Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder

13 Nov 2012, 9:10 a.m.

Tulsi Gabbard

Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2012 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.

I have been nerding out about Tulsi Gabbard, Representative-Elect from Hawaii's second Congressional district, and soon to be the first Hindu in Congress. Thus I am now one of the biggest contributors to her Wikipedia page. More help is of course welcome: I'm especially seeking sources for more details on her political views.

You really do learn a lot by writing a Wikipedia page about a topic. I learned about Honolulu city politics, the history of the same-sex marriage debate in Hawaii, wacky conspiracy theories, less wacky conspiracy theories, how Emily's List endorsements work, the deeper meaning of "aloha" beyond "hello," and oh yeah, Tulsi Gabbard's life and views. It's nice to be able to contribute to a common informational resource as I learn.

Also Leonard and I have been just watched the excellent House of Cards trilogy (House of Cards, To Play The King, The Final Cut), which is full of political backstabbing and high intrigue. As a result we have been making up premises for film noir and genre mystery novels. Examples include my idea that, as vice president, Richard Nixon got bored and started a side gig as a private investigator. "Liquid Confusion: A Nixon's Triangle Mystery." An important letter has been left in Pat's cloth coat. But the dry cleaner has gone missing! Also when I told Leonard that, in 1956, a Sikh immigrant beat a female aviator for an LA House seat, he thought that would make an interesting film noir backdrop. He is also willing to put Nixon in if that's what it takes to get a greenlight.