Another deceptive hit piece on Tulsi

Vice News tries to portray itself as young and hip, but it is owned by Fox News.
Since the so-called liberal media has been slandering Tulsi Gabbard (and her supporters) for years, it's time the right-wing media did the same.
tulsi0.PNG

The reception for her presidential bid has been less warm in her home state of Hawaii. There, Kai Kahele, a 45-year-old state senator and airline pilot, is promising a bare-knuckle fight should Gabbard return to run for re-election.

“She's got a fucking tiger on her tail, and she's gonna be in trouble,” Kahele told VICE News, on the phone from his home on the Big Island. “It's a different Hawaii than what she's used to and I'm a completely different candidate than anything she's ever faced.”
...
Kahele said Gabbard’s run is the equivalent of trying to surf a 40-foot wave in Waimea Bay without dying. Basically, he thinks there’s not much chance she survives — and he’s betting voters see the same thing. Already, he’s raised more than $250,000, but he’s going to have to raise much more to topple a prolific fundraiser like Gabbard. It may help that three sitting governors have endorsed his campaign, which he says is a message to Gabbard: “Good luck running for president, but don't come back to Hawaii.”

Or maybe the message is that the Democratic Old Guard, the same group that voters are sick of, are behind you and against Tulsi.
But what really caught my attention is this paragraph.

tulsi_2.PNG

"her declining local popularity" for "stances...taken recently" sounds ominous.
How bad is it?
The words are linked, so I clicked on that link.

Two years ago, 64 percent of statewide respondents to a Honolulu Civil Beat poll approved of Gabbard’s performance. A similar poll conducted last month found that her job approval rating had dropped to about 50 percent, after she drew criticism for meeting with Donald Trump before his inauguration and for visiting Syria surreptitiously.

She was viewed negatively by 29 percent of poll respondents, while 21 percent were unsure.

That sounds bad, except for one thing.

tulsi1_0.PNG

THE POLL IS TWO YEARS OLD!
There was an election since that poll. How did that declining local popularity go since then?

Selection_010_16.png

Oh right. She crushed her opponents.

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It is not only Fox news but this applies to all of the MSM. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that any candidate like Tulsi or Bernie who might rock the boat will have their campaigns sabotaged.

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@humphrey It's getting bad when you can almost predict the stories, headlines, tone and bias. Another election or two and it'll be "but this is the way they ALWAYS reported the news". The Capitalist News Network never sleeps.

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The Aspie Corner's picture

@humphrey Otherwise, they wouldn't participate in a capitalist controlled electoral farce.

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Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.

Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.

the polls https://youtu.be/Jk4SSTj1eMA
I posted a suggestion on Jamal's site that folks call or email to complain.
igs@berkeley.org 510-642-6835
I did both.
They found space to poll Hickenlooper, Ryan, Williamson, Swallwell,..! But not Tulsi!!
Incompetent or crooked?

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chuck utzman

TULSI 2020

thanatokephaloides's picture

@chuckutzman

They found space to poll Hickenlooper, Ryan, Williamson, Swallwell,..! But not Tulsi!!
Incompetent or crooked?

Yes!

Diablo

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

No surprise that Tulsi has been shafted by Vice News, when one looks at who has actually owned and controlled Vice editorial policy and content. Since 2015, that was Disney, which owned 21% through A&E in a joint venture with Hearst. In March there was a corporate reshuffling at Fox, when 20th Century Fox was acquired outright by Disney. Most recently, in May, Disney shed off a large part of its controlling interest in Vice. If you need to know about Disney's politics, just look at ABC News, another long-term holding. Hearst, well, that company practically invented jingo journalism.

In addition, several years ago, Vice fired many of its staff and placed video content under the control of The Guardian, which is one of the most vociferous advocates of regime change in Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela. The Guardian, like Bellingcat, is now a joint venture of the MI6 and the Atlantic Council. No wonder Vice's foreign coverage is like watching Voice of America media - actually, VOA's coverage is more balanced and reliable.

See,

Disney Writes Off Its Vice Stake in Latest Sign of Trouble ...
[Search domain www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-08/disney-writes-down-vice-media... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-08/disney-writes-down-vi...
May 08, 2019 · Disney owned a blended 21% stake in Vice, directly and through A&E. 21st Century Fox, which Disney acquired in March, held another 6%. Disney took a $157 million writedown its Vice investment last ...

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Is it the Catholic Church? The Mormons? The DNC?

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

@UntimelyRippd
Tulsi's father was a pray-the-gay-out-of-you conversion therapy, which is only one step removed from Scientology.

The fact that Tulsi overcame that is a plus on her side, not a minus.

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gulfgal98's picture

@gjohnsit is a devout Catholic who is part of the lay clergy in the Catholic church. This is the side of her family that is half Samoan. Her mother was born in the midwest of northern European heritage and who converted to Hinduism in adulthood. As a teenager, Tulsi decided to adopt the Hindu faith as a result. Tulsi has often spoken about that their household was very conservative when she was growing up.

I give her a lot of credit for growing and expanding her views as an adult. This is something I personally relate to because I was also raised in a politically conservative family and developed my current political views in adulthood.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

@gjohnsit
per GG's comment, sounds like her dad is into something pretty similar to Mel Gibson's fanatical catholicism. but let's face it, you don't need fanatical extremism to make catholicism super weird. even straight up and mainstream, it's super weird. transubstantiation? miracles? saints? ooooookaaaaaay

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

@UntimelyRippd

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snoopydawg's picture

So much for any attack on a woman democrat being sexist and misogynistic huh? From kos to every person who doesn't like Tulsi the things they say about her would have gotten people banned if they said them about Herheinous. It's the hypocrisy that bugs me...

BTW. Anyone remember a time when many of the kids wanted the same things that Bernie and Tulsi are running on? Single payer. No more wars. No regime changes? I'd love to know how Obama was able to flip their switches.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Bollox Ref's picture

@snoopydawg

I'd love to know how Obama was able to flip their switches.
up

Remember the worship 'photo diaries' by Blackwaterdog?.....

Good times.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

snoopydawg's picture

@Bollox Ref

So many pictures of the smiling and charming Obama family. What happened to the blackwater dawg? Did she get banned or just go away?

Fond memories indeed.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Bollox Ref's picture

@snoopydawg

I received 'boos' suggesting as much.

Gotta love groupthink.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

@snoopydawg

Maybe unconditional Democrats are, and always were, unconditional Democrats.

AFAIK, political message boards came into their own during the eight years of Bush's term. At that time, most to all Democratic posters seemed to be on the same page because most to all of them opposed Bushco.

After Obama was elected, the divide began to become clearer and clearer. Some posters were unconditional Democrats, now often referred to as "Blue, no matter who" Democrats, while others were concerned with principles, policies and the like more than with party labels.

The latter group didn't like torture or serial drone murders under Obama any better than they liked them under Bush. Maybe they even disliked them a bit more under Hope and Change (from Bush) because they felt deceived and betrayed. And, unlike when they were suffering under Bushco, this time, they could not simply rely on doing a great job of getting out the Democratic vote the next time. Meanwhile, more and more people were learning about New Democrats, the DLC, etc.

After six or seven years of Obama, the divide was very clear. And, just when you thought the divide could not possibly be more clear, along came the 2016 primary, the cheating, etc.

BAM!

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snoopydawg's picture

@HenryAWallace

The internet did come of age during the Bush years and lots of people were upset about what he was doing. I joined DK during the Iraq war when a person who was friends with kos told me about the site. From then on it was daily outrages because Bush seemed so different from Clinton's tenure. Seemed being the operative word. I thought that his term couldn't end fast enough and I guess that's why I heard Obama telling us that he would fix things.. surprise.

Now lots of people are having daily outrages about what Trump is doing and thinks that the next democratic president is going to undo what he has done. I'm not going to be surprised again though. Not when the democrats are working with the republicans now. Nope.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Shahryar's picture

@snoopydawg

and try to take advantage of such.

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@snoopydawg

complex) issue.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@snoopydawg

I'm not going to be surprised again though. Not when the democrats

.... are "the Republicans" now!

(And "Nope" really is the appropriate response!)

Wink

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

thanatokephaloides's picture

@HenryAWallace

others were concerned with principles, policies and the like more than with party labels.

The latter group didn't like torture or serial drone murders under Obama any better than they liked them under Bush. Maybe they even disliked them a bit more under Hope and Change (from Bush) because they felt deceived and betrayed. And, unlike when they were suffering under Bushco, this time, they could not simply rely on doing a great job of getting out the Democratic vote the next time. Meanwhile, more and more people were learning about New Democrats, the DLC, etc.

After six or seven years of Obama, the divide was very clear. And, just when you thought the divide could not possibly be more clear, along came the 2016 primary, the cheating, etc.

BAM!

And behold, many in number were the users who did petition the most noble Conqueroo for access, especially after a day in 2016 called "The Ides of March" !

Wink

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@HenryAWallace It occurred to me that other day that the pundits who came into prominence during the Bush years uniformly supported Obama, and have now come to support the neo-liberal center/right democrats. The anti-Bush heyday when the Internet came into force (remember Dean being praised as being absolutely forward thinking by basing his campaign on the internet-thing-majig) gave these pundits liberals street creds.

So the thing is not that the pundits like Maddow sold out, but that they were never leftist/progressive except as much as the party was ever that. The fact they opposed Bush masked that they were in fact democratic party loyalists and shills. Ideologically they never sold out. Events during the time masked who they were. (BTW, in hindsight, there was never really an anti-war movement during the Bush Jr. wars. No, it was an anti-Bush movement, and became pro-war when Obama took power. I remember Randi Rhodes screaming at a caller for criticizing Obama over Afghanistan.)

And in terms of careers, they tied their careers to supporting the democratic party establishment. They put party back then over principled positions. You can see this in that currently nearly all of them have pushed the Russiagate narrative big time. Even Michael Moore went that route.

And the divide you see I suppose was always there, but came out in TOP as basically a purge in the same way DNC was to purge leftists/Bernie supporters from the party.

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@MrWebster

you can't prove it by anything she says or does on MSNBC.

There is a "blue no matter who" push now. While the term is new, "yellow dog Democrat" is not. IOW, if the Democratic nominee* were literally a yellow dog, a "yellow dog Democrat" would nonetheless vote for the Democratic nominee. That corresponds to the term I used upthread, i.e., "unconditional Democrat."

Of course, yellow dog Democrats, whether John Does or broadcasters like Rhodes, and the "left of the left" opposed all the awful things that Bush did. The difference was the the left of the left told the truth about, and opposed, those same things when Obama did them. Yellow dogs kept silent about them, until they had to defend them. Whether that was selling out or not selling out is too complicated for me.

*A joke went something like this:

YDD: I'm going to do my best to see to it that John Smith (D) never sees the inside of any public office.

Doe: But... I thought you'd vote for any Democrat, even a yellow dog.

YDD: Not in the primary.

However, the Party now bends over backwards to insulate incumbents from primary challenges and also fixes primaries. So, the joke falls flat these days.

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They're not fair to Gabbard, either.

The significant political divide in the US and the countries that the DLC and its ilk converted to the DLC brand of neoliberalism is no longer Democrat v. Republican. It's plutocrats and their shills versus the rest of us, as the name of this site references. Unfortunately, for everyone but plutocrats, most Americans are still voting based upon the obsolete model. (Small wonder, given mass media.)

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@HenryAWallace came courtesy of John Oliver. While the right definitely weren’t giving him an easy go, the real vitriol I saw came from the so called left.

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Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

@Dr. John Carpenter

before Bernie said in 2014 or 2015 that he'd formed an exploratory committee to see if he should run for President, was that the Daily Show crowd were so-called centrists in general and Clintonites in particular. (For me, the Rally in Central Park to Restore Sanity and/or Fear was the "tell.") The Daily Show bunch were brilliant, esp., IMO, Jon Stewart, and funny, but they were not leftists.

BTW, Stewart was vicious about Bernie, too, until his audience kept complaining. Then, he did a segment showing videos of attacks on Sanders, with videos of his own shots at Bernie last. Then he said something like, "That last guy (meaning Stewart himself) seems especially random."

That was, of course, near the end of his Daily Show tenure. He did not mention Bernie at all again until his final week. Then, he took a parting shot at Sanders along the lines of "If you really want anyone to take your run for President seriously, stop going around looking like you stuck your dick in an electric outlet."

How far beneath Stewart's typical comedic genius was yet another Sanders' hair remark, even if it was the crudest one I encountered? Not only that, but Sander had long since received what I called his "campaign haircut." Ergo, Stewart's comment made Stewart seem either like a pointless liar or politically clueless. I had never perceived him either way before, simply as yet another center right Clinton fan who seem left during the Bush administration, albeit a brilliant one.

Oh, and before he began attacking Bernie, he was maintaining radio silence about Sanders, like the rest of the media.

Bernie, post his 2016 "campaign haircut:"

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@HenryAWallace Daily Show, the Onion, SNL, etc. Wasn’t the Onion just apologizing for normalizing Biden now that they’ve gotten a good look at the guy?

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Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

@Dr. John Carpenter

Always.

And forever.

Amen.

BTW, since you replied to it, you should know that I made some edits to my post adding more info and fixing the pic, but did not change the meaning.

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@HenryAWallace One pundit noted that Stewart has had problems with activists. He called Assange a narcissist who revealed things people already knew. He did?! He portrayed Medea Benjamin as "cucu for koko puffs." nut. He originally visually showed WI teachers as goof balls and visually Scott Brown a sane good looking reasonable person. In his role as Miss Manners, he said leftists should be not be calling Bush a war criminal. Glenn Greenwald answered that what happened in Abu Grab was in fact war crimes as the military inspector who looked into said so. His famous rally was on the same day of a union lead rally totally overshadowed by his antics. I saw these videos by happen chance. He may have done the same to other activists.

So Jon Stewart took up the health issues of 9-11 first responders. He became an activist! And he was ignored in the halls of Congress to the he point he ranted (or was it a temper tantrum) at them about a lack of action on his issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oplNm4Qt0pQ

You mentioned that Stewart was possibly clueless. I think so. I think he had this idea in his head that if he spoke reasonably and with respect to lawmakers, why they would just come around. I hope he asks himself why Medea Benjamin, teacher unions, and Assange do the things they do, and what motivated him to marginalize all of them. I hope he thinks on power and payback. I have to wonder if the 9-11 first responders should have gone to some well known NY republican like even Guilliani to speak for their cause. Stewart was yes politically clueless not realizing how much animosity he must have generated on the gop side.

(Stewart did change his take on WI teachers as I believe his mother, who was a teacher, must have ripped him a new one.)

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mimi's picture

@HenryAWallace
Washington Mall in DC. I was there and found neither Stewart nor Colbert particularly funny.or satirical. They tried hard, but it was not their kind of format I guess and I didn't understand many of the jokes, despite the huge cinema screens, At least I was a bit disappointed.

I remember also Glen Beck's (with Sarah Palin) rally a monrh before. Pretty repulsive to me to hear the guy at the footsteps of the LIncoln Memeorial

I always come out of events like that with the feeling that they are not as useful as hoped by most who go and participate in.

Sadly so, but no one has other solutions to voice their opinions, I guess.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@HenryAWallace

Colbert isn't owned by Fox News. Neither is the DNC.

They're not fair to Gabbard, either.

For practical intents and purposes, the Colbert show is owned by the DNC.

I'm pissed at Stephen right now. Since Chump became President, he's done ever less real comedy and has become "The Trump Channel". His work right after he took over from David Letterman was far-and-away better than today's, IMHO.

Bad

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@thanatokephaloides

For practical intents and purposes, the Colbert show is owned by the DNC.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@HenryAWallace

Outside of an occasional token appearance by Bernie Sanders, everything on Colbert is straight out of the DNC catechism, from RUSSIA! RUSSIA! RUSSIA! on down.

Colbert has not yet faced the fact that Her Heinous lost the election in 2016 because she was the worse of the duopoly's general election candidates. At least, he hasn't done so on-air on his show.

The lack of serious consideration for non-DNC ideology is the source of my remark that the DNC essentially owns the Colbert show.

And please remember I'm miffed at Colbert right now, and therefore may be biased.

Wink

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@thanatokephaloides

Not to go all Lewis Carroll, but someone on TV spouting the establishment party line consistently--as Colbert has since his Daily Show days and as do most people in broadcasting --is different from ownership.

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@HenryAWallace

Colbert isn't owned by Fox News. Neither is the DNC.

They're not fair to Gabbard, either.

How many people read the 2nd sentence of this essay?

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@gjohnsit

Did you have a problem of some kind with my reply? If so, I hope you address it in a more explicit and specific way.

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@HenryAWallace
are just replies to the first sentence of this essay, without taking into account anything else I wrote.
My 2nd sentence makes many of these replies semi-redundant.

Since only the first sentence was exposed on the main community page, I have to suspect that many people replied without ever even clicking on the essay.
For example only one comment even mentioned polling (i.e. the point of the essay).

I'm not mad, and I don't want anyone to feel insulted, but it does appear that way.

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@gjohnsit

in other threads that you started.

However, my question was about how your general issue relates specifically to my reply.

When I reply, I try to make the point that occurs to me, even if I am free associating. In this case, however, my point was very much connected to your second sentence, although that was not a goal that I had in mind when I typed my reply.

My point was that our typical paradigm of Democrat v. Republican (or, if you will, "liberal" or neoliberal media v. right wing or Fox-owned media) no longer reflect what I see as the significant current political divide. To me, that is a fairly direct connection to the second sentence of your OP, although not as directly connected to the polls and other things mentioned in your OP.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@gjohnsit

It appears that many comments are just replies to the first sentence of this essay, without taking into account anything else I wrote.
My 2nd sentence makes many of these replies semi-redundant.

My Comment on Colbert is germane to this very point, as Colbert doesn't seem to be much inclined to question the DNC's "wisdom" at all.

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

mimi's picture

and in the end, people will know that and respect.
[video:https://youtu.be/T-jpg9fCofk]
Do the right thing.

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