Harris's spokesman explains Tulsi's takedown of Kamala: It was Russia!

Snoopydawg has got the takedown covered, so I won't duplicate it.
Instead I'd like to show you how TOP has gone into a full-throated whine party over it.

On Wednesday night, that meant that Gabbard got to go after Kamala Harris on her actions as attorney general, using loaded phrases and selected statements to paint Harris as someone who was ready to throw pot-smokers behind bars for eternity and personally throw the execution switch for death row inmates after hiding evidence of their innocence.

There’s no doubt that Harris will face more kicks about her AG role during this campaign, and she certainly expected to receive some blows. But Gabbard knew she could square off with Harris in the certainty that no one, but no one, came into the Wednesday night debate thinking, “I need to prepare some talking points against Tulsi Gabbard.” And even if she had, CNN gave Harris little time to muster her thoughts before calling in more witnesses to bolster Gabbard’s attacks.

kamala_0.PNG

It wasn't just the tools on GOS that Tulsi knocked off balance, it was Harris herself. Even CNN noticed.

Worse than that -- for Harris -- is the fact that it became crystal clear in the aftermath of the debate that Gabbard had gotten under her skin. In a post-debate interview, CNN's Anderson Cooper asked Harris about the moment with Gabbard.
"This is going to sound immodest, but obviously I'm a top-tier candidate and so I did expect that I'd be on the stage and take some hits tonight," Harris said. "When people are at 0 or 1% or whatever she might be at, so I did expect to take some hits tonight."
Woof.
First of all, if you are running for president and you hear the words, "This is going to sound immodest" come out of your mouth, it may be best to recalibrate what you are going to say.
Second, what Harris is actually saying is, basically, this: The dork took a shot at the most popular kid in school. Big whoop.
That is not a good look. For any candidate. Ever. (And, yes, politics is a LOT like high school.)

That's gonna leave a mark.
But never fear, because there is a reason for Harris getting taken down by Gabbard - Russia.

The #KamalaHarrisDestroyed hashtag had disappeared from the list of trending U.S. terms by 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

Harris's spokesman, Ian Sams, responded to the hashtag, noting that at least some of the accounts promoting it appeared to be bots.

"The Russian propaganda machine that tried to influence the 2016 election is now promoting the presidential aspirations of a controversial Hawaii Democrat," he said.

Damn! Putin was on the debate stage and no one noticed?
That has got to be the weakest response in recent history.

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Here's the thing, the Harris campaign is already guilty of crying wolf over Russia.

Harris has already been caught misrepresenting alleged Russian propaganda activity. She claimed in a radio interview on July 12 that she had been subjected to Russian bot attacks on social media sites like Twitter.

But CNN debunked the claim days later, reporting that Twitter saw no evidence that Russian bots were targeting Harris.

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Wally's picture

. . . but today, Tulsi doubled down on defending Biden's purported position re Iraq and didn't show any inclination whatsover to attack his warmongering.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLkprbcG1Qk]

Seriously, what's up with that?

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@Wally
Tulsi has made a political calculation that I'm clueless about.

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@Wally as this question is being raised again in a few threads: my guess is Tulsi gives great weight to people who apologize and own up for their mistakes (Joe on his Iraq vote) and she believes in forgiveness, and 2dly she knows she also has made mistakes in her public service career.

Besides the above, she might have felt some of the others on the stage were doing a fair job of going after Joe last night, albeit not on Iraq, and she didn't want to contribute to the pile-on. She may also have had a strategy of focusing on Harris in this debate.

There will be future debates to go after Joe on Iraq, if she chooses. Perhaps we might hope for a sponsored debate where the mods spend more than 1% of the air time talking about FP. Last night, unless I missed something, the few minutes on foreign stuff was only about trade, not FP as usually understood.

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Wally's picture

@wokkamile

I did find this July 9, 2019 article in truthdig calling on him to apologize, tho.

And no matter how it's sliced, Biden's still a warmonger.

I sense something is afoot. Pure speculation but crazier things have happened:

Michelle as Biden's VP. Vote for Joe, get Michelle.

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@Wally @Wally sense, what matters to the issue and complaint being discussed is not what you or I think of Joe and Iraq (we agree) or even what the objective truth is (I did a full 0.5 sec google search, lazy latte-sipping liberal that I am, and couldn't find an explicit use of the term "apology" from Joe).

What matters is TG's perception or memory of what Joe said about his vote. In the video linked above, she talks about how Joe has said it was a mistake -- true -- and that "he's apologized for it, many times" (I couldn't find a link proving that).

Edit: In Tulsi's forgiving world, she might equate or accept the term "mistake" in lieu of an official, formal expression of regret using the term "apology".

I might be able to give you Tulsi's private # and you could ask her personally, but in the words of that immortal American Statesman Richard Nixon, That Would Be Wrong.

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Wally's picture

@wokkamile
. . . when I run for Pope? I can't wait for you to spin my many wrong thoughts;>).

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Alligator Ed's picture

@Wally Can I help???

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@Wally I mean, if you have the checkbook to match the task at hand. I won't lie to ya -- selling a Pope Wally is going to be tough. Please note that in addition to the monthly retainer and per diem, I do require a masseuse be available for me on a 24/7 basis -- an actual CMT and preferably one below the age of 60 please. This sounds like a stressful undertaking. A 2-bdr suite at a Four Seasons Hotel close to the Vatican also would be appreciated ...

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gulfgal98's picture

@wokkamile IMO, this is not a fatal error by Tulsi.

Despite what we are being sold, Biden is a very weak candidate and many others are working to take him down. No one was willing to take on Harris who was designated as the rising star in the Hamptons. But Tulsi did, based upon principle. Funny thing is that Tulsi told Harris that she was coming after her in advance, but Harris was unprepared.

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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

Centaurea's picture

@wokkamile
that this is exactly what Tulsi was doing. It seems to have been effective. For one thing, it took everyone, including the CNN hosts, off guard.

She may also have had a strategy of focusing on Harris in this debate.

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"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

Alligator Ed's picture

@Centaurea With little ammunition (i.e., air time) Tulsi had to use her ammunition well. This she did with the deadly accuracy of a military sniper. Tim Ryan wounded in debate one (walking dead and doesn't know it) and then the Camel (walking dead and doesn't know it).

Two shots, two kills. Each wounded victim is done for:

Ryan, with his deer in the headlights vacant face, being caught war-mongering but not remembering against whom we are warring. Dodo supremo.

Harris, the vile slime merchant who will do anything, just like HRC, to get to the top got unredeemable nailed for her Draconian harshness and meanness while California AG.

TG is a slowly growing Force of Nature

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHk1RmPzA5E]

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boriscleto's picture

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

@boriscleto
It seems Tulsi is a Russian Trojan Horse.

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snoopydawg's picture

@gjohnsit

Tracey asked if Russia made Obama not include a public option, bail out the banks and leave the tax payers hanging, deport 3 million immigrants, ect....

Bingo. Calling Harris out for her horrendous tenure as AG isn't coming from the Russians. How people can't see through that is beyond me.

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

@snoopydawg candidate has serious flaws, to put it lightly. If they don't acknowledge it, it mustn't be true. Seems they're playing the same game as the Tr*mpist; if they lie enough people will believe it. And yes, then they threaten ct and anyone who goes against their narrative as trolls, haters and bots.

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In life, as in dance, grace glides on blistered feet. ~Alice Abrams

link

In the race to determine who will serve as Commander in Chief of the most powerful military force in the history of civilization, night two of the CNN Democratic presidential debates saw less than six minutes dedicated to discussing US military policy during the 180-minute event.

That’s six, as in the number before seven. Not sixty. Not sixteen. Six. From the moment Jake Tapper said “I want to turn to foreign policy” to the moment Don Lemon interrupted Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard just as she was preparing to correctly explain how President Trump is supporting Al-Qaeda in Idlib, approximately five minutes and fifty seconds had elapsed.
...
Harris’ press secretary Ian Sams unleashed a string of tweets about Gabbard being an “Assad apologist”, which was followed by a deluge of establishment narrative managers who sent the word “Assad” trending on Twitter, at times when Gabbard’s name somehow failed to trend despite being the top-searched candidate on Google after the debate. As of this writing, “Assad” is showing on the #5 trending list on the side bar of Twitter’s new layout, while Gabbard’s name is nowhere to be seen. This discrepancy has drawn criticism from numerous Gabbard defenders on the platform.

“Somehow I have a hard time believing that ‘Assad’ is the top trending item in the United States but ‘Tulsi’ is nowhere to be found,” tweeted journalist Michael Tracey.

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Shahryar's picture

@gjohnsit

a human with a soul would be embarrassed to write what he did.

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Wally's picture

Huerta is now Co-Chair of the Harris campaign and she responds to Tulsi's observations:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3WArVo8Rt8]

Otherwise. . . Biden/Obama 2020 (Michelle that is.) Tulsi Secretary of State / UN Ambassador / Secretary of Defense. Kamala Harris Attorney General. Liz Warren Secretary of the Treasury. I kid, I kid???

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@Wally for Harris complains that maybe Tulsi Gabbard isn't familiar with Harris' full record on crime, yet she claimed ignorance when West asked her about the Mnuchin affair, a rather important matter from Harris' AG tenure.

I used to think much more highly of Huerta and Barbara Lee.

Well, at least Bernie-backing Cornell West hasn't drifted East in his principles.

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@wokkamile
huerta.PNG

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Shahryar's picture

@gjohnsit

Bernie supporters shouted that while they were throwing chairs. I know it for a fact because somebody who was there told someone else who said something like that and it eventually got back to me.

/s

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

@wokkamile @wokkamile Huerta's facial language was telling she me was lying straight to my face about Mnuchin.
There was a tic, looking down, and a bankers smile.

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@BORG_US_BORG -- I like that phrase. Don't believe I've come across it in my many years on your planet.

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Alligator Ed's picture

@wokkamile I too have dwelt upon this planet for some primordial time. Welcome, dear being.

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Centaurea's picture

@Wally

was solidly in Hillary's corner in 2016. She carried water for the Dem establishment, including lying through her teeth about Bernie supporters during the Nevada caucuses.

Now she's carrying water for Hillary's heir presumptive, Kamala Harris. Same old same old. I don't trust Huerta one bit.

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"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

@Wally must have gone to Heurta's brain. First, she supports criminal Hillary and now Kamala? If she was as authentic as she tries to make herself, she'd vote for the person who actually cares about people, including farm-workers. They must be paying her handsomely.
I've lost all respect for the woman. Maybe she did great things with Chavez, but no longer.

But, but, but...Kamala let protesters go without charging them! LOL!

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In life, as in dance, grace glides on blistered feet. ~Alice Abrams

Have not gone over to TOP for a bit. A front pager was going full Monty smearing Tulsi.

So Michael Moore wants Michele Obama to run against Trump. She is the only one who can crush Trump. If this not some PR stunt to get his name in the press, Moore is truly a mainstream DNC'er. Poll after poll shows Bernie beating Trump. So what would be Michele's policies? The same as her neoliberal husband? Moore is living in a Hollywood bubble. I have never seen Michele ever in venue where she is challenged and debated. How is she going to do against an aggressive Trump on a common stage? Who would be her VP? Lady Gaga?

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Why go after Biden? He's already imploding; she would only look cruel, beating up on a senile old man for her own aggrandizement. Harris, OTOH, is a clear enemy, perpetrator of obvious crimes. Exposing her could only make her look like a paladin. On top of the cake Kamala Not-The-Wrestler responded as expected, with a neoMcCarthyite slander, which will only work with Tulssi's haters and make Harris look like a tool to everyone else.
Harris is sort of right, it is a strategy only used by someone trying to come from behind, but that's because people with Tulsi's integrity are not allowed to start at the "Top-tier".

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On to Biden since 1973

@doh1304
Harris' record was both fair game and easy pickings because no one had gone there yet.
It gained Tulsi the maximum impact because those who don't follow politics had not heard about any of these issues.

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@doh1304

“He was wrong — he said he was wrong and he has apologized for it more than once,” Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran, told Hill.TV on Thursday in response to why she wasn't more critical of Biden over the issue.

what more can he do?
maybe she didn't want to pile on with all the rest.
Harris was a different story.

lol. haaaahaaa

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Joe is so far down in the actual REAL polls, (not the land line polls as has been exposed), that the oligarchy has given up on him. Tulsi senses Joe is low hanging fruit. The DNC is going to cheat Bernie with either Kamala or Liz. Tulsi just took out Kamala.

Don't be surprised if she goes after Pocahontas in the next debates.

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k9disc's picture

attitude certainly was smacked down in righteous fashion. Hollywood level righteous.

Having those extras on stage feature so prominently in the debates certainly was interesting.

@Battle of Blair Mountain

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

snoopydawg's picture

@k9disc

The crisis actors are just there to say what the democrats can't do or to derail anyone who thinks they are going to change the system. Delaney, Bullock, DeBlasio and everyone else who doesn't stand a chance have all been negative on Warren and Bernie pushing their MFA. Did Delaney set himself up for Warren to smack him down? The silly ass smile on his face made me think that. Then he was all over Twitter the next day saying how good he did in the debate. And after 24 hours he finally had a comeback to Warren's response.

The other reason for so many candidates of course is to split the votes during the first part so that the super delegates can come in and play.

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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

it's possible they've been cajoled into running, put forward by others for a specific reason, unbeknownst to them. As in "we need a nondescript Congressman to get up there and say these things. Who do we know who fits the bill? Delaney? ok, let's pump him up, tell him he can be a serious candidate and then coach him"

But I think Delaney thinks it's for real.

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@Shahryar I think they are being paid.
My two cents.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

More power to her

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More power to her

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@munbeam666 worth repeating a second time! Smile

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In life, as in dance, grace glides on blistered feet. ~Alice Abrams

Thanks for the link to the GOS, I love reading those kinds of things, I realize I must be a bad person at heart to get glee from that.

Not sure why all they hate Gabbard so much, I suspect it's not as much for her anti gay history from back in the day but for early Sanders support.

I didn't see the entire debate, and I missed the Gabbard/Harris thing. Looking back on it via you tube the part that is bad is how Harris loses it. Not that she loses it, it's ok to be angry, but the depth and meanness of the anger. The whole thing gave very bad vibes. I think that is the story, people got to see another side of Harris, and it wasn't pretty.

I think Harris is pretty much close to the top of the list for the people running the Democratic Party, and Daily Kos. Someone who can be depended upon. It's for these very things that Bennet and Hickenlooper are staying in the race. Maybe the powers that be will look for a safe corporatist from the boonies.

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@ban nock
she's a not-white not-Y-chromosomed person, but instead of running on IdPol, she's challenging the inane narrative they've been constructing since 2014. the not-white not-Y-chromosomed candidate is supposed to be Harris, dammit! TG should know what her own place is -- the back of the Dem Party bus!

Mainly, they're just a bunch of weak-minded clowns. I bothered to go take a look at the "who won the debate poll" thread, and when one commenter remarked on the fix having been in for the 2016 primary, a response said, "That's not true! That's CT! It should be bannable!".

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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.

@ban nock making the DNC look bad, and stepping down in support of Bernie.

And, she's too much like Bernie, where she doesn't want to play games, she's there for business.

And, she's not Biden, Booker, Buttigieg or Harris.

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In life, as in dance, grace glides on blistered feet. ~Alice Abrams