Pelosi's town hall meeting: a lesson in divide and conquer

[Evergreen Emerald]

The republicans do not need to campaign against Nancy Pelosi. We are doing that for them.

The democrats in the senate do not have the corporate media to get across the democratic message. They have had to resort to town-hall type meetings where people like Pelosi can attempt to get her message across without O'Rielly and Hannity commentaries minimizing and dehumanizing and reducing the message (or completely ignore it).

We are eating our own. There she stood attempting to talk about what she and the fellow democrats have done in the face of such a wall of power the likes of which we have not seen in our government. And she was shouted down, heckled, disrespected by liberals. What the hell?

Why aren't you at a Bush rally? Why aren't you at a Delay fundraiser? Why are you not supporting one of the few in the legislative branch of government that is attempting to fight that all-powerful corrupt institution?

She showed class. She attempted to answer the questions and concerns of the disrupters while getting across her message.

The republicans loved it, I am sure. Divide and conquer. We are distracted by fighting among ourselves thereby allowing those corrupt war mongers to remain in power and continue the path.

Whose side are you on? Knock it off.

[mzmolly]

1. Sometimes I wonder if they are plants?

:shrug:

[Fredda Weinberg]

3. Dirty tricks eom

[lumpy]

17. Could be.

We have 'plants' right here on DU.

[acmejack]

2. It wouldn't appear you were even one of her constituents.

Just pointing out that those people might have the right to what they want in their OWN district, even if it pisses you off in a different state.

[Evergreen Emerald]

4. of course they have the right. No one is disputing that.

But at what cost to America? The alternative is Bush and company. The more we eat our own, the less chance we have of changing the neo-con course.

[acmejack]

5. Playing devils advocate .

Nancy has been an unapologetic cheerleader for the war, only reluctantly coming to side with Murtha after an initial Murtha speaks for himself stance. In all fairness, she has done a decent job in a most difficult time. I don't feel like she deserved to be shown disrespect either, but I am a traditionalist (old).

[Evergreen Emerald]

9. I am also frustrated at the apparent timidness of our democratic leaders

It sometimes appears that they are hedging their bets--not wanting to rock the boat for fear of political reprisal. It makes me angry when I don't hear the likes of Clinton and Kerry shouting from the rooftops. And it is time for them to stand up and fight even if it means their political demise. This is bigger than their jobs. This is fighting fascism.

But: Pelosi is one of the few who vocally stands up to them. And: we are eating our own.

[radio4progressives]

12. So what do you do, but engage in the same thing! Eating Our Own

These folks are not merely frustrated with "timidity".
These people are ANGRY with what is perceived as vichy traitors, elected officials that refuse to take a stand representing the concerns of her own CONSTITUENTS.

now who is eating who?

[Evergreen Emerald]

14. They are shouting down our advocate

You misunderstand me. I am not suggesting that we sit silently by while Bush and company destroy the constitution. But, shout at them for god's sakes!

[radio4progressives]

15. I saw that, and i don't approve

of the tactics the woman in the audience employed. it wasn't very effective in getting her point across, and it seemed on my tv screen to be way over the top...

If she knew that C-span would disengage her mic, i wonder if she would have known that she looked to television audience like a crazed lunatic, especially because we have no idea what she was saying?

I am curious what issue she was talking about, does anyone know?

[patrice]

6. The worst one was going on about New Orleans.

[radio4progressives]

16. is that what it was? hmm n/t

[Doctor_J]

7. Amen

why are these people protesting our last line of defense against outright fascism? We need to be showing up at SMirk photo-ops by the thoussands. Let them try to arrest 2,000 of us for leaving the "free speech zone". Just exactly wtf good does it do to harrass Nancy?

[Evergreen Emerald]

8. "show up at SMirk photo-ops by the 1,000's"

Exactly! You said what I meant to say beautifully. We are wasting our time and marginalizing our allies.

[shance]

10. I had a different take.

What I witnessed was the glaring disconnection Washington leaders has become from their constituents and sadly, much of reality. What they fail to see is how interdependent we must all remain in order to have a healthy, interactive, vital government.

I wholeheartedly applaud Ms. Pelosi and I applaud the kick ass citizens of San Fran for SHOWING UP and caring. They all were setting a great example of Democracy by suiting up, showing up and participating in the regularly sustainment of our Democracy.

However, there was such an obvious barrier from what Ms. Pelosi is living and what her constituents are living.

It seems our leaders are encouraged to disconnect from their states and the realities facing the world by the "money changers" and lobbyists, even as good as a person as I think Pelosi must be.

What I saw was Congressman Pelosi looking shell shocked like a school teacher not knowing how to handle students that know more of what's going on than she does. Also, the fact she gave answers that I found insulting and frankly weren't honest regarding the war and "terrorism" and it was reason for loud responses from the room.

Her constituents were throwing her off her script by asking her real questions. What bothered me was Ms. Pelosoisher lack of seeing their fear and concern and the knowledge in that room. She wasn't hearing them, because she wasnt fully listening. As capable as Ms. Pelosi is, our system promotes leaders who are asleep at the wheel in Washington and give canned speeches and platitudes instead of being able to speak from the heart. I believe many of them want to speak from the heart, but they are subtlely being both threatened and praised to not to step out of the box.

I did see the women in the front who would not stop. She had a valid point that many houses in New Orleans are being illegally bulldozed and her question were legitimate, but she was disrupting because she wouldn't sit down. I also wonder if she was a paid disruptor, very well could have been, although her question about New Orleans is something Bush Administration is essentially guilty of initiating, so one would think it would have been another question other than New Orleans, but who knows?

I think bottom line: Pelosi is a good leader, but she like every other leader in Congress should be engaging in town hall meetings once a month. She gets big kudos for initiating this one. Seems to me the reason why this town hall meeting was so aggressive was because our leaders have been AWOL from engaging in such a necessary and vital part of our representation for quite some time. Congressman Pelosi at least had the care and courage* to open this up for CSPAN and everyone else. The Bush Administration would personally hire an audience because they couldn't handle the criticism.

[IndianaGreen]

11. When asked about impeachment, Pelosi said "wait until 2008"

Here is the earlier thread, and one of those posters was there:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2371501

Whose side are you on? Knock it off.

I am for filibustering Alito, ending the war in Iraq, preventing the war in Iran, and impeaching Bush.

I also applaud Gore's call for a special counsel to investigate law breaking by Bush.

Whose side are you on?

[Peace Patriot]

13. 1. Nancy Pelosi has voted for, and led the House Democrats in voting for,

giving BILLIONS AND BILLIONS AND BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of our tax dollars to George Bush, so that he can slaughter tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis, and torture and disappear hundreds, maybe thousands, of people, and line the pockets of Dick Cheney's buds (one billion unaccounted for in Iraq), and have a launchpad for invading Iran and Syria to give his oil buddies a new supply. It is the money that makes these things possible. I think she deserves a bit of heckling.

2. "Eating our own." Did anyone say they wouldn't vote for her? Did anyone say they wouldn't support and volunteer for her? You can be furious at the Democrats for their betrayals--as this 40 year loyal Democratic party member and voter is--and yell at them, and still exercise your civic duty to support the best candidate who makes it to the ballot. Protest is forbidden at Bushite events. It was very nearly forbidden (caged) at the Dem Party convention in Boston. You want to muzzle people some more? If representatives like Pelosi want people to shut up, then they will start representing the great majorities of people in their districts and in the country who hate this war and despise this junta with all their hearts--60% of the people, across the board in all polls, on every issue, and in every approval poll.

3. Why is it that we have a choice between "corrupt warmongers," on the one hand, and Democrats who vote those corrupt warmongers multi-billions of dollars to commit murder and mayhem, and to destroy the Constitution and our democracy, in the other? A choice between fascists and fascist enablers? Is that right? When it comes to vote, you might choose the Democratic fascist enabler for reasons apart from the war--because you are denied any other choice--but that does NOT make this political spectrum right, or democratic, or even close to resembling the true tenor of the American people. And I think protest against it--personal protest, in public, in an open forum, holding people RESPONSIBLE for their votes and actions--is entirely appropriate. A protest means that you feel powerless and incredibly frustrated at not being heard--and yet, the people protesting the war are the ones representing the great majority of Americans. Why should Democratic leader Pelosi be spared this demonstration of powerlessness, of anguish, and of cries of frustration?

4. There is a reason why the situation in Washington DC is so unbalanced. And it is very simple. Bushite corporations now control the tabulation of our votes with "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code in the new electronic voting machines, with virtually no audit/recount controls. These machines are insecure, unreliable and extremely hackable. They are owned and controlled by two related corporations, both run by Bushites. Congress voted $4 billion for this purpose, which poured right into the pockets of Bush's buds at Diebold and ES&S. This completely non-transparent and fraudulent election SYSTEM did not get put into place without the corruption and collusion of many Democratic leaders--both election officials and others. And it was installed amidst the perfect silence of the entire upper tier of the Democratic Party leadership. The electronic fraud began in 2002, with Max Cleland's Senate loss, and continued right through 2004, with Kerry's loss. Cleland should be a Senator, as should many other Democrats. Kerry should be president. What are we to make of the DEAFENING SILENCE of the Democratic Party leadership on Bushites counting all our votes with SECRET programming inside a black box, that no one, not even our secretaries of state, are permitted to look into? The unbalance of power in Washington is not just the result of Bushite power grabbing. It is also the result of a catastrophic failure of the Democratic Party leadership to demand, and insist upon, transparent elections. We have a RIGHT to protest their lack of power when it is due, in no small part, to their own abdication of responsibility, or their outright choice.

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I do understand what you are saying. It is the pits that we have only one major political party that will even given a hearing to the MAJORITY VIEWS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. And here we have someone like Pelosi who actually arranges a town meeting. And I, for one, am a STRONG advocate of facing political reality in this country, in the current circumstance, and, for instance, supporting whichever War Democrat is going to be chosen for us as our presidential candidate in 2008. I think we are in very great peril as a country, and that we MUST restore election transparency, and retrieve our right to vote, or it's all over. And I will work toward that end, whatever the situation is. If the War Democrat gets installed as president by the fascists (for their own purposes--which I think will happen), and if that Democrat can be talked into election reform by grass roots activists like me, then we will have a smoother path (otherwise restoring our right to vote will be dependent on state/local movements).

I think we need to be practical and strategic in our thinking--and also strategize on the basis of reality and truth. I am very, very concerned about a center/left split, such as occurred in Germany in the early 1930s, that led to Hitler's rise. We should not go that way--even if the provocation is great (for instance, the War Democrat instituting a military Draft, which I think is also likely). Our nation is in too much danger. Our sovereignty as a people--which is based on our right to vote--is nearly gone. We MUST get it back. That is Priority #1.

But that DOES NOT mean that we have to be silent, or even polite, in our protest on this unconscionable situation--that the will of the people is not being done, and that our right to vote has been sold away to private Bushite corporations.