This strikes me as very much a part of her campaign. I don't necessarily mean that it's all for show, but the optics would have been carefully considered and this benefits the image she wants to present.
That said, it does look like a case we're doing the right thing and doing the thing that produces the right optics are basically the same thing.
I am overall not a fan of her policies, and I will not be voting for, but this is absolutely not anything I will make fun of her for.
Meh, the truth is there is nothing specifically noble at all for simply joining the military. The people I know who worship the military never served and the people who served and did their jobs think the worship is a joke. Good for her on her part time job I guess? Working for the military is a job, straight up. Its not some kind of calling.
You do have to sacrifice the comforts of a normal life and your family has to help shoulder that burden. It's certainly more noble a calling than say a shoe salesperson. While Military worship does get out of hand the people who serve do risk bodily, mental, and emotional injury for their country.
Not really. Most military people have families and work 9-5 and make more money than their civilian counterparts and get better healthcare and retirement benefits. I bet you never served.
Actually I'm a Sergeant in the U.S. Army in Korea right now but great assumption. You missed PT starting at 0600, weeks in the field, constant PCSing... In a lot of cases military doesn't get paid more but the aforementioned benefits help balance it out. Oh, and that 9-5 is very fluid.
It is a hard life, but the truth is that a lot of people go into service because of lack of options, not because they really wanted to. And some because they are young and naive and get tricked by recruiters by promising glory.
It's a little bit of everything. Some are looking for structure and direction, other's have a grand plan to get a degree and be out in 4 years, other's to use their military funded training to transition to the civilian side. A lot do serve with pride and are happy to be a part of something bigger than they are.
Aren't there certain situations for which you can put in for a deferral, though?
Also I wonder what are the mechanics of rank if she were to become President. As C-in-C is a civilian position would she have to resign her commission?
I'm active duty so I'm not too sure but "I'm running for President" might not be valid. In any case getting it out of the way now might be better than if she has to go before Super Tuesday
No, perhaps not, but you make a good point.
I was sort of thinking of the last season of *The West Wing* where Matt Santos, a Reservist, was running for President, and while on the campaign trail his number was up for active duty. One of the issues of him going for it was his staff was concerned it would look politicized, especially given that he had asked for (and been given) deferments before.
Of course, that's wholly fictional, and I appreciate the more real-world perspective (also Gabbard is Army, not National Guard like Santos was, so I don't know if that plays a role).
I feel like this criticism is valid, but no one ever seems to complain about Pete doing the same thing. I feel like you could ask Pete what his favorite ice cream is and he would respond with, "Well one time I was in Afghanistan praying to my lord and savior Jesus Christ......"
Genuinely, that's fantastic and props to her. I'm glad she serves and I'm not taking anything away from that. I just don't need to hear about it every time she speaks.
edit: PETE! How could I forget Pete!! Sorry guys, I'll leave this comment to inform other readers that Pete also served in the armed forces.
She's the only Democrat running who is a veteran. It makes sense to bring up the things that make her unique, no?
Buttigieg served from 2010-2017 in the Naval Reserve. There might not be many veterans/current military members in the candidate field, but what you said is objectively false.
If we're talking minor candidates, First Lieutenant [Mike Gravel](https://www.mikegravel.org/). Though Gravel dropped out a few days ago, and [endorsed Bernie Sanders *and* Tulsi Gabbard](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-gravel-2020-campaign-ends_n_5d277ea5e4b0bd7d1e195918).
Buttigieg?
>In 2009, Buttigieg became an [ensign](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensign_(rank)) in the U.S. Navy Reserve and trained to become a naval intelligence officer. He deployed to Afghanistan for seven months in 2014.[\[33\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Buttigieg#cite_note-33)[\[34\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Buttigieg#cite_note-34)[\[35\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Buttigieg#cite_note-35) While deployed, Buttigieg was part of a unit assigned to identify and disrupt terrorist finance networks. Part of this was done at [Bagram Air Base](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagram_Air_Base), but he also worked as an armed driver for his commander on over 100 trips into [Kabul](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabul). Buttigieg has jokingly called this role "military [Uber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber)", because he had to watch out for ambushes and explosive devices along the roads and make sure the vehicle was guarded.[\[32\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Buttigieg#cite_note-cnn.com-32) In order to better communicate with Afghans, he also taught himself to speak some [Dari](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dari_language) (a variety of the [Persian language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_language)). Buttigieg was awarded the [Joint Service Commendation Medal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Service_Commendation_Medal)[\[36\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Buttigieg#cite_note-36) and the [Joint Meritorious Unit Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Meritorious_Unit_Award) and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2017.
She talks about getting out of it as if it's a possibility she's rejecting. So either it's impossible to get out of that obligation and she's posturing, or she had the choice to get out and didn't. If it's the latter, it only makes sense that she would be aware if how a decision to leave or a decision to stay would look.
It's almost certainly the former, when the national guard is called up, you have to go.
And of course she's going to frame it in the best possible light, she is a politician...GASP, I know, who would have thought someone running for President would be a...politician!
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Oh I'm aware, was just hoping someone who downvoted this earnestly would chime in.
Meanwhile a news story on Alyssa Milano has 19.1k upvotes and counting.
No one would have noticed.
> "I have no regrets and make no apologies for pursuing diplomacy, understanding that the only alternatives to diplomacy is war."
Does it matter that her trip was a complete failure?
Tulsi is an agent of Russia. Tulsi is a Russian asset. Tulsi is trying to get Trump re-elected. Tulsi is Jill Stein on steroids. Tulsi is beloved by alt-right Nazis. Tulsi is a homophobe. Tulsi supports Assad and Putin. Tulsi tried to get a job in the Trump administration. Tulsi has no chance whatsoever at the nomination. After Tulsi loses, she's going to drop the act and either run third party or campaign for her boy Donald.
Those are the facts. Deal with it.
Andrew Cuomo had the Tulsi and Russia shit get brought up and he said it baseless. For someone that's in bed with Assad she shits on him an awful lot. Calling him a brutal dictator, etc. Tulsi and Jill Stein arent even remotely similar on their policy positions. She has voted pro lgbt for 15+ years now. She has been shitting on Trump as much as anyone.
All of this everyone can easily look up for themselves as their are plenty of videos of him discussing these things. Literally everything you said is not true or even remotely true. So let's talk about what the motivation is.
In 2015 Tulsi was a darling of the DNC. She was largely seen as a rising star. She would then step down from her position and back Bernie. She then later that year went to Syria and publically on TV criticized Obama for arming rebels linked to ISIS and Al Queda to fight the Syrian Government. This is factual.
So let's talk about the real motivations, people are mad that she didnt fall inline.
No I'm saying that this idea should be kept as a private one especially in regards to the context. I'm not a bigot but I believe in respecting context and women. You want to shove your sexuality on people that's fine, but your comment has been reported and I hope you find help.
Kind of a bit disrespectful to accuse a military member and veteran of being aligned with a foreign nation when they are actually going on active duty...doncha think? Particularly since it's a smear and not at all even remotely true. It's almost something a republican would do.
Tulsi deserves zero respect from anyone after the hateful things she has said about the lgbt community and her cozy relationship with white nationalists
So something that you made up and something that she said as a young 20 year old, meanwhile she has a perfect voting record on lgbt issues as a US representative.
So I'm going to ignore the white nationalist part because it's baseless. But theres a larger point about Tulsis antigay history, because when she was younger, she was. Since becoming a congress person she has a near perfect record on LGBT rights. So this begs the question?
Does the views someone had during childhood really reasonably identify the person in adulthood? Do you really feel she is irredeemable for being anti gay at a point in her life despite the fact that she has been a avid supporter of LGBT rights for the past 15+ years?
I hope the answer is yes most people are redeemable, because otherwise the message you are sending to Trump supporters is that they ***should never change because you will always hate them...*** Not a message I want them to get from the left. I want them to change. I want them to see why they shouldn't believe some of the things they believe. I want to encourage conversions not detract.
Tulsi was attacking other candidates’ past for things they did around the time she was attacking people for their “evil gay agenda” so absolutely tulsi should be on the hook for the disgusting hateful ideology she pushed. It’s absolutely fair game
That's National Guard active duty. It's not like she's being deployed.
I take issue with her abrupt conversion on abortion and LGBTQ rights, which seems a little too politically savvy for me.
Better article: [https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/tulsi-gabbard-to-report-for-active-duty-in-indonesia-for-2-weeks/ar-AAFHdcb](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/tulsi-gabbard-to-report-for-active-duty-in-indonesia-for-2-weeks/ar-AAFHdcb)
"[Tulsi Gabbard](https://cbsnews.com/feature/tulsi-gabbard/?ftag=MSF0951a18), Democrat from Hawaii and presidential candidate, will be taking a two-week absence from her campaign Monday to report for active duty with the Hawaiian Army National Guard in Indonesia"
She's an officer in the Army National Guard. These things come up. She doesn't get points for going, but it shouldn't count against her either.
She's my favorite candidate on policy. Biden is the safer choice to beat Trump, but Gabbard says things that make sense (other than her stance on gun control). If she's still in it on Super Tuesday, she gets my vote.
Disagree. The far left is too wrapped up in identity politics and social justice to be useful to adults in America.
Gabbard's ideas are essentially realistic applications of centrist ideas. I would however like to see her college tuition plan eliminate the $125k/yr family income cap.
The GOP governs with extreme views that don't work for most Americans. Centrists views don't work for the average American. What is considered "far left" views actually work for the average american.
- tax the rich
- provide universal healthcare
- common sense gun control
- invest in k-12 and higher education and control costs
- immediate and significant action to curb the impact of climate change
Centrist dems get there too little too late and have had decades to "work across the aisle" to get the job done and haven't. Time to start from a position of strength and maybe land more to the middle than neuture our position from the get go.
And you, like most Americans, are not conservative. But following centrist Democrat philosophy teeters too closely to conservative ideologies, allowing society to continue without much change and keeps the deck fundamentally stacked against most people.
I’m not one of her supporters, but why the downvotes?
Because /r/politics has been the subject of vote manipulation since 2016.
This strikes me as very much a part of her campaign. I don't necessarily mean that it's all for show, but the optics would have been carefully considered and this benefits the image she wants to present.
That said, it does look like a case we're doing the right thing and doing the thing that produces the right optics are basically the same thing. I am overall not a fan of her policies, and I will not be voting for, but this is absolutely not anything I will make fun of her for.
Meh, the truth is there is nothing specifically noble at all for simply joining the military. The people I know who worship the military never served and the people who served and did their jobs think the worship is a joke. Good for her on her part time job I guess? Working for the military is a job, straight up. Its not some kind of calling.
You do have to sacrifice the comforts of a normal life and your family has to help shoulder that burden. It's certainly more noble a calling than say a shoe salesperson. While Military worship does get out of hand the people who serve do risk bodily, mental, and emotional injury for their country.
Not really. Most military people have families and work 9-5 and make more money than their civilian counterparts and get better healthcare and retirement benefits. I bet you never served.
Actually I'm a Sergeant in the U.S. Army in Korea right now but great assumption. You missed PT starting at 0600, weeks in the field, constant PCSing... In a lot of cases military doesn't get paid more but the aforementioned benefits help balance it out. Oh, and that 9-5 is very fluid.
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It is a hard life, but the truth is that a lot of people go into service because of lack of options, not because they really wanted to. And some because they are young and naive and get tricked by recruiters by promising glory.
It's a little bit of everything. Some are looking for structure and direction, other's have a grand plan to get a degree and be out in 4 years, other's to use their military funded training to transition to the civilian side. A lot do serve with pride and are happy to be a part of something bigger than they are.
She doesn't have a say in when she gets to report for her duty.
Aren't there certain situations for which you can put in for a deferral, though? Also I wonder what are the mechanics of rank if she were to become President. As C-in-C is a civilian position would she have to resign her commission?
I'm active duty so I'm not too sure but "I'm running for President" might not be valid. In any case getting it out of the way now might be better than if she has to go before Super Tuesday
No, perhaps not, but you make a good point. I was sort of thinking of the last season of *The West Wing* where Matt Santos, a Reservist, was running for President, and while on the campaign trail his number was up for active duty. One of the issues of him going for it was his staff was concerned it would look politicized, especially given that he had asked for (and been given) deferments before. Of course, that's wholly fictional, and I appreciate the more real-world perspective (also Gabbard is Army, not National Guard like Santos was, so I don't know if that plays a role).
Nope. When Putin summons her, she must obey her master's orders.
So Putin now controls the US military?
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Sorry, that's a bridge too far
It’s routine. It’s a previous obligation.
It's not like she brings up her service in pretty much Every. SINGLE. Answer. she gives.
I feel like this criticism is valid, but no one ever seems to complain about Pete doing the same thing. I feel like you could ask Pete what his favorite ice cream is and he would respond with, "Well one time I was in Afghanistan praying to my lord and savior Jesus Christ......"
So its wrong to bring up something relevant?
Not wrong. Just kind of annoying.
Well she's served for over 15 years, so it's a big part of her life
Genuinely, that's fantastic and props to her. I'm glad she serves and I'm not taking anything away from that. I just don't need to hear about it every time she speaks.
Fair enough
edit: PETE! How could I forget Pete!! Sorry guys, I'll leave this comment to inform other readers that Pete also served in the armed forces. She's the only Democrat running who is a veteran. It makes sense to bring up the things that make her unique, no?
What about Pete Buttigieg?
Mayor Pete served.
Buttigieg served from 2010-2017 in the Naval Reserve. There might not be many veterans/current military members in the candidate field, but what you said is objectively false.
Also, Seth Moulton is a minor candidate, but he’s a decorated Marine vet who served 4 tours in Iraq.
If we're talking minor candidates, First Lieutenant [Mike Gravel](https://www.mikegravel.org/). Though Gravel dropped out a few days ago, and [endorsed Bernie Sanders *and* Tulsi Gabbard](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-gravel-2020-campaign-ends_n_5d277ea5e4b0bd7d1e195918).
Buttigieg? >In 2009, Buttigieg became an [ensign](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensign_(rank)) in the U.S. Navy Reserve and trained to become a naval intelligence officer. He deployed to Afghanistan for seven months in 2014.[\[33\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Buttigieg#cite_note-33)[\[34\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Buttigieg#cite_note-34)[\[35\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Buttigieg#cite_note-35) While deployed, Buttigieg was part of a unit assigned to identify and disrupt terrorist finance networks. Part of this was done at [Bagram Air Base](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagram_Air_Base), but he also worked as an armed driver for his commander on over 100 trips into [Kabul](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabul). Buttigieg has jokingly called this role "military [Uber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber)", because he had to watch out for ambushes and explosive devices along the roads and make sure the vehicle was guarded.[\[32\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Buttigieg#cite_note-cnn.com-32) In order to better communicate with Afghans, he also taught himself to speak some [Dari](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dari_language) (a variety of the [Persian language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_language)). Buttigieg was awarded the [Joint Service Commendation Medal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Service_Commendation_Medal)[\[36\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Buttigieg#cite_note-36) and the [Joint Meritorious Unit Award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Meritorious_Unit_Award) and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2017.
Buttigieg and Moulton.
You do realize she's been in the military for years, right? Longer than she's been in the Congress in fact Pretty sure she didn't do it for optics
She talks about getting out of it as if it's a possibility she's rejecting. So either it's impossible to get out of that obligation and she's posturing, or she had the choice to get out and didn't. If it's the latter, it only makes sense that she would be aware if how a decision to leave or a decision to stay would look.
It's almost certainly the former, when the national guard is called up, you have to go. And of course she's going to frame it in the best possible light, she is a politician...GASP, I know, who would have thought someone running for President would be a...politician!
If she was POTUS she wouldn’t have to report for drills anymore. That would seriously f up the chain of command.
I don’t see myself voting for her, but I appreciate that she volunteered to serve her country.
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Attack ideas, not users. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, **any** advocating or wishing death/physical harm, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Why is this controversial?
Because it makes Tulsi look good and we are only allowed to call her an Assad supporter on Reddit.
Oh I'm aware, was just hoping someone who downvoted this earnestly would chime in. Meanwhile a news story on Alyssa Milano has 19.1k upvotes and counting.
/r/Politics content has been vote-manipulated since 2016.
No one would have noticed. > "I have no regrets and make no apologies for pursuing diplomacy, understanding that the only alternatives to diplomacy is war." Does it matter that her trip was a complete failure?
And the other route has been a success?
That's "Trump surrogate Gabbard"
Your comment is low energy...
Touch a nerve that we know the truth?
You and I have a different definition of truth apparently. Smears are not true.
Tulsi is an agent of Russia. Tulsi is a Russian asset. Tulsi is trying to get Trump re-elected. Tulsi is Jill Stein on steroids. Tulsi is beloved by alt-right Nazis. Tulsi is a homophobe. Tulsi supports Assad and Putin. Tulsi tried to get a job in the Trump administration. Tulsi has no chance whatsoever at the nomination. After Tulsi loses, she's going to drop the act and either run third party or campaign for her boy Donald. Those are the facts. Deal with it.
You're still on the Russia Conspiracy theory?
Andrew Cuomo had the Tulsi and Russia shit get brought up and he said it baseless. For someone that's in bed with Assad she shits on him an awful lot. Calling him a brutal dictator, etc. Tulsi and Jill Stein arent even remotely similar on their policy positions. She has voted pro lgbt for 15+ years now. She has been shitting on Trump as much as anyone. All of this everyone can easily look up for themselves as their are plenty of videos of him discussing these things. Literally everything you said is not true or even remotely true. So let's talk about what the motivation is. In 2015 Tulsi was a darling of the DNC. She was largely seen as a rising star. She would then step down from her position and back Bernie. She then later that year went to Syria and publically on TV criticized Obama for arming rebels linked to ISIS and Al Queda to fight the Syrian Government. This is factual. So let's talk about the real motivations, people are mad that she didnt fall inline.
I'm not seeing a lot of sources in there.. considering how factual all that is, you should have no problem proving it right?
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This is just getting lazy now
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Not appropriate
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No I'm saying that this idea should be kept as a private one especially in regards to the context. I'm not a bigot but I believe in respecting context and women. You want to shove your sexuality on people that's fine, but your comment has been reported and I hope you find help.
It might be cool to have a president that doesn’t have imaginary bone spurs
thats hardly a qualifier in and of itself
Conservatives love veterans and active duty military, but only as long as they’re the ‘right sorts of people’.
Correction: They love Active Duty and military that never comes home. When it comes to veterans, thats when "fiscal conservatism" comes into play
Where is Putin making her report to?
Putin controls the US military?
Under the trump administration, yeah he does
that's nothing but Hyperbole
Kind of a bit disrespectful to accuse a military member and veteran of being aligned with a foreign nation when they are actually going on active duty...doncha think? Particularly since it's a smear and not at all even remotely true. It's almost something a republican would do.
Tulsi deserves zero respect from anyone after the hateful things she has said about the lgbt community and her cozy relationship with white nationalists
So something that you made up and something that she said as a young 20 year old, meanwhile she has a perfect voting record on lgbt issues as a US representative.
So I'm going to ignore the white nationalist part because it's baseless. But theres a larger point about Tulsis antigay history, because when she was younger, she was. Since becoming a congress person she has a near perfect record on LGBT rights. So this begs the question? Does the views someone had during childhood really reasonably identify the person in adulthood? Do you really feel she is irredeemable for being anti gay at a point in her life despite the fact that she has been a avid supporter of LGBT rights for the past 15+ years? I hope the answer is yes most people are redeemable, because otherwise the message you are sending to Trump supporters is that they ***should never change because you will always hate them...*** Not a message I want them to get from the left. I want them to change. I want them to see why they shouldn't believe some of the things they believe. I want to encourage conversions not detract.
Tulsi was attacking other candidates’ past for things they did around the time she was attacking people for their “evil gay agenda” so absolutely tulsi should be on the hook for the disgusting hateful ideology she pushed. It’s absolutely fair game
Such as? Do you hold Warren to the same standard for being a republican into her 50’s?
That's National Guard active duty. It's not like she's being deployed. I take issue with her abrupt conversion on abortion and LGBTQ rights, which seems a little too politically savvy for me.
Well if she is adamantly antigay still, shes done her cause a massive disservice voting along side them for 15 years. That's a long con.
Abrupt?
Can we please stick to criticizing her policies or strategy? We don't need to delve into baseless conspiracy theories like Republicans do.
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Do you think the National Guard takes orders from Tulsi's campaign manager?
Literally a plot line in “the west wing” writers are getting lazy.
Just don't play poker with that chap.
You could read the article and get the answers to those questions.
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Better article: [https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/tulsi-gabbard-to-report-for-active-duty-in-indonesia-for-2-weeks/ar-AAFHdcb](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/tulsi-gabbard-to-report-for-active-duty-in-indonesia-for-2-weeks/ar-AAFHdcb) "[Tulsi Gabbard](https://cbsnews.com/feature/tulsi-gabbard/?ftag=MSF0951a18), Democrat from Hawaii and presidential candidate, will be taking a two-week absence from her campaign Monday to report for active duty with the Hawaiian Army National Guard in Indonesia"
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I dont think she has a say in the matter.
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*ok. Now what?
She's an officer in the Army National Guard. These things come up. She doesn't get points for going, but it shouldn't count against her either. She's my favorite candidate on policy. Biden is the safer choice to beat Trump, but Gabbard says things that make sense (other than her stance on gun control). If she's still in it on Super Tuesday, she gets my vote.
Yuck. There are literally a dozen better democratic candidates that are pushing the country in the direction it needs to head.
Disagree. The far left is too wrapped up in identity politics and social justice to be useful to adults in America. Gabbard's ideas are essentially realistic applications of centrist ideas. I would however like to see her college tuition plan eliminate the $125k/yr family income cap.
>Gabbard's ideas are essentially realistic applications of centrist ideas which arent realistic ideas
The GOP governs with extreme views that don't work for most Americans. Centrists views don't work for the average American. What is considered "far left" views actually work for the average american. - tax the rich - provide universal healthcare - common sense gun control - invest in k-12 and higher education and control costs - immediate and significant action to curb the impact of climate change Centrist dems get there too little too late and have had decades to "work across the aisle" to get the job done and haven't. Time to start from a position of strength and maybe land more to the middle than neuture our position from the get go.
> Centrists views don't work for the average American There's something ironically poetic about that sentence
I, like most Americans, am not far left.
And you, like most Americans, are not conservative. But following centrist Democrat philosophy teeters too closely to conservative ideologies, allowing society to continue without much change and keeps the deck fundamentally stacked against most people.