I was talking to my sister about my last rant — the one about who's actually pulling the strings around Trump.
She thinks it's Jared Kushner. That he's the one behind all of it.
I pushed back. I think Kushner is a pawn. A well-paid, conflict-of-interest-soaked pawn — but a pawn. He's making money. He's not making strategy.
My read? Tulsi Gabbard has a hell of a lot more to do with this than anyone's giving her credit for.
Because it's not just that she's unqualified to run the U.S. intelligence community.
It's that she was born into a cult. Raised by its leaders. Groomed for political office by its guru. And former members — people who spent years inside it — say she never actually left.
That person now controls every secret America has. And nobody's raising enough fucking hell about it.
The Science of Identity Foundation
Let's be specific. The Science of Identity Foundation is a Hawaii-based offshoot of the Hare Krishna movement, founded in the 1970s by a man named Chris Butler.
Former members describe it as an abusive cult. They describe Butler's status within the group as "akin to a god" — someone who could not be questioned, who mocked and humiliated followers publicly and called it "a form of Krishna's mercy." This guy is a piece of work. One former member wrote: "I was raised to believe Chris Butler was God's voice on Earth, and if you question him or offend him in any way, you were effectively offending God."
Tulsi Gabbard was born into this.
Her parents were among its early leaders. She attended SIF boarding schools in the Philippines as a child. She met both of her husbands through the Foundation. She carried a Bhagavad Gita — her SIF scripture — with her when she deployed to Iraq, calling it a "transcendental lifeline."
And when she described her religion in Congress, she used the phrase "transcendental Hinduism."
That exact phrase was recommended to her by Butler. The New Yorker reported it. She turned around and used it verbatim in the congressional dining room.
Her guru told her what religion to claim in public. And she did it.
She Was Groomed for This
This isn't speculation. Former members have said it plainly: Tulsi was being groomed for a political position because Chris Butler had political ambitions.
Let that sink in. A cult leader in Hawaii had political ambitions and raised a girl from birth to be his vehicle. That's fucked up. Completely fucked up.
Butler's followers launched a political party in Hawaii in 1976 — the Independents for Godly Government — and ran candidates for office without disclosing their cult ties. They explicitly claimed to have no religious affiliation. The playbook for using politics as a vehicle for the Foundation's influence is decades old and documented.
Tulsi's own aunt put it bluntly in an interview: she believes Butler has "control" over Gabbard, that her political career was Butler's idea, and that she is "not able to have the career she's worked so hard for, free and clear of Chris's toxic influence."
A former member who spent 15 years inside SIF warned members of Congress before Gabbard's confirmation that she suspected any sensitive intelligence Gabbard receives would be "communicated to her guru."
Let that fucking sit for a second.
A former insider is warning that the Director of National Intelligence — the person who controls every classified secret the U.S. government holds — may be passing information to the leader of a cult in Hawaii.
She Never Left
The Trump administration claims Gabbard has "no affiliation" with the Science of Identity Foundation.
Former members say that's impossible.
"There's claims that she left. There's no way that she left because you would know," one former member told Newsweek. "She would have been shunned. None of her family would talk to her anymore. You don't just leave without being shunned. It's a lifelong commitment."
Her entire family is still connected to the group. Her husband grew up in it too. The infrastructure of her life was built inside this organization.
You don't walk away from that and get a goddamn press release.
Now Let's Talk About the Switching
Look, I get that people change their political views. I've changed mine on things. That's called growth.
But Tulsi Gabbard has switched sides so many times she makes a seven-year-old trying to figure out what the fuck they want from McDonald's look decisive.
Democrat for two decades. Endorsed Bernie Sanders in 2016. Ran for president as a progressive in 2020. Left the Democratic Party in 2022 calling it an "elitist cabal." Became an independent. Endorsed Donald Trump. Went from opposing U.S. military involvement in foreign conflicts to now being the top intelligence official for a president actively waging war in the Middle East.
Each pivot was perfectly timed. Each pivot landed her more power, more visibility, more proximity to whoever was running things at that moment.
You know what that pattern looks like?
It looks like someone following instructions.
And that should scare the shit out of you.
The Plant Theory
Here's my read — and I've been sitting with this a while.
I think Gabbard is a plant. Someone deliberately inserted to get deeply embedded in the intelligence apparatus for a purpose that has nothing to do with national security.
Here's why.
Russian state TV called her "our friend." When asked if she was a Russian agent, they said yes. She defended Assad. She parroted Putin's talking points on Ukraine for years. She met with foreign leaders that mainstream American politics kept at arm's length.
And now she runs 18 intelligence agencies with a $75 billion budget. She sees everything — every source, every method, every secret our allies share with us in confidence.
If you wanted to design a long-game intelligence operation to get someone inside the top of the American intelligence community — you'd start them young. You'd build their loyalty to a structure outside the U.S. government. You'd have them shift positions strategically to make themselves useful to whoever holds power. You'd position them as a credibility-validating crossover figure. And then you'd get them confirmed to the most sensitive job in government.
I'm not saying that's what happened.
I'm saying the pattern fits. And if it doesn't bother the hell out of everyone, I don't know what the fuck it's going to take.
Bottom Line
The Director of National Intelligence of the United States was raised inside a documented abusive cult. Her parents ran it. Her guru told her what to say in public. Former members believe she never left. And at least one former insider believes she may be passing classified intelligence to that same guru.
She has no intelligence experience. She has a documented history of defending adversary governments. She has switched political allegiances so many times it would make your head spin.
And the Senate confirmed her 52-48.
The only Republican to vote against her was Mitch McConnell. Even he drew the line.
Let that tell you everything you need to know about where we are right now.
We are so completely fucked.
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