Cindy has some stern words for Ms. Pelosi

Aug 26, 2008 5:24 PM

The "Experience of Being Wrong"

Cindy Sheehan


I did not watch Ms. Pelosi's speech at the DNC. I was actually giving a speech of my own in another part of Denver, but I have read the transcript of Ms. Pelosi's remarks and I have also read the criticisms of this speech on all of the Democratic blogs. Ms. Pelosi did not get high marks, to say the least. I have read some things I cannot repeat, but criticisms of "wooden," "boring," "uninspired," and "hypocritical," are some comments coming from committed and rabid Democrats. It does seem pretty hypocritical when such a public failure can claim that McCain has the "experience of being wrong.
"

With Congress at a 9% approval rating, it is amazing to me that Ms. Pelosi can stand in front of anyone and claim "success" and claim that her leadership has taken this nation on a better path. Our economy is crashing; hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes despite the $300.00 "stimulus" check Ms. Pelosi sent them. Some Americans are being forced to choose whether to buy gas or food, despite the miniscule hike in the federal minimum wage, which affected a very small percentage of the population since most states already had minimum wages that exceeded the federal minimum wage. A true progressive "change" in that direction would be mandating a living wage, which differs from state/state and city/city; but based on the cost of living. It's easier to push people of color or poor people out of cities like San Francisco by increasing the cost of living, while not mandating a living wage.


Some other of Ms.
Pelosi's "accomplishments" that she touted in her speech were:

Keeping toxic toys out of the hands of children.


(The toys that were put into our children's hands by the "free" trade agreements she supports and the outsourcing of jobs that pay slave wages to countries that make our consumer goods and encourage cutting back costs so we can go to Wal-mart and get "low, low" prices).


We passed legislation to keep hard working American families in their homes

(According to Reality Trak, 1 out of every 194 homes received foreclosure notices in the first quarter of this year and Congress was more interested in bailing out Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and predatory lenders than keeping "American Families" in their homes.
)

And, we enacted a new G.I. Bill to thank our veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by sending them to college.


(Ms. Pelosi did not mention in her speech that her congress has funded the war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan to the tune of over 400 billion dollars and since she became Speaker, over 1200 of our troops have been killed unnecessarily and hundreds of Iraqis/Afghans have been murdered or displaced from their homes. Ms. Pelosi should not be "thanking" our veterans, she should be apologizing to them for continuing to send them off to fight a war that has physically, mentally, or emotionally wounded tens of thousands of them for no reason at all).


Ms. Pelosi even said that Iraq was: "a catastrophic mistake that has cost thousands of lives of our men and women in uniform and trillions of dollars, as well as has weakened our standing in the world and our capability to protect the American people, Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong. Very, very wrong." Well, if John McCain has been wrong and the occupation of Iraq (she says nothing about Afghanistan, and, in fact, she supports the Obama plan of redeploying troops from Iraq to Afghanistan to fight the "real war on terror"), then Nancy Pelosi has also been "very, very wrong." One doesn't pour funds to the tune of "trillions" of dollars into a "catastrophic mistake.
"

Borrowing the rhetoric of the right, Ms. Pelosi wants to honor our troops that have made America the "Land of the free and the home of the brave." Collaborating with the Bush regime to foist upon us a "Prevention of violent radicalism and homegrown terrorism law" and working with the City of Denver and the State of Colorado and Homeland "Security" to turn Denver into a fascist police state, would have made a person of conscience choke on those words. I certainly know that my son did not join the US Military and die in a "catastrophic mistake" to turn this nation into one that is looking more like a bi-partisan repressive despotic dictatorship every day. I have a radical idea for Ms. Pelosi! How about she honors our troops by obeying her sworn oath to "uphold and defend the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic," the same oath our troops take.


Ms. Pelosi is famous for taking our constitution "off the table" and will go down in infamy as the Vichy-enabler of the Bush regime and along with her beloved "party" will be known as the party that killed the 4th amendment to the Bill of Rights (with her support of warrantless spying on Americans and immunity from the felonious breaking of the FISA laws) and the 8th amendment as the sanctioners of torture.


During her speech, Ms. Pelosi is giving evidence that her leadership will also further dissolve the separation between church and state that has accelerated during the Bush "catastrophic mistake" of a Presidency. She assured the convention goers and lapdog media that the Democratic path is one to the Christian heaven: "It is the path that renews our democracy by bringing us together as one nation under God." Whose god? Bush's god? Obama's god? Pelosi's god? Osama's god? Olmert's god? The god of the "two" party system: mammon? The very words, "God," or "religion" do not belong anywhere near public political discourse. Obviously, not everyone worships the same god, or any god, or gods. We must end the rhetoric of "holy wars" and remember that we do not elect a Pope of America, but a President. I also have another question...how is democracy "renewed" by forcing us together as a "nation under God?" This was not only an un-American thing to say, but the rhetoric is as empty as the treasury of the USA.


The "successes" of Pelosi's leadership look an awful lot like failures when we know that she mostly capitulated to the Bush regime and when her failures have been so catastrophically tragic.


In September, Ms. Pelosi, will have a few weeks left of her leadership position when she will go back to lead a congress that has that abysmal approval rating and has passed the least amount of legislation in the last 20 years. Congress will take up business for about three weeks in September and a good start will be to arrest Karl Rove on the first day for ignoring a congressional subpoena. On day two, begin to roll back the executive branch excesses of the last eight years and reclaim the separation of powers that were ensured by the founders before the next president takes over and takes the scepter of an empire and not the mantle of public service as only the "first of equals.
"

There's nothing more important for her to do.

Bringing it home

from a Cindy Sheehan email of November 15, 2007:

"Our national identity rests on and has been formed by violence and greed. Congress has a chance to slow down, if not reverse, that cycle but will give George Bush billions more to wage their (the mess belongs to all the branches co-equally) illegal occupation because, instead of protecting life and liberty for all, they viciously protect the life and liberty of their elitist club only."

My email reply:

Cindy-

I just had a thought that seemed so clear - probably like some you've had many times.

Imagine if, instead of a bill to provide more money to continue killing nameless and faceless Iraqis, Congress was pondering a bill to permit US forces to capture, torture, and possibly kill Nancy Pelosi's children (doubtless for some imaginary national security reason.) Or substitute the children of any lawmaker you choose.

Imagine the somewhat different tactics that would be "on the table" to kill that bill.

I'd think there would be a total shutdown of the government before such a bill was allowed to go into effect. Lawmakers would be calling press conferences every hour to denounce this travesty. They'd call on all their resources, call in all their favors from powerful business and government leaders, blanket the media with outrage and demands for a return to rational, civil behavior.

In short, they'd stop "business as usual" and shift into drastic crisis mode, and not stop until the inhuman threat was gone.

And yet, how is this materially different from the situation they face now?

Kinda makes ya think.

-steve

Three reasons Congress is wrongheaded in Iraq

This is from an email from Cindy Sheehan, commenting on an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in which Karl Rove complains about how Congress is threatening to screw up Iraq and the Middle East by trying to end the War in Iraq. Cindy agrees they're screwing up, but for failing to end the War...

There are at least three errors with the Congressional “New Direction in Iraq.” First of all the timelines are again “non-binding” and not worth the breath it takes to talk about them, or the ink and paper that it takes to write them (or the headache one gets to think about them). With 2007 being the deadliest year for our US troops and the people of Iraq (did anyone not see---except Bush and Congress that a “surge” which Karl says is working in his laughable op-ed---would not increase the bloodshed?) and the violence predictably picking up after the holy month of Ramadan, by the end of 2008, we should tragically witness the deaths of hundreds of more US troops and thousands of more Iraqis, with even more fleeing their homes to take an inhumane refugee status.

The second thing wrong with a short-term handover is that any amount of money for a war that is wrong, is also wrong. Using the drug addiction illustration again, if one of my children asked me for money to buy crack, but I told them abusing crack is wrong, but “I will give you more money to abuse crack: but only until March! By March, you must have your crack addiction under control because I won’t give you one more penny to abuse crack!” My child would take the money with relief to continue his/her habit knowing that by March (from my past performance of always- buckling under to his/her pressure) I would give him/her more money, anyway. Then between now and March, I could not once tell my child that abusing crack is “harmful/illegal” because I have given my “implied consent” by funding his/her habit. Congress is reaffirming the implied consent theory of war continually by feeding George’s habit for chaos and killing.

The third reason the offer of partial blood money to George is a mistake is that the Constitution divides powers between the branches. Congress (read—Democratic Leadership) has forgotten that the institution is a co-equal branch with the Executive and Judicial. I studied the Constitution in Civic class for my entire eighth grade year and it has only been amended twice since then, once granting suffrage to 18 year olds in 1971 after they had been dying for years in Vietnam (27th Amendment) Incidentally, with the Every Child Left Behind Act, our children, today, learn very little, if anything about civics, history, or critical thinking---that’s education in a fascist state, my friend. Anyhow, in eighth grade I learned that Congress has the power and duty to declare war and pay for war and the Executive has the duty to wage the war. In Congress’ New Direction, the bill has elements that “redefine” the mission in Iraq. I agree that the mission needs to be radically redefined to no mission at all. However, the president, who is clearly irresponsible, to say the very least, is well within his Constitutional right to veto any bill like this and within his Constitutional powers to wage the war as he sees fit. Have I said lately, that he isn’t fit, at all?

The only power that Congress has to end this war (and effectively and affectively redefining the mission), to the chagrin of Karl who is clearly out of step with reality and the country, is to not give George Bush one more penny of China’s money, let alone 50 billion more of Chinese dollars.

How the Internet can take you from a scooter to a war

In the first two hours after Bush gave Scooter a "Get Out Of Jail" card, these official statements were made, in this order (from Talking Points Memo):

John Edwards:

"Only a president clinically incapable of understanding that mistakes have consequences could take the action he did today. President Bush has just sent exactly the wrong signal to the country and the world. In George Bush's America, it is apparently okay to misuse intelligence for political gain, mislead prosecutors and lie to the FBI. George Bush and his cronies think they are above the law and the rest of us live with the consequences. The cause of equal justice in America took a serious blow today."

Barack Obama:

"This decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national security cements the legacy of an Administration characterized by a politics of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and its ideology above the law. This is exactly the kind of politics we must change so we can begin restoring the American people’s faith in a government that puts the country’s progress ahead of the bitter partisanship of recent years."

Harry Reid:

"The President's decision to commute Mr. Libby's sentence is disgraceful. Libby's conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq War. Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone. Judge Walton correctly determined that Libby deserved to be imprisoned for lying about a matter of national security. The Constitution gives President Bush the power to commute sentences, but history will judge him harshly for using that power to benefit his own Vice President's Chief of Staff who was convicted of such a serious violation of law."

Nancy Pelosi:

The President’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s prison sentence does not serve justice, condones criminal conduct, and is a betrayal of trust of the American people.

The President said he would hold accountable anyone involved in the Valerie Plame leak case. By his action today, the President shows his word is not to be believed. He has abandoned all sense of fairness when it comes to justice, he has failed to uphold the rule of law, and he has failed to hold his Administration accountable.

Joe Biden:

Last week Vice President Cheney asserted that he was beyond the reach of the law. Today, President Bush demonstrated the lengths he would go to, ensuring that even aides to Dick Cheney are beyond the judgment of the law.

It is time for the American people to be heard.

I call for all Americans to flood the White House with phone calls tomorrow expressing their outrage over this blatant disregard for the rule of law.

Chuck Schumer:

“As Independence Day nears, we are reminded that one of the principles our forefathers fought for was equal justice under the law. This commutation completely tramples on that principle.”

John McCain's spokesman Danny Diaz, asked if he wanted to comment:

"Nope."

comment to the above statement from Schumer:
(http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003582.php)

Posted by: deRougemont
Date: July 2, 2007 6:53 PM
Bush's commutation of Libby's prison time is a prime example of this Admin's complete disregard for the law, but as infuriating as the act was, beware of the next several days.... This morning Bush's spokesmen came out with charges that "Hizboullah" is in Iraq at the behest of Iranian government...all without proof other than "US Intell". And Bush met with Putin at Bush's Daddy's compound. (So all the players will be clear as to future actions.) We'll be at war with Iran within days and everyone will forget about Libby and the politization of law, and the fired attorneys, etc completely. (Anyone remember the Congressman and the intern's body found in the park? Which Congressman? which park?....)

This comment made me scratch my head. Intern? Congressman? sounds familiar, but the faint memories failed to congeal into any substance. Google to the rescue.

from Wikipedia:

"Condit disappeared from the news after 9/11. In spite of the allegations against him, which supposedly amounted to the worst political scandal since President Clinton's impeachment, Condit was allowed to keep his seat on the Intelligence Committee, and he did not lose his security clearance. Condit was in fact one of just a handful of members of Congress who was cleared to see the most sensitive information on the attacks."

For a splash of cold water, read the whole Wikipedia piece. You'll read about Gary, his brothers, his children, his fellow "gang of five" from the California Legislature, each and every one of them in trouble with the law. And all now completely out of the spotlight of the media.

Condit even lost his two Baskin-Robbins franchises -- they claimed he owed them money -- and then used the franchise name after it was revoked. And that was just last year.

That comment is obvious but ominous — media distractions are a given for this administration. I hope that post is not prophetic.