Thank you, Larry King. When you bring it, YOU BRING IT! And last night, YOU BROUGHT IT!! Thanks to the few simple questions you asked Speaker Pelosi, viewers got a clearer insight into who Speaker Pelosi is and how Speaker Pelosi feels - about President Bush, about her self-described "day job," and about her Congressional opponent, Cindy Sheehan.
So how does Speaker Pelosi feel about President Bush? She likes him! She genuinely likes him. According to Pelosi, there's nothing "personal" for her in the decisions and policies of George W. Bush. Why should it be personal? Nothing the President has done regarding the war has personally affected Mrs. Pelosi or her family. No Pelosis have been killed in Iraq, lost limbs, suffered traumatic brain injury, or committed suicide after returning home. And since Mrs. Pelosi dislikes the war, or so she proclaims, no young Pelosi will be prompted to fight it. So for Speaker Pelosi, the Iraq war, with its non-Pelosi casualties, will remain non-personal – and her relationship with its creator, George W. Bush, won't be soured by her pain.
Still shouldn't the war be more "personal" for Speaker Pelosi - and her feelings for its creator reflect the dislike she feels toward his war? Isn't she mandated by her day job (as she calls her Speakership) and her Constitutional Oath to monitor impropriety and hold those accountable who do wrong?
Like Pelosi, I too, have a day job, and colleagues with whom I disagree. Where I diverge from Pelosi in my relationships with my colleagues is if one committed an act that purposefully harmed another, IT WOULD BE VERY PERSONAL FOR ME! I would do everything possible to bring my colleague to justice – without sweeping Congressional powers or a Constitutional mandate to spur me on. George Bush's policies have resulted in monumental harm and horror, yet his Madam Speaker colleague speaks fondly of him with a smile. That's a filth I could never roll in. The strongest lye wouldn't scrub me clean.
Throughout my life I have NEVER been a conspiracist. I demand much investigation before accepting a fact, but Pelosi's steadfast protection of Bush renders me ever more suspicious. She removed all threats to Bush's office when she ascended to her own. Impeachment, a Constitutional staple which should always be in play, was instantly "off the table." In its stead were place settings and a candelabra – nourishing loyalty, starving our democracy. Mrs. Pelosi pays more attention to breaking bread than breaking rules. She prefers celebrations with the President (like the DeBakey event she describes to Larry King), to investigations of the President - which is what this nation needs.
As the President's term draws closer to an end, calls for his impeachment wither, and Pelosi is further off the hook. But my impeachment juices were rallied last night by Pelosi's acceptance of this architect of death.
Seeing her effortlessly rattle off these Bush derelictions, Pelosi underscores the rationale for hearings: "he's taken us into war, that he's taken us into debt, that he's taken us into recession, loss of life, reputation... the [in]capability of our military to protect America's interests wherever it's sent... missed opportunity on energy independence and reversing global warming...," but she always blocks their way. It makes one wonder – it makes ME wonder -- why Mrs. Pelosi was so quickly persuaded to let Bush serve his full term? Mass murder aside, lying aside, torture aside, illegal surveillance aside, co-opting "Justice" aside, Speaker Pelosi likes him!! HOW CAN YOU LIKE A MASS MURDERER?!
Here is the conversation (in video and text) between Speaker Pelosi and Mr. King:
King: What's it like to work with the President?
Pelosi: The President and I have a fine relationship, I think.
King: Do you like him?
Pelosi: Personally, yes. It's not anything personal. I just don't like his policies. I think that he's taken us into war, that he's taken us into debt, that he's taken us into recession, loss of life, reputation, [unintelligible], the capability of our military to protect America's interests wherever it's sent. It's huge. I think missed opportunity on energy independence and reversing global warming is a missed opportunity. There's so much we could have done but it's just a matter of months and we'll be able to do it.
King: My late friend Tip O'Neill told me he argued frequently with President Reagan but never with animosity.
Pelosi: No.
King: Do you [and the President] argue?
Pelosi: Yes, but I think he understands, as do I. He has to do what he has to do and I have to do what I have to do. And I have to try and find common ground and then stand my ground – the ground for the Congress when we don't find that. But President was here yesterday [huge smile]. We gave the Congressional Gold Medal to Michael DeBakey [renowned heart surgeon]. Can you just imagine 99 years old?
King: Amazing.
Pelosi: We had a very amiable conversation. It's not personal. And you know the President is not that kind of a person. He's not a bitter kind of a person so – and I certainly respect our differences of opinion and I have very serious differences of opinion with the President.
There's that "bitter" word again. I just wonder what George W. Bush could possibly be bitter about - that his mountain bike got scratched - or that Jeb outgrew his big brother? What the hell does this Speaker believe has not served this indulgent addict turned war criminal's needs? She's never let him down.
And now another big thanks to Larry King in his interview with Speaker Pelosi last night - for breaking corporate media's silence on Cindy Sheehan's campaign. Obviously there are huge differences between Pelosi and Sheehan. Pelosi is corporate roots. Sheehan is grassroots. Pelosi has green. Sheehan is green. Pelosi ignores the Constitution. Sheehan adores the Constitution. But the most glaring difference, as evidenced by the conversation above, is that for Pelosi this war is NOT personal, but for Sheehan it's PERSONAL IN EVERY WAY. Sheehan lost her son in the war on Iraq. Sad that Speaker Pelosi, who has a son of her own, was so dismissive of Sheehan's candidacy last night.
Cindy Sheehan first became famous when she begged George W. Bush to tell her "for what noble cause my son [Casey] died," but Mr. "Not Bitter" refused. George W. Bush, the man Speaker Pelosi shields from investigation, ignored the mother of a soldier who was killed. Yet Speaker Pelosi likes him!
Tell me, who should be in Congress in San Francisco – the protector and enabler of war criminals, or the person who battles the criminals and their war?
Here's the conversation between Speaker Pelosi and Larry King (in video and text) that breaks the ban on corporate media's refusal to cover Cindy Sheehan's campaign. Thanks again to Larry King for addressing the campaign and for asking Speaker Pelosi if she'd debate Cindy Sheehan - a spectacularly democratic idea.
King: You mentioned Iraq. I guess the most famous anti-war activist, Cindy Sheehan, is gonna run against you.
Pelosi: Yes.
King: In the Democratic Primary?
Pelosi: No, as an Independent, I think.
King: She's running as a [unintelligible]. How would you... would you debate her? How do you view that? I guess you share her views, don't you?
Pelosi: Yeah, yes, well, god bless her. I think it's a reflection of the dissatisfaction the people have that we have not been able to end war – but we were hoping that the President would have more – pay more attention to wishes that the American people - not turn a tin ear them to them and a blind eye to what's actually happening in Iraq. But god bless her for her advocacy. Cindy Sheehan lost her son in Iraq and so she has all of my sympathy, respect for her sacrifice her family has made.
King: Surprised she picked you to run against?
Pelosi: I don't even think about it. You know I have a day job...
Yes, Madam Speaker, you do have a "day job." And your job description comes straight from the Constitution. Rather than continuing to protect and enable George Bush, Dick Cheney, and the rest of their cabal, why not abide by Article I Section 2 of the Constitution and initiate investigations of their acts? And how about debating Cindy Sheehan? It's time to take your job personally, Mrs. Pelosi. The world is crumbling under your watch.
How 'bout HEARTING the Constitution rather than those who have torn it apart?
