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Aunt Mary Ann

Aunt Mary Ann, when feeling the aches and pains of her age, used to smilingly announce to me that “young is better.” Yeah but NOT necessarily. On Saturday I said that I want younger candidates for president.  I do but that’s NOT enough. Duh!

Take, fer instance, Tulsi Gabbard, the 37 year old Hawaiian Congresswoman who’s running for pres. She has a difficult past to say the very least.

During her career she’s been rabidly anti-LGBT rights and pro-conversion therapy (proud of it too), she’s praised vile authoritarian leaders such as Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and come out, even more astoundingly, as pro-torture.

Although ardently anti-interventionist, she has described herself as a hawk when it comes to terrorism. She’s also been praised by former KKK grand wizard David Duke, white supremacist Richard Spencer and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. (source)

Gabbard has introduced the Stop Arming Terrorists Act. Looks good but where does she stand on domestic terrorism, a MUCH bigger problem here in the once good ol’ US of A?

Crickets.

She’s made some righteous votes while a congresscritter and does have some very good positions along with the hideously heartless and assholic ones. Gabbard’s heinous LGBT positions have evolved. BUT can she convince enough people that she’s NOT a friend to autocrats, a knee-jerk Torture Tessie and no longer a mudslinging, delusional homophobe?

Meanwhile, Hawaii state Sen. Kai Kahele officially announced today that he plans to run for the congressional seat occupied by U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, setting up a potential 2020 Democratic primary challenge for Gabbard early on as she embarks on her bid for president. 

Gabbard may be out of a job soon.

And then there’s Pete Buttigieg,  the 37 year old former Naval Intelligence Officer and, now, mayor of South Bend, Indiana. (his last name, by the by, is pronounced Boo-tuh-judge or Buddha-judge – you're welcome :)

On paper, Buttigieg is impressive. The son of an immigrant father from Malta, Buttigieg graduated from Harvard, earned a Rhodes Scholarship, and worked as a consultant at McKinsey before moving back home to Indiana at age 29 to become the mayor of South Bend, making him the youngest mayor of a city with more than 100,000 people. While still serving his first term, Buttigieg took a seven-month leave of office to serve with the Naval Reserve in Afghanistan in 2015. Less than a year later, Buttigieg came out as gay. Buttigieg’s sexuality didn’t stop South Bend voters from re-electing him to a second term with more than 80 percent of the vote. (source)

Pete’s into increasing the minimum wage, wants Medicare for all and he’s revitalizing the hell outta South Bend (can he do the same for this whole, sad, blighted country?). Buttigieg’s also part of the Christian Left. Oh yeah, he's also a happily married gay dude.

I like him!