[Hello. I’m new here. Been reading the legacy. Something I’ve posted elsewhere still in an emacs buffer — so, I’ll just jump in.]

I, a progressive voter since 1963, am incensed with Dean, Pelosi, Reid, et al., and find them to be contemptible a55h0l35.

Nancy Pelosi’s most notable achievement was to take impeachment off the table. Two years later, and Bush has been allowed to continue virtually unobstructed. The Bushit clock will have run out soon, and we can start marking Democratic Friedman units (at least, 180 coalition and 10 thousand Iraqi deaths per F-unit).  Read more 

I’m curious. If this is true:

Defying the White House, Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday the House will change its rules to avoid a required vote this year on a hotly disputed free-trade agreement with Colombia.

Why then is it so hard to say, change some rules and make war funding votes not happen? I’m sure there’s a “reason.”

I wonder if this:

“I go through airports, and people have buttons as if they knew I was coming,” Pelosi said with a smile, mimicking a protester pointing to an “Impeach” button on their chest.
But the California Democrat said she is sticking to her position that trying to remove Bush or Cheney would be divisive, and she added, most likely unsuccessful.

is at all related to this?

Pelosi, who is married to investor Paul Pelosi, has amassed a large portfolio of jointly owned real estate, including three properties in the Napa Valley. They sold an 8-acre vineyard on Skellenger Lane in Rutherford last year for $1 million to $5 million, according to her disclosure form.  Read more 

But if it had been your kid you’d probably be a little on the side of the polemic, I’m betting. For those people, and all the children who are exploited for political gain when they suffer, but never really helped by those who use them, this is for you:

Florida law enforcement officials have been denied access to the office computers of disgraced former Congressman Mark Foley, despite a direct appeal to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for help in their investigation of sexually explicit messages sent to current and former teenage congressional pages.

In response to a letter sent to Pelosi last month by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, House Deputy General Counsel Kerry Kircher denied the agency’s request, citing the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution, which protects congressional papers.

“We have received (the House’s) response, and our investigative team is reviewing it,” FDLE spokesperson Heather Smith told ABC News. She said despite the House refusal to provide access to Foley’s computers, the FDLE is still investigating the former Republican who now sells real estate in Palm Beach, Fla.

Foley resigned Sept. 29, 2006, hours after ABC News questioned him about sexually explicit messages with former congressional pages, some of whom were under the age of 18 at the time of the exchanges.

and isn’t that weird, abc won’t seem to let me copy and paste from that page, hmmm  Read more 

The Center for Media and Democracy has some Tuff Kweshuns for MoveOn. I am a member of several organizations mentioned in the post (read the comments too) and I hate to say it, but I have to take the CMD’s side in this. If it’s a question of which losing bill to back for the sake of looking strong, the Lee amendment is the better choice:

This week marks the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. To commemorate the occasion, the online advocacy group MoveOn.org is organizing more than 1,000 candlelight vigils throughout the United States. “We’ll solemnly honor the sacrifice made by more than 3,000 servicemen and women, and we’ll contemplate the path ahead of us,” states MoveOn’s website. “We cannot send tens of thousands of exhausted, under-equipped, and unprepared troops into the middle of an Iraqi civil war. … Honor the sacrifice. Stop the escalation. Bring the troops home.”

MoveOn’s 3.2 million members strongly oppose any continuation of the war, and the language above seems to suggest that MoveOn’s leadership agrees. But MoveOn’s organizing around Iraq has become notably ambiguous lately. Although it talks in general terms about bringing the troops home, specific timetables or meaningful steps in that direction are nowhere discussed. Most strikingly, MoveOn has adamantly refused to support the Iraq amendment from Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders Barbara Lee, Lynn Woolsey and Maxine Waters, which calls for “a fully funded, and systematic, withdrawal of U.S. soldiers and military contractors from Iraq” by the end of 2007.  Read more 

This makes me so fucking angry. How dare they?

rch 13, 2007
Members of the main pro-Israel lobbying group offered scattered boos to a statement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that the Iraq war has been a failure on several scores.

The boos, mixed with some polite applause, stood in stark contrast to the reception House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) received minutes earlier. Most of the crowd of 5,000 to 6,000 stood and loudly applauded Boehner when he said the U.S. had no choice but to win in Iraq.  Read more 

Nancy is one of the Good Gals. She really is. She’s not perfect, no one is, but the fight she’s fighting is the one we want to see. If you only make one call to a politician this year, be sure to say, “…and I strongly support Nancy Pelosi!” Seriously. Where Reid will let us down and speak to us in honied tongue, Nancy is the Real Deal. I offer this as the smallest glimpse into why She Totally Rocks:

As a strong advocate for open and transparent government, I am pleased that C-SPAN is expanding access with “Creative Commons” licensing to its extensive video coverage of federal government activities.

The House of Representatives is called the People’s House for a reason and as Speaker, I am committed to ensuring our government is fully accessible and transparent. This decision, along with our work to webcast committee hearings, is a solid start.  Read more 

Because I’m sure God not.  Read more 

Mike Barnicle. nice name, asshole.

Math has never been my strong suit. And I have difficulty balancing my check book. perhaps you have the brain of a clam, you stupid hack? But you don’t have to be Stephen Hawking to figure out that A. Nancy Pelosi’s outfit cost more than the average American paid for their first home and B. there is a pretty high degree of difficulty involved in balancing the federal budget yet the leader of the free world just told us, “We can do so without raising taxes.” And half the people in the hall - Bush’s half -stood and cheered.

I don’t know who this asshole is, as I don’t watch TV, but here’s a steaming cup of “Shut the Fuck Up, You Stupid Prick.” I really, sincerely, deeply hate this kind of “balance.” What Nancy wears IS NOT EVEN ON THE SAME FUCKING PLANE OF REALITY as the fact that Bush and his enablers have been raping the treasury for the last six years, and it’s only now your fat head decides to notice.

As a side note, what’s up with this hyper-rapid fire MSNBC blog? Um, guys- we already can watch you all chatter like Cathy in real time, we don’t need your vapid, substance free bloviating online as well. Blogs of note and worth are, and I don’t mean to shock you, made up of not just snark, but referenced, nuanced analysis and hyperlinked assertions framed in context and with relevant background. You know, what “journalism” used to mean.  Read more 

ABC which will be live on GMA tomorrow.

Jan. 18, 2007 — There may be a growing battle between Congress and the president over the Iraq War strategy, but new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she won’t block funding for additional troops.  Read more 

There are a lot of regular blogosphere “features” out there already, more than I can easily name. There’s the Daily Wanker, or best demonstration of what makes winger “logic” the joke it is. There’s the Five O’Clock NewsDump, when some embarrassing detail of Republican malfeasance is swept under the rug by our Famously Free Press. I now propose it’s time we bring back and Oldie but Goodie; one that has a special relevance in this new year.

Your Moment in Misogyny, brought to you by the ever relevant HuffPo:

As I watched Nancy Pelosi on Sunday morning, and I was stunned to discover that she and I both seem to have had the same haircut this week. It was a mistake for us both, in my opinion. How Nancy Pelosi had time to get her hair cut I don’t know, but I know how I did: I went to have my annual mammogram, and it was (as usual) so painful and horrible that I emerged completely deranged onto Madison Avenue, bought three pairs of shoes and wandered into my hairdresser’s, hoping she was free. She was, and as a result, my hair is too short. So is Nancy’s.  Read more 

Some excerpts from the text of their letter to Bush on Iraq:

This is the open letter Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California sent to President Bush on Friday:

Dear Mr. President:

See?! Already they’re too nice! [joke, dammit]

The start of the new Congress brings us opportunities to work together on the critical issues confronting our country.

Here comes the anvil…  Read more 

Go, Nancy, go!

House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has decided against naming either Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee, or Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (Fla.), the panel’s No. 2 Democrat, to chair the pivotal committee next year.

The decisions came despite lobbying by conservative Democrats on Harman’s behalf and a full-throttled campaign by Hastings to overcome the stigma of the 1988 impeachment that drove him from his federal judgeship.

Harmon actually wanted the keep Bush’s warrantless surveillance program secret after the Times broke the story. I’m glad she’s gone.  Read more 

So sayeth the LATimes and I’m sure a host of other publications. I’ve been busy with ASOR and other stuff this week, so I’m a bit behind on my reading, but I just have to chime in, because the irony is killing me.

Let’s take it apart, argument by argument.

n a battle that many felt Pelosi made unnecessarily bitter, House Democrats turned aside her personal pleas and arm-twisting and elected a Pelosi rival, Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), to be House majority leader over Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.).

-snip-

Still buoyed by their election day victories, some Democrats were left wondering why Pelosi had injected herself into a bitter leadership battle with her last-minute support of Murtha over Hoyer, who had long been on track to claim the No. 2 job.

Dog whistle: Democrats are bitter. Rhymes with “angry” and “rabid.” See America, they chose a crazed, bitter (lesbian) woman to lead you. All they can do is hate.  Read more 

Nancy weighs in.

I’ve got to run, so short version: is this a good thing? Bloggers love Murtha, but in truth, he’s a rather conservative, pro-big budgets for the DoD kind of guy. What makes him a better choice over the folks Rahm likes? I honestly don’t know, and would love to hear from you.

I just wanted to put it up for all to see. Sure, with signing statements and the Unitary Monarchy, this is going to be an uphill batttle. But in keeping with the idea that we need to be simple and positive, I love the “100 Hours” meme:

By DAVID ESPO
WASHINGTON — Franklin Roosevelt had his first hundred days.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is thinking 100 hours, time enough, she says, to begin to “drain the swamp” after more than a decade of Republican rule.

House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi of Calif. speaks about the economy during an address at
As in the first 100 hours the House meets after Democrats _ in her fondest wish _ win control in the Nov. 7 midterm elections and Pelosi takes the gavel as the first Madam Speaker in history.

Day One: Put new rules in place to “break the link between lobbyists and legislation.”  Read more 

Hobson’s comment got me thinking: what is “hardball” and how much should Democrats play it? What do you think?

You’ve probably heard that the previous Republican Congress set new records for Fuck You-partisanship. Closed door sessions to which no Democrat was invited, writing legislation with corporate interests in private sessions, thrusting said legislation to the voting floor without allowing a Democrat to read it, stealing Democratic computer files from Congressional machines, hiding information about chickenhawk Page-lovers from Democratic members responsible for monitoring the page program…it goes on and on. So I ask you now: is turnabout fair play? Or is it time to return to true biparisanship, and bring back the Civil government of ages past?  Read more