Hawaii Democrat takes on Obama

[n2doc]

One of the toughest critics of President Obama’s strategy against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat who represents his home state of Hawaii.

Gabbard has taken the administration to task for refusing to use the term “radical Islam” and called for the White House to take be more aggressive.

In an interview with The Hill, Gabbard said she has spoken to the White House about her criticism, though she has yet to speak with Obama himself.
“The president hasn’t called me. I’ve had a number of ongoing conversations with different people in the administration about some of these issues, both one-on-one, as well as in smaller, classified group settings,” she said.

“I’ve never been asked directly to not do my job. So obviously, there are areas where we’re going to agree to disagree.”

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/242024-hawaii-dem-takes-on-obama

[Wilms]

1. The Curious Islamophobic Politics of Dem Congressmember Tulsi Gabbard

She's particularly a favorite of right-wing media. Appearing with Fox's Neil Cavuto last week, she lashed out [5] at the White House for holding an extremism summit with Muslim Americans, saying it's a “diversion from what our real focus needs to be. And that focus is on that Islamic extremist threat.” She criticized Obama for saying that “poverty, lack of access to jobs, lack of access to education” is contributing to radicalization. “They are not fueled by materialistic motivation, it's actually a theological, this radical Islamic ideology,” she said, throwing red meat to Fox viewers.

snip

But the case of Tulsi Gabbard becomes less curious and more expected once you look at her links to a different set of ethnic and religious hardliners: the Hindu nationalist Indian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Since her election to Congress, Gabbard has tied herself closely to this party, which has a history of condoning hatred and violence against India's Muslim minority. Many of her stateside donors and supporters are also big supporters of this movement, which disdains secularism and promotes religious sectarianism.

snip

The more important point is that her backers are all ideological backers of the BJP, which represents the right-wing, Hindu nationalist wing of Indian politics. Most Indian Americans actually support more progressive politicians; 81 percent [22] of Indian Americans approved of Obama's job approval in 2012, and polling before the presidential election that year found only 5 percent of Indian Americans pledged to back GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

snip

There is one other curious alliance Gabbard has inculcated. Under Prime Minister Modi, India has sought increasingly close relations [24] to Israel, shifting the country's historical support for the Palestinian cause. Perhaps Gabbard is a sort of consigliere for this alliance of Hindu nationalists and right-wing Zionists, as she is the only House Democrat backing a bill [25] basically designed to benefit one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's closest political allies, Sheldon Adelson. The bill is part of a crackdown on online gambling that Adelson is promoting in order to destroy competition to his casino chain.

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/curious-islamophobic-politics-dem-congressmember-tulsi-gabbard

[madokie]

2. Is she a he or a she

I'm pretty sure she is a she but the hill isn't so sure. LOL

DOG, I wish these people would proof read what they write