In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce an American politician and political commentator, Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard). She's best-known for blaming absolutely everything on the US Democrats and NATO, and for being a fan of totalitarian regimes like Russia and Syria.
1/19
Tulsi was raised up in accordance with the teachings of the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF), a religious group described as secretive and abusive cult. Former member has described SIF as "virulently homophobic, often anti-Islamic and misogynist" where its founder,...
2/19
Chris Butler, is "considered to be akin to a God". Gabbard became politically active at a relatively young age, and she was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives when she was 21. She was in a field medical unit and was deployed to Iraq between 2004 and 2005 and...
3/19
...was stationed in Kuwait between 2008 and 2009 as a platoon leader. While in Congress, she was a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) between 2013 and 2016. She later resigned to endorse Bernie Sanders' campaign for the 2016 US presidential election.
4/19
While in Congress, she was a staunch critic of Barack Obama for refusing to admit that the real enemy of the US is actually radical Islam and Islamic extremism, often appearing on Fox News to comment on the issue. Since she started criticizing Obama and picking fights...
5/19
...inside the Democratic Party, she's been praised more by the people like Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson than the Democrats. Gabbard ran for US presidency in the 2020 election. Hillary Clinton described Tulsi as "the favorite of the Russians," and that she was being...
6/19
..."groomed" by the Republicans for the candidacy. Gabbard filed a defamation lawsuit against Clinton, but dropped it five months later. Interestingly, Tulsi used the same law firm that represented Rudy Giuliani and George Papadopoulos during the investigation into the...
7/19
...Russian interference in the 2016 US election. Gabbard was also endorsed by former KKK boss David Duke, and neo-Nazi and conspiracy theorist Richard B. Spencer. After dropping out of the race, she endorsed Joe Biden.
8/19
Gabbard has criticized the "neoliberal/neoconservative war machine", stating that the money the US uses for wars should be used for other stuff, like war against (Islamic) terrorism. Some (well, me) have speculated that this harsh stance against Islam might stem from her...
9/19
...upbringing in a anti-Islamic cult.
Tulsi visited Syria in 2017 in a "fact-finding mission". She had two "unplanned" meetings with Syrian totalitarian leader Bashar al-Assad. Later she expressed skepticism about the Khan Shaykhun chemical attacks, and voted against...
10/19
...condemning the Syrian government for "war crimes and crimes against humanity". OPCW-led investigation later attributed the Khan Shaykhun attack to al-Assad's forces. She also refused to say who paid for her trip to Syria. Gabbard's trip to have a chat with al-Assad...
11/19
..was later praised by our favorite weapons inspector/chatroom-enjoyer, Scott Ritter.
When it comes to Ukraine, Gabbard parrots the same Kremlin narrative: the US and NATO provoked Putin to attack Ukraine, peace negotiations are needed (after Putin got what he wanted, ...
12/19
...as is tradition) to prevent nuclear war, it's a "proxy war" between US and Russia, and sanctions are hurting the West and not Russia. She also blames the "elite cabal of warmongers" for the war. She's said that the war could've been prevented by declaring that Ukraine...
13/19
...can't join NATO, but as those who have read Putin's 2022 essay, "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians", it was never about NATO but Putin's obsession over Ukraine being part of Russia. In a recent keynote speech, she also praised the Durham report, ....
14/19
stating that the Russian collusion in the 2016 election was a "manufactured hoax".
She was also one of the speakers at the "antiwar" event Rage Against the War Machine in Feb 2023.
15/19
Tulsi has been careful about commenting on the atrocities and the ongoing genocide, and I couldn't find any mention of Bucha, Izium, Kherson, Donbas, Crimea,etc. I guess she wants to be careful and just defame Biden & the Democrats and disregard the complexity of war crimes.16/19
Gabbard left the Democratic Party in Oct 2022, blaming its leadership for "cowardly wokeness, anti-white racism, (being) hostile to people of faith and spirituality, and dragging us closer to nuclear war". After this, she signed a deal with Fox News and started working...
17/19
...as a paid contributor for the network. She also endorsed several Republican candidates for Senate, including J.D. Vance who has said that he doesn't "care what happens to Ukraine".
18/19
Some have speculated that she'd be a running mate for Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential election. This would make sense, since these days Gabbard is speaking like any MAGA member would, condemning the "woke mind virus", and outright refusing to condemn Russia's war.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll explain the context of the upcoming Budapest Blunder, and how it follows the infamous Alaska Fiasco from two months ago and Trump’s absurd delaying of serious aid to Ukraine and effective sanctions on Russia for the past nine months.
1/20
Two months ago, Trump embarrassed the United States by rolling out the red carpet for war criminal dictator Putin and overall acting like a pathetic servant eager to meet his master. Of course, the Alaska Fiasco didn’t bring peace any closer.
Worse, the main outcome of the humiliation was to delay serious sanctions, which the US Congress, in rare bipartisan unity against Russia, was on the verge of passing. Two weeks by two weeks, Trump Always Chickens Out, postponing any real pressure on Putin for 9 months now.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American propagandist Alexandra Jost, aka “Sasha” (@sashameetsrus). She’s best known for being paid by the Russian state to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda — and for doing it with a big smile.
1/23
Alexandra, now 26, was born in Hong Kong. Her father is from Texas, and her mother is from Siberia. According to her, she has “dreamed of living in Russia since childhood.” Sasha's mother runs a dance studio in Moscow and her younger brother is avoiding mobilization.
2/23
Since the beginning of her creator career, Sasha has been adamant about one thing: that she’s “never had to be paid” to speak of her “love” for Russia. But, as always with Russia, this turned out to be nothing but vranyo — a Russian “tactical lie.”
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll reintroduce an American political commentator and pro-Kremlin propagandist, Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson). He’s best known for his promotion of crazy conspiracy theories and for his support of authoritarian regimes around the world.
1/24
Tucker’s career spans decades, but he’s also been very active in recent years, so a lot has happened since our previous soup on him, which can be found here:
Once described as “the most powerful conservative in America”, Tucker has now fully transformed into a grifting conspiracy theorist and propagandist willing to work for whoever pays him the most. It’s unclear whether Tucker truly believes his endless conspiracy theories or…
3/24
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the agenda-setting and flood of disinformation that spread on X and other platforms right after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s far from the first or last time a tragedy has been weaponized for political purposes.
1/18
Every major political event, especially those involving violence, attracts massive attention. In the immediate aftermath, reliable information is scarce, making it highly vulnerable to both coordinated and improvised disinformation campaigns.
2/18
As I’ve mentioned in my previous soups and lectures, in disinformation campaigns, being first with a narrative is crucial, as people often remember the first version best — psychology studies show it sets the mental schema, and later updates rarely overwrite it.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American social media personality David Freeman, AKA Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman). He’s best known for spreading political disinformation on X and shamelessly sucking up to Trump, Putin, and other authoritarian leaders.
1/22
David is a textbook example of someone profiting from MAGA grievance politics. He uses extreme, provocative language to farm engagement on X and never hesitates to flatter anyone who might give him more exposure — or money.
2/22
But David wasn’t always like this. At some point, in his mid-40s, he even tried a real job: he trained to become a cop. He spent three years with the Metro Transit PD, but after that he either got fired or quit, and never looked back.