Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has put forth in her rhetoric the idea that one can hold this administration accountable by avoiding a defunding of the Iraq War and by choosing to not pursue impeachment of Cheney and Bush. The justifications for this idea are weak and wishy-washy, as is to be expected from a party that has taken its place in history recently as the Anti-Republican Party.
Pelosi no doubt sees the 2008 elections looming ahead and looks back on the 2006 elections. She notes that the 2006 elections were successful for the Democratic Party because people responded negatively to hypocrisy within the Republican Party involving people like Mark Foley and then most importantly, the way Republicans were allowing the Iraq War to be run or continued. Pelosi, being the pragmatic politician she is, senses that by working towards a repeat of 2006 the party can have a repeat victory and so she should not challenge the downward spiral the Republican Party is in.
Speaker Pelosi fails to realize that her party is in a downward spiral as well. By not doing the bidding of the populace, the disenchantment with government is pressing onward. An utter disdain is being spread throughout America. And from that, people are being driven to no longer support this "lesser of two evils" party that is the Democratic Party because it refuses to take a stand and chooses to be known as a party that is not Republican.
No longer is it enough to not be Republican. Americans want Pelosi to lead the Democrats in seriously repairing a broken America.
A repeat victory, she believes, will be attained by making it clear that the Republicans own the war and it is their responsibility to end it. Quite frankly, that is asinine. She possesses the leadership to coerce Reid to block legislation that would fund the war (the Senate has the 41 votes needed) and in the House, she possesses the votes to block legislation herself, which has traditionally been done to end war under the War Powers Act.
That there is no case for impeachment is even more ridiculous than the travesty she is fueling involving the Iraq War. Elizabeth Holtzman and Cynthia L. Cooper have co-authored The Impeachment f George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens, Dave Lindorff and Barbara Olshansky have co-authored The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office, the Center for Constitutional Rights has authored Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush, Dennis Loo, Peter Phillips, and Howard Zinn have co-authored Impeach the President: The Case Against Bush and Cheney, and John C. Conyers and Elizabeth Holtzman have co-authored The Constitution in Crisis: The High Crimes of the Bush Administration and a Blueprint for Impeachment. Loads of material exists, legal and ideological, to pursue impeachment and that there isn’t anything to warrant a case is quite frankly bollocks.
Naturally, Pelosi has interest groups paying her and now would be a good time to note that if you refer to OpenSecrets.org, in the previous election she received $70,500 from Pro-Israel industries. What would impeachment and withdrawal do for Israel if by withdrawing we further empower Iran to take on Israel in the region? Also, what does it mean that in addition to this money she has received $96,550 from Securities & Investment industries and also $28,000 from Defense Aerospace industries?
Pelosi is part of a wishy-washy leadership that has given the Americans empty rhetoric time and time again for the past summer and fall months as Americans pushed hard for an end to this war. Despite all of the citizenry’s efforts to organize and enact change, Pelosi has stifled cries for change and made them into polite dissident calls. She acknowledges that protest exists but maintains that “stay the course” is the only option.
By perpetuating this idea that 60 votes are needed in the Senate and saying on FOX News that the "American people don't care about our process," she is showing a blatant disrespect for the citizens of America.
Beyond that, Nancy Pelosi has divided a group that once united. By leading the ruling elite (Congress) to support a timetable for withdrawal, she has driven a wedge into a group of people and polarized them. Now the group for out of Iraq is faced with two decisions: stay and turn Iraq into the democracy we want it to be (that is one that serves market democracy for American gain) or defund the war and risk that Iraq goes into a civil war as a result of the communal confrontations occurring between Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. By neglecting the fact that a residual peacekeeping force of Muslim nations or U.N. peacekeepers could be sent to the region as we pullout (and that only 41 votes are needed in the Senate), she has given the public a reason to disagree on how best to end the war.
As for impeachment, there are no excuses. There are no reasons to not push for impeachment. By laying back and letting Bush have free reign over this nation, she is aiding in the disintegration of our checks and balances which has been the goal of this administration from Day One (so it seems). The Executive Power now has become a monarchy. With no outside force to challenge it, how could anyone think otherwise?
Kevin Gosztola goes to Columbia College in Chicago where he is studying film. He hopes to become a documentary filmmaker. He is currently working as a production assistant on a documentary called "Seriously Green" which traces the development of the Green Party throughout the 2008 election. He has a passion for journalism and writes articles or press releases in his spare time. Kevin Gosztola is also a student activist who believes in questioning the way America's systems work(its electoral system, its military-industrial complex, its foreign policy of American exceptionalism, its media which has become the Fourth Branch of government,etc.)
His ambitions have him currently organizing and raising money for a Chicago Conference for Media Reform in April or May of 2009. It will be organized by college students to promote youth involvement in media reform and justice. Those interested in attending or helping with the organization of the program should contact him.
she doesn't care wht the Democratic base thinks of her..she (and Reid) are stupid enough to think she will win another term by playing to GOP and assuring them that things will remain the same as they were when the GOP was the majority...
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Susan Nelsen (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 240 comments)
on Monday, October 15, 2007 at 1:59:18 PM
Another Bush/corporatist Democrat that needs to go
Looks like the gop'ers will get their long-deserved thrashing in 2008, unless the system is hacked. After the next election, we need to replace all these chickens--t democrats and gop'er-lite democrats and the bush democrats and the corporatist democrats, dump the dlc and make this party into the populist party of the future - one that loves the Constitution, Bill of Rights, corporate non-personhood, international treaties, FAIR trade agreements, diplomacy, publically-funded elections - where should we stop?
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Rufus2 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 12 comments)
on Monday, October 15, 2007 at 3:09:50 PM
(I don't think you said anything in your comment on whether or not so don't take this as a jab. I honestly want to know if you see the Democratic Party repairing itself.)
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Kevin Gosztola (182 articles, 94 quicklinks, 63 diaries, 768 comments)
on Monday, October 15, 2007 at 5:22:02 PM
Ending the war would be easy. It would take an independent to do it the right way. As an independent candidate for President, as soon as I took the oath of office, I would get on a plane, go to Guantanamo, load the "prisoners of war" on a plane and take them back where they came from. Then I would go talk to Congress. I would ask them if they want to declare war on anyone. If so, then I would be Commander in Chief of the military of a nation at war. If not, then I would order a withdrawal of all United States troops from places where they were sent under military engagements where Congress gave "war powers" to a President of the United States. The United States should not send its troops into extended military engagements in foreign nations without a declaration of war.
Robert B. Winn
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Robert Winn (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 26 comments)
on Monday, October 15, 2007 at 4:44:47 PM
This "leave the GOP alone and let things get worse" strategy is already backfiring on Pelosi and company. I have withdrawn from the Democratic Party as have many of my friends. We all own this war, as long as a single soldier is still in Iraq. Her comments are almost childish: 'They started it, so let them finish it". It is her Constitutional duty to bring impeachment proceedings to the floor, as the crimes committed by this Regime warrant it. Regardless of whether or not it would result in removing Bush/Cheney, it is the right thing to do, and it needs to be on the record that the Democrats at least tried to hold them accountable. Pelosi has said that, at this point in time, she can think of nothing that this Regime could do that would result in impeachment. That's like giving a drunk a key to a liquor store. She just gave Bush a license to invade Iran, declare Marshall Law, imprison Americans in detention camps, and on and on. They're all useless, and they're going to be surprised in the 'o8 elections.
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Lynn Beckman (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 27 comments)
on Monday, October 15, 2007 at 8:24:07 PM
We the undersigned are aware that every member of congress takes an oath to preserve, uphold, and defend the U.S. Constitution, and we believe that Nancy Pelosi, in particular, as Speaker should be held to that oath of office. We do not believe it was Ms. Pelosi's prerogative to take impeachment off the table; we hold it was her duty to vigorously demand impeachment as this imperial presidency continues to wage war upon our constitution and our civil rights. Since the year 2000 we have seen nearly every one of our civil rights under assault: our constitutional freedom from unwarranted search and seizure, our rights requiring a writ of habeas corpus, and our freedoms of assembly and free speech.
We The People of the United States who have been endowed with certain inalienable rights do hear-by appeal to the House of Representatives to recall Ms. Pelosi and/or Impeach Ms. Pelosi as to ensure those rights as guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution and give us a Leader who will Up-Hold the Constitution of the United States of America and all the responsibilities thereof.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
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Kathleen Bushman (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 19 comments)
on Monday, October 15, 2007 at 9:48:41 PM
