassing US citizens later.

Patel’s twin aims for the FBI should be immediately disqualifying. But prominent Republicans flocked to the TV talk shows on Sunday to defend Kash Patel as a “reformer” who will “root out” the partisanship in an FBI that is dominated by right-wing MAGA leadership as it is.

Bill Barr famously said that that Kash Patel would be appointed Deputy Director of the FBI “over my dead body.” See Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse on Substack, The New Matt Gaetz.

Likewise, former acting director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, said on CNN,

The fact that Kash Patel is profoundly unqualified for this job is not even like a matter for debate. . . . The installation . . . of Kash Patel as FBI director, can only possibly be a plan to disrupt, to dismantle, to distract the FBI and to possibly use it as a tool for the president’s political agenda.

McCabe was virulently anti-Hillary Clinton, leaking damaging information to the WSJ during the 2016 campaign. (McCabe lied to then Director James Comey about the leak and was later fired for his conduct). The fact that a rogue ex-FBI Director is alarmed by Kash Patel speaks volumes.

The nomination of Kash Patel should be viewed as an assault on the US intelligence community. Although people frequently think of the FBI as chasing bank robbers and kidnappers, it plays a critical role in counterterrorism and intelligence gathering.

The FBI is a member of the US Intelligence Community and has a dual report to the Director of National Intelligence (Tulsi Gabbard). It is charged with US counterterrorism investigations and maintains 60 offices overseas (primarily to coordinate with foreign intelligence agencies).

Indeed, Kash Patel has said that he wants to extricate the FBI from intelligence activities—a move that will make all Americans less safe in a dangerous world. See AP, Trump says he'll nominate Kash Patel as FBI director to remake the agency. Here's what happens next. Per AP,

Patel has also talked about disentangling the FBI’s intelligence-gathering activities — now a core function of the bureau’s mandate — from the rest of its law enforcement operations. It’s unclear whether he intends to carry through on that pledge or how it would be greeted at a time when the U.S. is facing what officials say is a heightened threat of terrorism.

As background for the upcoming fight over Kash Patel, I recommend several sources.

First, Joyce Vance’s excellent analysis in Civil Discourse, The New Matt Gaetz.

Next, The Guardian takes a deep dive into Kash Patel’s conspiracy theory past: Conspiracy theorist Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to lead FBI, faces Senate blowback | FBI | The Guardian

Finally, see the NYTimes, Kash Patel Would Bring Bravado and Baggage to F.B.I. Role. (Accessible to all.) The Times article is long on detail but short on self-awareness or political insight. For example, whatever Kash Patel's nomination means, it is not about “bravado” or “baggage.”

Patel’s threat to pursue journalists appears more than two dozen paragraphs into the Times’ story. In a democracy that is still hoping and pleading with legacy media to raise the alarm about Trump's intentions, twenty-four paragraphs into a story is not the right emphasis for an article about an FBI enforcement policy that would convert the FBI into a partisan police force directed at the media.

The Senate should reject Patel’s nomination. But Trump may attempt to place Patel in an “acting Director” role by manipulating the Federal Vacancy Reform Act. See Congressional Research Service, The Vacancies Act: A Legal Overview.

Trump's nomination of Charles Kushner as Ambassador to France is insulting to France and the US

Jared Kushner’s father—Charles Kushner—is a convicted tax fraudster who engaged in witness tampering while he was under investigation. Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner during Trump's first term. Trump has now nominated Charles Kushner as Ambassador to France.

It is difficult to imagine a less fitting Ambassador to France the Charles Kushner.

While Kushner was under investigation for tax fraud, his brother-in-law was a cooperating witness. Kushner hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law and filmed the sexual encounter in a hotel room between his brother-in-law and the prostitute.

Kushner then sent the video of the sexual encounter to his sister to induce her to dissuade her husband from testifying against Kushner. See ABC News, Trump wants pardoned real estate developer Charles Kushner to become US ambassador to France.

The nomination of Charles Kushner as US Ambassador to France is the diplomatic equivalent of flipping the middle finger to a foreign nation. France would be well within its rights to refuse to receive Kushner as the Ambassador and tell the US to recall Kushner to the states.

In the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a nation has the unilateral authority to expel an ambassador:

The receiving state may at any time and without having to explain its decision, notify the sending state that the head of the mission or any member of the diplomatic staff of the mission is persona non grata or that any other member of the staff of the mission is not acceptable. In any such case, the sending state shall, as appropriate, either recall the person concerned or terminate his functions with the mission.

See Foreign Policy, So, How Do You Expel an Ambassador, Anyway? – Foreign Policy

Concluding Thoughts

President Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden on Sunday. Against the orgy of Trump pardons of family, friends, and advisers, Biden’s pardon of his son on minor charges pursued for political purposes seems quaint and unremarkable. Biden’s reasons for pardoning his son are understandable—and probably meritorious. But Biden’s decision will become precedent for future pardons—by presidents with flimsy or corrupt reasons for pardoning family members. What is done can’t be undone, but the decision to grant a pardon to Hunter Biden was unwise and will further undermine the presidential pardon power.

And yes, I do understand the differences between Biden’s decision and the pardons issued by Trump. But examining the Hunter Biden pardon through the lens of the interests of the American people, it was unwise.

After I wrote last week that the nomination process has been more difficult than expected, I received several comments from readers (and my Managing Editor), saying, “Thanks for acknowledging that the nomination process has been worse than expected.”

It feels like we are living in a world turned upside down. Sexual abusers and convicted criminals are being nominated to positions of trust and honor. Demagogues who want to destroy the federal government are being granted leading roles in agencies they will seek to destroy. Unqualified, ignorant conspiracy mongers are being entrusted with the health and safety of our children and elderly. Disgruntled and aggrieved “ne’er do-wells” are being placed in charge of the US counterterrorism agencies.

If you feel like the subject in Edvard Munsch’s painting, The Scream, there is nothing wrong with your radar. You should feel that way—and more. I add the “and more” modifier because much of the press is still reporting on the nominations as if they are the player line-up being announced at Yankee Stadium on a Sunday afternoon.

The nominees represent a threat to the safety and stability to our society as a whole. Discussing the nominees’ “bravado” and “baggage” and “lack of experience” is misleading. The “lack of experience” is a feature, not a bug. What better way to destroy a federal agency than nominating someone who has no idea what the agency does? See, e.g., The Independent, Trump taps GOP megadonor with no military experience to head up US Navy.

We must attempt to derail as many of these nominations as possible—but especially Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and Robert Kennedy. Call or write your Senators and make your voice heard: U.S. Senate: Contacting The Senate. Even unsuccessful efforts to stop some nominations will lay the groundwork for opposition to future actions. No effort is wasted, even if the fruits of that effort are not immediately visible.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[muddypolitics]

(via Tulsi Gabbard describes the DNC's plan to "install their puppet, their chosen one, Kamala Harris" as "unelected President of the United States" | Boing Boing)

An ascendant Indian fascist group finds a friend in Tulsi Gabbard as she returns to her right wing roots. She starts spouting anti-trans talking points, talking about anti-white racism and attacking the Democratic Party. Our guest writer is Mike Prysner (Empire Files, Eyes Left Podcast) who helps us explore Tulsi Gabbard, the cult that she grew up in, and how she gelled as a right wing figure, palling up with Tucker Carlson and the Indian far-right.

[oknews]

Tulsi Gabbard, la elegida por Trump para jefa de Intel, enfrenta preguntas en el Capitolio en medio de las consecuencias de Siria

WASHINGTON — Presidente electo Donald Trump elegido para jefe de inteligencia Tulsi Gabbard se enfrentó nuevo escrutinio el lunes en el Capitolio sobre su proximidad a Siria, aliada de Rusia en medio del colapso repentino del gobierno de línea dura de Assad en ese país. Gabbard ignoró las preguntas que le gritaban sobre ella. Visita de 2017 a Siria devastada por la guerra mientras participaba en…

[primepaginequotidiani]

PRIMA PAGINA Il Riformista di Oggi sabato, 30 novembre 2024

[scacciavillani]

Abbiamo chiesto a George Guido Lombardi che è uno stretto collaboratore di #trump dopo essere stato responsabile della comunicazione nella prima campagna elettorale e fino al 2018, di illustrarci quali sono i piani e le priorità per il nuovo mandato. Nei giorni scorsi è stato a Mar-a-Lago (https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar-a-Lago), la residenza del neo eletto, dove sono radunati i membri del suo team. Una puntata eccezionale con contenuti che non troverete in nessun altro canale.

[narrative-theory]

Tulsi Gabbard’s Flip Flops

Flip flopping throughout her political career

Tulsi Gabbard has been known for several significant political "flip-flops" throughout her career, particularly on social and foreign policy issues. She has flip-flopped so often that she has stimulated the creation of literal flip-flops: you can choose between one with her name, and another with both her name and image (picture below).

1. LGBTQ+ Rights: Early in her political career, Gabbard held socially conservative views, including opposition to same-sex marriage. However, as she sought higher office, she reversed her stance, issuing a public apology for her past comments and becoming a strong advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. She blamed her earlier views on her upbringing in a conservative household but later distanced herself from those beliefs.

2. Minimum Wage: Early in her career, she also flipped her view on the minimum wage, She reversed her support for raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, instead advocating for a lower increase to $12. This shift has drawn criticism, particularly as she previously aligned herself with progressive figures like Bernie Sanders on the issue 

3. Puerto Rico: Gabbard's actions concerning Puerto Rico also illustrated her inconsistent positions. While she joined protests against certain policies affecting the island, she had previously voted for legislation that contributed to the issues prompting those protests. This contradiction has been highlighted by critics who argue that her actions do not align with her rhetoric.

4. Abortion: Gabbard initially held pro-life views but shifted to a pro-choice position during her time in Congress. She expressed strong support for keeping abortion "safe, legal, and rare" and held a 100% voting record with Planned Parenthood and NARAL. However, more recently, she has taken positions that align more with conservative views on abortion.

5. Party Affiliation: Gabbard's political journey has seen her move from being a prominent Democrat to leaving the party entirely in 2022. She criticized the Democratic Party for being out of touch and extreme, aligning herself more with conservative viewpoints. She has increasingly appeared at conservative events like CPAC and endorsed policies such as Florida's controversial "Don't Say Gay" bill. She is now, of course, selected by Trump to be part of his presidential administrative team.

6. Foreign Policy: Gabbard has also been inconsistent in her foreign policy positions. She was initially known for her strong anti-war stance (see the next paragraph), particularly against "regime change wars." However, some critics have pointed out contradictions in her positions, such as her criticism of President Biden's handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal despite previously advocating for ending U.S. involvement there.

7. Anti-War Fraud: As noted, her flip-flopping position as a peace advocate to a warmonger has also not gone unnoticed. In this regard, she has been called an “anti-war fraud” by Kyle Kulinksy, as she now takes a very different position from her earlier stance as a peacenik. On the Israel-Hamas conflict, for example, her position is more belligerent position than even Joe Biden’s, who has been nicknamed “Genocide Joe.” She falsely described Hamas as adopting an “Islamist ideology whose goal is to establish Islamic rule over the entire world.” She has clearly confused Hamas – whose goal is the liberation of Palestine – with ISIS: a group that Hamas itself fought against on a few occasions and is in fact now aligned with Israel.

8. Political Opportunism: These flip-flops have led to accusations of political opportunism and inconsistency, as she navigates between different ideological camps depending on the political climate and her ambitions. The opportunism has earned her the monicker of being the Opportunist-in-Chief. It is indeed remarkable that a politician could drastically shift her general political position from the support of the socialism of Bernie Sanders to the support of the corporatist right-wing politics of Trump

[relaxedstyles]

[reality-detective]

The new US Director of National Intelligence - Tulsi Gabbard 🤔

[sw1tchbackli]

Guess which Democrat the media attacks 😱?

[roughridingrednecks]

Gabbard in Kentucky

[simply-ivanka]

[oknews]

Exfuncionarios instan a audiencias a puertas cerradas en el Senado sobre Tulsi Gabbard, la elección de Trump para jefa de Intel

WASHINGTON – Casi 100 ex diplomáticos de alto rango y funcionarios de inteligencia y seguridad nacional de Estados Unidos han instado a los líderes del Senado a programar audiencias a puertas cerradas para permitir una revisión completa de los archivos del gobierno sobre el ex representante. Tulsi Gabbardla elección de Donald Trump para ser director nacional de inteligencia. Los ex funcionarios,…

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Keith Edwards at No Lies Detected:

Fascism doesn’t come for every generation, but it has come for ours.  This is not a fight on the beaches of Normandy, but in our own country. This article begins a series on what opposing Donald Trump and his movement can look like. I hope you will join me as these progress.

[...]

Do not leave. Faced with the might of the United States government aligned against you, you might consider resigning preemptively to avoid the humiliation of inevitable termination. This is counterproductive for at least two reasons: If you leave, you save Trump Administration officials the time and effort of identifying you, which otherwise could have taken months or years. Second, your principled stand would likely only result in your replacement by an unprincipled Trump loyalist. By staying on, you may find yourself helping to implement policies you find hateful, but by refusing to leave, you can ensure that you have some influence on those policies, because then you can...

Delay. Delay. Delay. Waiting out the enemy until he moves on, gives up, or forgets is a time-honored strategy not just among civil servants but also history’s best generals. That email about a proposed rule change to healthcare protections? Bury it in everyone’s inbox by sending it late. A meeting on reviewing the U.S. government’s foreign aid commitments to a region you oversee? Oops, you’ll be out that day! That agency conference your political-appointee boss requested you arrange? Next month didn’t fit everyone’s schedule, so you had to push it to after the new year! Slow-walking is the classic tool in any bureaucrat’s toolbox, and in the next Trump Administration, you can use it in defense of the Constitution.

Be intentionally incompetent. As a career employee, you likely have always had the advantage of knowing your workplace better than your politically appointed overlords. This is perhaps your most potent weapon against Trump. Draft rules unlikely to survive judicial review. Favor lengthy rulemaking or review processes over expedited ones. Complete tasks sequentially rather than in parallel to draw out timelines. Add complexity, stakeholders, and process wherever possible. In short, exploit the knowledge gap you hold over your bosses to diminish, defuse, and defeat their plans.

Leak. Federal employees have the right to report what they believe to be illegal or abusive of authority to their agency’s inspector general (IG) without fear of retaliation. Trump however has singled out IGs for replacement after one played a pivotal role in his first impeachment, so the availability of this option may depend on how politically prominent your agency is. Fortunately, you can anonymously tip prominent news outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post, which boast extensive investigative units and employ rigorous safeguards to protect sources’ identities. You can also seek out sympathetic elected officials, such as Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee, whose main function is investigation of the federal government. (If you choose disclosure, be sure that the information is not classified, the unauthorized disclosure of which carries stiff federal penalties.)

Disregard and refuse. When you have exhausted all other options, you may want selectively to resort to riskier behaviors. These include going behind political appointees’ backs to subvert their activities, say by picking up the phone and countermanding their directions. In extreme cases, you may have outright to refuse direct orders to the appointee’s face. Though such actions seem like a fasttrack to termination, you may still be protected by the fact that overwhelmed political appointees might hesitate to go through the onerous process of finding a politically reliable replacement. Remember, the longer you stay in, the harder you make it for Trump to do what he wants. Know your rights. If the worst happens and your agency moves to terminate you, you can still fight back. There are multiple avenues an employee designated for dismissal can pursue to delay, reduce, or reverse agency penalties against them.1 The beauty of these options is that they can take months or even years to resolve and may be appealed to higher bodies, further extending the process. All the while, you are collecting a salary and occupying a full-time equivalent (FTE) position that your agency can’t fill until you finally depart. (This is not legal advice. If you find yourself in this situation, please seek a lawyer.)

Keith Edwards writes in his No Lies Detected Substack on how civil servants can show resistance to the tyrannical Trump 2.0 Regime from within.

[scacciavillani]

Il permesso concesso da Biden alle forze armate ucraine di usare i sistemi d'arma americani contro obiettivi in territorio russo finalmente pone #zelensky in una posizione negoziale più favorevole nei confronti di #putin. Nel frattempo appare chiaro che alcune nomine di Trump in posizioni apicali della sua amministrazione sono destinate ad essere respinte dal Senato, in particolare Gaetz e Gabbard. Ma anche Robert Kennedy Junior farà fatica a superare il fuoco incrociato durante le "hearings". L'elezione di Trump è oggetto di attenta valutazione in Cina, ma chi si aspettava che il 7 novembre il governo varasse misure di stimolo volte a dare un robusto impulso all'economia e rimasto deluso.