Okay here, reluctantly!, is a thread from me on Tulsi Gabbard, who is running for president and who some lefties are still defending/promoting. Even without her much-discussed Syria/Assad stuff, Tulsi Gabbard is NOT a progressive on foreign policy & is NOT "anti war".
THREAD
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“In short, when it comes to the war against terrorists, I’m a hawk. When it comes to counterproductive wars of regime change, I’m a dove.” - Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii Tribune-Herald, 2016
Here's Gabbard complaining that the U.S. hasn't dropped enough bombs in Syria and calling criticism of the Russian bombing campaign in Syria "mind-bogging". (h/t: @DanielWickham93).
Gabbard is a fan of General Abdel Fattah el Sisi, the murderous Egyptian dictator, & thinks he "has shown great courage and leadership in taking on this extreme Islamist ideology" via torture, mass detention and, yes, military action (!) gabbard.house.gov/news/press-rel…
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Gabbard is close to far-right, anti-Muslim, hawkish Indian prime minister Narendra Modi who used to be banned from the U.S. for his role in the Gujarat massacres. She has also received lots of $$$ from pro-Modi, right-wingers: readsludge.com/2018/12/26/tul…
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An Indian newspaper called Gabbard the new "mascot" of the far-right, fascistic Indian organization, the Sangh Parivar: telegraphindia.com/india/sangh-fi…
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Gabbard was one of 47 House Democrats who voted to effectively STOP refugees from Syria and Iraq from entering the United States! She also joined with Republican Duncan Hunter to call for non-Muslim refugees from the Middle East to be given priority: theguardian.com/us-news/2015/n…
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Gabbard spent a lot of the Obama years going on Fox News to echo the GOP/Islamophobic attack on Obama for not saying 'Islamic' terrorism. “It’s actually a theological, this radical Islamic ideology,” she told Fox's Neil Cavuto: video.foxnews.com/v/406673517300…
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Here's Gabbard with far-right-wing Netanyahu/Trump apologist Shmuley Boteach and top GOP donor Miriam Adelson. Boteach gave her an award and lavished praise on her: facebook.com/RabbiShmuleyBo…
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And Gabbard has also been endorsed/praised by David Duke, Richard Spencer and Steve Bannon. Yes, I'm well aware that she has repudiated that support - but ask yourself this: Why is it that top white nationalists are so keen on Tulsi Gabbard and her presidential run? Why?
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In short, even if you put the complex Syria conflict and her dodgy positions on Syria to 1 side (& I'm no fan of her Syria positions!), even *without* Syria, she has many questions to answer about her very hawkish, right-wing, Islamophobic foreign policy positions.
*THREAD ENDS*
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If you're tired of people saying they're 'done with Covid', that they want to 'move on' from the pandemic, get 'back to normal'... even as 3,000 people die on a daily basis & while ignoring Long Covid, this angry monologue from me tonight... is for you:
"Sorry, if you think 2 to 3 thousand of your fellow Americans dying every day is 'normal' that's seriously messed up. It's horrific, in fact."
"And even if you think, rightly, that your chances of dying are minuscule because you're vaccinated, getting Covid has other possible long-term effects. Long Covid...could afflict you too. No one's talking about that. A huge mistake."
The claim that as long as you don't die or get hospitalized from Covid then you're fine, it's just a flu, 'mild', etc, is one of the most pervasive, frustrating, & flat-false claims of this pandemic.
Btw, Long Covid doesn't just hurt individuals, it hurts the economy which Covid minimizers claim to be so focused on: ft.com/content/33444f…
Also, this idea that if *you* are vaccinated, *you're* fine, & *you* carry on with life & screw the unvaccinated, ignores the fact that as long as Covid cases continue, there's more chance of a variant - & one that might undermine *your* vaccinated status! cnn.com/2021/07/03/hea…
"Bill O’Reilly lecturing anyone on fracturing the country is like asking the arsonist outside the house fire, 'Hey, how upset has this fire made you?' O’Reilly and Fox are at the heart of fracturing and polarizing and dividing this country."
"The fourth estate is part of democracy. If democracy is under attack, we are under attack. We should have a pro-fact, pro-reality, pro-democracy bias."
I'll be back in the seat tonight, hosting the @MehdiHasanShow on @MSNBC live from 8pm ET.
Join me! Much to discuss and debate.
On the @MehdiHasanShow on @MSNBC tonight, I'll be joined by @PeterASinger, Special Advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO).
On the @MehdiHasanShow on @MSNBC tonight,I'll be joined by Never Trump ex-Republican author and academic @RadioFreeTom to discuss and debate what an anti-Trump, pro-democracy coalition between liberals and conservatives could and should like.
At this point, if Sinema is agreeing to a (rare!) interview, she needs to be grilled and challenged, and the interviewer needs to bring receipts.
Sinema's BS needs to be confronted in real time.
Also, can we please stop pretending - and framing questions around this idea - that the critics of Manchin and Sinema are 'progressives' only. It's almost the entire Democratic Party. Multiple 'moderate' or 'centrist' Dems in swing seats have called out Sinema.
This is disgusting. How is this ok? How is this not worthy of censure? Of being stripped of committee assignments? I don’t expect anything from the GOP anymore but, hey, Dems? Anyone going to do anything about this racism and anti-Muslim bigotry? Do Muslim Americans not matter?
Like so many Muslim Americans, I am tired of the relentless demonization and bigotry. The ‘jokes’ about us being terrorists and ‘backpacks.’ The collective blaming and bullying.
Most of all I’m tired of liberals who claim to care about racism turning a blind eye to Islamophobia.
“In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends” - Dr King #Islamophobia