Resigning as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, 34-year old Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hi.) joined the unlikely campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Decorated Iraq War veteran, Tulsi saw firsthand the futility of the Iraq War, something Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton voted Oct. 11, 2002 to support former President Geroge W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney’s Iraq War Authorization. “I think it’s important for us, as we look at our choices as to who our next commander in chief will be, is to recognize the necessity to have a commander in chief who has foresight, who exercises good judgment,” Gabbard told Chuck Todd Feb. 28 on NBC’s “Meet The Press.” What’s so striking about Gabbard’s defection from the DNC is that it goes against Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton’s key narrative that she’s the most experienced to be president.
Before the Feb. 27 South Carolina primary, Hillary painted Bernie as a one-trick-wonder, disparaging his foreign policy background. Gabbard’s statement raises concerns not about Hillary’s experience but about her bad judgment. While there’s plenty of water under the bridge with Iraq, Bernie handled Hillary’s bad decision to back Bush’s Iraq War Authorization with kid gloves. Hillary told voters she has the most experience and good judgment to be commander in chief. Poised to win 11 states on Super Tuesday to lock the nomination, Gabbard wanted to state for the record her problems with Hillary’s foreign policy. Over the last four Democratic debates, Sanders’ questioned mainly Hillary’s ties to Wall Street, accepting exorbitant speaking fees at Goldman Sachs and other financial services firms. Hillary Insisted that taking money from Wall Street doesn’t change her views or votes.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote in her 2001 book “A Fighting Chance” that Hillary, while New York senator, changed her vote on the 2001 Bankruptcy Reform Act. Warren points out Hillary’s backing of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Bill that essentially tossed out the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act, allowing big banks to once again own brokerage houses. Hillary has plenty of excuses for the 2008 U.S. financial collapse that left the nation’s biggest financial institutions out of cash. She insists the July 21, 2010 Dodd-Frank Bill fixes the problem, something disputed by Bernie, Warren and many others. Gabbard’s defection from the DNC to Bernie’s campaign goes to the heart of Hillary’s campaign: That she’s more qualified and prepared on day one for commander and chief. Gabbard’s concerns raise doubts about Hillary’s judgment..
For whatever reason, Sanders has been reluctant to talk about Hillary’s backing of rebels that toppled Libya strongman Col Muammar Gaddafi Aug. 24, 2011. Now, like Iraq, in utter chaos, with Islamic terrorists overrunning the country, Hillary insists she did the right thing. Proving she learned nothing from Iraq, Hillary’s Libya policy while running the State Department proved disastrous. Cautious not to damage Hillary too much before the general election, Sanders pulled his punches on Hillary’s judgment on Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. When shown she made some bad errors, Hillary justifies toppling Mideast dictators to stop genocide. After Mubarak and Gaddafi’s fall, the Mideast death toll has gone through the roof with Islamic terrorists taking over large swaths of Egypt and Libya. While Gabbard raised the issue, Hillary’s foreign policy mistakes are on full display.
Gabbard complained about the debate schedule that favors Hillary, something fiercely debated in the DNC. Minimizing the fallout, DNC Chairman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz tried to paper over any cracks at the DNC. “Congresswoman Gabbard is a role model who embodies the American ideal that anyone can dream big and make a difference,” said Wasserman-Schultz. Gabbard’s resignation suggests that Hillary sets the agenda at the DNC. Gabbard wanted to clear her conscience, protesting that things weren’t played fairly at the DNC. What Gabbard’s brings up regarding Hillary’s poor foreign policy choices raises far more important issues than squabbling over a debate schedule. Gabbard’s concerns point to real problems with Hillary’s current foreign policy in Syria. Hillary backs the Saudi Arabian Wahhabi proxy war to topple Syria President Bashar al-Assad’s Shiite government.
Backing toppling Mideast dictators like Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Tunisia’s Zine El Abinde Bin Ali, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and now Syria’s Bashar al-Assad shows that Hillary has learned nothing toppling Mideast dicatators. Hillary’s recent statements about Iran being the “Mideast’s chief sponsor of terrorism” parallels statements by Bush-43’s chief Iraq War architect former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Hillary doesn’t want the public to know about how much cash the Clinton Presidential Library and Clinton Foundation received from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States. Taking millions from the Saudis, Hillary insists it doesn’t change her foreign policy. Backing the five-year-old Saudi proxy war against al-Assad killing 250,000, displacing millions more and threatening the European Union, speaks volumes about Hillary’s foreign policy.
