As a retired Army Officer myself, I too watched Ms Gabbard's hearings due to my opinion that she did not have the background nor the experience & any training to hold this position. Maybe had she performed several other duties in intelligence to work her way there, then there is a good maybe to her qualifications. Much had been said from the first Trump administration about his disdain for the briefings, for whatever reason. He may have chose her for this job due to his need to have pure loyalists in each job. Say what you will about Obama; he had folks in these jobs who were not afraid to tell him he was wrong. He was more interested in qualifications and abilities than any other attribute. McBeth did a pretty fair job of maintaining the middle road here and going into the details.
Getting appointed by Trump is the kiss of death. It's like he nominates people to remove them from elected office then take them out the limelite by shaming them into obscurity. He offers his enemies opportunities they can't refuse, gives em enough rope to hang themselves, then cashiers them out in public humiliation. This is how he purged the GOP to his liking the last term. He learned a new skillset on drumming people out by doing it a full decade on reality TV. Jeff Sessions who? What's a Reince Priebus? He already purged Gaetz from congress before ever going into office this term. Who's gonna sweat it out by the end of the year?
Why do so many of these self-professed libertarians spout Kremlin talking points? I don’t see how you make the jump from von Hayek and Friedman to anti-American conspiracy theories and shilling for authoritarians.
They seem to forget, or completely ignore, the fact lots of other countries couldn't care less about not being the aggressor. I get it. But wishing the world was more libertarian isn't going to make it true. I believe we can't afford to act like it is.
Maybe because not all of the Kremlin's talking points are wrong?
If Russia wanted to ally with Canada, would the USA have a problem with that? Why should we think Russia has no right to concern by Ukraine joining NATO?
Only stupid people ignore everything but their preferred narrative.
The term each DNI has served under different presidents since 2004 is interesting. So are the terms of DCIs prior to 2004. Trump has already gone through 2 this go-around. As much as I oppose Gabbard's appointment, it likely won't be a long term if appointed. Gabbard will likely end up on Fox News as a contributor, along with Hegseth and Noem by 2026. Her military career decisions contradict her political career after running for president in '20. Arguably, being nominated for DNI is a pretty good career trajectory from where she was in spring of 2020. Good report.
Thank you for this thoughtful essay. As usual, there is a lot to unpack here. My only question is why you referred to her as “Colonel”. You don’t call yourself “Sergeant”.
Do you have secret intel that she is about to open a chain of chicken restaurants?
Her military service aside, what concerns me is her political start, history.
Tulsi Gabbard has a long history of affiliations with Marxists and Marxist organizations and owes her political start, as a Democrat, to former Hawaiian First Lady Nancie Caraway, a member of this country’s largest Marxist organization, Democratic Socialists of America.
These people do not “magically” change their ideology. They deceive others into believing they have changed. Now she’s a “conservative” Republican?
With her past sympathies toward Russia, Assad, a Snowden pardon, will she help them, as one of their own, in feeding information back to Moscow?
I'd much rather see someone more qualified on the intelligence gathering and analysis front while also being able to assure me that the intel community is taking the needed steps to ensure US citizens' privacy. There's no getting around some collection of this information. If you're gathering all internet traffic in and out of Syria you'll inevitably get some from a US citizen talking to grandma about finals last week. Having confidence that data is deleted would go a long way in restoring faith.
Here’s the thing, the fact that Tulsi Gabbard is not attached to the intelligence community is a good thing, since so many bad actors are members of that intelligence community. We need an outsider to reign in all the illegal activity that has been performed by the CIA and the FBI over the years. It should be mentioned that I am not a Putin puppet, that I am not a communist, but an American, and that I believe in a strong military.
I have concerns about LtCol Gabbard’s lack of intel background but all previous DNIs were longtime members of that community and I am very concerned about that community and its agenda. They have a lot of power and power is dangerous to the powerless. They can and do shape foreign policy.
Do long time members of the intel community ever push back at the various agencies reports? Do they ask the tough questions and put the heads on record, personally, as to their absolute belief as to the veracity and trust in their information?
Hell no. They are all long time friends. They belong to the same club.
The war in Iraq. The aspirin factory. The source of Covid-19?
You are asking for trouble when you hire the fox to guard the hen house.
I disagree that you cannot simultaneously believe that:
1. Putin started the war in Ukraine and...
2. The US/NATO could have done something to prevent the war in Ukraine.
What you're saying is akin to claiming that a car running you over is solely the fault of the driver of the car, while ignoring the fact that you were standing in the fucking road.
The US could have done something. Biden did the opposite by placing a moratorium on drilling. He implemented like 5 executive orders his first day in office to shore up the price of oil. Putin invade Georgia (Bush) when oil was $115 barrel, invaded Crimea (Obama) when oil was $105 a barrel, and invaded Ukraine (Biden) when oil was $95 a barrel. Putin didn't invade anyone when Trump was in office because he crashed oil (-)$15 barrel. You see Putin invades when when oil reaches a peak. It's how he hedges the impact of sanctions. I would say that Biden goaded Putin into a quagmire, something Trump didn't have the stomach to do.
Good things have happened since the invasion though. NATO now has dominance over the Baltic Sea with accession of Finland and Sweden. Europe is starting to take ownership in NATO. The Black Sea Fleet is in hiding from Ukrainian boat drones. Pipelines passing through Ukraine are shut down. Wagner Group is gone. The Russian-Shia axis of evil is smashed. Hezbollah is cut off. Assad is gone (Obama's Qatari Turkish Pipeline likely going to be built through Syria). Russia is losing it's monopoly on European energy. Russia I lost it's connection to Libya (and the rest of Africa) by exiting Syria. Israeli air tankers can now safely linger around in Northern Syria allowing an Israeli deep strike into Iran. I could go on and on. The invasion was a good thing.
Thanks for the view from both sides of your brain. I put more weight on the FISA court abuses that need to stop. That seems to have become a rubber stamp for surveillance by the DOJ, etc., and must stop or the US police agencies will lose that altogether. At this point in our history and having lived through Trump's first 4 years, I see the value of "loyalty" to the office (Not Trump, the person) and the citizens, when reporting to the president. Not loyalty to a cause, such as "Get Trump or Orange man bad". Too many of his well meaning but misguided appointees and staff swallowed the Russian/Democrat Party disinformation hook, line and sinker and were out to sabotage his efforts for the good of the country and hatred of the man. Bottom line, I am okay with some new blood and she can learn on the job. She is intelligent and quick and much better looking than you, Ryan. If she does not work out I trust he will, as usual, fire her...ASAP.
Her not working out for Trump isn't the same as her not working out for the country. She won't work out for Trump if she ISN'T loyal enough to him personally. She won't work out for the country if she IS too loyal to him personally.
Comprehensive and concise; you’ve made it easy for me. All I need to do now is refer to your video when I’m asked to discuss Col. Gabard’s qualifications. It almost feels like cheating. Thank you!
As a retired Army Officer myself, I too watched Ms Gabbard's hearings due to my opinion that she did not have the background nor the experience & any training to hold this position. Maybe had she performed several other duties in intelligence to work her way there, then there is a good maybe to her qualifications. Much had been said from the first Trump administration about his disdain for the briefings, for whatever reason. He may have chose her for this job due to his need to have pure loyalists in each job. Say what you will about Obama; he had folks in these jobs who were not afraid to tell him he was wrong. He was more interested in qualifications and abilities than any other attribute. McBeth did a pretty fair job of maintaining the middle road here and going into the details.
If the Colonel is absolutely loyal to Trump and follows orders that’s all that matters.
Agreed and one of my fav sayings is:
The only thing better than being right is knowing when you are wrong!
There are better choices out there.
She was picked by Trump, which means she is unfit for office (as are every person who would accept working for Trump).
Getting appointed by Trump is the kiss of death. It's like he nominates people to remove them from elected office then take them out the limelite by shaming them into obscurity. He offers his enemies opportunities they can't refuse, gives em enough rope to hang themselves, then cashiers them out in public humiliation. This is how he purged the GOP to his liking the last term. He learned a new skillset on drumming people out by doing it a full decade on reality TV. Jeff Sessions who? What's a Reince Priebus? He already purged Gaetz from congress before ever going into office this term. Who's gonna sweat it out by the end of the year?
Why do so many of these self-professed libertarians spout Kremlin talking points? I don’t see how you make the jump from von Hayek and Friedman to anti-American conspiracy theories and shilling for authoritarians.
They seem to forget, or completely ignore, the fact lots of other countries couldn't care less about not being the aggressor. I get it. But wishing the world was more libertarian isn't going to make it true. I believe we can't afford to act like it is.
Maybe because not all of the Kremlin's talking points are wrong?
If Russia wanted to ally with Canada, would the USA have a problem with that? Why should we think Russia has no right to concern by Ukraine joining NATO?
Only stupid people ignore everything but their preferred narrative.
Strategically, some "leaders" enjoy:
1. Chaos - shaking it up
2. Abhor the "group think", thus...
3. Frequently taking a contrarian view
Your reasoned analysis is refreshing and direct to the point. Keep fighting the good fight.
The term each DNI has served under different presidents since 2004 is interesting. So are the terms of DCIs prior to 2004. Trump has already gone through 2 this go-around. As much as I oppose Gabbard's appointment, it likely won't be a long term if appointed. Gabbard will likely end up on Fox News as a contributor, along with Hegseth and Noem by 2026. Her military career decisions contradict her political career after running for president in '20. Arguably, being nominated for DNI is a pretty good career trajectory from where she was in spring of 2020. Good report.
Thank you for this thoughtful essay. As usual, there is a lot to unpack here. My only question is why you referred to her as “Colonel”. You don’t call yourself “Sergeant”.
Do you have secret intel that she is about to open a chain of chicken restaurants?
Her military service aside, what concerns me is her political start, history.
Tulsi Gabbard has a long history of affiliations with Marxists and Marxist organizations and owes her political start, as a Democrat, to former Hawaiian First Lady Nancie Caraway, a member of this country’s largest Marxist organization, Democratic Socialists of America.
These people do not “magically” change their ideology. They deceive others into believing they have changed. Now she’s a “conservative” Republican?
With her past sympathies toward Russia, Assad, a Snowden pardon, will she help them, as one of their own, in feeding information back to Moscow?
I'd much rather see someone more qualified on the intelligence gathering and analysis front while also being able to assure me that the intel community is taking the needed steps to ensure US citizens' privacy. There's no getting around some collection of this information. If you're gathering all internet traffic in and out of Syria you'll inevitably get some from a US citizen talking to grandma about finals last week. Having confidence that data is deleted would go a long way in restoring faith.
Only 3 ODNI have had the job more than 2 years.
Here’s the thing, the fact that Tulsi Gabbard is not attached to the intelligence community is a good thing, since so many bad actors are members of that intelligence community. We need an outsider to reign in all the illegal activity that has been performed by the CIA and the FBI over the years. It should be mentioned that I am not a Putin puppet, that I am not a communist, but an American, and that I believe in a strong military.
I have concerns about LtCol Gabbard’s lack of intel background but all previous DNIs were longtime members of that community and I am very concerned about that community and its agenda. They have a lot of power and power is dangerous to the powerless. They can and do shape foreign policy.
Do long time members of the intel community ever push back at the various agencies reports? Do they ask the tough questions and put the heads on record, personally, as to their absolute belief as to the veracity and trust in their information?
Hell no. They are all long time friends. They belong to the same club.
The war in Iraq. The aspirin factory. The source of Covid-19?
You are asking for trouble when you hire the fox to guard the hen house.
I’d prefer an outsider over the fox.
This was well-done. Thank you.
I disagree that you cannot simultaneously believe that:
1. Putin started the war in Ukraine and...
2. The US/NATO could have done something to prevent the war in Ukraine.
What you're saying is akin to claiming that a car running you over is solely the fault of the driver of the car, while ignoring the fact that you were standing in the fucking road.
The US could have done something. Biden did the opposite by placing a moratorium on drilling. He implemented like 5 executive orders his first day in office to shore up the price of oil. Putin invade Georgia (Bush) when oil was $115 barrel, invaded Crimea (Obama) when oil was $105 a barrel, and invaded Ukraine (Biden) when oil was $95 a barrel. Putin didn't invade anyone when Trump was in office because he crashed oil (-)$15 barrel. You see Putin invades when when oil reaches a peak. It's how he hedges the impact of sanctions. I would say that Biden goaded Putin into a quagmire, something Trump didn't have the stomach to do.
Good things have happened since the invasion though. NATO now has dominance over the Baltic Sea with accession of Finland and Sweden. Europe is starting to take ownership in NATO. The Black Sea Fleet is in hiding from Ukrainian boat drones. Pipelines passing through Ukraine are shut down. Wagner Group is gone. The Russian-Shia axis of evil is smashed. Hezbollah is cut off. Assad is gone (Obama's Qatari Turkish Pipeline likely going to be built through Syria). Russia is losing it's monopoly on European energy. Russia I lost it's connection to Libya (and the rest of Africa) by exiting Syria. Israeli air tankers can now safely linger around in Northern Syria allowing an Israeli deep strike into Iran. I could go on and on. The invasion was a good thing.
Thanks for the view from both sides of your brain. I put more weight on the FISA court abuses that need to stop. That seems to have become a rubber stamp for surveillance by the DOJ, etc., and must stop or the US police agencies will lose that altogether. At this point in our history and having lived through Trump's first 4 years, I see the value of "loyalty" to the office (Not Trump, the person) and the citizens, when reporting to the president. Not loyalty to a cause, such as "Get Trump or Orange man bad". Too many of his well meaning but misguided appointees and staff swallowed the Russian/Democrat Party disinformation hook, line and sinker and were out to sabotage his efforts for the good of the country and hatred of the man. Bottom line, I am okay with some new blood and she can learn on the job. She is intelligent and quick and much better looking than you, Ryan. If she does not work out I trust he will, as usual, fire her...ASAP.
Her not working out for Trump isn't the same as her not working out for the country. She won't work out for Trump if she ISN'T loyal enough to him personally. She won't work out for the country if she IS too loyal to him personally.
Good catch on her looks over Ryan's though :)
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Ryan looks like a handsome man to me, and
he is an excellent housekeeper.
Comprehensive and concise; you’ve made it easy for me. All I need to do now is refer to your video when I’m asked to discuss Col. Gabard’s qualifications. It almost feels like cheating. Thank you!
Nicely done. You are a good man, Mr. McBeth! Fellow inhabitant of the DMV, always hope I'll run into you some day!