TSA, SSSS, Tulsi Gabbard, Pre-Crime and PsyWar
DHS has defined spreading mis- dis- or mal-information as domestic terrorism
What do you know about the dreaded “Quad” or SSSS TSA designation?
If SSSS is printed on your air ticket, the US TSA has selected you for Secondary Security Screening.
The topic of TSA SSSS designation is now hot in (alternative) news circles because of recent reporting by Matt Taibbi (Racket News, on Substack) regarding US congressperson and former US Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard.
American Stasi: Tulsi Gabbard Confirms "Quiet Skies" Nightmare
Placed on a terror watch list, the former Hawaii congresswoman and her husband were tailed by Air Marshals and bomb dogs. "Unconstitutional on every level," she says. "And I'm not the only one."
So, Whois Tulsi Gabbard?
(for those who live on other continents or in a parallel universe)
Tulsi Gabbard; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician, United States Army Reserve officer, and political commentator who was the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Gabbard was the first Samoan-American to become a voting member of Congress. She was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election, before announcing in October 2022 that she had left the Democratic Party to become an independent.
And apparently, also a domestic terrorist?
Followers of this Substack (“Who is Robert Malone”) may have seen the essay titled “The Stasi- Old School Masters of PsyWar,” which was coincidentally published in parallel shortly before Mr. Taibbi’s reporting. That essay discusses how “Zersetzung” (meaning decomposition or destruction) methods were developed and deployed by the Stasi against East German citizens (and groups) accused of the pre-crime of potentially becoming a danger to the state. The essay also covered some of the many parallels between the methods employed by the defunct East German security service (Stasi) and the more modern PsyWar methods being deployed by multiple Western/NATO/Five Eyes intelligence alliance nations (US, UK, Canada, NZ, Australia).
So imagine my surprise when I woke up today and read Matt’s reporting on the recent TSA travails of Tulsi Gabbard involving her SSSS designation, in which he leads the headline with “American Stasi.”
Frankly, receiving an “SSSS” designation by the TSA is one of the constant fears that have nagged at me for the last few years, as I fly almost weekly. Given how often I fly and how outspoken I have been regarding the COVIDcrisis, synchronized corporate-government Fearporn messaging, psychological terrorism, and the methods and deployment of psychological warfare by Western governments on their own citizens, I half expect to find the dreaded “SSSS” at the bottom of my air travel ticket every time I run through the pre-board process for my next flight.
Every time I go through customs, my heart beats a little faster as I wonder if this is going to be the time that I find out that I have been flagged for spreading mis- dis- or mal-information and consequently designated as a domestic terrorist for committing this speech and thoughtcrime. Or of the pre-crime of being at risk for committing mis- dis- or malinformation distribution at some point in the future.
See the Summary of Terrorism Threat to the U.S. Homeland
“Key factors contributing to the current heightened threat environment include:
The proliferation of false or misleading narratives, which sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions:
For example, there is widespread online proliferation of false or misleading narratives regarding unsubstantiated widespread election fraud and COVID-19. Grievances associated with these themes inspired violent extremist attacks during 2021.
As COVID-19 restrictions continue to decrease nationwide, increased access to commercial and government facilities and the rising number of mass gatherings could provide increased opportunities for individuals looking to commit acts of violence to do so, often with little or no warning. Meanwhile, COVID-19 mitigation measures—particularly COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates—have been used by domestic violent extremists to justify violence since 2020 and could continue to inspire these extremists to target government, healthcare, and academic institutions that they associate with those measures.”
As multiple Congressional reports have noted, the DHS has already flagged me for particular attention for the dual sins of being a conservative and an anti-vaxxer. A formerly registered Democrat and vaccine developer, who was the one that first came up with the idea and technology platform for using mRNA for vaccination. But, as often observed, we now live in a post-truth reality. Perhaps some anonymous low-level functionary at DHS “feels” that I am a conservative anti-vaxxer, and so, therefore, I am. Because to be otherwise would be to commit the additional third thoughtcrime offense of rejecting their feelings and reality.
And there but for the grace of God go you. Who knows for how long you will avoid a similar fate, because AI-driven algorithmic computational Big Brother is now monitoring all of your online activities. And if you live in a “smart home” with “smart” appliances, or use Alexa etc., your daily at-home activities are also monitored.
Remember the part about the Stasi? It could not possibly happen here in USA, right?
At least three years ago I became aware of this risk because a subset of the Physicians that I have toured with received the “SSSS” designation, and have been subjected to repeated and unpredictable “Secondary Security Screening” while traveling by air. In at least one case, a female physician was pulled out of line, questioned at length, and subjected to both strip searching and body cavity searching. Just as a warning, if anyone comments that they want more details of what strip and body cavity searching means, I will assume trollery and block.
Getting back to Reporter Matt Taibbi, Racket News, and the Tulsi Gabbard story, it was actually Wendi Strauch Mahoney of the edgy but obscure alternative media source “Uncover DC” that broke the story four days ago.
In an exclusive breaking story, several Federal Air Marshal whistleblowers have come forward with information showing that former U.S. Representative and Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard is currently enrolled in the Quiet Skies program. Quiet Skies is a TSA surveillance program with its own compartmentalized suspected terrorist watchlist. It is the same program being weaponized against J6 defendants and their families. Quiet Skies is allegedly used to protect traveling Americans from suspected domestic terrorists. The photo here is a screenshot from the actual Target Package used by the FAMS to surveil Gabbard.
The whistleblowers first shared the information with Sonya LaBosco, the Executive Director of the Air Marshal National Council (AMNC), a national advocacy group for the Federal Air Marshals (FAMs). According to LaBosco, at least one of the whistleblowers is ready to go on the record with pertinent documentation. LaBosco shared that Gabbard is unaware she has two Explosive Detection Canine Teams, one Transportation Security Specialist (explosives), one plainclothes TSA Supervisor, and three Federal Air Marshals on every flight she boards. LaBosco has attempted to contact Gabbard and her staff but has not received a response.
RWM- As an aside, can you imagine the costs involved? What a waste of taxpayer funds. Another example of weaponization of the USG by the rogue, lawless Biden/Harris administration at great expense for little or no clear benefit other than simple political harassment of an opponent and critic. Very Stasi-like.
For what the Federal Government calls national security reasons, an individual is enrolled in the program without knowledge. Teams of Federal Air Marshals are assigned to individuals, following and tracking them from when they enter the airport and then on all their flights and transits until they reach their destination. Enrolled individuals usually have a Quad S (SSSS) on the bottom right-hand corner of their boarding passes, but not always. They are often flagged for extra searches, frequently so lengthy that they miss their flights.
According to LaBosco, Gabbard’s enrollment in Quiet Skies is likely politically motivated. Air Marshals were first assigned to Gabbard on Jul. 23, a day after she criticized Kamala Harris, Biden, and the National Security State in an interview with Laura Ingraham. FAMs were mobilized on Jul. 24 and assigned to their first flight with her on Jul. 25. Gabbard posted the interview on Twitter, as shared below.
In the context of what has transpired since 2020, there is ample reason to speculate that Gabbard may have been placed on Quiet Skies because of her viewpoints and recent fallout with the Democratic Party. Gabbard fell out of favor with the Democratic party when she switched parties to become an Independent in 2022.
In addition, during her 2020 Presidential Campaign, Gabbard was highly critical of U.S. interventionism and endless wars. She continues to be very outspoken and critical of the Biden administration. Hillary Clinton smeared Gabbard during the 2020 campaign by suggesting she was a “Russian asset.” Gabbard answered Clinton with a defamation lawsuit filed on Jan. 22, 2020.
LaBosco is outraged with what has transpired with FAMS over the past few years. What was a straightforward law enforcement function has now been shoved under the TSA, the federal government's bloated administrative arm. LaBosco and Londo are working overtime to shut down the Quiet Skies program. However, their primary mission is to restore FAMs to their rightful place as law enforcement, not political pawns of the administrative state.
Taibbi and Racket News picked up the story from there after interviewing Congressperson Gabbard.
“The whistleblowers’ account matches my experience,” says Gabbard. “Everything lines up to the day.”
This story began two weeks ago, when the former Hawaii congresswoman returned home after a short trip abroad. In airport after airport, she and her husband Abraham Williams encountered obstacles. First on a flight from Rome to Dallas, then a connecting flight to Austin, and later on different flights for both to cities like Nashville, Orlando, and Atlanta, their boarding passes were marked with the “SSSS” designation, which stands for “Secondary Security Screening Selection.” The “Quad-S” marker is often a sign the traveler has been put on a threat list, and Gabbard and Williams were forced into extensive “random” searches lasting as long as 45 minutes.
“It happened every time I boarded,” says Gabbard. The Iraq war veteran and current Army reservist tends to pack light, but no matter.
“I’ve got a couple of blazers in there, and they’re squeezing every inch of the entire collar, every inch of the sleeves, every inch of the edging of the blazers,” she says. “They’re squeezing or padding down underwear, bras, workout clothes, every inch of every piece of clothing.” Agents unzipped the lining inside the roller board of her suitcase, patting down every inch inside the liner. Gabbard was asked to take every piece of electronics out and turn each on, including her military phone and computer.
That was the other strange thing. “I use my military ID to get through security sometimes,” says Gabbard, who among other things traveled to her reservist base in Oklahoma during this period. Once, she was unable to get through security with military ID. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent saw the “SSSS” marker. “The TSA agent said, ‘Why are you Quad-S? You’re in the military,’” explains Gabbard. “And I said, ‘That’s exactly what I’m wondering.’
Gabbard goes on: “Then I said, ‘The only thing I can think of is, I work in politics.’ And he said, oh.”
The agent told her he’d encountered supporters of a certain former president who’d had no issues traveling before, but were now “marked quad-S every time they traveled.” Gabbard shrugged and slogged through, still encountering extra security. At one flight, she says, there were “at least six TSA agents doing additional screening,” along with canine support. “There were dogs in Dallas when we got there, dogs at a couple of the gates.”
…..
Gabbard pointed to this summer’s release of documents from the ill-fated “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group,” an advisory panel led by former CIA chief John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Litigation filed on behalf of former Ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell led to the disbanding of the group, and the production of documents identifying Trump supporters, people “in the military,” or “religious” as “indicators for extremism or terrorism.” Gabbard says this is an indication that the intelligence community is targeting people of “many stripes,” but “especially so those who still wear the uniform or who have worn the uniform.”
“IN THE MILITARY”: The Homeland Intelligence Experts Group identified soldiers as a heightened risk for domestic terrorism
What is the TSA “Quiet Skies” program?
Again, as reported by Racket News-
“Quiet Skies” is a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) program for tracking “travelers who may present an elevated risk,” as well as “unknown or partially known terrorists.” It’s a signature initiative for a new vision of the federal enforcement state that, as covered in this space before, moved after 9/11 from an emphasis on making cases and building prosecutions to endless intelligence-gathering as well as “disruption” and “prevention.” In a key moment, the FBI in 2008 put out a new “baseline collection plan,” which urged agents to come with plans to “disrupt” potential “acts of violence” or other “criminal behavior.” Agents began getting credit for an internal metric called “disruptions,” which allowed them to rise without records of prosecutions or even arrests.
Because most investigations under this new system will never lead to court, agents do not have to worry about meeting probable cause standards or justifying surveillance. The behaviors may be technically permitted, even if some would consider them unconstitutional.
“It all comes under the heading of the Department of Pre-Crime,” adds Empower attorney Jason Foster, longtime Chief Investigative Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. “So it’s ‘We don’t have to prove anything. We’re not going to court. We’re just following people.’”
What is the "Quiet Skies" secret TSA program, that surveils ordinary Americans not on a terror watchlist (Boston Globe Reporting)
What can you do if you receive the “SSSS” designation on your air travel ticket, and what things seem to trigger the TSA to do this?
When I first learned about the consequences of the “SSSS” designation from fellow Physicians, I spent a lot of time researching this issue. The most comprehensive coverage I found came from a frequent flyer who posts on “The Points Guy,” Mr. Bill Fink. Bill Fink is a freelance travel writer for outlets including AARP, BBC Travel, Frommer’s, Lonely Planet, National Geographic, Outside, SF Chronicle, and Yahoo Travel. Among many writing awards, Bill won Lowell Thomas Golds for Investigative Journalism and Newspaper Travel, and his stories have been included in The Best of Lonely Planet Travel Writing, Travelers’ Tales Best Travel Writing and the Best American Travel Writing. Bill seems to have invested a lot more time in the topic than I had to spare, and came up with excellent answers to all of the key points, which I share now with you.
Keep in mind, I don’t like any of this any more than you do. But we all have to live with the reality of a government gone mad and an out-of-control bureaucracy/Administrative State that seems to have no respect for law or constitution under the leadership of O’Biden/Harris or whoever is running the show and providing guidance and oversight to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
As most of you know, I fly somewhere in the world almost every week, sometimes 2-3x per week. My take-home lessons from all of this?
If the TSA/DHS decides that they are going to have their way with you, there is not much you can do about it. So don’t give them any extra reasons that might trigger them. Keep the dark jokes and comments about “security theater” or anything else relating to TSA personnel or processes to yourself. There are plenty of smartass things that go through my mind when passing through security, but I keep them to myself or whisper them to Jill AFTER I am out of TSA earshot.
Smile, be respectful, say yes sir, yes m’aam, etc. Listen carefully and do precisely what you are told. If you need to ask for clarification (Laptops in or out? Shoes on or off? Should I take off my watch?), do so earnestly and politely. This is not the time for sarcasm.
Remember that pretty much every single TSA agent that you encounter would love not to have to do a bullshit job (as my friend Mattias Desmet likes to say). A little bit of empathy goes a long way. They are doing what they are told to do because they need the paycheck. I have rarely, if ever, encountered a “TSA Nazi” in my travels. You know what I mean. So there is that.
DO NOT PAY CASH FOR AIRTICKETS. This is a huge red flag. This is all about tracking and traceability, and cash is not traceable. Just the way things are in this crazy mixed-up world we live in. It is all about satisfying the algorithms if you want to fly and avoid getting caught up in the various traps that have been set along the way.
DO NOT BOOK ON THE SAME DAY UNLESS YOU HAVE NO CHOICE. This becomes a problem when a flight gets delayed and you miss your connection, or when some mindless DEI gnome working for CrowdStrike miscodes a pointer in C++ and crashes the World Wide Web. In those cases, work with your air carrier and get them to re-book you. Don’t just go cowboy unless you have no other option. And there are always other options.
Take the time to do the electronic pre-check, preferably on the airline app, which typically opens up 24 hours before your flight. Give the Matrix every possible opportunity to conclude that you are just another routine traveler doing routine travel things, and not the drone they are looking for. <an allusion to Star Wars, for the non-geeks reading this>
Make sure that all the information you, or someone acting on your behalf, has entered is accurate and consistent. This means name, address, passport number, telephone number, global entry number, TSA pre-check number. The whole enchilada. Details matter, and little discrepancies are precisely the kind of thing that automated systems are good at identifying. Based on repeated personal experience, if someone makes some little clerical error when booking your ticket for you and you get kicked out of TSA pre-check for that flight, give it up and learn from the experience. You can place calls all day long, and nothing will happen. The bureaucrats or outsourced functionaries on the other end of the phone line really do not care, and you are just wasting your time. Suck it up and wait through the regular line, take off your shoes, belt, watch, computers out of the bag, dentures or anything else metal that might trigger the detector, pull your beltless pants up lest they think that the space between your shorts and your junk might hide a bomb, and let that be a lesson to you for next time! The AI may not actually be able to think, but it can certainly compare data fields.
The dreaded SSSS boarding pass: What you need to know about TSA's enhanced screening tag.
Bill Fink, May 26, 2022
SSSS: It's the four-letter acronym printed on a boarding pass that gives any airline passenger a pit in their stomach. Secondary Security Screening Selection — or "The Quad S," as some call it — means you have been selected for additional enhanced security screening by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. But just what does this designation mean, how burdensome is it, and how can you best prepare for this additional step in the airport security and boarding process? And if you are repeatedly selected for additional screening, what can you do to try to decrease your odds of being selected?
TPG spoke with a TSA representative and frequent travelers to get their advice on how to deal with the SSSS enhanced screening process.
What is SSSS?
SSSS stands for Secondary Security Screening Selection. It's a tag printed on your boarding pass to indicate that you have been selected to receive additional enhanced screening of your body and your personal items like carry-on baggage at the airport — either at the initial TSA screening area or the boarding gate.
TSA press secretary Carter Langston described SSSS to TPG as "an intelligence-oriented, risk-based screening process that is just one part of multiple layers of airport security."
What to expect if you find SSSS on your boarding pass?
While the process may vary by airport and security official, a typical SSSS enhanced screening process will involve you being separated from the boarding line or TSA line and directed to an adjacent review table with a member of the TSA staff.
Your carry-on bag with be thoroughly examined — and we do mean "thoroughly," as every item contained within will likely be handled, removed, inspected, poked and prodded, along with the lining of the bag and exterior pockets. The TSA will ask that electronic devices on your person or in your bag be turned on and presented for inspection.
The enhanced screening also typically involves a full-body pat-down, an additional metal-detecting wand wave and explosive-detecting swabs rubbed on your baggage and at least your hands. (Some travelers have reported getting their feet swabbed as well!) The TSA agent will probably ask you questions about if you packed your bag yourself and others regarding your itinerary, reason for travel and destination information. Your screening may be more or less invasive and potentially involve additional steps. You'll be given the option to have this process performed in a private screening room.
There's no specific amount of time allotted for an SSSS enhanced screening. I've had my supplemental screening completed in less than five minutes, while other travelers have reported delays of 30 minutes, largely due to busy screening personnel or a greater number of passengers waiting to be screened than usual.
You should expect to be treated professionally and courteously during this process (assuming you follow directions). You can request a TSA supervisor to come to handle any questions or complaints you may encounter during the screening, but expect this to add time to the process.
Why might you get assigned the SSSS tag?
The TSA is deliberately vague on the SSSS selection process, which is part of its collection of intentionally "unpredictable security measures" at and around airports and during the travel booking process, as described on the TSA website.
Langston simply says that "there are so many reasons you might get the SSSS designation" and would neither confirm nor deny any further details of the selection process. The details are left vague primarily to prevent potentially dangerous individuals from modifying their behavior to evade screening.
The DHS website summarizes that "many factors are considered to determine whether to select someone for secondary screening, but for security reasons they cannot be disclosed."
While no official explanation of the SSSS selection process is available, TPG has gathered anecdotal information from our staff, readers and public news stories to determine some items that might flag you for additional screening, either one time or with aggravating frequency.
Targeted "suspicious" activities like booking one-way tickets, purchasing tickets using cash, taking unusual itineraries or traveling to a flagged destination.
Travel to and from Turkey seems to have have been a trigger item for repeated SSSS screenings in recent years, according to multiple TPG readers and staff members.
Subjective decisions by TSA staff on-site who see "suspicious" behavior.
Purely random selection; there may be a quota of 10% or so of passengers.
Being a member of Trusted Traveler Programs like TSA PreCheck and/or Global Entry is no shield against supplemental screening. The TSA can tag you with the SSSS code once or with regularity. Even a high-profile, frequent traveler like The Points Guy founder Brian Kelly can get repeatedly tagged. He dealt with months of additional screening after a single work trip to Turkey. Age doesn't seem to be a factor, as both minors and seniors regularly get selected.
The inscrutable nature of secondary screening does lend itself to potential abuse. I once had my ticket reissued with a SSSS designation moments before boarding when a petty gate agent with Aeromexico didn't like the way I stood in the boarding area (since I was absentmindedly standing slightly between Zone 1 and Zone 2, he told me to go to the end of the line, and when I didn't, he grabbed my ticket and added the SSSS tag). I was still able to board the flight in plenty of time and had room for my carry-on bag in the overhead compartment, so this was only a minor inconvenience when compared to those whose extended screenings cause missed flights. Still, the experience suggests there could be some improvements made to the process.
How can you best prepare for additional security screening?
While inconvenient and annoying, additional enhanced screening typically won't cause you to miss your flight unless you're really running late, so budget a little extra time into your schedule just in case there's a last-minute screening. If you see the SSSS tag early in the process, allot more time to account for any significant screening delays.
Keep these tips in mind if you're chosen for additional screening:
Pack your bag so it is easily inspectable. This will make the inspection process go faster, as well as lessen the odds of facing any potential embarrassment from packed items like your underwear flying all over the terminal when the TSA agent opens your overstuffed carry-on. Packing cubes can be your friend here, thereby compartmentalizing your bag for easier searches.
Be courteous and polite to the inspectors. If you annoy them, they may decide to take their sweet time eviscerating your carry-on and everything inside it (not to mention continuing with an invasive body search). On my inbound travels, I've had a nice pair of dress shoes destroyed after a customs inspector took issue with my side comments about union workers. On the flip side, another inspector let me into the U.S. carrying an extra 2 gallons of rum after we shared a few drinking jokes. So being friendly can help ... sometimes.
Some TPG readers have suggested that if you are tagged with SSSS, you should hand off your electronics and other potential time-consuming inspection items to travel companions.
If you do feel an inspector is acting inappropriately, particularly with regards to a "person's race, color, sex, gender identity, national origin, religion or disability," politely but firmly request a supervisor. This will take extra time, but you are within your rights to do so.
If you have a disability or medical condition that you think would impact the screening process, you can contact TSA Cares ahead of time for advice, recommendations and potential assistance at the airport.
What to do if you keep getting the SSSS tag?
Many travelers (author Bill Fink included) have been subjected to regular and repeated random screenings or SSSS tags over a period of months or even years.
TPG reader Kay Thomas shares that she was tagged with "SSSS routinely for five years. Mind you, I am a white-haired lady over seventy and travel for pleasure."
The news is filled with reports of U.S. citizens being repeatedly and incorrectly tagged for additional screenings, put on watch lists and even subjected to wrongful detentions. The DHS is notoriously uncooperative in getting any of these issues resolved, to the point of people having to get high-level congressional help for resolution.
There are some steps you can take, though, to try to get yourself removed from the TSA's "Selectee List" for regular SSSS screening (although there's no way to check to see if you are actually on such a list). If "you are continuously referred for additional screening at the airport," you can apply for a DHS TRIP, according to the DHS website. This isn't a vacation sort of trip, but rather the Traveler Redress Inquiry Program, a journey you can embark on to try to get your name removed from the target list. You enter the TRIP portal, where you must first create an account, then add profile information with proof of identification and a summary of your travel experiences. Should DHS approve your request for removal from the screening list, you will be given a redress control number that you can enter on airline websites as part of the check-in process or provide at an airport to TSA personnel.
Some TPG readers have reported success using the redress control number application process to stop their regular SSSS hassles. Charlotte Hayes says the process was "super easy and just took a few days. No reason was ever given [for being put on a security list, but the targeted screening has since stopped.]"
More typically, the TRIP process involves a sizable amount of data entry, and you'll have to wait months to get a result or even a response.
"It worked for me," a traveler who requested we don't use his name shared in the TPG Facebook group says about the Traveler Redress process. "It did take a few months, though they never told me why [the regular SSSS targeting happened]."
Another flyer, Kay Thomas, says "it was a pain to do the paperwork, but since then it has been smooth sailing through lines for me."
And reader Chelsea Roy notes that despite applying to be removed through the Traveler Redress program in October 2018, she didn't receive a response until March 2019. Eventually, the screenings stopped for her.
My personal experience of getting tagged for repeated SSSS screenings began after a series of quickly planned one-way travels, and the screenings continued for about a year until they suddenly stopped without apparent cause or explanation.
Bottom line
For most people, getting an SSSS tag on your ticket means you have one more slightly inconvenient thing to factor in to your airport check-in process. There's really not a whole lot you can do to avoid the tag, as the TSA selection process is confidential.
If you get tagged repeatedly for screening, the DHS' Traveler Redress Inquiry Program offers a potential resolution process.
Regardless of your circumstances, TPG recommends you allow a little extra time and pack your patience when transiting through airports. Be sure to pack your bag smartly in case you are unexpectedly chosen for additional SSSS screening.
In other words, suck it up Snowflake.
Welcome to your totalitarian future. It’s already here, just unevenly distributed.
As I said, if you trigger the stormtroopers (oops, TSA authorities), you are going to have to deal with the consequences. So be a good Jedi. Move through the process with the least possible noise and commotion, and hope that you do not come to their attention.
As to Tulsi, I strongly suspect that this was pure political retaliation. As do many others. As a truth warrior, she is too visible, too outspoken, too independent.
I get it. For a brief moment in time, I fit that description, and the Empire struck back at me. But I would not stop, and so they resorted to more subtle delegitimization tactics like the aggressively promoted narrative that I am “controlled opposition”, the coordinated on-line trollery, shadowbanning, blacklisting, corporate media smears, malicious Wikipedia editing, and all that. So that the persuadable middle cannot find me and even if they do I am presented to them as an untrustworthy nutcase.
Each of us has a choice to make. Risk the ire of the authorities at the administrative state, live with the realization that they may be at your door at any time - and if they show up they WILL have their way with you.
Or shut up. And lose a little bit of your soul.
Tulsi is being made an example of. And yet she persists. Which, as far as I am concerned, makes her even more of a Hero than she was before.
So there is that, for what it’s worth.
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