Election 2020

[Hornsby]

Yeah, gotta say that the apparent support for Assad and the Syrian policies doesn't make me particularly comfortable.

Nor does a pretty overt support by Steve Bannon in an attempt to lure her to Trump's administration fill me with confidence. I'll take a pass...

[The Feral Slasher]

Here is another article about Gabbard, discussing her history on LGBT issues, anti-Islam rhetoric, and other foreign policy issues:
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/05/t...mocratic-party

It's funny how if someone links to a Jacobin article criticizing Hillary, Obama or a Centrist Dem you can be sure that the usual suspects will come in with the tired comments about it being Socialist website, an "opinion" piece, not even an article, etc. But if someone links a Jacobin article criticizing a Dem outcast they are all on board.

[DMT]

Yeah, gotta say that the apparent support for Assad and the Syrian policies doesn't make me particularly comfortable.

Nor does a pretty overt support by Steve Bannon in an attempt to lure her to Trump's administration fill me with confidence. I'll take a pass...

Meeting with Assad doesn't mean she supports him.

[DMT]

It's funny how if someone links to a Jacobin article criticizing Hillary, Obama or a Centrist Dem you can be sure that the usual suspects will come in with the tired comments about it being Socialist website, an "opinion" piece, not even an article, etc. But if someone links a Jacobin article criticizing a Dem outcast they are all on board.

Well, most of the article is direct quotes from her and it certainly isn't a reassuring profile.

[The Feral Slasher]

Well, most of the article is direct quotes from her and it certainly isn't a reassuring profile.

But it's from a Socialist publication !!!!!!!! So even if it's factually accurate you know its slanted and cherry picked. At least the links i posted from Jacobin were.

[DMT]

But it's from a Socialist publication !!!!!!!! So even if it's factually accurate you know its slanted and cherry picked. At least the links i posted from Jacobin were.

Lol gotcha.

[Hornsby]

Meeting with Assad doesn't mean she supports him.

Yeah well, this doesn't exactly fill me with confidence that she doesn't...

But in 2015, she was one of just 47 Democrats who sided with Republicans and backed a GOP-sponsored measure that would essentially block Syrian and Iraqi refugees from resettling in the US. Gabbard was also a vocal critic of the Obama administration – which repeatedly called for Assad to step down – for arming Syrian rebel groups.

In November, Gabbard met with then president-elect Donald Trump to discuss foreign policy. Trump has stated he will end assistance to US-backed Syrian rebels. His son, Donald Trump Jr, met privately with pro-Russia diplomats and political figures in October to discuss the Syrian conflict.

During her interview with CNN, Gabbard claimed the US was funding terrorist groups by assisting Syrian rebels and further pushed a talking point propagated by the Assad regime and the Russian government that there are no moderate rebels in Syria.

That argument was also at the center of an op-ed published by Gabbard on Thursday in her hometown newspaper, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

“Repeatedly I was told there is no difference between ‘moderate’ rebels and al-Qaeda (al-Nusra) or Isis – they are all the same,” Gabbard wrote.

Obama reflects on Syria at farewell press conference: 'I always feel responsible'

“Although opposed to the Assad government, the political opposition leaders adamantly rejected violence as a way to bring about reforms.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/26/tulsi-gabbard-bashar-al-assad-syria-democrats

[DMT]

I agree we shouldn't be arming Syrian rebels but that doesn't mean I support Assad either. In fact I'm pretty much in agreement with her entire statement you quoted.

[onejayhawk]

The question I have is whether she is actually running as a Democrat.

It would be funny if she was not. Funny like a joke.

Are you trying to remind us that the Donald was once a Democrat?

J

[hacko]

It would be funny if she was not. Funny like a joke.

Are you trying to remind us that the Donald was once a Democrat?

J

Only if you are trying to tell us he was ever a Republican!

[The Feral Slasher]

I agree we shouldn't be arming Syrian rebels but that doesn't mean I support Assad either. In fact I'm pretty much in agreement with her entire statement you quoted.

Saw a link to this article today. Seemed appropriate to the conversation

https://theintercept.com/2019/01/11/as-democratic-elites-reunite-with-neocons-the-partys-voters-are-becoming-far-more-militaristic-and-pro-war-than-republicans/

But what’s happening here is far more insidious. A core ethos of the anti-Trump #Resistance has become militarism, jingoism, and neoconservatism. Trump is frequently attacked by Democrats using longstanding Cold War scripts wielded for decades against them by the far right: Trump is insufficiently belligerent with U.S. enemies; he’s willing to allow the Bad Countries to take over by bringing home U.S. soldiers; his efforts to establish less hostile relations with adversary countries is indicative of weakness or even treason.

At the same time, Democratic policy elites in Washington are once again formally aligning with neoconservatives, even to the point of creating joint foreign policy advocacy groups (a reunion that predated Trump). The leading Democratic Party think tank, the Center for American Progress, donated $200,000 to the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute and has multilevel alliances with warmongering institutions. By far the most influential liberal media outlet, MSNBC, is stuffed full of former Bush-Cheney officials, security state operatives, and agents, while even the liberal stars are notably hawkish (a decade ago, long before she went as far down the pro-war and Cold Warrior rabbit hole that she now occupies, Rachel Maddow heralded herself as a “national security liberal” who was “all about counterterrorism”).

All of this has resulted in a new generation of Democrats, politically engaged for the first time as a result of fears over Trump, being inculcated with values of militarism and imperialism, trained to view once-discredited, war-loving neocons such as Bill Kristol, Max Boot, and David Frum, and former CIA and FBI leaders as noble experts and trusted voices of conscience. It’s inevitable that all of these trends would produce a party that is increasingly pro-war and militaristic, and polling data now leaves little doubt that this transformation — which will endure long after Trump is gone — is well under way.

[DMT]

Yea I'd already read it. I think Greenwald has oversold these trends because I think anti-Trumpism is driving their responses more than being belligerently militaristic. Hopefully I'm not wrong.

[DMT]

Greenwald owning Maher was entertaining though.
Check out @Filisti69700545’s Tweet:

https://twitter.com/Filisti69700545/status/1083998774677057537?s=09

[nots]

Yea I'd already read it. I think Greenwald has oversold these trends because I think anti-Trumpism is driving their responses more than being belligerently militaristic. Hopefully I'm not wrong.

I agree with that take.

[The Feral Slasher]

Yea I'd already read it. I think Greenwald has oversold these trends because I think anti-Trumpism is driving their responses more than being belligerently militaristic. Hopefully I'm not wrong.

Well we are only having this discussion because Tulsi Gabbard is being tarred as an Assad and Putin supporter. But, I hope you are right