August 27, 2024
Dear Friends and Family,
This is the first of six segments on the researched Ideology Shift by the Democrat Party. The excerpts are from Tulsi Gabbard’s 2024 book For Love of Country, I Left the Democrat Party. Tulsi Gabbard is an Army Reserve officer with more than twenty years of service, a former member of Congress from Hawaii, and a Democrat candidate for President in 2020 along with Kamala Harris. Gabbard contends the Party abuses its power leveraging law enforcement against their opponents, undermines the rule of law, uses the long arm of government to control our lives, disregards our religious freedoms, does not uphold the 1st Amendment, invokes wokeness on the citizenry, foments racism, and undermines our families. Thus, she left the Democrat Party.
I know little about Kamala Harris and was caught by surprise with her nomination for President of the United States by the Democrat Party. So, to supplement the research on their Ideology Shift, I am going to report on what I learn about Ms. Harris in the coming weeks in the introduction to each of the next six segments. This is from a Newsweek article.
“Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination as America’s first diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) candidate for president. That’s an unpopular opinion. Democrats inherently reject any mention of the centrality of DEI to Harris’ life and career as “racist,” while scarcely hiding that it is also a highly effective means of muting a discussion of her competence, experience, and qualifications. Too many Republicans fall for that cheap ploy and avoid the subject for fear of being called “racists” by Democrats. But the fact remains, President Biden chose Harris as a running mate solely because she is a woman of color.
It did not matter that Harris’ own campaign for the 2020 Democrat presidential nomination was a miserable failure that polled in the low single digits and that she ended it before any primary due to lack of funds. It did not matter that her four years as California’s junior senator were utterly unremarkable apart from championing DEI. It did not matter that her tenure as attorney general resulted in hundreds of convictions, mostly of poor minorities, that were later overturned due to evidence withheld by her office. It did not matter that her start in public life was given to her during her during her affair with former California State Assembly Speaker Willy Brown. What mattered was that Biden badly needed Black support in the 2020 South Carolina primary and cut a sleazy backroom deal to place a Black woman on the ticket in exchange for that support.
Until just over a month ago, Kamala Harris was a bad joke – unpopular even among Democrats, with a favorability rating lower than Biden’s and a reputation among administration staffers as a deeply insecure woman who lashed out so acerbically that her vice-presidential office had a 92% turnover rate. Harris’s only major assignment as “border czar,” was an unmitigated disaster that allowed over 7.2 million illegal migrants to come into the United States after she forcefully told them on television, “Do not come.” Despite her atrocious record as border czar, Harris pledged -once elected and not now or any other time during her vice presidency – to bring the migrant crisis under control.
She scare-mongered on abortion, falsely stating that Trump will seek a national abortion ban, and on guns, pledging to restrict their use and availability despite the horrific gun crime rates in Democratic-run cities, especially in her native California.
She pledged to use lethal military force to stand up to our enemies, something the Biden/Harris administration has yet to do and certainly did not do in early 2022 when the addled president remarked that he would not react too strongly if Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, or earlier, when it tried its best to pay billions in tribute to Iran in exchange for empty promises not to complete its nuclear weapons program. With her party beset by division over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Harris promised security to Israelis and statehood to the Palestinians, again without any plan to achieve this virtually impossible goal and claimed to be ‘working around the clock’ on a ceasefire deal just days after the Biden-Harris foreign policy team yet again returned home empty-handed.
There was no sign of any critical listener on the convention floor, but voters should ask exactly where she was and what she was doing when the home, fuel, and grocery prices that she promised in her speech to reduce so drastically increased. American voters need to ask themselves whether they really know who she is, or if she even knows.”
Source: Newsweek article: Kamala Harris’s Weird Speech Had No Substance by Paul Du Quenoy 8/23/2024
Note: Harris has divulged little on any of her policy plans, except for two aspects of her economic plan. An analysis of the inflation arising from the Biden/Harris economic plan plus an analysis of her to date proposal is contained in the “Commentary” section of this blog.
Happy Learning,
Harley
Dear Friends and Family,
This is the first of six segments on the researched Ideology Shift by the Democrat Party. The excerpts are from Tulsi Gabbard’s 2024 book For Love of Country, I Left the Democrat Party. Tulsi Gabbard is an Army Reserve officer with more than twenty years of service, a former member of Congress from Hawaii, and a Democrat candidate for President in 2020 along with Kamala Harris. Gabbard contends the Party abuses its power leveraging law enforcement against their opponents, undermines the rule of law, uses the long arm of government to control our lives, disregards our religious freedoms, does not uphold the 1st Amendment, invokes wokeness on the citizenry, foments racism, and undermines our families. Thus, she left the Democrat Party.
I know little about Kamala Harris and was caught by surprise with her nomination for President of the United States by the Democrat Party. So, to supplement the research on their Ideology Shift, I am going to report on what I learn about Ms. Harris in the coming weeks in the introduction to each of the next six segments. This is from a Newsweek article.
“Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination as America’s first diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) candidate for president. That’s an unpopular opinion. Democrats inherently reject any mention of the centrality of DEI to Harris’ life and career as “racist,” while scarcely hiding that it is also a highly effective means of muting a discussion of her competence, experience, and qualifications. Too many Republicans fall for that cheap ploy and avoid the subject for fear of being called “racists” by Democrats. But the fact remains, President Biden chose Harris as a running mate solely because she is a woman of color.
It did not matter that Harris’ own campaign for the 2020 Democrat presidential nomination was a miserable failure that polled in the low single digits and that she ended it before any primary due to lack of funds. It did not matter that her four years as California’s junior senator were utterly unremarkable apart from championing DEI. It did not matter that her tenure as attorney general resulted in hundreds of convictions, mostly of poor minorities, that were later overturned due to evidence withheld by her office. It did not matter that her start in public life was given to her during her during her affair with former California State Assembly Speaker Willy Brown. What mattered was that Biden badly needed Black support in the 2020 South Carolina primary and cut a sleazy backroom deal to place a Black woman on the ticket in exchange for that support.
Until just over a month ago, Kamala Harris was a bad joke – unpopular even among Democrats, with a favorability rating lower than Biden’s and a reputation among administration staffers as a deeply insecure woman who lashed out so acerbically that her vice-presidential office had a 92% turnover rate. Harris’s only major assignment as “border czar,” was an unmitigated disaster that allowed over 7.2 million illegal migrants to come into the United States after she forcefully told them on television, “Do not come.” Despite her atrocious record as border czar, Harris pledged -once elected and not now or any other time during her vice presidency – to bring the migrant crisis under control.
She scare-mongered on abortion, falsely stating that Trump will seek a national abortion ban, and on guns, pledging to restrict their use and availability despite the horrific gun crime rates in Democratic-run cities, especially in her native California.
She pledged to use lethal military force to stand up to our enemies, something the Biden/Harris administration has yet to do and certainly did not do in early 2022 when the addled president remarked that he would not react too strongly if Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, or earlier, when it tried its best to pay billions in tribute to Iran in exchange for empty promises not to complete its nuclear weapons program. With her party beset by division over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Harris promised security to Israelis and statehood to the Palestinians, again without any plan to achieve this virtually impossible goal and claimed to be ‘working around the clock’ on a ceasefire deal just days after the Biden-Harris foreign policy team yet again returned home empty-handed.
There was no sign of any critical listener on the convention floor, but voters should ask exactly where she was and what she was doing when the home, fuel, and grocery prices that she promised in her speech to reduce so drastically increased. American voters need to ask themselves whether they really know who she is, or if she even knows.”
Source: Newsweek article: Kamala Harris’s Weird Speech Had No Substance by Paul Du Quenoy 8/23/2024
Note: Harris has divulged little on any of her policy plans, except for two aspects of her economic plan. An analysis of the inflation arising from the Biden/Harris economic plan plus an analysis of her to date proposal is contained in the “Commentary” section of this blog.
Happy Learning,
Harley
WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR COUNTRY – SEGMENT 11
FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY LEAVE THE DEMOCRAT PARTY – EXCERPTS
INTRODUCTION: Those in control of today’s Democrat Party and permanent Washington elite are leading us down a very dangerous path that threatens our freedom, democracy, and ability to thrive in a peaceful, prosperous country. We should all be alarmed when those who are driven by their insatiable hunger for power are actively undermining our democracy without caring for the short-and the long-term consequences of their actions. They are so afraid that we, the people, might make “the wrong choice” that in the name of protecting our democracy and taking away our freedom to decide who our next president should be. To make matters worse, those leading this fight really believe they’re doing the right thing.
The Democrat elite and their cronies are using our criminal justice system to prosecute and distract the Republican presidential candidate in the midst of a presidential campaign. As a result, Donald Trump currently faces 91 criminal charges in four criminal cases – 44 federal charges and 47 state charges, all felonies. They are hoping they’ll be able to convict Donald Trump of some crime – any crime – to undermine his support and thus prevent what they fear most: a second Trump presidency.
Our democracy is being destroyed by the permanent Washington elite in both political parties who truly believe they – and not the American people – have the right and duty to determine who we want to serve and lead our country. They readily dismiss the U.S. Constitution, the rule of law, and the voices of the American people, anointing themselves as the ones who have the power and justification to decide who will become president.
We can’t allow them to get away with this. Our democracy is under attack. It’s up to us to save it. We must hold those responsible accountable at the ballot box and send a strong message to leaders in both parties: those who abuse their power and undermine our democracy will not be tolerated.
I joined the Democrat Party in Hawaii in 2002 because I saw a party that, at that time, appeared to be the party of the people, a party that valued free speech, welcoming all comers into a big tent where the sharing of diverse opinions and views on issues was encouraged. It was a party that fought for civil liberties and rights. The party I joined over twenty years ago no longer exists today.
I could no longer remain in today’s Democrat Party, which is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers fueled by cowardly wokeness who divide us by racializing every issue and stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms enshrined in our Constitution, are hostile to people of faith and spirituality, demonize the police and protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans, allow our borders to remain open while claiming they are “secure,” weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents, and drag us closer to nuclear war with each passing day.
THE END OF OUR DEMOCRACY? I can no longer remain in a party that abuses its power by leveraging the national security state and law enforcement against their opponents, undermining the rule of law and turning our democracy into a banana republic.
The heart of a functioning justice system is this: If a law is going to be enforced, it should be enforced equally and fairly across the board. The Democrat elite and their propaganda arm in the media clearly do not believe in this principle; or more likely, they care more about power than they do about our country and our democracy. The blatant double standard in their application of justice is obvious. There is one standard for the Democrat elite and their cabal of friends in the media, Big Tech, and the national security state, and another standard for anyone who is not a part of their club – especially former president Donald Trump.
Democrats’ sights are set on commonsense-minded Americans from across the political spectrum who care about their children, our democracy, and our security and are not afraid to stand up against the insanity of the Democrat elite’s agenda. The Democrat elite don’t believe in free speech. They don’t believe in the full exercise of the freedoms guaranteed to every one of us under the Bill of Rights. They, and they alone, get to determine which rights we are allowed to have and which rights they will curtail to serve their interests. In curtailing those rights, they do not hesitate to use all the levers of power under their control to force compliance.
I’ve known many strong, tough people in my life, but I can’t think of a single one who could not only withstand these pressures without crumbling, but actually choose to keep fighting against the entire Washinton establishment swamp. Joe Biden would crumble under just 5% of the pressure, stress, and attacks that Trump has endured. I’ve met with Donald Trump and spoken to him at length. I’ve witnessed his heartfelt interactions away from the cameras, with veterans and friends of mine. I’ve gotten a sense for what his motives are – and they have nothing to do with what the Washington establishment accuses him of. He’s a fighter whose strength and resilience comes from a sincere concern for the future of our country and his care for the America people.
Broad Discretion: In a society that is based on law and order, we expect those entrusted to keep us safe to do their jobs. If we don’t feel safe in our homes or communities, then we no longer have the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” that the Declaration of Independence guarantees. While the Democrat elite eagerly undermine the rule of law to go after political opponent, they choose not to enforce the laws at our border to secure our country and stop illegal immigrants from entering. A president who fails to secure our nation has failed at his more fundamental responsibility.
Police Brutality Legislation: Amid the George Floyd crisis, I and others saw a unique window of opportunity to pass meaningful reforms that could help support our law enforcement and prevent the rare, but tragic, incidents of police brutality. I worked with my friend Senator Tim Scott and others on thoughtful and comprehensive police reform legislation that brought together Democrats, Republicans and criminal justice reform advocates. Not surprisingly, the House Democrats put together competing legislation, because there was no way in hell they would allow a Republican-sponsored bill on police reform to pass. That was not good politics for them, and power was (and is) more important to them than passing legislation that could lead to real positive change.
I received an email alert from the House Democratic Caucus notifying all Democrat members of an emergency conference call to discuss the legislation and the plan to move forward. The thing that stuck with me from that conference call was when the House Democrat leadership made the case for passing their legislation by saying they wanted to show their donors and supporters that they are actually ‘doing something” about police reform – omitting the fact that their legislation would be dead on arrival in the Senate and therefore would do nothing at all – it was all for show. Nothing would change. They weren’t interested in fixing the problem. All they cared about was scoring cheap political points.
FBI and DOJ abuse of power: Early one morning in September of 2022, the Biden administration sent a team of FBI agents to the home of Mark Houck, a pro-life activist who, a year earlier had been arrested for getting in a minor scuffle on the sidewalk outside an abortion clinic during a peaceful protest. A jury of Houck’s peers decided not to convict him of anything. But that didn’t matter to the Biden administration. As Houck and his children were sleeping in their beds, FBI agents barreled through the door with rifles pointed at Houck as they put him in cuffs and hauled him off. It’s clear the Biden administration did this to send a message to other peaceful pro-life protestors that if they dare to challenge the “woke” agenda of the Democrat elite, they too will be punished.
The Democrat elite have betrayed us all by undermining the rule of law, abusing this sacred trust, and turning this power into a weapon directed toward their opponents. They wield this weapon not only against anyone who directly threatens their political power by challenging them in an election, but toward everyday Americans who disagree with them or dare to speak the truth and challenge their authority. Commonsense Americans who believe in our Constitution and the vision our Founders had for America understand that the rule of law is the foundation of a functioning democracy, setting us apart from banana republics and nations ruled by tyrants.
FADING LIGHT OF FREEDOM: The Democrat elite, once dedicated to defending freedom and civil liberties, are now undermining both, acting as “Big Brother,” using the long arm of government to control every part of our lives.
Sadly, the very thing our nation’s Founders sought to protect us from is happening before our very eyes at the hands of the Democrat elite. They do not respect God, the nature of our unalienable rights, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or us – the people – and therefore they have no qualms about undermining our freedoms and civil liberties in the endless pursuit of power. I could no longer call myself a Democrat and be associated with a party that does not believe in our intrinsic freedoms and therefore cannot be trusted to protect them. There are a growing number of people who conclude that our Constitution and the First Amendment are irrelevant or worse, pose risk to their well-being.
This shift in our society is leading us to a dangerous place – where our thriving marketplace of ideas is being reduced to a silenced town square permeated with fear. More and more people feel they must self-censor rather than risk retaliation or ridicule.
On March 9, 2023, members of Congress gathered on the floor of the House of Representatives to cast their vote on the Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act. This bill was introduced largely because of the information revealed in the Twitter Files and the ongoing attempts by the Biden-Harris administration to undermine free speech by directing Big Tech to censor and silence people. You would think this bill would easily pass unanimously. Every American who values freedom should support this bill, right?
Of all the members of Congress voting that day, every Republican voted for the bill to protect free speech – and every Democrat voted against it. Their reason? The Democrat elite believe that the government has not only the right, but the responsibility, to “protect” the American people from “disinformation.” This raises the question: Who gets to say what is disinformation or information? The Democrat elite completely reject the words and spirit of the First Amendment by appointing themselves as the sole authority and decider of who shall be censored and whose voice shall be heard.
The Biden administration was aghast that a judge had the audacity to challenge their authority and uphold the First Amendment. Because of the ruling, the White House was forced to cancel previously scheduled meeting with Meta and Google where they had planned to discuss collaborating on how best to “counter domestic extremism” and ensure the 2024 election is free from “disinformation.” The Biden administration expressed in no uncertain terms that they would fight the court’s ruling because allowing the court to stop them from working with Big Tech to censor Americans would cause “great harm.”
THEY SEE GOD AS THE ENEMY: Those in control of today’s Democrat Party are actively undermining our religious freedom, trying to erase the presence of God from every facet of public life, and are openly hostile toward people of faith and spirituality. They reject the Constitution, which recognizes that our rights come from God – not from the government.
THE ELITIST CABAL: I can no longer remain in today’s Democrat Party, which is now under complete control of an elitist cabal of wokeness.
They claim to be the champions of democracy, yet they are undermining democracy. They take away our liberties in the name of saving freedom. They censor to “protect” us. They paint a target on the backs of anyone who dare to challenge their power, label them as “domestic terrorists,” and destroy them.
You Must Be a Team Player: Having studied all the evidence the Obama administration presented as they made their case to carry out an interventionist regime-change war in Syria, I publicly announced my opposition to such a war, pointing out that it would undermine our national security, safety, and interests.
The next day, I got a call from Tina Tchen, First Lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff. We had met once before but didn’t know each other well. I don’t know why the administration chose her to be the one to call me. Her voice was tense and angry. Her message was clear: How dare you? Who do you think you are? You are a freshman Democrat. How dare you go against the president of your own party, and one who is from you own home state, for gosh sakes?!
It was an accusation of betrayal – not of my country or my fellow servicemen and women, but of the Democrat Party and more personally, President Obama himself. Ms. Tchen’s problem with me was that I didn’t support the president. I wasn’t a team player.
FOMENTING RACISM: The Democrat elite dishonor Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream by tearing us apart on the basis of the color of our skin, racializing everything, promoting segregation, and fomenting anti-white racism.
Sadly, today’s Democrat elite have betrayed the memories, sacrifices, and dreams of leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, reducing us to the color of our skin, using identity politics to tear us apart for their own political gain. They support programs teaching children they are born as either “the Privileged” of “the victims,” oppressors or oppressed – an immutable trait, they say, based solely on the color of their skin. They preach anti-racism, yet they have become the racists they claim to hate. I am no longer a Democrat because I could not stomach associating myself with those who, in their blind pursuit of power, defy Dr. King’s dream, tear our country apart, foment racism, and fuel division.
It is astounding and deeply disturbing to see these influential leaders in the Democrat Party betraying the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream, fomenting divisiveness and discrimination and hate based on race. If things keep going on this way, we should not be surprised to see a rise in race-based violence in America.
Sometime in late 2018, I came across a paperback book called White Fragility. The book, which was written by an academic named Robin DiAngelo, summarized where the Democrat elite were headed, and the kind of racial transformation they were intent on exacting on our country. What I read was deeply disturbing. According to DiAngelo – who is a white woman – all white people are racist, and “anti-blackness is foundation” to white identity. As DiAngelo says in the book, there is no way for white people to “fix themselves.” She says, “a positive white identity is an impossible goal. White identity is inherently racist; white people do not exist outside the system of white supremacy.” The best a white person can hope to do, she explains, is to “strive to be less white,” because “to be less white is to be less racially oppressive.” When I read the book, I saw it for what it is – absolutely absurd.
But the Democrat elite latched onto what she was selling and chose to use her work as a road map for restructuring America into a society where race is factored into every aspect of life. To date, White Fragility has sold somewhere around 750,000 copies, and its author is raking in tens of thousands of dollars conducting “diversity seminars” at major American corporations, schools, and universities, using White Fragility as the primer. Countless people have been forced by their bosses to sit through these highly divisive seminars and be subjected to this nonsense, in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
We cannot allow the Democrat elite to foment hatred and racism in America, tearing us apart and unraveling the great progress that has been made, as a direct result of the sacrifices of leaders like John Lewis and the Reverand Martin Luther King Jr.
FAMILIES UNDER FIRE: Today’s Democrat elite are undermining our families, declaring that “the state” – rather than parents – knows what’s best for children.
The Democrat establishment, in its endless pursuit of power, is undermining the bedrock institution of the family and have declared that they know better than parents what is best for children. These elitist ridicule and fight against the freedom of parents to choose where their children go to school. They indoctrinate our children from a very young age with their narrative about systemic racism, what pronouns to use, sexual orientation, and transgender ideology. They are playing the long game, inculcating their so-called progressive agenda into our children when they’re very young, and discouraging any real challenge, questions, or critical thought. They encourage children to pursue irreversible hormone treatment and surgeries in the name of “gender-affirming care,” often without the knowledge of the child’s parents. When parents object to any of this, at a minimum they are ridiculed on social media, rebuked by the schools and teachers’ unions, threatened that their child may be forcibly removed from their care, and sometimes even targeted as “domestic terrorists” by the Biden administration.
When I was campaigning during the 2020 presidential primary, I visited rural communities across the country, many stricken with poverty. One of the most common issues raised to me by parents was how terrible the public school system was, and how they wished they had other options. They wanted the right to choose where and how to educate their child – whether it be at a charter school, special skills school, a school outside their neighborhood, or getting support to school their children at home. Why haven’t Democrat politicians picked up on this growing demand for school choice? They will not support school choice because the teacher union bosses will not allow it. Randi Weingarten, the head of the nation’s largest teacher union, said that school choice “undermines democracy.” Wow, that escalated quickly. How does providing parents the freedom to choose what education is best for their children undermine democracy, one might ask?
The problem here are the Democrat elite, which include teacher’s union bosses, who aren’t motivated by a desire to improve our kids’ education but are instead focused on gaining more power and pushing their so-called progressive value system on our kids. Instead, the Democrat elite are taking it upon themselves to do this, starting with the teaching of things like critical race theory in elementary school, which, in essence, teaches that racism is inherently a part of American society.
Of all the lies that the Biden – Harris administration has pushed on the American people, this one angers me more than most. The most vulnerable people in our society – children – are being harmed by some of the most powerful and influential people in our country, like the president of the United States, Democrats in Congress, the American Medical Association, and some of the biggest corporations in America like Target, Maybelline, and others. The propaganda media and Big Tech fulfill an essential take on behalf of the Democrat elite by amplifying their narrative and silencing any who dare to dissent, canceling accounts and censoring content that does not support their agenda, no matter how factual it is.
CLOSING: They have forgotten that the purpose of government is to be limited and defend our right to live free in the way that we choose. The solution is simple: we need leaders – Democrats, Independents, and Republicans – to uphold the Constitution and put the well-being and interests of the people first. Our Founders placed the power in the hands of the American people to decide who we want to serve in our government – our government. When Election Day comes around, cast your vote carefully. Those who don’t care about the people do not deserve the honor of serving the people in our government.
Source: For Love of Country: Leave the Democrat Party Behind by Tulsi Gabbard (2024).
The unabbreviated version of the above can be found in the pdf document below.
FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY LEAVE THE DEMOCRAT PARTY – EXCERPTS
INTRODUCTION: Those in control of today’s Democrat Party and permanent Washington elite are leading us down a very dangerous path that threatens our freedom, democracy, and ability to thrive in a peaceful, prosperous country. We should all be alarmed when those who are driven by their insatiable hunger for power are actively undermining our democracy without caring for the short-and the long-term consequences of their actions. They are so afraid that we, the people, might make “the wrong choice” that in the name of protecting our democracy and taking away our freedom to decide who our next president should be. To make matters worse, those leading this fight really believe they’re doing the right thing.
The Democrat elite and their cronies are using our criminal justice system to prosecute and distract the Republican presidential candidate in the midst of a presidential campaign. As a result, Donald Trump currently faces 91 criminal charges in four criminal cases – 44 federal charges and 47 state charges, all felonies. They are hoping they’ll be able to convict Donald Trump of some crime – any crime – to undermine his support and thus prevent what they fear most: a second Trump presidency.
Our democracy is being destroyed by the permanent Washington elite in both political parties who truly believe they – and not the American people – have the right and duty to determine who we want to serve and lead our country. They readily dismiss the U.S. Constitution, the rule of law, and the voices of the American people, anointing themselves as the ones who have the power and justification to decide who will become president.
We can’t allow them to get away with this. Our democracy is under attack. It’s up to us to save it. We must hold those responsible accountable at the ballot box and send a strong message to leaders in both parties: those who abuse their power and undermine our democracy will not be tolerated.
I joined the Democrat Party in Hawaii in 2002 because I saw a party that, at that time, appeared to be the party of the people, a party that valued free speech, welcoming all comers into a big tent where the sharing of diverse opinions and views on issues was encouraged. It was a party that fought for civil liberties and rights. The party I joined over twenty years ago no longer exists today.
I could no longer remain in today’s Democrat Party, which is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers fueled by cowardly wokeness who divide us by racializing every issue and stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms enshrined in our Constitution, are hostile to people of faith and spirituality, demonize the police and protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans, allow our borders to remain open while claiming they are “secure,” weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents, and drag us closer to nuclear war with each passing day.
THE END OF OUR DEMOCRACY? I can no longer remain in a party that abuses its power by leveraging the national security state and law enforcement against their opponents, undermining the rule of law and turning our democracy into a banana republic.
The heart of a functioning justice system is this: If a law is going to be enforced, it should be enforced equally and fairly across the board. The Democrat elite and their propaganda arm in the media clearly do not believe in this principle; or more likely, they care more about power than they do about our country and our democracy. The blatant double standard in their application of justice is obvious. There is one standard for the Democrat elite and their cabal of friends in the media, Big Tech, and the national security state, and another standard for anyone who is not a part of their club – especially former president Donald Trump.
Democrats’ sights are set on commonsense-minded Americans from across the political spectrum who care about their children, our democracy, and our security and are not afraid to stand up against the insanity of the Democrat elite’s agenda. The Democrat elite don’t believe in free speech. They don’t believe in the full exercise of the freedoms guaranteed to every one of us under the Bill of Rights. They, and they alone, get to determine which rights we are allowed to have and which rights they will curtail to serve their interests. In curtailing those rights, they do not hesitate to use all the levers of power under their control to force compliance.
I’ve known many strong, tough people in my life, but I can’t think of a single one who could not only withstand these pressures without crumbling, but actually choose to keep fighting against the entire Washinton establishment swamp. Joe Biden would crumble under just 5% of the pressure, stress, and attacks that Trump has endured. I’ve met with Donald Trump and spoken to him at length. I’ve witnessed his heartfelt interactions away from the cameras, with veterans and friends of mine. I’ve gotten a sense for what his motives are – and they have nothing to do with what the Washington establishment accuses him of. He’s a fighter whose strength and resilience comes from a sincere concern for the future of our country and his care for the America people.
Broad Discretion: In a society that is based on law and order, we expect those entrusted to keep us safe to do their jobs. If we don’t feel safe in our homes or communities, then we no longer have the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” that the Declaration of Independence guarantees. While the Democrat elite eagerly undermine the rule of law to go after political opponent, they choose not to enforce the laws at our border to secure our country and stop illegal immigrants from entering. A president who fails to secure our nation has failed at his more fundamental responsibility.
Police Brutality Legislation: Amid the George Floyd crisis, I and others saw a unique window of opportunity to pass meaningful reforms that could help support our law enforcement and prevent the rare, but tragic, incidents of police brutality. I worked with my friend Senator Tim Scott and others on thoughtful and comprehensive police reform legislation that brought together Democrats, Republicans and criminal justice reform advocates. Not surprisingly, the House Democrats put together competing legislation, because there was no way in hell they would allow a Republican-sponsored bill on police reform to pass. That was not good politics for them, and power was (and is) more important to them than passing legislation that could lead to real positive change.
I received an email alert from the House Democratic Caucus notifying all Democrat members of an emergency conference call to discuss the legislation and the plan to move forward. The thing that stuck with me from that conference call was when the House Democrat leadership made the case for passing their legislation by saying they wanted to show their donors and supporters that they are actually ‘doing something” about police reform – omitting the fact that their legislation would be dead on arrival in the Senate and therefore would do nothing at all – it was all for show. Nothing would change. They weren’t interested in fixing the problem. All they cared about was scoring cheap political points.
FBI and DOJ abuse of power: Early one morning in September of 2022, the Biden administration sent a team of FBI agents to the home of Mark Houck, a pro-life activist who, a year earlier had been arrested for getting in a minor scuffle on the sidewalk outside an abortion clinic during a peaceful protest. A jury of Houck’s peers decided not to convict him of anything. But that didn’t matter to the Biden administration. As Houck and his children were sleeping in their beds, FBI agents barreled through the door with rifles pointed at Houck as they put him in cuffs and hauled him off. It’s clear the Biden administration did this to send a message to other peaceful pro-life protestors that if they dare to challenge the “woke” agenda of the Democrat elite, they too will be punished.
The Democrat elite have betrayed us all by undermining the rule of law, abusing this sacred trust, and turning this power into a weapon directed toward their opponents. They wield this weapon not only against anyone who directly threatens their political power by challenging them in an election, but toward everyday Americans who disagree with them or dare to speak the truth and challenge their authority. Commonsense Americans who believe in our Constitution and the vision our Founders had for America understand that the rule of law is the foundation of a functioning democracy, setting us apart from banana republics and nations ruled by tyrants.
FADING LIGHT OF FREEDOM: The Democrat elite, once dedicated to defending freedom and civil liberties, are now undermining both, acting as “Big Brother,” using the long arm of government to control every part of our lives.
Sadly, the very thing our nation’s Founders sought to protect us from is happening before our very eyes at the hands of the Democrat elite. They do not respect God, the nature of our unalienable rights, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or us – the people – and therefore they have no qualms about undermining our freedoms and civil liberties in the endless pursuit of power. I could no longer call myself a Democrat and be associated with a party that does not believe in our intrinsic freedoms and therefore cannot be trusted to protect them. There are a growing number of people who conclude that our Constitution and the First Amendment are irrelevant or worse, pose risk to their well-being.
This shift in our society is leading us to a dangerous place – where our thriving marketplace of ideas is being reduced to a silenced town square permeated with fear. More and more people feel they must self-censor rather than risk retaliation or ridicule.
On March 9, 2023, members of Congress gathered on the floor of the House of Representatives to cast their vote on the Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act. This bill was introduced largely because of the information revealed in the Twitter Files and the ongoing attempts by the Biden-Harris administration to undermine free speech by directing Big Tech to censor and silence people. You would think this bill would easily pass unanimously. Every American who values freedom should support this bill, right?
Of all the members of Congress voting that day, every Republican voted for the bill to protect free speech – and every Democrat voted against it. Their reason? The Democrat elite believe that the government has not only the right, but the responsibility, to “protect” the American people from “disinformation.” This raises the question: Who gets to say what is disinformation or information? The Democrat elite completely reject the words and spirit of the First Amendment by appointing themselves as the sole authority and decider of who shall be censored and whose voice shall be heard.
The Biden administration was aghast that a judge had the audacity to challenge their authority and uphold the First Amendment. Because of the ruling, the White House was forced to cancel previously scheduled meeting with Meta and Google where they had planned to discuss collaborating on how best to “counter domestic extremism” and ensure the 2024 election is free from “disinformation.” The Biden administration expressed in no uncertain terms that they would fight the court’s ruling because allowing the court to stop them from working with Big Tech to censor Americans would cause “great harm.”
THEY SEE GOD AS THE ENEMY: Those in control of today’s Democrat Party are actively undermining our religious freedom, trying to erase the presence of God from every facet of public life, and are openly hostile toward people of faith and spirituality. They reject the Constitution, which recognizes that our rights come from God – not from the government.
THE ELITIST CABAL: I can no longer remain in today’s Democrat Party, which is now under complete control of an elitist cabal of wokeness.
They claim to be the champions of democracy, yet they are undermining democracy. They take away our liberties in the name of saving freedom. They censor to “protect” us. They paint a target on the backs of anyone who dare to challenge their power, label them as “domestic terrorists,” and destroy them.
You Must Be a Team Player: Having studied all the evidence the Obama administration presented as they made their case to carry out an interventionist regime-change war in Syria, I publicly announced my opposition to such a war, pointing out that it would undermine our national security, safety, and interests.
The next day, I got a call from Tina Tchen, First Lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff. We had met once before but didn’t know each other well. I don’t know why the administration chose her to be the one to call me. Her voice was tense and angry. Her message was clear: How dare you? Who do you think you are? You are a freshman Democrat. How dare you go against the president of your own party, and one who is from you own home state, for gosh sakes?!
It was an accusation of betrayal – not of my country or my fellow servicemen and women, but of the Democrat Party and more personally, President Obama himself. Ms. Tchen’s problem with me was that I didn’t support the president. I wasn’t a team player.
FOMENTING RACISM: The Democrat elite dishonor Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream by tearing us apart on the basis of the color of our skin, racializing everything, promoting segregation, and fomenting anti-white racism.
Sadly, today’s Democrat elite have betrayed the memories, sacrifices, and dreams of leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, reducing us to the color of our skin, using identity politics to tear us apart for their own political gain. They support programs teaching children they are born as either “the Privileged” of “the victims,” oppressors or oppressed – an immutable trait, they say, based solely on the color of their skin. They preach anti-racism, yet they have become the racists they claim to hate. I am no longer a Democrat because I could not stomach associating myself with those who, in their blind pursuit of power, defy Dr. King’s dream, tear our country apart, foment racism, and fuel division.
It is astounding and deeply disturbing to see these influential leaders in the Democrat Party betraying the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream, fomenting divisiveness and discrimination and hate based on race. If things keep going on this way, we should not be surprised to see a rise in race-based violence in America.
Sometime in late 2018, I came across a paperback book called White Fragility. The book, which was written by an academic named Robin DiAngelo, summarized where the Democrat elite were headed, and the kind of racial transformation they were intent on exacting on our country. What I read was deeply disturbing. According to DiAngelo – who is a white woman – all white people are racist, and “anti-blackness is foundation” to white identity. As DiAngelo says in the book, there is no way for white people to “fix themselves.” She says, “a positive white identity is an impossible goal. White identity is inherently racist; white people do not exist outside the system of white supremacy.” The best a white person can hope to do, she explains, is to “strive to be less white,” because “to be less white is to be less racially oppressive.” When I read the book, I saw it for what it is – absolutely absurd.
But the Democrat elite latched onto what she was selling and chose to use her work as a road map for restructuring America into a society where race is factored into every aspect of life. To date, White Fragility has sold somewhere around 750,000 copies, and its author is raking in tens of thousands of dollars conducting “diversity seminars” at major American corporations, schools, and universities, using White Fragility as the primer. Countless people have been forced by their bosses to sit through these highly divisive seminars and be subjected to this nonsense, in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
We cannot allow the Democrat elite to foment hatred and racism in America, tearing us apart and unraveling the great progress that has been made, as a direct result of the sacrifices of leaders like John Lewis and the Reverand Martin Luther King Jr.
FAMILIES UNDER FIRE: Today’s Democrat elite are undermining our families, declaring that “the state” – rather than parents – knows what’s best for children.
The Democrat establishment, in its endless pursuit of power, is undermining the bedrock institution of the family and have declared that they know better than parents what is best for children. These elitist ridicule and fight against the freedom of parents to choose where their children go to school. They indoctrinate our children from a very young age with their narrative about systemic racism, what pronouns to use, sexual orientation, and transgender ideology. They are playing the long game, inculcating their so-called progressive agenda into our children when they’re very young, and discouraging any real challenge, questions, or critical thought. They encourage children to pursue irreversible hormone treatment and surgeries in the name of “gender-affirming care,” often without the knowledge of the child’s parents. When parents object to any of this, at a minimum they are ridiculed on social media, rebuked by the schools and teachers’ unions, threatened that their child may be forcibly removed from their care, and sometimes even targeted as “domestic terrorists” by the Biden administration.
When I was campaigning during the 2020 presidential primary, I visited rural communities across the country, many stricken with poverty. One of the most common issues raised to me by parents was how terrible the public school system was, and how they wished they had other options. They wanted the right to choose where and how to educate their child – whether it be at a charter school, special skills school, a school outside their neighborhood, or getting support to school their children at home. Why haven’t Democrat politicians picked up on this growing demand for school choice? They will not support school choice because the teacher union bosses will not allow it. Randi Weingarten, the head of the nation’s largest teacher union, said that school choice “undermines democracy.” Wow, that escalated quickly. How does providing parents the freedom to choose what education is best for their children undermine democracy, one might ask?
The problem here are the Democrat elite, which include teacher’s union bosses, who aren’t motivated by a desire to improve our kids’ education but are instead focused on gaining more power and pushing their so-called progressive value system on our kids. Instead, the Democrat elite are taking it upon themselves to do this, starting with the teaching of things like critical race theory in elementary school, which, in essence, teaches that racism is inherently a part of American society.
Of all the lies that the Biden – Harris administration has pushed on the American people, this one angers me more than most. The most vulnerable people in our society – children – are being harmed by some of the most powerful and influential people in our country, like the president of the United States, Democrats in Congress, the American Medical Association, and some of the biggest corporations in America like Target, Maybelline, and others. The propaganda media and Big Tech fulfill an essential take on behalf of the Democrat elite by amplifying their narrative and silencing any who dare to dissent, canceling accounts and censoring content that does not support their agenda, no matter how factual it is.
CLOSING: They have forgotten that the purpose of government is to be limited and defend our right to live free in the way that we choose. The solution is simple: we need leaders – Democrats, Independents, and Republicans – to uphold the Constitution and put the well-being and interests of the people first. Our Founders placed the power in the hands of the American people to decide who we want to serve in our government – our government. When Election Day comes around, cast your vote carefully. Those who don’t care about the people do not deserve the honor of serving the people in our government.
Source: For Love of Country: Leave the Democrat Party Behind by Tulsi Gabbard (2024).
The unabbreviated version of the above can be found in the pdf document below.
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