Last week two email messages from the office of Representative Tulsi Gabbard, D–Hawaii, fell into my already bursting inbox. The first wasn’t surprising at all: “Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) today applauded President Obama for signing the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act into law,” the Feb. 12 email stated.
“As an Army National Guard Soldier and veteran, it breaks my heart to know that there is an average of 22 who take their own life, every day,” Gabbard said in the email. “This is a clear indication that the current system is failing our veterans. Today, we are taking one important step forward in improving care for our veterans.”
Though certainly good news (especially if the bill actually does make life easier for troubled vets), that message paled in shock value when compared to the email I got three days later–the full text of a Feb. 15 Honolulu Star-Advertiser story (subscription required) describing in considerable detail Gabbard’s impending marriage to cinematographer Abraham Williams.
Wha? Sure, the article is respectful (it’s titled “Quiet, low-key approach to love suits congresswoman just fine), but what happened to the Rep. Gabbard whose first announcement of her second marriage didn’t even name the groom-to-be? Or the Gabbard who, through a spokesperson, tersely refused to comment on the 2013 article in The Hill newspaper that listed her as the sixth most beautiful person in Washington?
“I don’t understand that, I don’t pay attention to that noise,” said Gabbard in the new Star-Advertiser article. “Both Abraham and I are generally kind of private people. He has nothing to do with politics. He’s a humble, great guy who doesn’t want to be in the limelight, so this is something new to the both of us.”
Um, okay then. According to the story, the Gabbard-Williams wedding will take place April 9 on Oahu’s windward side.
Photo: TSgt Michael R. Holzworth/Wikimedia Commons
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