As Rand Celebrates, Mitch and Bernie Vote Against Tulsi - For the Same Reason

#12 There is no daylight between Senators McConnell and Sanders when it comes to new DNI Gabbard.

Gage Skidmore

Once upon a time, America had “progressives.”

They were anti-war, defenders of civil liberties, distrustful of the intelligence community and really hated George W. Bush.

Democrat Tulsi Gabbard was one of them. She ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 precisely to highlight these issues.

Obviously, many of her fellow progressives liked her. So did many libertarians.

This is nothing new.

Historically, progressives and libertarians have found common cause on matters of war, peace and constitutional liberties.

One of Ron Paul’s closest friends and allies during his time in Congress was progressive Democrat, Dennis Kucinich, for the same reasons I’ve cited here.

In fact, both now retired from Congress, they’ve remained friends to this day.

It’s no secret that Ron Paul’s son, Republican Sen. Rand Paul, is also a libertarian.

When Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed as President Donald Trump’s new Director of National Intelligence on Wednesday, Sen. Paul celebrated her victory and congratulated her.

Sen. Paul voted with every other Republican to confirm Gabbard, except one.

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell.

A longtime loyal defender of the Washington establishment, the former GOP Senate leader has always guarded federal agencies, particularly the defense and intelligence communities, against anyone who might challenge or expose them.

The DNI has authority over all of American intelligence agencies.

There was no way McConnell was over going to vote for Gabbard - despite her being an Army veteran, despite her being a former member of Congress - because the entire purpose of Trump choosing her is to challenge the status quo.

She’s a reformer, the exact opposite of what McConnell and his federal agency friends want.

Libertarians like Ron Paul and Rand Paul, along with the remnant of progressives of old, like Dennis Kucinich and journalist Glenn Greenwald, look forward to seeing what Gabbard might accomplish.

But if all Republicans except one voted to confirm Tulsi, ALL Democrats voted against her.

Including Bernie Sanders.

But isn’t Sanders a progressive?

He used to be.

Functionally, he’s now not much different from McConnell.