Ka‘ū News Briefs, Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Tonight's fifth democratic presidential debate. Kaʻū's Rep. Gabbard is second from left, in white. Photo from MSNBC

KAʻŪ'S CONGRESSWOMAN TULSI GABBARD TOOK ON PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES KAMALA HARRIS AND PETE BUTTIGIEG tonight. She said she wants to rebuild the Democratic Party. She was one of ten candidates for President of the United States in the fifth debate hosted by the Democratic Party in Atlanta. Contenders on the stage were: Gabbard, Former Vice President Joe Biden; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren; Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders; California Sen. Kamala Harris; New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker; South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Entrepreneur Andrew Yang; Billionaire and climate advocate Tom Steyer; and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

     "What is the rot you see in the Democratic Party?" Gabbard responded: "Our Democratic Party, unfortunately, is not the party that is of, by, and for the people. It is a party that has been and continues to be influenced by the foreign policy establishment in Washington, represented by Hillary Clinton and others' foreign policy, by the military industrial complex, and other greedy corporate interests.
     "I'm running for president to be the Democratic nominee that rebuilds our Democratic Party, takes it out of their hands, and truly puts it in the hands of the people of this country. A party that actually hears the voices of Americans who are struggling all across this country and puts it in the hands of veterans and fellow Americans who are calling for an end to this ongoing Bush-Clinton-Trump foreign policy doctrine of regime change wars, overthrowing dictators in other countries, needlessly sending my brothers and sisters in uniform into harm's way to fight in wars that actually undermine our national security and have cost us thousands of American lives.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

     "These are wars that have cost us, as American taxpayers, trillions of dollars since 9/11 alone; dollars that have come out of our pockets, out of our hospitals, out of our schools, out of our infrastructure needs. As president, I will end this foreign policy, end these regime change wars, work to end this new cold war and arms race, and instead invest our hard-earned taxpayer dollars actually into serving the needs of the American people right here at home.   
     Sen. Kamala Harris attacked Gabbard, saying, "I think that it's unfortunate that we have someone on this stage who is attempting to be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States, who during the Obama administration spent four years full time on Fox News criticizing President Obama."

     Gabbard responded: "That's ridiculous, Senator Harris. That's ridiculous." Harris came back, claiming Gabbard, "has spent full time criticizing people on this stage as affiliated with the Democratic Party, when Donald Trump was elected, not even sworn in, buddied up to Steve Bannon to get a meeting with Donald Trump in the Trump Tower, fails to call a war criminal by what he is as a war criminal, and then spends full time during the course of this campaign, again, criticizing the Democratic Party."
     Gabbard contended that "What Senator Harris is doing is unfortunately continuing to traffic in lies and smears and innuendos because she cannot challenge the substance of the argument that I'm making, the leadership and the change that I'm seeking to bring in our foreign policy, which only makes me guess that she will, as president, continue the status quo, continue the Bush-Clinton-Trump foreign policy of regime change wars, which is deeply destructive.

Sen. Kamala Harris

     Said Gabbard, "As commander-in-chief, leader of our armed forces, I bring extensive experience, serving for seven years in Congress, on the Foreign Affairs Committee, on the Armed Services Committee, on the Homeland Security Committee, meeting with leaders of countries around the world, working with military commanders of different commands, dealing with high-level national security briefings, understanding what's necessary, the preparation that I've gotten to walk in on day one, to serve as commander-in-chief."

     Buttigieg responded, saying that "it's par for the course in Washington to take remarks out of context," and calling Gabbard's statement that he would send troops to Mexico "outlandish even by the standards of today's politics."

     Gabbard replied, "Are you saying that you didn't say that?"

     Buttigieg said, " I was talking about U.S.-Mexico cooperation. We've been doing security cooperation with Mexico for years, with law enforcement cooperation and a military relationship that could continue to be developed with training relationships, for example. Do you seriously think anybody on this stage is proposing invading Mexico?"

     Gabbard responded, "That's not what I said."

     He went further: "I'm talking about building up alliances. And if your question is about experience, let's also talk about judgment. One of the foreign leaders you mentioned meeting was Bashar al-Assad. I have in my experience, such as it is, whether you think it counts or not since it wasn't accumulated in Washington, enough judgment that I would not have sat down with a murderous dictator like that."

     Gabbard went back to Mexico: "You were asked directly whether you would send our troops to Mexico to fight cartels and your answer was 'yes.' The fact-checkers can check this out... But your point about judgment is absolutely correct. Our commander-in-chief does need to have good judgment. And what you've just pointed out is that you would lack the courage to meet with both adversaries and friends to ensure the peace and national security of our nation. I take the example of those leaders who have come before us, leaders like JFK, who met with Khrushchev, like Roosevelt, who met with Stalin."

     Buttigieg said Gabbard was "Like Donald Trump who met with Kim." Gabbard disagreed: "Like Reagan, who met and worked with Gorbachev. These issues of national security are incredibly important. I will meet with and do what is necessary to make sure that no more of our brothers and sisters in uniform are needlessly sent into harm's way fighting regime change wars that undermine our national security. I'll bring real leadership and experience to the White House."

Mayor Pete Buttigieg

     When asked about climate change, Gabbard said,"This is an issue that impacts all of us as Americans and people all over the world. This is not a Democrat issue or a Republican issue. This is about the environmental threats that each and every one of us face. These are the kinds of conversations that we're having in our town hall meetings and house parties in different parts of the country where we have Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and Independents coming together, saying, 'Hey, we are all concerned about making sure that we have clean water to drink for our families, that we have clean air to breathe, that we're able to raise our kids in a community that's safe.'

It is the hyper-partisanship in Washington, unfortunately, that has created this gridlock that has stood in the way of the kinds of progress that I would bring about as president, transitioning our country off of fossil fuels and ending the nearly $30 billion in subsidies that we as taxpayers are currently giving to the fossil fuel industry, instead investing in a green, renewable energy economy that leads us into the 21st century with good-paying jobs, a sustainable economy, investing in infrastructure, and transitioning our agriculture -- that is a great contributor to the environmental threats we face -- towards an agriculture system that focuses on local and regional production of food, healthy food that will actually feed the health and well-being of our people, leading as a leader in the world to make the global change necessary to address these threats."

     When asked about combating white supremacist violence, Gabbard said, "We have seen for far too long the kind of racial bigotry, divisiveness, and attacks that unfortunately have taken the lives of our fellow Americans. Leadership starts at the top. It's important that we set the record straight and correct the racial injustices that exist in a very institutional way in our country, beginning with things that have to do with our criminal justice system, where predominantly the failed war on drugs that has been continuing to be waged in this country has disproportionately impacted people of color and people in poverty.

     "This is something that I'll do as president and commander-in-chief: to overhaul our criminal justice system, working in a bipartisan way to do things like end the failed war on drugs, end the money bail system, enact the kinds of prison reforms and sentencing reforms that we need to see, that will correct the failures of the past.

     "The most important thing here is that we recognize that we have to treat each other with respect, all of us as fellow Americans, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, orientation, and our politics. That kind of leadership starts at the top. As president, I will usher in a 21st century White House that actually represents the interests of all Americans, first and foremost.

     When asked about making sure elections are secure, Gabbard said, "Voting rights are essential for our democracy. Securing our elections is essential for our democracy. I've introduced legislation, called the Securing Americas Elections Act, that mandates paper ballots to make sure that every single voter's voice is heard.

Tonight's democratic presidential debate featured ten candidates.

     Gabbard's Closing Remarks:"My personal commitment to you, to all of my fellow Americans, is to treat you with respect and compassion, something that we in Hawaiʻi called aloha. Every single person deserves to be treated with respect, regardless of race, religion, or gender, or even your politics. Inclusion, unity, respect, aloha, these will be the operating principles for my administration.

     "Dr. Martin Luther King visited Hawaiʻi first back in 1959, where he expressed his appreciation for what we call the aloha spirit. He said, 'We look to you for inspiration as a bold example for what you have already succeeded in the areas of racial harmony and racial justice, where we are still struggling to achieve in other sections of the country.' He later went on to say, 'as I looked out at the various faces and various colors mingled together like the waters of the sea, I see only one face, the face of the future.'

     "Working side by side, let's defeat the divisiveness of Donald Trump, come together, and usher in a 21st century of racial harmony, of racial justice, peace, inclusion, and true equality, working side by side. Let's make Dr. King's dream our reality."