Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii has announced that she will run for U.S. president in 2020.
An Army National Guard veteran, Gabbard was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012. She is the first Hindu ever elected to Congress; and one of the first two female combat veterans ever to serve in Congress.
She will be 39 on Inauguration Day in 2021, which if elected would make her the youngest president in American history.
According to the website Vox, Gabbard “seems likely to run as an economic and social progressive, similar to [Bernie] Sanders on domestic policy in many respects.”
Speaking to CNN about her candidacy, she said, “There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision. There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I'm concerned about and that I want to help solve.”
She then listed health care access for all Americans, criminal justice reform and climate change as key platform issues. She has also talked about Wall Street reform and says a central issue is that of “war and peace.”
Tulsi Gabbard describes herself as a “Vaishnava Hindu” and is a devotee of Lord Krishna. In 2013, she was the first Congresswoman to swear in using the Bhagavad-gita.
“I chose to take the oath of office with my personal copy of the Bhagavad-gita because its teachings have inspired me to strive to be a servant-leader, dedicating my life in the service of others and to my country,” said Gabbard after the swearing-in ceremony. “My Gita has been a tremendous source of inner peace and strength through many tough challenges in life, including being in the midst of death and turmoil while serving our country in the Middle East.”
Tulsi Gabbard again took her oath of office on the Bhagavad-gita in 2017 while being re-elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
During her annual holiday greetings for Janmashtami and Diwali, she often mentions the importance of spiritual values.
“Diwali is a time of spiritual renewal,” she said in 2017, “Observed not only as a fun holiday, but as a time to celebrate the victory of light over darkness, truth over untruth and righteousness over wrong. As we gather for the beautiful Festival of Lights this year, we reflect on the opportunity each of us has to overcome our differences with one another and find ways to be of service to others.”
And in her Janmashatami 2018 address, she said, “The Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna is the reservoir of all happiness. So if we want to be happy, we need to be connected with Him. And he gives us so many ways to do this. By hearing His instructions through scripture, we can be connected with Him. By hearing of His pastimes when He appeared in this world some 5000 years ago, we can be connected with Him. By hearing and glorifying any of His countless names, we can be connected with Him. And by engaging our time, energy, and skills in the loving service of God and all His children, we can be connected with Him.
“So if we want to be truly happy, all we need to do is think about how can we dedicate our actions, our lives, to pleasing God. Then we can actually achieve the highest happiness – a happiness that’s impossible to attain in any other way.”
On September 13th, 2016, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard attended the ISKCON 50thAnniversary Gala Event in Washington D.C., along with many other vips including government representatives, political leaders, religious leaders, and academics.
As the Keynote Speaker for the evening, Gabbard spoke of her personal appreciation for ISKCON’s Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada, 19thCentury Vaishnava teacher Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur, and the teachings of 19thCentury saint and avatra Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Quoting Mahaprabhu’s Siksastakam prayers, she said that Vaishnavism is not sectarian, but that it appreciates the religious sentiment and expression of all people. She also offered her gratitude to Srila Prabhupada for bringing the Vaishnava tradition from India to the West and then all over the world.
She closed her talk with appreciation of the chanting of the Holy Names of God, as taught by many of the world’s religious traditions. “By coming together and singing the names of God, we can reawaken that love for God that lies dormant in our hearts, and our natural affection for each other,” she said. “Motivated by this love and compassion, we can then use our own lives to work for the wellbeing of others.”
Inspired by these convictions, Gabbard has promised to be a leader who puts service toothers as her priority, whether she remains a member of Congress, or someday occupies the White House.
Comments
This is in response to Kristian Timmerman's comment:
Yes, Wikipedia is not reliable, since anyone can edit it at any time. But here are clear references, right from the sources:
Here is the link from the Planned Parenthood organization (America's #1 abortion), rating Tulsi Gabbard at 100% approval: https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/congressional-scorecard#/HI... And, here is a link on Tulsi Gabbard's own website showing the endorsement from Planned Parenthood: https://www.votetulsi.com/endorsements
And, as for my mention of Gabbard voting against a proposal banning abortion after 20 weeks: that is U.S. House Bill 36 (HR36), the "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act". The link from the official U.S. Congress website which shows that Gabbard voted against this important bill is here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2015/roll223.xml . If Tulsi Gabbard were President, and this bill was presented to her to sign into law, would she veto it? Judging by her clear voting record, it certainly seems so. As President, would she nominate a Supreme Court candidate who is against abortion or for it?
Furthermore, on her own website (at https://www.votetulsi.com/node/25035 ) that "Tulsi is committed to defending a woman’s right to choose, which government has no place infringing on. She has a 100% voting record with both Planned Parenthood and NARAL."
Now, "Woman's right to choose" does not refer to a "woman's right to choose what brand of automobile to buy"; it is a euphemism which means a "woman's right to kill her unborn child". And her statement that "no place infringing upon" sound like the current trend of "no restrictions on abortion" (as was recently passed in New York State, where a woman can kill her unborn child at any time, for any reason, even for frivolous reasons).
So her position on this abortion is quite clear, there is no fake news here, there is no speculation. And Srila Prabhupada's position is quite clear on abortion. See: https://krishna.org/prabhupada-on-abortion/ Whose opinion is more important, Tulsi Gabbard or Srila Prabhupada?
Why does Tulsi Gabbard so vigorously support behind abortion? Yes, it is the official Democratic Party Platform ( https://democrats.org/about/party-platform/ ), but there is an organization, Democrats for Life ( https://www.democratsforlife.org/ ) say that 1 in 3 Democrats oppose abortion. In fact, some Democrats supported the "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act". But Tulsi Gabbard approves of abortion beyond 20 weeks, or abortion at any time.
Yes, Krishna is in charge, He is always in charge: not a blade of grass moves without the sanction of the Supreme. So it is not incorrect to say that it was Krishna's will that Trump was elected.
Kali Yuga progresses gradually downward, and does so by religious principles becoming watered down. Everything you do, you have two choices: does this act enhance dharma or does it cause the world to plunge further into chaos? How does supporting abortion enhance dharma? It doesn't. In fact, is a symptom of the degradation of Kali Yuga:
"In this sinful age of Kali, people have even taken to the process of killing the child in the womb. This is the most degraded practice; it can only perpetuate the miserable material conditions of those who perform it." -- Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam 5.17.12 purport.
I am very, very disappointed that she is pro-abortion. According to Wikipedia:
1) Gabbard holds two 100% lifetime ratings from both The Planned Parenthood action fund and NARAL Pro-Choice America indicating a strong pro-choice stance." "Pro-choice" is a euphemism meaning "supporting killing of an unborn child".
2) Gabbard has voted against a proposal banning abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy. So she supports killing the unborn after the 20th week.
So, a Vaishnava is not supposed to give distress to even an ant. But it is acceptable to kill an unborn child?