Nancy Pelosi, speaking at Netroots Nation, says that the title quotation is what she hears in all her travels, wherever she talks to young folks here and abroad.
"Words, not weaponry, are the tools of the new generation," she says.
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You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that it loses itself early and does not find itself any more. --Mark Twain
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Joshua Rosenau spends his days defending the teaching of evolution at the National Center for Science Education. He is also a graduate student at the University of Kansas, completing a doctorate in the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. When not modeling species distributions or battling creationists, he writes about developments in progressive politics and the sciences.
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« "Impeach Ron Paul" | Main | Pelosi on abstinence-only »
"They're tired of war"
Category: Policy and Politics
Posted on: July 19, 2008 9:23 AM, by Josh Rosenau
Find more posts in: 
Politics
Comments
We're also tired of half-truths from politicians like Nancy Pelosi. Did anyone tell her that?
Did anyone tell her that if she had vigorously pursued impeachment, it would have put big brakes on the Iraq War?
Did anyone tell her that if she had organized the antiwar faction of her party she could have saved hundreds if not thousands of American lives, not to mention Iraqi lives?
Did anyone tell her that if she had lobbied to prevent the war gasoline might still be a dollar cheaper at the pump?
Did anyone tell her that impeachment proceedings would have started America back on the path of restoring balance between the three branches of government, put a check on executive abuses of power and privilege, improved America's standing in the eyes of the world, and restored Americans' faith in the political process?
It's a good quote, but unfortunately, its source is as soiled as the corrupt system she is so embroiled in.
And she's supposed to be a "progressive."
That's what it has come down to in this country. And now we have "Flip-Flop-O-Rama" vs the "Flip-Flop Express" as our supposed "choices" for our next president.
Nancy had a chance to make a difference and she too caved into the DC power-brokers.
The longer we wait to put the country back on track, the harder it is going to be.
Posted by: yogi-one | July 19, 2008 10:55 AM
No one asked those questions as such, but impeachment came up, as did war funding. There aren't the votes to impeach and convict; it's that simple.
As to war funding, she pointed out that the House has sent 5 military spending bills to the Senate which included deadlines for withdrawal. Those bills can't muster 60 votes in the Senate, and the only one that reached the President got vetoed.
Wishing there were more Democrats in the House, Senate and White House won't make it so, and we won't have change until we get more Democrats, and better Democrats. Pelosi isn't the problem, and it's frankly naive to lay it on her shoulders.
Posted by: Josh Rosenau | July 19, 2008 11:57 AM
That said, there is something to be said for the symbolism.
One of the big problems has been thhe centrification of the Democratic party, trying to appeal to not mearely "Middle america" but the radical right in certain aspects of policy. The Telecom immunity capitulation under the label of "Compromise" is a perfect example. Even if you cannot succeed, standing up against an incredibly unpopular president could ensure people actually do vote more and better democrats, rather than pushing for third-party candidates that would split the vote in our current election system.
Posted by: Left_Wing_Fox | July 19, 2008 12:09 PM
"Pelosi isn't the problem, and it's frankly naive to lay it on her shoulders."
Pelosi may not be the whole problem but she is certainly part of it and as Speaker of the House she deserves to be chastised for her failings. If she wants to win voters in November she has to take a stand on issues voters care about, she has to define clearly what it is the Democrat party stands for, and she has to draw a clear line in the sand on issues that present substantive differences between Democratic and Republican party positions.
Even if she didn't have the votes to win, she had the opportunity to put the Republican party on the defensive and force them to defend positions that are increasingly unpopular with large segments of American voters, including many centrist Republicans.
She has demonstrated herself to be a complete failure in the position of Speaker and is a huge disappointment to those who hoped the 2006 elections would signal some change away from the failed policies of the Bush administration.
Posted by: Kevin | July 19, 2008 10:17 PM
"Pelosi isn't the problem, and it's frankly naive to lay it on her shoulders."
I know she isn't the whole problem, and she has on occasion done the right thing. Kevin covered my initial intention pretty well, so I need not repeat it.
If she does the right thing, I'm on her side, believe me.
I just want to add that I'm (and I'm probably not the only one) tired of politicians pretending like we don't remember what they said last week, or we didn't remember how they voted on the issues.
Or worse, like they don't care.
Note to politicians: we know what you said last week, and personally, I have the vote tabulations website bookmarked, so it takes me approximately 1-2 minutes to refresh my memory of how you voted on the issues last week, last month and last year. Oh, and the funding site too. A little research digs up your corporate donors in under 10 minutes.
It's about accountability.
If Nancy says all the cool liberal stuff at the Netroots, then next week goes and pledges allegiance to AIPAC, well then my first post fully applies.
Posted by: yogi-one | July 20, 2008 3:47 AM