“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” - Harry S. Truman

I’ve been waiting and waiting for her to do the right thing and end the Iraq War. I’m talking about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). She has made one lame excuse after another why she “can’t do,” what she and the other Democrats promised the American people prior to the Nov. 7, 2006 election, they “would do,” if they gained control of the U.S. Congress--end the war. “We don’t have the votes,” is one of Pelosi’s dubious replies. The truth is, the Democrats DO HAVE THE VOTES! In fact, if they do nothing, don’t vote for another supplemental funding bill, the Bush-Cheney Gang will have to begin to end the occupation of Iraq. There is, also, as Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) said, more than enough money in the current budget to bring the troops home, safely. (1) Consequently, I feel I must give Speaker Pelosi a “F” grade for failing her duty on Iraq and on other national issues as well.

Since the Democrats took control of the Congress in January, 2007, 825 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. God only knows how many innocent Iraqis have also perished during that same period. The estimate now is that 1.2 million have been killed since the U.S. led invasion of that country in March, 2003. (2) Rep. Kucinich said we were “lied” into the war by the cunning Bush-Cheney Gang. (1) He’s right and those lies add up to impeachable offenses under Art. 2, Sec. 4, of the U.S. Constitution. (3)

Now, to compound the damnable lies of the Bush-Cheney Gang, we have Democrats, like Speaker Pelosi, who have chosen to betray the trust of the people by going back on their word. The voters gave the Democrats a mandate in the Nov. 7, 2006 election, to end the war. Instead of bringing the conflict to a quick conclusion, Speaker Pelosi, and her hawkish cronies, have allowed it to go on and on, with no end in sight. And, to make matter even worse, her mousey leadership as House Speaker, has been taken as a “green light” by the amoral Bush-Cheney Gang, to plan a preemptive attack on Iran. (4) Rep. Kucinich has it right: Speaker Pelosi has failed to “stand up” to the Bush-Cheney Gang. (1)

The blood of those 825 recent dead U.S. troops are on Pelosi’s hands, as they are on the hands of another “Fake Democrat,” U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD). The latter has repeatedly voted to fund the war. And when she was challenged on it by her constituents, she mindless aired this refrain: “I support the troops!” (5) Well, the Iraq Veterans Against the War, think Pelosi, Mikulski and the other Fake Democrats, are simply full of it. They say: If you really want to “support the troops,” than bring them home, now! (6) The truth is that the Fake Democrats, along with their GOP counterparts, don’t give a good hoot about the U.S. troops! What they care about is their political careers, getting reelected, and serving the “War Party” and not the “Public Good.” This means they regularly suck up to the agents of the Special Interests that make up the “War Party,” who want a War Without End. They range from the fat cat “K” Street lobbyists in Washington, D.C., to the Wise Guys, who front for the Military-Industrial complex, “Big Oil,” the Israel Lobby, and others as well. (7) Mikulski even publicly bragged about getting “daily” phone calls from operatives from AIPAC. I’m not making that up. (5)

As a Baltimorean, I was initially proud to see Rep. Pelosi elected to the top spot in the House of Representatives. However, I also put her on notice, that if she didn’t measure up to the responsibilities of the office, that she could end her career in the same dismal fashion as ex-House Speaker, Tom Foley (D-WA). The voters gave him the boot. (8) I suspect that the voters of the 8th congressional district of California are ready to give Pelosi a comparable send off. Sadly, her failure to act on a host of other issues, like: Torture and Rendition; repealing the Military Commissions Act; FISA and Surveillance Reform; and getting rid of the USA Patriot Act (which Sen. Mikulski voted for twice); reveals that she lacks the needed leadership skills. Speaker Pelosi doesn’t have it. She comes off as a politico that belongs on a Town Council, somewhere--making a back room deal--to placate a big campaign contributor. Speaker Pelosi is simply out of her element.

If any matter showed that she wasn’t up to being Speaker of the House, it was impeachment. First, she is totally clueless about the seminal importance of the U.S. Constitution, and the classical idea of “The Republic,” and the essential role that the Congress plays in our check and balance system of government. Second, she has never read James Madison--a prime author of the Constitution. Third: Speaker Pelosi is mostly ignorant of the history of the American people and its long struggle to establish and preserve its Republic. The latter is the property of the people, (Res Publica Est Res Populi), and not of the grasping Wire Pullers. Fourth: She’s failed to appreciate that the Constitution is always “on the table!” It is a perpetual document--the Supreme Charter--for the nation. Speaker Pelosi mindlessly wailed: “Impeachment is off the table!” What she meant to say was: “My fellow Americans, I don’t have the guts and/or the necessary intelligence to lead the necessary battle to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney for their ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors,’ and to fulfill all the duties of the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.”

Anyone with a half a brain knows that unless impeachment proceedings are begun soon against V.P. Dick Cheney, that he will see to it that Iran becomes another wasted Iraq. The evidence is also clear that Cheney’s psyche embraces unspeakable evils. Bush and Cheney are interchangeable. If you stop Cheney, you are stopping Bush. H. Res. 333 is sitting there waiting for a push from House Speaker Pelosi to pass the Judiciary Committee and then move onto the House floor. (9) Only a majority vote is required in the House to send a “Bill of Impeachment” against Cheney to the Senate for trial. THE DEMOCRATS ARE IN THE MAJORITY! Instead of taking action on H. Res. 333, Speaker Pelosi wrongly insists that nothing can be done, which then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Professor Jonathan Turley said: The U.S. Constitution is “idiot proof!” He explained, however, that this is “only” true if the Congress does its duty and checks the excesses of the Executive Branch of Government. He emphasized that the Congress has allowed this power-crazed administration to create, “an Uber Presidency!” (10) How has Speaker Pelosi responded to the imperial presidency of the wacky cowboy from Texas--George W. Bush. Well, she’s shrugged her shoulders! For that alone, she deserves an “F” grade. Speaker Pelosi has had plenty of opportunities to prove herself. But alas, she has fumbled the ball each and every time and has permitted the slaughter, mayhem and the illegal and immoral occupation in Iraq to continue unabated.

When Lt. Gen. William E. Odom (USA, Retired) said that the Iraq War was the “greatest strategic mistake in American history,” Speaker Pelosi turned a deaf ear. Now, another Retired Army Lt. Gen., Ricardo Sanchez, is echoing Gen. Odom’s strong anti-war sentiments. He’s labeled the war “a nightmare,” and the Bush-Cheney Gang as “derelict” in their duty. Tragically, Speaker Pelosi has chosen to listen, on this issue, to the counsel of Rep. Emanuel Rahm (D-IL) and Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), two of the biggest apologists in the Congress for Israel’s Hard-Right regime. (11)

Finally, Speaker Pelosi just doesn’t get it. She is now part of the problem and is complicit in the evildoings of the Bush-Cheney Gang. The outraged voters of San Francisco have her, a la Tom Foley, in their electoral sights. Speaker Pelosi has to go for the sake of preserving the Republic. America can, and must, do better.

Notes:

1. www.youtube.com/watch
2. www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.iraqdead09oct09,0,6936773.story
3. www.afterdowningstreet.org/
4. www.youtube.com/watch
5. baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/14834/index.php
6. www.ivaw.org/
7. Chalmers Johnson’s “The Sorrows of Empire”
8. world.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/39471
9. kucinich.house.gov/SpotlightIssues/documents.htm
10. baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/13664/index.php
11. www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm

©2007, William Hughes.

William Hughes is a video and print journalist. His videos can be found at: www.youtube.com/profile.
Email Contact: liamhughes-AT-comcast.net.