Speaker Pelosi came and faced the angry netroots — after we were given a strong lecture by the moderator that if we weren't nice to her, we'd be escorted out of the hall and have our credentials taken.
Pelosi was a mix of good ol' fashioned Democrat — we'd like some good programs, more investment, help veterans etc. and infuriating good ol' fashioned Democrat — prevarications at best, falsehoods more likely. [Update: I've decided that was a little harsh. I think she believes the stuff about FISA. The mystery is why.]
Pelosi tried to suggest that the House had done all it could to stop the war, which she in effect defined as one bill without war funding. That was pretty unconvincing.
Worse was the line on FISA in which (hiding behind a column by Mort Halperin) the Speaker told us that we had a better chance of getting the truth about illegal wiretapping from the telcos by relying on the Bush administration Inspector Generals in a post-immunity world than we would have from discovery in court.
At the receiving line after the talk, I shouted out that we couldn't rely in the IG's. Pelosi made a face and said, “then we'll have to force the issue.”
But that wasn't the big story of the event.
The big story was the “surprise guest”: Vice President Al Gore. He gave a superb speech. Look for it on YouTube: Al Gore at Netroots Nation 2008, Part 1; Al Gore at Netroots Nation 2008, Part 2.
He was great. She was good enough to come, and I still have my credentials.
As a San Francisco constituent of the Speaker, I’m wondering whether to vote for Cindy Sheehan if she succeeds in getting on our local ballot as an independent. It wouldn’t have seemed a possibility before this FISA business but now, well…
Any thoughts?
Nancy Pelosi is why I vote Republican. There is no substance to her or the party she leads, just take a look at her congressional website (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/R?d110:FLD004:@1(rep+pelosi)🙂 to see what bills she is supporting- it’s all pork. No solutions to the economy, nothing about Iraq, its all a bunch of blahhh.
Thanks to Pelosi, Gephard and the rest of the “leadership,” Democrats just don’t count anymore. If you want to get anything accomplished nationally you need to be a Republican. Chuck Hagel was the loudest opponent of the war as I recal. Pelosi Clinton and the others walked right into it, just like they did with FISA. They didn’t challenge the evidence, they didn’t ask questions, they got browbeaten into voting for it.
I’m a Republican and support Republican positions, but I don’t want to live in a one party state either. Go with the candidate that has some courage and convictions, vote for Cindy Sheehan.
The question about Sheehan is a good one.
To me, it would turn on (1) whether Sheehan would be any good in Congress, and (2) whether seeing the Speaker defeated or even humbled would shock the Democrats in a good way, and (3) whether deposing Pelosi would good for the country
Here are my answers:
1. Clearly not.
2. I don’t know, maybe. But not to the extent it empowers Stenny Hoyer.
3. Clearly not, given who’s next in the leadership.
So on balance, I think I would vote for Pelosi given the choices on offer. Lesser of evils etc.