Gunpowder Chronicle posted on September 30, 2008 8:27 PM | Rating:
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There are some that are taking issue with my classification of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as a bitch based on her statement in the well of the House. Well, get over it. You can't always get what you want. She a powerless, shrill, incompetent gameplayer who doesn't understand her true role -- to lead the WHOLE House of Representatives. And when she doesn't get her way, like the spoiled Notre Dame grad she is (Institute of Notre Dame, that is), she gets bitchy.
And she didn't get her way this time, largely because she gave so many passes to key Democrats so they wouldn't have to vote for the bill. No one less than Maryland's own Chris Van Hollen himself informed us that sixteen house Democrats were allowed to vote no. Five committee chairs were allowed to vote no -- John Conyers, Colin Peterson, Filner, Bennie Thompson, and Gene Green (yes, that is a real name).
And there are the "close allies" of Nancy Nobrains: The Sanchez Sisters from California, Solomon Ortiz, Rick Fazio, Pete Stark, Missouri's Clay, Lynn Wolsey, Herseth Sandlin, and Barbarie Lee. All voted no.
So with the Speaker giving so many passes to her own close allies -- and most are major water carriers in the House -- how dare she come out and blame the Republicans for not voting for a bill that her own caucus is scared of?
Because, she is a bitch. She is not a leader. A leader doesn't even have to be all nice about it. The Speaker has absolute control over the house. She could have said "Everyone that votes no sits in the back from now on," or "If you vote no, you lose your committee assignment," or "To those who vote no-- no more junkets for you!"
She could have arm twisted, logrolled, bribed, even stolen as Speaker of the House. THAT would have been leadership. Crude, but leadership nonetheless. If Tip O'Neill or Sam Rayburn were running the house-- they would have done just that. As a matter of fact, they did!
Instead, she tried to cut a deal with John Boehner to deliver 50% of each caucus-- or so House Majority Whip Clyburn would have us believe. But here's the problem: nowhere near 50% of the House Republicans were ever in favor of this bill, and John Boehner knew that. Why would he make a deal like that?
Pelosi failed. Period. It's her job as Speaker of the House to make legislation go through. And she couldn't.