To people who think Tulsi Gabbard is controlled by Russia:

[Eric J in MN]

Is Gabbard's endorsement of Biden, Russia's endorsement of Biden?

[Walleye]

1. For cryin' out loud. Give it a rest

[FreepFryer]

2. +1 (Nt)

[LexVegas]

3. Losing hurts, huh?

[Turin_C3PO]

4. I'm surprised by Gabbard's endorsement.

I’ll admit to possibly being wrong about her.

[William769]

8. Me too.

[PatSeg]

19. I think Gabbard

has always been controlled by self interest, though I think Putin liked her as a candidate.

[LAS14]

5. I don't think anyone should have ever thought that...

... she was "controlled" by Russia. That's not necessarily what it means to be an "asset." nt

[Rorey]

7. Exactly

Being an asset doesn't mean being a WILLING asset.

[The Magistrate]

14. Exactly

In the parlance, an 'asset' is a person or organization which can be relied on to act in a way that serves an agency's interests. An 'asset' may be witting or unwitting, may be recruited or merely encouraged or subsidized, openly or surreptitiously, in cash or kind. Kind in political manipulation including assistance in keeping an 'asset' in the public eye.

"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[LAS14]

18. Where does the quote come from? nt

[The Magistrate]

22. The Confucian Analects, Ma'am

It was condensed a bit to fit the character limit in place on our signature lines, and one small change was made. "People become uneasy' was substituted for 'rites and rituals cannot be performed properly'. Since uneasiness among the people was considered a consequence of improperly performed rites and rituals, and the original would convey little meaning to most, I thought it an appropriate substitution. Note I am familiar only with English translations, I cannot make head nor tail of Chinese characters.

[LAS14]

25. Thank you!

[not_the_one]

41. Her alarm went off, and she was WOKE...

It is possible to "play the game" and not be "controlled by".

She got the benefits from playing, and has realized the time has come to get on board.

[Hoyt]

6. I thought Sanders was getting help from the Ruskies.

[rzemanfl]

10. Yep. n/t

[Eric J in MN]

12. And does Gabbard's endorsement of Biden change your mind? NT

NT

[Hoyt]

13. Nope. She wants to support a winner. Hope Sanders and his remaining supporters do too.

[still_one]

27. yup. It is politically savy

[NurseJackie]

9. Bookmarking.

This ought to be fun.

[ismnotwasm]

11. Oh for Gods sake. No.

Fuck no.

[we can do it]

15. One more call for the waaaaambulance.

🚑😰 🚑😰 🚑😰 🚑😰 🚑😰 🚑😰 🚑😰 🚑😰

[bucolic_frolic]

16. Playing both sides to maintain credibility is an old game

Any fool ought to recognize it. You only reveal true motives when it can actually change something. She's raised the white flag unless opportunity presents itself.

[wyldwolf]

17. No more so than when Bernie endorses Biden. Both WAPO and NYTIMES reported...

... Russia is trying to help the Sanders campaign.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/bernie-sanders-briefed-by-us-officials-that-russia-is-trying-to-help-his-presidential-campaign/2020/02/21/5ad396a6-54bd-11ea-929a-64efa7482a77_story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/us/politics/bernie-sanders-russia.html

[NCProgressive]

20. Gabbard is pragmatic.

Hawai'i congressional primary is also coming up and Biden is expected to steamroll through Hawai'i. She didn't want to lose in both races.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

31. Bingo.

It's just that simple. Tulsi was used by Russian trolls to try to split the party, but she wants to keep her seat in Congress.

[2naSalit]

37. +1

[Clash City Rocker]

21. I never thought she was a Manchurian Candidate

More like what Russians call a “useful idiot.” My best guess is that Russia propped her up as much as they could to divide the party, but eventually they saw that no one paid any attention to her, so they let her go.

Endorsing Biden instead of Bernie was a mild surprise. Maybe she just wanted to be on the winning side.

The desperation of some of the Bernie supporters is mildly amusing at this point.

[pnwmom]

23. It's her bid to become his VP, since he's obviously going to be the candidate.

She alway avoided attacking either Bernie or Joe during the debates, unlike the way she attacked some of the others.

[Turin_C3PO]

43. Yes, great minds think alike!

I just wrote that in another thread.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

24. Just use logic... oh wait, nm!!

Last edited Thu Mar 19, 2020, 02:34 PM - Edit history (1)

Bernie/Elizabeth 2020!!
They're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join the Revolution!!

[samnsara]

26. i never thought that

[LanternWaste]

28. Influenced, not controlled.

And influence is rarely absolute. Even useful idiots* have free will.

But we get it... gotta get those last digs in behind a thin pretense of sincerity and curiosity prior to lecturing others about "reaching out to independent voters..."





(* an informal term for a person perceived as propagandizing for a cause without fully comprehending the cause's goals)

[beastie boy]

29. Actually, Biden's chances of getting the nomination went doewn since her endorsement

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-primary-forecast/

Of course, the correlation is meaningless.

I will let you ponder the whole cause and effect thingy all for yourself.

[BeckyDem]

30. lol +1

That only applies to one candidate, period.

[LanternWaste]

32. That's certainly the trendy and hipster allegation found on all the best t-shirts

[BeckyDem]

33. uh huh.

[LanternWaste]

36. "lol. +1!"

[delisen]

34. Issue was.used by Russia and pointing it out ended

her usefulness.

[Todd79]

35. Never Thought She Was a Russian Asset

I have had some lighthearted fun a couple of times at her drawn out campaign that didn’t have any real support, but never said she was tied to Putin or even Fox News. I always kind of liked her personally.

[Blue_Tires]

38. Try harder... I know you can.

For folks who still haven't figured it out, the fix is in:

Link to tweet

[Happy Hoosier]

39. Please understand the concept of the useful idiot. NT

[warrior1]

40. I saw in my town on more than one occasion

trump people (i saw the vehicles parked with his bumper sticker) standing on overpasses with signs to vote for Tusi. They even had the gall to waved rainbow flags. Maybe not russia but apart of captian chaos.

[RussBLib]

42. good for her

I was wondering if she was EVER going to drop out of the race.

Bernie? Your turn.

[betsuni]

44. Maybe this is her way of showing she rejects Russia's apparent support of her.

That she has no plans to run third party spoiler. Probably wants to run for something else in future.