January 12, 2019

The 37-year-old Tulsi Gabbard is running for President.

Politico reports.
Within her party, the three-term congresswoman is viewed as a maverick with a penchant for bucking party orthodoxy. During the 2016 presidential election, Gabbard stepped down from her post as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee so she could endorse Sanders....

During the presidential transition period in 2016, the Hawaii Democrat met with then-President-elect Donald Trump, drawing condemnation from fellow Democrats. She also received widespread criticism in 2017 for meeting with Syrian dictator Bashar Assad....
37 seems way too young to be President, but there's also the problem of candidates who are too old. Biden and Sanders are more than twice her age (and Elizabeth Warren isn't much younger).

I haven't followed Tulsi Gabbard. This is the first time her name appears on my blog. I have to go to Wikipedia to get some background. She was born in Samoa, a she represents Hawaii's 2nd congressional district. Another Democratic President from far out in the Pacific Ocean?!
Gabbard served in a field medical unit of the Hawaii Army National Guard in a combat zone in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and was later deployed to Kuwait...  She supports abortion rights, opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, has called for a restoration of the Glass–Steagall Act and changed her stance to support same-sex marriage in 2012. She is critical of aspects of U.S. foreign policy regarding Iraq, Libya and Syria. She opposes removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power....

Gabbard has spoken about growing up as a mixed-race girl in a multicultural and multireligious household: her father is of Samoan and European ancestry and an active lector at his Catholic church, but also enjoys practicing mantra meditation, including kirtan. Her mother [born in Decatur, Indiana] is of European descent and a practicing Hindu. Tulsi chose Hinduism as her religion while she was a teenager.

Gabbard was home-schooled through high school except for two years at a girls-only missionary academy in the Philippines.....
Home school, Hinduism, Samoa... what an interesting candidate!

173 comments:

tim maguire said...

What are Hinduism’s views on abortion? I know Catholicism’s views. Excepting that and her reidence in Hawaii, home of much political lunacy, she sounds like a very interesting candidate who I hope to hear more from.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Oh Boy! How exciting! Another mystery from Hawaii. Lotsa "presidential" activity from a distant fraction of America. Maybe the NYT can clear things up.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Lotsa Samoan pro wrestlers. Maybe THE ROCK will carry her on his ticket in 2020.

FIDO said...

I would have thought some people in the electorate would stop mistaking novelty for competence. Alas

Paul said...

She won't last. Just the first gadfly of the season.

Jimmy said...

She is actually the best dem candidate so far. She will destroy that bimbo Harris from california in a debate. Her support for Sanders, and her rejection of HRC makes her a fav of many progressives. She is, like DJT, against intervention in foreign countries, unless it is in our national interest, and supported by Congress.
If she gets funding, she will be one of the biggest threats to DJT in 2020.

tim maguire said...

FIDO, do you have any evidence that she’s not competent? Alas, I bet you don’t.

Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...

The real problem for Democrats is that their establishment, especially the Clintons, eliminated an entire generation of potential competitors, resulting in candidates who are generally either older or younger than the typical presidential sweet-spot of age 45 to 65, which also happens to be the period of peak executive and managerial skill for most people.

Unfortunately, legislators usually make for (at best) so-so presidents, because the skill set is different than that required for an executive position. Our best presidents have tended to be former governors of reasonably large states or military commanders, Business management experience is a plus.

I suspect Gabbard is primarily attempting to build name-recognition for a more serious run in '24, when she'll be 43. I've been following her for several years because the Matron of Honor for my wedding is from Gabbard's district. It would not surprise me to see her in the White House someday, because unlike most Democrats she's definitely a free thinker. Besides, the Diwali at the White House would probably be awesome, and she's probably more willing than most Democrats to accommodate the religious beliefs of others.

rehajm said...

How many does that make?

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I would have thought some people in the electorate would stop mistaking novelty for competence. Alas

Well said.

stevew said...

To me she is quite young for the job of POTUS, but at first blush seems serious and mature. Biggest knock, related to her age, is the lack of executive experience. Being POTUS isn't all speeches and policy positions, there is a whole branch of government that needs to be lead and managed.

Wince said...

My unscientific impression is she adjusts her responses to interview questions about her unorthodox positions based on the perceived audience.

For example, one emphasis if it’s CNN, a different emphasis if it’s Fox.

The Godfather said...

How big is the Samoan demo nationally?

Rae said...

Too early to be talking about the 2020 election. In January 2015, it was still Bush vs Clinton, remember? We were going to choose between political dynasties.

campy said...

"... unlike most Democrats she's definitely a free thinker."

So she can't possibly win the dem nomination.

Ann Althouse said...

"Too early to be talking about the 2020 election."

Now is when it's all happening. If you don't want to talk about it now, why not just ignore the whole thing until the week before the election?

Larry J said...

Kudos to her for having military experience. Has she ever ran anything larger than her congressional office staff? Boo on her endorsing avowed socialist Bernie Sanders. If she did it because she didn’t like Hillary, that would be one thing. If she did it because she believes in socialism herself, that would be proof she isn’t fit for the job.

holdfast said...

She used to pretend to be sort of a social conservative, but abandoned that on orders from the Party.

rhhardin said...

If you like military experience, get a guy.

rhhardin said...

Surely there are some pregnant former sailors who would be free to run.

rhhardin said...

The policy positions should start by being less than insane. That won't fit the party.

rhhardin said...

The cunt won't hunt.

Opposition bumper sticker.

Not too many choices
aunt
bunt
hunt
punt
runt

rhhardin said...

Man-like seriousness in a woman cannot be assumed, which means her opposition has all sorts of cunt-levers in slogans.

JAORE said...

FIDO, do you have any evidence that she’s not competent? Alas, I bet you don’t.

Alas, it would be nice if her extensive list of accomplishments not an open question. You would think a serious candidate for POTUS would have several well known examples evidencing competence. Like when Hillary was asked about her accomplishments and staffers offered she'd flown a Brazillion miles as SOS.

Of course if you thought President Obama had accomplishments before he was elected....

rhhardin said...

It's not like a set of policy positions was sought out and a candidate was stumbled into who happened to be a woman. Woman was the first filter. That deserves mocking.

rhhardin said...

In addition she has seven toes. Unusual.

rhhardin said...

It needs to be somebody like Trump. A sense of humor leading everything, and basic competence below that.

The sense of humor keeps you from believing the deep state advisors. A natural inclination to see holes and fictions in the party line.

mockturtle said...

A conservative Democrat with sensible foreign policy views, Gabbard presents herself and her ideas very well and I've always thought she would make a good candidate. She should have waited until 2024, however. After Trump, not against Trump. But maybe she's just getting her foot in the door at this point.

rhhardin said...

Political seriousness in a woman takes the form of grudges.

rhhardin said...

Women however are watching, and it's click bait for them.

Seriousness in watching takes the form of soap opera.

mockturtle said...

The sense of humor keeps you from believing the deep state advisors. A natural inclination to see holes and fictions in the party line.

Spot on, rhhardin! Contrary to popular belief, Trump doesn't really take himself--or anyone else--too seriously and that has served him well.

rhhardin said...

Hey it's a woman is not a sign of political seriousness. Fictions and holes supply the opposition sense of humor.

rhhardin said...

Nobody ever described me as very competent in my entire life. A guy can be great at lots of things but it's never remarked on. It's too normal. Guys are great at stuff.

A competent woman is an affirmative action hire.

Phil 314 said...

To Rhhardin.

It’s a good thing you like dogs.

michaele said...

If Hillary had had Tulsi's pleasant sounding voice and engaging demeanor, she would be president. I always listen when Tulsi is being interviewed because she answers as if she has actually listened to the question. She hasn't reached the stage where she just speaks in canned talking points. Sadly, the will probably change.

Fernandinande said...

Lord Ganesha dances into a bar and orders five beers.

Fernandinande said...

And the bartender says "why the long trunks?"

Browndog said...

Hawaii was Americanized with an iron fist. I have a hard time trusting someone from a far away island in the Pacific ruling over the mainland.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

A guy can be great at lots of things but it's never remarked on. It's too normal. Guys are great at stuff.

Bullshit. Maybe in the past, but in that same past women were also great at stuff (your mom could likely sew a dress, write a coherent letter, pluck clean and cook a chicken, plan a meal to feed 25 at church for a few quarters and recite memorized poetry all before lunch). Have you tried lately to find a competent tradesman lately? How many 25 year old guys can complete basic household or automotive tasks. Lots of men, and women, but also men, are completely incompetent.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

*excuse the double 'lately.' Off to the kitchen for cup 2 of coffee.

FIDO said...

And Tim proves my point. She is a B lister Congresscritter but 'muh Hinduism, muh Samoan, muh Hawaii' = 'Oooo what fresh insights and wonderful fresh policies will she enact because she's brown and has a vagina' at least in the eyes of Althouse and tim.

Obama was a novelty president. Same guy who thought working for the private sector was 'selling out'. And you want to repeat THAT? No thanks

If I have no evidence of her incompetence, tim lacks evidence of any executive competence. But at least she is shiny and new.

You want shiny and new? Give me a Hindu billionaire who EARNED his or her money, not some Samoan Cypher.

rhhardin said...

The thing is, the inclination to say competent is much different for a man than a woman. It's politcal correctness applied to a woman. Of men, you'd only mention incompetence.

Mazo Jeff said...

So how does she feel if the "ceyotes" would deliver hundreds of thousand illegal immigrants to Hawaii or Samoa?

Chuck said...

Althouse: 37 seems way too young to be President, but there's also the problem of candidates who are too old. Biden and Sanders are more than twice her age (and Elizabeth Warren isn't much younger).


Trump is the oldest person ever to take the presidential oath, right? He’s 72 now; he’ll be 74 before the 2020 election. 74 being Joe Biden’s age now. Is 76 too old to be President, while 74 is not?

Unknown said...

No member of the House, who had not served as Speaker, has ever been directly elected to the presidency. If Gabbard want to become President she needs to resign and run for governor and hopefully be a lot smarter than John Kassich.

Drago said...

A democrat that bucks democrat party orthodoxy?

Congrats LLR Chuck! Finally, a democrat you could actually, as opposed to pretend to, oppose!!

Francisco D said...

I became aware of Tulsi Gabbard a few years ago. There is something immensely likable about her. Maybe it's because she is attractive and seems honest.

I would never vote for her in a million years, but I would rather see her run for POTUS than any other Democrat.

ceowens said...

@rhhardan

Is that 7 total?

rehajm said...

Is 76 too old to be President, while 74 is not

76 is too old to be President if your polices are gonna suck.

Drago said...

"Democrat Narrative Booster and self-proclaimed Politically Astute Fellow AND Supposed Lawyer" Chuck: "Trump is the oldest person ever to take the presidential oath, right?"

No.


rhhardin said...

I had assumed on at least one foot. No assumption about the other.

Seven with a stroke. Brave little tailor.

rhhardin said...

Gabbard sounds French anyway.

Petard.
Or Toom Tabard. The empty suit that ruled Scotland.

William said...

She certainly has an offbeat background. Some of it raises red flags for me, and I don't think those red flags are the types that are rallying banners for the left. Does being part Samoan make her an aggrieved minority?........ Nothing against the Hindu religion, but I think it's flaky to convert to it. It's the the kind of thing Beatles and movie stars do. Some parts of her background are patriotic and cool. I'll try to keep an open mind, but, on first sight, she looks attractive and unserious.

Drago said...

LLR Chuck's immediate defense of Democrat Joe Biden, again, is duly noted and will be added to the list of democrats/lefties LLR Chuck has gone to bat for.

And that list is.....endless.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...


The thing is, the inclination to say competent is much different for a man than a woman. It's politcal correctness applied to a woman. Of men, you'd only mention incompetence.

Competence is such an exotic bird in these woods that I appreciate it whenever I see it. -Frank Underwood

I understand what you are saying but the point is that you are no longer living in 1980. Quiet, default, unremarked on male competence is not a thing like it was then. To call a women competent is not to call her a man.

Guys who are out there in the working world ~ am I wrong?

Narayanan said...

She chides Dem Senators about their religion bigotry - showing forethought.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/democratic-congresswoman-calls-out-fellow-democrats-for-religious-bigotry/

Don't forget the peak hotness factor!
Will definitely put eyes on her.

Drago said...

"Guys who are out there in the working world ~ am I wrong?"

You are not.

The pressure to deliver tangible results and real measurable value minimizes the chances any truly competent individual is unfairly categorized or labeled due to some arbitrary notion of "proper roles".

tcrosse said...

Another possible First PILF.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

Bring on some surprising debates about issues, and perhaps some party re-alignment. Gabbard can generally be described as pro-open borders, with maybe a bit more enforcement of existing law, and she has moved away from social conservatism, thus establishing progressive credentials. On foreign policy she seems to out-trump Trump, back to America First isolationism, there is no need to trust anyone as an ally, Assad can be supported simply on the grounds of the stability of the region, and even opposition to terrorism. Many progressives are somehow for endless wars because Trump is against them.

Bernie Sanders got caught in the contradiction: wanting to help the American poor, but also wanting to bring in a whole bunch more people, probably causing real hardship to poor people in particular, and making it harder for governments to react. There is a potential Trump or beyond Trump agenda: Medicare for many, probably not for all; drastic restrictions on immigration; an end to at least some endless wars, hard-nosed trade and security deals with foreign powers. Does Gabbard agree with all but the open borders piece, and then she will want to add more expensive domestic programs, all of which become more expensive because of open borders?

rhhardin said...

To call a women competent is not to call her a man.

To call a woman competent is to deny on the basis of political correctness what you'd expect from a woman.

If she's actually competent you wouldn't say it. You'd say she's good, as you would for a man.

Chuck said...

Drago said...
"Democrat Narrative Booster and self-proclaimed Politically Astute Fellow AND Supposed Lawyer" Chuck: "Trump is the oldest person ever to take the presidential oath, right?"

No.


Donald Trump is the oldest president elected in US history.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

She sounds interesting. What is her position on the most important issues of immigration and trade?

That will tell me if she is a threat to Trump.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

"Trump is the oldest person ever to take the presidential oath, right?"

No.

Reagan at 73 was oldest to take the oath.

Trump is oldest to be elected the first time.

Chuck said...

Bill, Republic of Texas said...
"Trump is the oldest person ever to take the presidential oath, right?"

No.

Reagan at 73 was oldest to take the oath.

Trump is oldest to be elected the first time.


Ah, yes. I see that now. Well that's a record we need to keep intact, isn't it?

Bay Area Guy said...

I love and respect her military service. I love and respect her recent comments about the Knights of Columbus. She's easily one of the better Dem candidates. Quite attractive, too.

Bob Boyd said...

Gabbard is too young to be President, but running will hugely increase her name recognition and build her brand.
By running she also puts herself in position to be appointed for a prominent post in a new administration, if there is one, and seriously enhance her resume. In eight years or twelve, who knows?

Kevin said...

How’s she going to run on not starting wars and bringing our troops home if Trump doesn’t start wars and brings our troops home?

AllenS said...

A lot of Americans have military experience, including myself. Does that qualify her to be President? I should hope not. What else has she done? Compared to our current President, she ain't done shit.

MountainMan said...

Need to have a constitutional amendment to raise the age of qualification for office by 10 years: President, 45 years; Senator, 40 years; Representative, 35 years.

rehajm said...

Trump is the oldest person ever to take the presidential oath, right?

Let me play:

The oldest person to ever take the presidential oath is George Washington, born in 1732. (286 years old, right?) The oldest person to ever take the presidential oath was George H.W. Bush at 94 years 171 days. Jimmy Carter is the oldest living person to ever take the presidential oath and is 94 years 98 days old.

Maillard Reactionary said...

AA sez: "...what an interesting candidate! "

I prefer not to live in interesting times.

tcrosse said...

The requirements have changed. Choosing a President has become a Casting Decision. Who is best a playing the President on Television? Evidently many think that Trump has been cast against type.

rcocean said...

Will the last responsible white male in the Democrat party please turn off the lights when you leave.

Thanks

Mr. Majestyk said...

She could be a real threat to Trump in 2020. She does not come across as looney (from the few interviews I've seen); she is well spoken, but not so much in that canned politician way of speaking; and, at least on military adventurism, her position is similar to Trump's. Unlike so many of the Dems hopefuls who come across as shrill, angry, and or crazy, she comes across as reasonable. It would be hard for Trump to portray her as corrupt or crazy.

lgv said...

Blogger Jim said...
She is actually the best dem candidate so far.


I agree. But, what does that really mean? and why is there a Steve Bannon tag on this post?

rcocean said...

Remember when Obama in 2008 was supposed to be the anti-Clinton, anti-establishment candidate?

And when he got into office, he was just Clinton Part II. We even got Hillary as secretary of state.

I'm sure this girl - if elected - would give us more of the same ol' same ol.

Curious George said...

"Chuck said...
Ah, yes. I see that now. Well that's a record we need to keep intact, isn't it?"

Chuck reveals true self.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Well, at least you can't accuse the average Samoan of being a lightweight.

mockturtle said...

Rcocean suggests: Will the last responsible white male in the Democrat party please turn off the lights when you leave.

Truman died 46 years ago.

Narayanan said...

Trump plays the game this way - offer Tulsi VP slot - she's abjured religious bigotry - main reason for P!ence.

Big Mike said...

what an interesting candidate!

Donald Trump is interesting enough for me, thank you kindly. I agree with FIDO at 5:34

gg6 said...

"... Home school, Hinduism, Samoa... what an interesting candidate!"
Yes, yes, how interesting - she is the perfect 'Diversity' candidate for Dems and Libs. I'm in Luv. Strike up 'Hail To The Chief'(exclamation point goes here)

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Never buck The Party.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

She's awesome. Too bad Ann didn't follow Bernie Sanders' campaign a little more closely, or she might have become familiar with her.

She could beat Trump, too. Trump's "power of the insult" would shrivel when lobbed against her. She's way too attractive, which is the only trait Trump cares about in someone.

Of course, he might be reduced to sputtering on and on and on with the usual misogynistic garbage about her, as he has done with his Ms America contestants. But I doubt it. Those would be ineffective also. He didn't dare try those against Hillary Clinton and I think Gabbard could overcome them as well. Plus, he won't be able to coast on just Angry White Male votes to a 2020 win this time, either. Any woman with a shred of self-respect hates that pond-scum worm's guts by now, and he knows it. He might still be able to leverage his usual racism against her, but going anti-female against her - which will be hard for him to resist - will backfire immensely. And even if he avoids that, the built-in feminine backlash against him and respect for a politician as honest and decent as Gabbard will probably put him at at least a 10-point disadvantage this time, much greater than his disadvantage last time.

She may end up being the perfect candidate for finally squashing this orange turd.

cronus titan said...

Gabbard called out Senators Harris and Hirono for anti-Catholic bigotry. Harris and Hirono attacked a judicial nominee for being a Knight of Columbus, a Catholic philanthropic organization with principles consistent with the Catholic Church. Harris and Hirono cited abortion and gay marriage in attacking the nominee's faith. Gabbard went at them pretty hard and very fairly. Harris and Hirono were, um, not pleased.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hawaii-rep-tulsi-gabbard-accuses-fellow-democrats-of-religious-bigotry-in-questioning-judicial-nominee/2019/01/09/2c17ecdc-1467-11e9-90a8-136fa44b80ba_story.html

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I would have thought some people in the electorate would stop mistaking novelty for competence. Alas.”

Alas indeed. That’s how we got Trump. Gabbard seems infinitely more competent than President Bone Spurs. How long would he have lasted in a war zone with a medical unit?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Donald Trump is interesting enough for me, thank you kindly. I agree with FIDO at 5:34”

That’s because Big Mike is an idiot. He’d rather have Trump’s incompetence because he finds him interesting, yet doesn’t recognize the competence in Gabbard.

Sebastian said...

"Home school, Hinduism, Samoa... what an interesting candidate!"

To women, sure.

Rae said...

That’s because Big Mike is an idiot. He’d rather have Trump’s incompetence because he finds him interesting, yet doesn’t recognize the competence in Gabbard.

ORANGE MAN BAD!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

That’s because Big Mike is an idiot.

The guy literally said that he could prove that the earth's crust, and not its atmosphere, was responsible for the majority of its warmth/heat retention. He said that he could prove this by heating a plexiglass box encasing a vacuum in the sunlight.

I asked him if that's why the surface of Everest's peak is colder than the ground of the nearby Ganges riverbanks.

The guy is literally a retard. He thinks that being a mathematician makes him a genius though, of course. And that everyone else must be a dimwitted cretin.

When you remind him of the instances in which precisely the opposite is the case, he threatens to get angry and violent.

LYNNDH said...

Fine, interesting woman. But being a Bernie Sis, what is her position on taxes, immigration, health care, UN, climate, Judges? If they are Bernie's positions then Hell No.

Limited blogger said...

I guess she assumes she'll get Sen. Sander's endorsement.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

"That’s because Big Mike is an idiot. He’d rather have Trump’s incompetence because he finds him interesting, yet doesn’t recognize the competence in Gabbard."

ORANGE MAN BAD!


Actually, we're talking about his administrative, etc. incompetence. We can't help that - we're not conservatives. Being able to get jobs done matters to us. I realize it doesn't matter to you.

But if you're talking about his incompetently applied orange complexion, yes - he's done that incompetently too. Although, I'm not sure there really is a competent way of making yourself orange.

JackWayne said...

Some people seem to have no compassion for people afflicted by bone spurs. I have one and when it flares up, I can’t walk. The pain can be incredible. And people in the Army walk a lot and need the ability to walk 24/7. But then some people pretend to be nurses - who I guess have never had a patient with bone spurs. And I was drafted after a serious knee injury that took out my meniscus, acl and mcl. The army doctors said that I could walk and that’s all that counted.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Some people seem to have no compassion for people afflicted by bone spurs. I have one and when it flares up, I can’t walk. The pain can be incredible. And people in the Army walk a lot and need the ability to walk 24/7. But then some people pretend to be nurses - who I guess have never had a patient with bone spurs.

Are you fucking kidding me, moron? Trump's "bone spurs" were as fake as his search party for a Kenyan birth certificate. He couldn't remember which foot it was on! The doctor admitted to doing him a favor. You're as gullible as Colonel Schultz.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Yep. Trump's pain was so bad he couldn't walk. Sure. So bad he couldn't even remember which foot it was.

Trump's fake presidency is basically a test of how gullible the retrogrades will finally show themselves to be. All in the service of fealty to a buffoonish orange ape-man.

These are the same people who thought that tinfoil hats would protect them from long-range electromagnetic brainwashing.

AllenS said...

Can't remember now, but what was BJ Clinton's excuse to not serve. I doubt very seriously that the people now who are all bothered about Trump avoiding the draft, didn't think anything of it when BJ Clinton got away with it. Am I right? Damn sure I'm right.

AllenS said...

How about you, pee in the pants? Have you ever posted any negative comments about BJ Clinton basically doing the same thing? Remember, I say this as a draftee.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I agree Bay Area Guy - as democrats go, Tulsi isn't cray cray leftwing nut job.

Probably means she'll be tossed to the curb, or pressured to become for cray cray leftwing nut job. Or else. There are consequences.

Anonymous said...

You don't hear it anymore, but there once was a descriptor that a less than viable candidate was running for Vice President. No realistic chance of winning the nomination but hoping to make enough of a splash to be selected for the #2 slot where they could build their profile for future campaigns.

They talked this way about GHW Bush in '80, Gore in '92 and Edwards in '04.

tcrosse said...

It's all up to the big donors. Follow the money.

Yancey Ward said...

Gabbard has zero chance unless Sanders endorses her before the first caucus.

Limited blogger said...

Gonna be interesting to see how they knock out all these pretenders, and get us to K. Harris.

Unless Hillary decides to run again, of course.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Hillary and her [pay-to-play still waiting for the big pay-off donors] still waiting in the wings.

Count on it.

tcrosse said...

Hillary and her [pay-to-play still waiting for the big pay-off donors] still waiting in the wings.

They might not fall for the Sunk Cost Fallacy. KKKamala, OTOH, has demonstrated that she's sufficiently venal.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Trump's fake presidency is basically a test of how gullible the retrogrades will finally show themselves to be. All in the service of fealty to a buffoonish orange ape-man.”

These Trump Cultists are going to have to keep defending their incompetent, lying, fraud and it’s going to get harder for the ones not completely brain washed. Things are going to get very interesting sooner rather than later.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Clinton was a Rhodes scholar. When you're smart and talented enough to be offered an educational opportunity to study at Oxford you take it up.

Even Dumb-Dumb Drumpf used his educational deferments. No one begrudges him those.

Society sort of needs people who can read and write for a living as well as the deplorables and the Trump-Trustafarians.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I told a Trump supporter that the word "gullible" wasn't in the dictionary. He went to look it up just to double-check.

LOL! Who am I kidding. Trump supporters don't double-check things or look them up or check their facts! Hahahaha!

Anyway, it's a pity he didn't. Because if he'd bothered to open that dictionary up it would have said: See more under: Kenyan Birth Certificate.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Trump had the best people looking into that Kenyan birth certificate.

What a pity how often even his best people fail him.

Michael Cohen must have been way up there at the tippy top. One of the best.

Sometimes I think Trump could actually fail an IQ test.

Jupiter said...

"Home school, Hinduism, Samoa... what an interesting candidate!"

You don't learn, do you Althouse? She endorsed Bernie Sanders, which means she's a fucking Communist. That's all you need to know. Have you heard of the Soviet Union? Cuba? Cambodia? Are you planning to move to Venezuela, now that you're retired? I hear that Caracas real estate is very reasonably-priced these days. Of course, the house you are in now will be very reasonably-priced, once the Democrats install a Communist in the White House.

Lyle said...

She's on the other end of the spectrum from the young New York rep. This is a good thing.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Don't tell Jupiter that there are countries in this world that go by names like: France, Germany, UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, Israel, and, well - basically every other successful, prosperous industrial, 1st-world democracy that isn't America. But he's probably too busy idiotically going about trying to make us into the next Russia or China.

Like I said, retrogrades are dumb. So dumb that they don't even know which countries exist in the world - apart from the ones that FOX Noise harps on.

Lyle said...

Jupiter... she's definitely not a communist. She has said recently that she would vote to support funding Trump's wall.

Drago said...

PPPT: "Clinton was a Rhodes scholar. When you're smart and talented enough to be offered an educational opportunity to study at Oxford you take it up."

LOL

He bounced around 3 different degree programs before leaving without a degree.

Impressive.



Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

He bounced around 3 different degree programs before leaving without a degree.

Impressive.


Not the point.

And of course the things that would impress you about him have nothing to do with the mind.

Most schools are harder to get a degree from than Trump University. More people admitted than graduate. This is how real schools work and are supposed to work. Not that Americans - who view the educational system as an entitled consumer privilege and bitch out any teachers who don't go along with social promotion - would understand that. Especially from your tribe.

Lyle said...

Pee-Pee,

What's your argument that she is a communist? Those two sentences of mine are maybe separate statements of fact. She's not a communist and she's said recently she would vote to fund Trump's wall.

How about that... a non-communist Democrat supporting protecting the border?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

What's your argument that she is a communist? Those two sentences of mine are maybe separate statements of fact.

Ok fine then. But I didn't say that she was.

Communists either don't believe in democracy or believe that it should only be allowed at a certain "stage" of a nation's political development.

cubanbob said...

Gabbard is very attractive so she has that going for her. But we have had a Hawaiian and one per century is enough.

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

In other fun lefty news, the leftist of the lefties in Venice Beach, CA are constructing walls, fences and other barriers as fast as they can to try and protect their families and possessions against the homeless encampments and rising crime rates.

Which is totally strange since walls, fences and barriers are immoral and ineffective.

Perhaps Lefty/LLR Group 1 could explain that to Lefty/LLR Group 2 in Venice Beach.

Leora said...

I noticed her when she resigned to endorse Sanders. She (like Rand Paul) is a serious independent thinker with whom I have major policy disagreements. Her respect for religion and her seriousness on foreign policy is a refreshing change from most Democrats. I particularly appreciated her calling out Kamala Harris on questioning a judicial nominee about his membership in the Knights of Columbus. I was wondering what her position on immigration was but I don't see anything out there.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

In other fun lefty news...

IOW, looks like someone ran out steam trying for right-wing traction on this one.

gadfly said...

What is a Tulsi Gabbard? Does it have anything to do with musk from a Tesla?

Meade said...

I agree with M Mott @ 11:06 AM

Rabel said...

Samoan? I'll reserve judgement until I see her tats.

Jim at said...

After Trump, not against Trump. But maybe she's just getting her foot in the door at this point.

Positioning for a Veep spot.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Hickenlooper-Gabbard.

I might even consider that one.

***Not leftwing enough for the crazies.

Jim at said...

This thread started out nicely.
Then, well, you know.

narciso said...

This is why we cant have nice things, she seems to be pro Syrian and against the kingdom in the current landscape

FIDO said...

My point is finding her 'interesting' because she is home schooled, Hindu, Vagged, Samoan and whatever is as ringing a political endorsement and as relevant to her competence as the size of her rack.

In fact I would submit her attractiveness, like Obama's fine boned, thin skinned beta male features, would play a greater role in her success than any amount of home schooling or religious choice (Exhibit A Alexandria Occasionally Coherent for novelty and looks over...well...anything else)

She MIGHT be competent but I am not wowed by foreign religions and POVs like ex Academy types are.

Wasn't one ex Chief Executive openly contemptuous of American religions, allies and institutions enough for one century?

walter said...

February 19, 2018
Press Release

Washington, DC—Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s (HI-02) Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act (OFF Act), H.R. 3671, continues to gain momentum, adding 28 Congressional cosponsors and over 400 endorsements from clean energy, climate change, and environmental organizations since introduction. Building on progress made in Hawai‘i and other states, this legislation will put the United States on a pathway to replace fossil fuels with 100 percent clean energy generation and use by 2035.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said: “For too long, our nation has failed to take action on climate change, putting the future of our people and our planet in danger. This inaction has led to record-breaking sea levels that are eroding our infrastructure, rising ocean temperatures that are dramatically altering marine life and destroying our coral reefs, and exacerbating natural disasters. All people deserve to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and believe in the promise of a bright future. We must build upon the momentum growing at the federal, state, and local levels, and pass the OFF Act to end our addiction to fossil fuels and transition the country to a 100% clean energy economy by 2035. This bill lays the foundation for a just and economic pathway toward a cleaner, more secure future for all.”

“'Keep it in the ground' has become a rallying cry for climate activists around the world. The OFF Act does exactly that: it keeps fossil fuels in the ground. In the fight to stop the greedy fossil fuel industry from wrecking our climate, seeing members of congress standing firmly on the side of 100% renewable energy gives our movement hope,” said May Boeve, Executive Director, 350.org.

https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/rep-tulsi-gabbard-s-act-pathway-100-clean-energy-economy-gains-national-momentum

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“She MIGHT be competent but I am not wowed by foreign religions...”

FYI , while it’s your right to be unimpressed by her “foreign” religion it’s within her right as an American citizen to practice whatever religion she chooses. America has no domestic religions native to this land, unless you consider what Native Americans practice.

Alu Toloa said...

Malo! First football and now the Presidency...Alu Toloa! If you can master climbing the aiga ladder to matai, the rest is beanbag!

walter said...

"OFF" might be the most apt shorthand for such a CAGW legislation.

Lydia said...

Gabbard didn't just meet with Assad, she's an outright apologist for him -- she's virtually alone in being "skeptical" about his use of chemical weapons.

Drago said...

Inga: "FYI , while it’s your right to be unimpressed by her “foreign” religion it’s within her right as an American citizen to practice whatever religion she chooses."

Yes, a lefty actually wrote that, just now, as multiple lefties have been attempting to establish an anti-catholic religious test on judicial nominees!

Number of Inga complaints about that?

Zero

These idiot dems are even calling the Knights Of Columbus an "extremist organization".

And just bacause the lap poodle LLR's openly support these dem attacks on nominees doesnt mean its going over well with the majority of the nation.

https://catholicherald.co.uk/magazine/senior-democrats-attack-the-knights-of-columbus-is-a-culture-war-brewing/

Michael said...

If she was for Sanders I assume she accepts his socialist views - and that I think will sink her. Not all democrat voters like this socialist move in the party. Like trump voters they will not say this publicly - but it is there. Unless you hide your true intentions and ideology like Obama did, the embrace of socialism will be the kiss of death for any democrat.
Trump will win easily.

Jason said...

My hometown rep!

Wow, what an utter fucking journalism failure this is!

Just wait til her long connections to an insane racketeering Hare Krishna hippie yoga personality cult come out.

This should be fun.

walter said...

Jason,
Wherever he is, Crack just had nearly debilitating shiver run through him.

walter said...

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/06/what-does-tulsi-gabbard-believe

Primary opponents will try to tar her as anti-gay.

Lydia said...

A long profile of her in The New Yorker in 2017 -- "What Does Tulsi Gabbard Believe?" In which we learn that her “guru dev” or spiritual master is Chris Butler, a one-time Hare Krishna devotee who "created his own group, now known as the Science of Identity Foundation, and amassed a tight-knit, low-profile network of followers, hundreds or perhaps thousands of them, stretching west from Hawaii into Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia."

walter said...

"When asked about Hinduism, Gabbard often talks about anti-Hindu bigotry. One of her prime examples is Kawika Crowley, her Republican opponent in the 2012 election, who told CNN that he thought Gabbard’s Hinduism conflicted with the American system of government. (Crowley, a smokers’-rights activist who lived in his minivan, lost the election by nearly sixty percentage points.)"
--
Chris Farley would smile.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

...contemptuous of American religions...

WTH is an "American religion?" Does the constitution define such a thing?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Not all democrat voters like this socialist move in the party.

Then their affiliation with the Democratic party is suspect. You can be sure that the American voters are more socialist than the media depict. Check out their support for single payer, universal access, gun control, stronger environmental protection, and a whole host of issues that you pretend to oppose.

DNC leadership could continue to maintain itself as the more-right-wing/corporate-than-Republican party that Clinton turned it into and that even Trump pretends to not want, but that is a loser go-nowhere direction for anyone in politics right now.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Just wait til her long connections to an insane racketeering Hare Krishna hippie yoga personality cult come out.

Oh I know. Yoga's just sooooo unpopular right now. And every good American hates peace, love, drugs and rock and roll.

OTOH, if racketeering personality cults are now off-limits someone really ought to tell President Trump's supporters. They seem to have not gotten the memo.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

It's interesting watching Draco go on about Catholic snowflake victimology while supporting a nativist President. Who does he think the original nativist Know Nothings were? Conventionally Protestant Americans who vehemently opposed Catholic (large scale) immigration to this country. Gangs of New York, much?

It was ethnic, religious and cultural. And of course political. Our form of government developed specifically in England and the colonies because Protestants were used to challenging political authority specifically because they were unafraid to challenge the religious monopolies sanctioning and enforcing such corrupt political regimes. Democracy came much later to Italy, Spain, and even France than to England for a reason.

Catholic immigration to this country is good because they're more communitarian, which is healthy. Much mores than the disconnected and dysfunctional, disaffected nuclear families that Protestant Americans are well known for. And it's the height of idiocy to attack Democrats about this given how much support that party and the Catholic communities gave to each other throughout the most vibrant periods of American history - including the Progressive Era and the flourishing of American industry and its attendant labor movement. The Democrats even gave America its first (and only) Catholic president - the charismatic JFK.

OTOH, Republicans are trying to flirt with conservative Catholics in the worst and most un-American possible ways: With nostalgia for a centralized religious authority and one that cares more about American private lives and their moral infantilization than the constitution allows, let alone encourages. A woman's body is more than just a use for procreation and an American's mind should not need a powerful Vatican-type state to dictate silly and arbitrary moral imperatives to it to just blindly accept. The latter is sort of the reason the 19th c. American nativist movement got started in the first place. These were a mere couple generations removed from the same founders who gave us a secular government and a disavowal of the sort of blind authority that all-encompassing religious states, such as the Vatican, were all about.

If a religion can agitate for something "moral" that translates into secular and universal terms, it will win out. If it can't, then it won't. And that's exactly the way it should be.

Francisco D said...

Inga and Ritmo ... yawn

Time to go back to football.

mockturtle said...

SFSG for the Chiefs.

Drago said...

Look PPPT, I appreciate the effort you are putting forth to retain your title as the most chemically-addled lefty on althouseblog with classics such as Brett Kavanaugh is the leader of a rabid roving rape gang running roughshod over the Maryland countryside for a decade as well as human feces on SF sidewalks is due to corporate farms and the avg sq footage of homes in the midwest, and Inga did okay with the all Trump voters are literal nazi's, but today LLR Chuck took clear ownership of the Leftiest Lefty Title with his explicit comparison of an alleged phone call by Trump decades ago with literal serial killing/mass murder/population genocide!

Lets face it PPPT, in your best lefty day you couldnt match that one.

Good luck in the future!

walter said...

The night is young, Drago.
Plenty of broader brushes left in his arsenal.

Drago said...

walter: "The night is young, Drago.
Plenty of broader brushes left in his arsenal."

I dont know walter. By now PPPT is probably moving into his substance-Act II and will be able to dish some of his standard fare, perhaps even revisiting his earlier claims that the Net Neutraliry ruling would kill thousands, but even that would not dislodge LLR Chuck from Lefty Insane Posting supremacy.

But then again, perhaps you are right.

Time will tell.

Douglas B. Levene said...

Gabbard also sharply criticized her fellow Democrats for opposing candidates for office because the candidates are Catholic and/or members of the Knights of Columbus. She said, the Constitution does not permit a religious test for office. Criticize them for their political views, but not their religious affiliates or practices. Notwithstanding this, she's mostly very reliably far left.

James K said...

Notwithstanding this, she's mostly very reliably far left.

And notwithstanding her criticism of her fellow Democrats, she nonetheless opposed the confirmation of this judge who was a K of C member. For what reason? She is just another lefty who occasionally talks a good game but will vote just like Sanders or Warren.

Crazy World said...

I like Tulsi, she surfs! She calls out the 2 wicked witches on their religious bias. Pretty sure Trump will still be my President 2020.

Henry said...

Now is when it's all happening. If you don't want to talk about it now, why not just ignore the whole thing until the week before the election?

Good advice!

Achilles said...

It took trump 2 years to:

Make us net energy exporters

Raise real wages for the working class for the first time in decades

Make us the only country in the world to cut our co2 emissions

Achieve the lowest black and Hispanic unemployment rates ever

End multiple stupid globalist wars

Bringing our manufacturing jobs back from China

Pulled the masks off the globalist traitors in the Republican Party

And he is accomplishing this despite a corrupt fed chairman trying to drive the country into recession and a corrupt deep state trying to carry out a coup.

He is easily the most competent president we have had in decades.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Drago's going into victimology mode.

Let me know when you need the tissues, Draggie.

Stay strong! It takes a brave Republican to admit what a snowflake he is.

rhhardin said...

Scott Adams has no opinion on her except

"Any time democrats have a strong woman who has any kind of ethnic thing going on, that's their strongest package...I don't think their opinion on anything matters."

Drago said...

PPPT: "Stay strong! It takes a brave Republican to admit what a snowflake he is."

Wow, not even in the same ballpark as LLR Chuck.

Try again.

Vittorio Jano IV said...

I believe she was born in American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the US, not in the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa.

Vittorio Jano IV said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

The most female way to elect

Have an Instagram and tinder app for the caditates

Lots of pictures

Swipe left or right

Elections once a month

FreddyB said...

I would love for Tulsi get the nomination and see how the Deomcrats deal with the fact that they've claimed that home-schooled children all grow up to be creepy, miseducated weirdos for decades.

Narayanan said...

Blogger President Pee-Pee Tape said...
Trump had the best people looking into that Kenyan birth certificate

A pity he didn't ask me.
I'd have advised hacking Columbia University International Students admissions records.

walter said...

Yeah..funny how Dems want to autopsy all things Trump but their largely academic Obama sealed his academics with nary a squeal from them.
Funny!

walter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
walter said...

And to the dismay of PPPT/armchair border patrol agent, Obama's Mark Morgan has come out in favor of the "wall".

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Wow, not even in the same ballpark as LLR Chuck.

I'll leave these issues between you and this man you're obsessed with to you and this man you're obsessed with.

walter said...

To lead us to cluimate salvation, PPPT should turn his carbon footprint to OFF, and open his abode to "migrants".
I wish him well explainning the over vs under issue in the communal TP roll replacement.
Keep your car keys under yer pillow while you sleep.

walter said...

(Just a tip courtesy of a Catholic housemate whose pickup is somewhere south of the border)