The Problem with Pelosi

Pelosi - "If I were not the speaker and I were not in Congress, I would probably be advocating for impeachment." 7/31/07

http://www.talkradionews.com/newsandcommentary/article.php?articleID=827

Her problem is she is so invested in her work as the Speaker, that she doesn't get the big picture. She feels that the Democrats, under her leadership are doing good work, and she is right. Relative to the rubber stamp congresses during Bush's first six years, the democrats are doing more oversight, and passing more legislation. They have delivered subpoenas, but Bush claims executive privilege provides immunity. They passed legislation which allowed stem cell research, but Bush vetoed it. Their good work is largely wasted.

Pelosi said "The question of impeachment is something that would divide the country," . Does that mean we should always avoid divisive issues? The House prepared Articles of Impeachment in 1974 for Richard Nixon. This too was divisive. Nixon resigned, and the Vietnam War ended shortly thereafter. We are better off for it.

Pelosi said that ending the war in Iraq, and expanding health care are higher priorities than impeachment. I wish she could see the obvious fact, that Bush will not allow the war to end while he is in office, and he will veto any expansion of health care such as the federal SCHIP legislation which will reach his desk soon. There is value in passing progressive legislation, even in the face of Bush's veto, but that value pales in comparison to the disastrous effects of 18 more months of the Bush administration.

Pelosi says that they don't have the votes to impeach. We won't know that until the process starts. When testimony begins and the crimes are outlined in front of the news cameras, support will grow among the people, and their representatives. A recent American Research Poll found that 45% of Americans favor impeachment already.

Pelosi said that the American people turned against Congressional Republicans in the 90's for impeaching Clinton, so she worries that they would judge her Democratic Party harshly if she were to allow impeachment to proceed now. She underestimates us. We realized that the impeachment of Clinton was purely political. The Republicans saw the opportunity to capitalize on a sex scandal to promote their political agenda. The impeachment of Bush and Cheney is necessary to protect against serious abuse of power and the subversion of constitutional government.

Pelosi, at this event on Tuesday 7/31, said that the House would likely pass, by the end of the week, legislation that would rein in the Bush Administration's warrant-less wiretapping program. Sadly, they yielded in the face of Bush's veto threats and the impending August recess. They passed a bill which actually expands their powers to spy on us, and further erodes our Fourth Amendment rights.

If we can pass the impeachment resolution here in Trumansburg on September 24th, we can be a part of a movement to pressure Pelosi and others in Congress to wake up, and pay attention to the will of the people.