I agree. Tulsi Gabbard is a member of the family of power seeking sycophants that inevitably gravitate toward perceived power. They have no actual core values. They will do backflip after backflip to curry favor with the source of that perceived power. The list of the members of the modern version of this generation of sycophants is long. Among them are, Lindsay Graham, Sean Hannity, JD Vance, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Andy Harris, Kari Lake, Greg Abbott, Ron Desantis, Marjorie Taylor Green, Matt Gaetz, John Kennedy, Mitch McConnell and of course Tulsi Gabbard.
I was suspicious of her from the beginning. I always wonder when folks seem to have more support online than in the real world. Her, and RFK Jr both rang that bell. I don’t know anybody who supported either. I know plenty of trumpies and a lot of solid Dems, but those two, nobody.
That’s how Trump himself became a Republican.
So, I want to explain that Ive actially met Tusli Gabbard a few times (when I worked as a gate agent for Hawaiian airlines) and was a fan of hers and quite baffled by this “heel turn” (pro wrestling term of a good person becoming bad) of hers.
For starters she is of Samoan/Caucasian ethnicity, quite pretty visual wise and a convert to Hinduism though apparently her Mother set her upon that path from a young age. She is also a military vet and served in the national guard during a few elections. She was very popular amongst Democrats like myself, but the flip to Trump and conservativisim has been baffling to some, perhaps there was more money in it. Funny enough she ran against as insane Trumper named Angela Kaaihue in 2016 and defeated her soundly, but after that election, she began her grift to the right…
Why the heck would her “pretty visual wise” appearance matter in terms of supporting or not supporting her politics?
This.
Believe it or not (and this is based on personal experiences) some guys I knew were “fans” of her only because of her looks and knew zero of her policies or political leanings. Its immature
but it happens… Some guys are strange like that. I think thats a reason Boebart has such a following besides being a Trumper.
Right. In the age of the political figure as influencer/reality-media-star, conventional attractiveness considerations have remained a large factor (not that they were going away as quick as we would like before). So it is a fair item to observe, let’s not make that an unmentionable.
And while her sphere of action was Hawaii-centered, that was a virtual-one-party Democrat base to which she could bring a populist flavor. When she got to the national level though she observed which way populism was moving in the Big Stage. And there she went.
Gabbard is in the bag for Russia. She’s not crazy, she’s a traitor, or at least a useful idiot.
My favorite Gabbard moment was when one of the other candidates in 2020, or maybe it was Hillary Clinton, just said in general that one Democratic leadership hopeful was a Russian stooge but didn’t name anyone, and Gabbard promptly berated them for lying about her.
You very clearly stated that her ethnicity and good looks were YOUR reason (among other reasons) you were a fan.
A hippie chick that converted to Hinduism (no offense to the religion itself), by my book, is a crazy person.
I was just stating information about her, not that those were MY reasons for previously supporting her. I liked her speaking skills and military expirence and as I said met her a few times during the course of work and thought she was a genuinely nice person. Was actually suprised she didnt run for Govenor when I was living there. But friends of mine (at that time) would literally post on social media how “hawt” she was (which got annoying)
Her cult is an offshoot of ISKCON. The guys in ISKCON will tell you in no uncertain terms that they’re not “Hindu.”* As far as I can tell, Gabbard’s splinter cult doesn’t cop to being Hindu, either. Yet she wears her Hinduism on her sleeve like a megaphone. The sum total I get from all this inconsistency is that Gabbard is a bizarre reflection from a shattered mirror, fragmentary jumbled themes adding up to a garish irrationality recalling surrealism and postmodern pastiche. Is she crazy, is she a Putin asset? The trick is that Putin’s strategy is to induce insanity in Americans and she is a leader in that effort.
*From one point of view, they worship a Hindu god, so what else could you call them, right? But I can kind of see their point of view too. They’re what scholars of religion call henotheist: while acknowledging the existence of other deities, there’s only one they care about. (They say that the other Hindu gods like Shiva and Brahma are devotees of Krishna.) They practice monolatry: without denying other deities, there’s only one they worship. It’s all down to semantics and definitions.
I’m sorry but reading those posts I don’t see them saying any such thing.
The first paragraph states they were a fan. The 2nd paragraph says, "For starters she is of Samoan/Caucasian ethnicity, quite pretty visual wise " Nowhere between those two things were any other fans mentioned.
I don’t know how to read that any other way.
I’ve heard that there are a few people out there who worship a Jewish god without actually being Jewish.
As long suffering Secretary Jane almost said to the evil banker Mr. Drysdale on Beverly Hillbillies all those years ago …
And wacky. Lots and lots of wacky!
FWIW I read it the same way also.
But the henotheistic phase of Judaism was over with long before Christianity came along.
There seems to be a pattern of narcissistic “independents” who inexplicably start parroting Russian talking points, until one day they declare “I’m not leaving the left, they left me”, and they hop aboard the MAGA wagon. Gabbard is but one conspicuous example of the genre.