Shirley: Well, first of all, let me say that if she moved to impeach Bush and Cheney, shed be president, so it isn’t about political expediency. I’ve heard a number of rumors. First of all, there has been wiretapping going on for years, so who knows what the administration may have found out about her. Is she or her family being threatened? There have been rumors about that. Is it corruption? She’s very well off financially, so how much money does she need?
Deb: So nobody knows the real reason she took impeachment off the table.
Shirley: Not really. All I know is that when you take an oath of office you better take it seriously or step down.
On Cindy Sheehan
Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, is another strong woman I’ve been following. Cindy is as passionate about ending the Iraq war as Shirley is about impeaching George Bush. After a brief period of disillusionment, Cindy Sheehan announced that she would challenge Pelosi if she failed to bring the war to an end. The mainstream media covered Cindy for a while, but information has been scarce since her self-imposed hiatus.
Cindy took some time off to rest and regroup, explained Shirley. She just recently moved to San Francisco, even though she is not required to live in the district she represents. The good news is that Sheehan has filed paperwork with the City Election Office and now is going about the business of collecting the 10,000 plus signatures required to get on the November ballot. There is a misconception out there that Shirley Golub and Cindy Sheehan are running against each other. When I mentioned this to Shirley she said, “I am not running against Cindy and this is what has people confused. It’s important for people to understand this: I’m actually running in the June 3 primary to oust Nancy Pelosi so that she doesn’t even run in November.”
Shirley Golub is running in the primary as a Progressive Democrat because she firmly believes that the impeachment of Bush and Cheney must move forward as soon as possible. In order for that to happen, Nancy Pelosi has to be removed from office. Golub wants Congress to understand “that we’re not going to have our rights taken away by anybody.” Pelosi will not physically leave office until January 2009 even if she is defeated. However, a lame duck Madame Speaker will operate with much diminished power.
Golub went on to explain that she and Cindy Sheehan would challenge Pelosi together, with Sheehan mounting the challenge in November should Pelosi defeat Golub and win the Democratic primary. While there is usually a lower voter turnout in the primary, Shirley is hoping that the June ballot issue on rent control will motivate voters. Nearly seventy percent of the 8th district’s inhabitants are renters. About the November challenge, should it come to pass, Shirley says, “Cindy’s road is a bit tougher as she is running as an Independent, and voter turnout is likely to be much higher than that of the June primary.”
Although it’s an uphill battle, Shirley Golub is still pretty optimistic, and with good reason. She points to the victory Donna Edwards had in Maryland, where she defeated seven-term incumbent Al Wynn. Shirley says, “People will respond if the information gets out there. If we can do that, then I think we have a definite chance of defeating Nancy Pelosi in June.”
On Funding the Iraq War
The voters were clear back in 2006. It was time to end our involvement in Iraq as soon as possible. Nancy Pelosi herself said, “This war has been a grotesque mistake that has diminished our reputation in the world and has not made America safer.” The Democrats made a commitment to the American people to end this war. Fast forward to 2008. Not only is the war still going strong, but there has also been an escalation. Of course, the administration and the media call it a ‘surge’ because it’s much less disturbing than ‘escalation.’ In the meantime, the Democrats have fallen into a nice rubber stamp rhythm when Bush’s war chest needs refilling.
Instead of challenging the President by refusing to fund the war, the Democrats seem content to attach amendments to the funding bills in an effort to get something in return. When I told Shirley that I find this particularly disturbing she said, “Let’s face it Congress has the power of the purse strings. Nancy Pelosi decides which bills will come up and which will not. What she is doing right now is combining the $100 billion Bush is asking for right now with the $78 billion planned for the fall so that it doesn’t come up again and get in the way of the election.”
That the war investment has put a strain on the economy is a given, no matter what the administration wants you to believe. There is not enough money for education and infrastructure improvement (road and bridge repair, etc.) because we’re spending, at last count, about $12 billion per month on the Iraq war. When Congress tried to extend health care coverage to more of America’s uninsured children, President Bush vetoed the measure and the Democrats were labeled ‘fiscally irresponsible.’ It has been going on like this since January 2007 when the Democrats took over. The Democratic effort has been so anemic that they’ve managed to override only two of the President’s vetoes. One of those overrides, by the way, was the above-mentioned expansion of children’s health care, largely because it was a bi-partisan measure to begin with.
In some cases, as with funding of the war, the Democrats do not even make an effort to stand up to the President. They simply attach amendments to the requests in an effort to get something in return for giving George Bush his war money. While they still may lose the ‘war,’ the battle to halt the war funding is worth the fight, particularly in the eyes of the American people. It’s time for somebody to stand up to George Bush. He’s a lame duck and the most unpopular president in American history. At some point, the Democrats must summon the courage to defy him.
On the 2008 Election
I couldn’t resist bringing up the election, not that I see either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama as progressive candidates. The only progressive candidate in the bunch was Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. Oddly enough, Shirley Golub was a volunteer for Kucinich and it was he who inspired her to run.
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