PELOSI'S NO BETTER THAN FORD AS MINORITY LEADER

NEW WEAPON OF MASS DISTRACTION?


I honestly thought that Nancy Pelosi would make a better Minority Leader than Harold Ford. I remember how critics ripped Ford for daring to challenge her for the position because at the time, it was thought that the Tennessee Congressman hadn't paid his dues.

Well, that's true, but in days of late, Ms. Pelosi is not showing me anything either, as Minority Leader. While she may put wayward members on an embarrasing "shout-out" about voting against social programs, or legislation like the BK bill, she is also facilitating and encouraging unanimity on issues that serve to further weaken the Democrats's position as the opposition party.

The failure of the Democrats to support Rep. Jack Murtha's call on withdrawal from Iraq is egregious and one that the GOP will surely spin to their advantage in the 2006 elections. While I may detest how the GOP operates, the reality is, those thugs know how to unite when engaging in battle. Detractors are PUNISHED (as in stripped of committee assignments, or not given any campaign cash from the coiffers when they are needed).

Pelosi has facilitated the Democratic strategy of "shoot down your own man" and it cannot help the party; most likely it hands the GOP another weapon of mass destruction to use against them.

She's drinking too much of DLC Kool-Aid. Additionally, she's into punishing those in the party who would oppose her on moral and ethical grounds, such as Representative Cynthia McKinney. While McKinney is a five-term Representative, she is treated like a freshman and Pelosi will not restore her previous seniority she had before her rigged defeat against Denise Majette in 2002. What she's punishing McKinney for is her attendance at the Katrina hearings. Pelosi believes those hearings are a GOP stunt and has ordered the Democratic side not to participate.

McKinney, on the other hand, while she's aware of the GOP's penchant for posturing, she also knows it's best to be in the presence of the enemy, so you can know what's the next move. If the GOP pulls something to outflank the Democrats on the Katrina response, McKinney will be able to warn the Caucus before they are caught off-guard.
Pelosi shows her appreciation by continuing to isolate McKinney every chance she gets. I think she would engage in this against my rep, Barbara Lee, but since Lee and Pelosi are both from Northern Cal, she couldn't get away with such tactics; the leftists in Oakland and Berkeley would be gunning for her like the NRA goes gunning for anyone threatening the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution.

So my question is this: would Harold Ford been a better choice for Minority Leader? Probably not, because his basic reason for wanting the post was to elevate his stature on the National Level in positioning his Senate run. He would probably have engaged in the same strategies as Pelosi, with the same "shoot-yourself-in-the-foot" results, courtesy of the DLC.

No, the only difference between Ford and Pelosi is; Ford was open about his ambition, which is the only factor of his character that I can respect, even though I don't like it. Pelosi, on the other hand, has engaged in her own form of Bait and Switch, and that I like even less than an overly-ambitious, self-seeking capricious Senate candidate.

Has San Franciscans been sold a false bill of goods with Nancy Pelosi?