Pelosi Says She Miscalculated GOP Determination on Iraq

[marmar]

from AlterNet's PEEK:



Pelosi Says She Miscalculated GOP Determination on Iraq

Posted by Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake at 5:37 AM on December 20, 2007.




File this under the category of "oh really":

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., admitted Thursday that she had underestimated the willingness of Republicans to stand behind President Bush's Iraq policy despite the drubbing the GOP took in the polls in 2006.

"The assumption I made was that the Republicans would soon see the light," she said. Instead, the minority stuck to the president's war policy in the face of unrelenting pressure from congressional Democrats and powerful lobbying campaigns by anti-war groups.

Bush has consistently refused to accept any limitations on his authority to direct military operations in Iraq, or on funds destined for the war effort. Democrats have been unable to muster enough votes to force him to accept a timetable for withdrawal of combat troops or a change in their mission in Iraq.

"That was a revelation to me, because I felt the American peoples' voices were so strong and still are in this regard that I hoped that with some compromise and reaching out there might be some change in direction," Pelosi said. "But they are sticking with the president on this."

The GOP is organized, it operates as a party. I hate to quote Red State again, but I'm gonna have to:

Let me put this in very stark terms: there is no Democratic Party in Congress. There are, instead, a bare majority of Congressmen and Senators who have banded together in order to gather power, influence, and money. Which is fine, as far as it goes - except that they are not actually using any of the resources that they are gathering to benefit the groups and causes who worked to put them in power. At best they are operating under terms of enlightened self-interest, albeit a very small-minded version of it: they are keeping their geographical constituents as sweet as is necessary to ensure re-election. And the Republicans know all of this, and will use this knowledge to pass the bills that we feel the country needs to thrive. And all of this is why 2007 was such a horrible legislative year for the progressive movement - and why 2008 will be no better for them.

The Democrats don't know how to operate like a party; the Republicans do. The Democrats lost the energy bill by one vote because they couldn't get Mary Landrieu, the most vulnerable Democrat in the Senate who's going to need every bit of help she can get from the party next year not to lose her seat, to toe the line. Cracking the whip, hanging together and using their leverage to enforce party discipline -- it's just not what they do.

Recognizing that this is how the GOP functions is not that tough, it's been evident to many for years, and if anybody thought they were going to abandon Bush (and the war) in sufficient numbers to end it they were kidding themselves.

A realistic appraisal of how the Republicans operate is probably a good first step toward combating them. Acting like a real party is probably a good second.

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/71204/

[Deep13]

1. I didn't. Maybe I should be Speaker. nt

[roguevalley]

49. oh god. can she go now? Please?

[bdamomma]

2. So Nancy???

Impeachment is still off the table? Let it be known that more and more soldiers and Iraqi civilians will be killed cause you would rather run the clock out on this filthy regime.

[Toots]

3. I think she has miscalculated a hell of a lot more than that.

Iraq is important but it is way down the list from accountability..She never even mentioned that except to say it was Off the Table...

[babylonsister]

4. She's been fighting the rethugs for a year, and only now claims miscalculation?

Sorry, I'm not believing that.

[loudsue]

32. A year? Has she had her head in the sand since 1994?

It really isn't rocket science to see where the republicans are coming from. If she is just now getting a clue about this, she has NO BUSINESS being majority leader. She and her fellow DLCers need to get voted out, and REAL dems voted in. In the meantime, someone else needs to take over as majority leader. This one is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

[indepat]

50. Nancy could have never guessed it was always all about the oil, regional hegemony,

and junior's empire as many of us had forewarned since before day-one after reading their tea leaves and connecting the dots.

[hobbit709]

5. Evidently the fact that the pukes marched in lockstep

for the past 7 years never penetrated her skull. There's a line between being dense and willful ignorance and I'm not sure which side of the line she's on.

[meegbear]

6. Resign the leadership post Nancy ...

and give it to someone who can calculate these things.

[Supersedeas]

72. a disaster in calculating too

[porphyrian]

7. Oh, for fuck's sake.

There's no fucking way she got that far in politics being that fucking stupid.

[derby378]

14. Then how do you explain George W. Bush?

[porphyrian]

16. Legacy and wealth can substitute for intelligence, especially as part of someone else's plan. -n/t

[warren pease]

52. Legacy and wealth, the Pelosi way...

She's the daughter of a one-time Maryland congressman and mayor of Baltimore, so she's a born pol by both nature and nurture. She affiliated with Phil Burton early in her San Francisco political career, which was a damn good move if she had wanted to end up a progressive. Unfortunately, somewhere on the road to the speakership she took a hard right and ended up as a BushCo enabler/collaborator, abandoning the SF progressives had who elected her in the first place. Much good background info here.

And she's only the eighth richest member of the House, worth at most a paltry $54 million and as little as $14 million. Poor woman may starve at this rate. Opensecrets.org has some financial data on Pelosi here (this was from 2005, the last year the FEC has full data for, I suppose). Click on the "assets" link for more details.

So it's not that I think she's a particularly stupid person, although admitting she got fooled dozens of times by the most dangerously stupid man ever to occupy the white house does suggest a mediocre level of intellect combined with a high level of gullibility. Mainly, I think she's just another well-insulated rich prig who will never have to live with the consequences of her congressional actions.

I doubt she's going to be rounded up and shipped to Gitmo under provisions of the homegrown terrorist prevention act, for example. Nope, she'll continue to exist in her cushioned bubble, convinced she's doing her best to serve the republic. Fortunately, she won't be around to read the history of this period, or the analysis of her supporting role in the destruction of the Constitution.

A pox on her, Hoyer, Emmanuel and the rest of the DLC con artists who pretend to be democrats when the studio lights are on them, then skulk back into the shadows and get back in touch with their inner conservatives.


wp

[porphyrian]

59. Well that explains a bit more than I realized. Thanks. -n/t

[Elidor]

76. Excellent post

:thumbsup:

[JuniperLea]

70. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$... eom

[pleah]

19. You took the words right out of my mouth.

What a dumbass. No wonder we can't get anything done.

[porphyrian]

20. I guess I should be used to having my intelligence insulted regularly by now. -n/t

[JuniperLea]

69. She thinks we're stupid enough to swallow that... eom

[porphyrian]

71. It's so fucking insulting. I didn't spit in her eye. Yet. -n/t

[HughMoran]

8. I wonder what her alternatives would have been without Republican support

I know the usual Nancy bashers will be jumping all over this, but how would she have better been able to garner their support? Could she have passed legislation without their support? I'm curious on what the alternatives are - there is still time to do something.

[speedoo]

9. Question is, what has she NOT miscalculated.

Fucking idiot.

[hobbit709]

10. THAT is a much shorter list.

[speedoo]

30. Yeah. We need her replaced as Speaker ASAP.

I'm hoping we can get more dem progressives elected in 08 and shrink whatever power base she might still have. Would love to get rid of Reid as well.

[whoneedstickets]

11. There is a BIG difference between being a good fund raiser...

..and being a good legislative leader and tactician. Nancy is the former and has demonstrated she is not the latter.

[marmar]

12. And the entire Congressional leadership seems to be composed of good fundraisers....

Pelosi, Emmanuel, Hoyer, Clyburn....

[Ganja Ninja]

13. It wasn't the Republican's that took impeachment off the table.

There's an old saying, "Nothing ventured nothing gained".

One of the things the GOP knew how to do was to use congress as a way of showing people where they stood, what they were about and where their opponents stood and what their opponents were about. Even if they accomplished nothing more than that they did it anyway just for show.

Nancy just counts heads and throws in the towel without so much as a whimper. So now instead of people being pissed at the GOP for protecting Bush they're mad at the Democrats for not impeaching him.

[gratuitous]

15. Well, now that you know what's what, Nancy

The question is, what the fuck are you going to do about it???

Like it or not, Pelosi's going to be the Speaker of the House for the rest of Stupidhead's term. I sure hope she has learned in the last year to listen to the people instead of the Beltway insiders. One of them doesn't have America's best interests at heart, Ms. Pelosi. Hint: It's the smaller circle.

[Didereaux]

17. ...and the Democrats miscalculated her abilities!

[Le Taz Hot]

18. Pelosi "miscalculated" a WHOLE lot of things.

I swear her and Reid get together and figure out the stupidest, dumbest shit they could possibly do and then they do it, threatening and coercing their Congressional Sheep to follow lock-step. I've never been so disappointed in anyone in my life.

[shadowknows69]

21. Just STFU Nancy, let us suffer you selling us out in silence at least

[madokie]

22. Nancy the assumpion I have is you will see the light

and set the damn table for crying out loud. high crimes and misdemenor are being committed on your watch there girl. Its not going to look good that our first woman speaker of the house is a pus now is it.

[ProfessorGAC]

23. How?

How could she have possibly made a mistake this huge? My only logical explanation is that she's not up to the job. She's just not good enough.
The Professor

[kedrys]

24. Oh girlfriend please.

:mad: :grr: :nuke:

[qb]

25. I wish the damn Dems would stop calculating and just do the right thing. nt

[annabanana]

26. Jeez... They LIED to get us into this war, Nancy. .

The LIED TO OUR FACES OVER AND OVER!

How the hell can you "miscalculate" that?

[FlyingSquirrel]

27. WAITING FOR: I miscalculated the pressing need for Impeachment!

Or I miscalculated the desire of the people to defend the Constitution!

Or I miscalculated the ability of the Democratic wing of the Democratic party to toss me out on my ear!

[magellan]

28. This is the second time in a week she's said this

It's now a confirmed excuse rather than a revelation.

[Echo In Light]

29. "I...think I forgot..." - Reagan

[Sanctified]

31. Hope she has no desire to be President some day.

Her complete incompetence has made it clear that she could never lead a pack of starving wolves to food.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. She is a fucking idiot

Worst

Speaker

Ever

[tbyg52]

34. If our voices are so damn strong

how come *you* don't listen to us?????

[spanone]

35. then get out of the way, madame speaker

a shameful statement....beyond insulting.

after six years of being pissed on by the republican cabal, she underestimated them?

b u l l s h i t

[krispos42]

36. Simple solution: less Republicans in Congress

They have like 22 Senate seats to defend in 2008. A bunch of those are retiring, so it will be open fields.



Also Democrats have to start doing actually filibusters, not that gentlemanly filibuster they do now, but the "reading the Omaha phonebook for 14 hours" kind. Make those old crusty Repubs work for it.


Replace Harry Reid with Chris Dodd, and Nancy Pelosi with Kucinich.


And get rid of Lieberman.

[kenfrequed]

44. Oh gods yes!

I really want to find some jerk that backed Lieberman here after the primary and give them a piece of my mind.

Paradoxically enough some of the pro-lieberman dem's are the same ones that wail and moan about how terrible Nader was/is.

[MisterP]

61. well, if you look closely, the same groups trying to erase any difference

between R and D--by "cooptating" R base groups or "inoculating" D candidates by adopting R policies--are the same ones who sneer at any hint that erasure is occurring. (All in the name of "winning," of course, though they become Sally Field's character in Legally Blonde 2.) It's like they're saying, "WHY don't you JUST vote for a REPUBLICAN then???!!!!!1111 (But if our plans work out, it wouldn't really matter)"

[kentuck]

37. 141 Democrats voted against it - 78 voted for it ?

Looks like she miscalculated the Democratic support also?

[tabasco]

38. "The assumption I made was that the Republicans would soon see the light,"

That statement right there tells me she is unfit for public office.

I hope her Democratic rival uses that statement in the next primary campaign.

[Cha]

39. Don't assume, nancy..

do your fucking homework.

[DemGa]

40. Could be sarcasm

As if to say 'I underestimated their stupidity' and 'they stubbornly hold to their failed position against the clear will of the people.'

I don't agree with it, just saying it's a possibility. I still think we need a new Dem leader badly.

[librechik]

41. moron n/t

[Evoman]

42. That's like a mathematician miscalculating 2 plus fucking 2.

It's either fucking incompetence, or missing a brain stem.

[endarkenment]

43. Nobody ever expects the Spanish Inquisition.

Isn't it odd that us shlubbs in our cubes and basement offices knew exactly how this was going to play out, but our distinguished leadership was just shocked and surprised by the tactics of the party in power?

HOW STUPID DO THEY THINK WE ARE?

Sorry for shouting. I'll increase my meds.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

60. The SPANISH INQUISITION ! ? ! ? !

not odd at all. she is simply laying out a line of spin in an effort to cover up her own complicit behavior.

[burythehatchet]

45. Doing calculus is not easy when you're working with an abacus.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

46. What a strange woman

Delusional perhaps?

Out of touch with reality and the people for sure.

[EFerrari]

47. So, you appease Republicans and turn on the people. Oops. n/t

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

48. She is just bullshitting here. She knows exactly what she's doing. nt

[ShaneGR]

51. I guess you missed the part where Pelosi passed a withdrawel resolution, TWICE

And it got vetoed, TWICE. But whats facts anyways, lets quote some right wingers!

[endarkenment]

55. withdrawel ? There were no withdrawal bills passed.

You must mean the non-binding ambiguous minor limitations on endless occupation and war bills. Yes those were nice gestures weren't they? Pretend to oppose and then capitulate. And you fell for it? Really?

[ShaneGR]

67. They were so meaningless Bush vetoed them

So I'm not sure what you're talking about.

[fascisthunter]

53. So Then, You are Too Dumb to Be Leader

Get out!

[SammyWinstonJack]

54. Is supposed too pass for an excuse?

:eyes: If so, it's a lame one. :argh:

[MisterP]

56. well, what'd we expect from Mrs. "slash McKinney's seniority"

anyone remember Cynthia and how she got railroaded twice?

[dkofos]

57. As leader of the house she has the power to not bring Iraq funding up

AT ALL.
She is less than useless!!

[AngryAmish]

58. She is so fucking stupid

Can she do anything right? Our nation starts a war that kills 5 million Iraqis and we can't get out? Fucking loser.

[Disturbed]

62. The Dem Leaders want to maintain the US Occupation.

They want to keep the Fiasco going to finalize that Oil Deal.. The Dems are afraid if they force the end of the US Occupation and Iraq goes down the tubes & Iran gains major control in the ME that they will be blamed. That wouldn't be good for the '08 Election.

[MzNov]

63. Was she not acquainted with Repukelican strategies BEFORE she became speaker??? nt

[in_cog_ni_to]

64. Oh just freakin' stop with the excuses. Enough is enough.

Geezus. Everyone knew but Nancy? Give me a freakin' break.

[balantz]

65. I don't know if she miscalculated them.

But she certainly has been masculating them!

[paulk]

66. I realize that this article will be used by the usual crowd

to bash Pelosi with, but this seems like a reasonable point for her to make. The Republicans have stood solidly behind a President who has one of the highest disapproval ratings in our history - it's fairly unprecedented.

It's my feeling that the Republicans are going to pay for this in the next election. Of course, with so many on the left falling for the lie that Congress inability to get much done is the fault of the Dem leadership and not Bush and his obstructionist Republican colleagues, I could be wrong. OTOH, the Republicans count on this sort of reaction from the opposite party - which goes a long way toward explaining how they're able to accomplish so much from a minority opinion. They know that we will always blame our own rather than blame them.

[riverdeep]

73. The thing is, we know what pubs do.

Greed, in all its forms, that's what they do. Getting mad at them is like getting mad at a bee that stings you, or a cat that scratches you when it's startled by a loud noise. It's their nature. Dems are supposed be our line of defense against this.

[JuniperLea]

68. We didn't miscalculate a damn thing! Except perhaps Pelosi's backbone!

This is a horrible response from her. We are not stupid, Nancy! YOU can play stupid all you want, but we won't!


How dare you!!!!

[riverdeep]

74. This has always been the great weakness of the dems.

Tactical, practical strategy. Some of them believe that if the ideas are good and pure, that they'll be automatically catapulted into power. It doesn't work that way. The dems that are successful, like I hate to say it-the Clintons, think a lot about real-world strategy. Did she have a plan B? A thought as to what she was going to do if the opposition's hearts didn't grow ten times larger?

You can't win against a dim President wrong on every issue and hated by the public? Then sit down Nancy, you're done.

[Elidor]

75. "The assumption I made was that the Republicans would soon see the light”

They’ve seen the light, Nancy: and it burns their skin. They want to cloud the world in smoke. If you need a political calculator to notice that they’re a rabid gang of red-eyed, mouth-foaming monsters, you’re not ever going to win this game.

I really think Nancy would be better suited to a career in real estate. Congressional Leadership is not her forte.

[Peace Candidate]

77. Stop putting forth legislation giving Bush money

Stop borrowing money from China to fund illegal immoral wars-simple.

http://peacecandidates.com/

[LaPera]

78. Greed. War for profit....is something everyone should of recognised!

[Sugar Smack]

79. "oops."

"my bad".

[Beelzebud]

80. And we miscalculated her ability to lead.

[Faux pas]

81. Piffle. n/t

[Sherman A1]

82. Well,

I certainly feel much better now.


Thanks for Nuthin.... Nancy.



:banghead:

[Bluebear]

83. Yeah, Whoopsie daisy, Madame Speaker. nt

[Leopolds Ghost]

84. "The assumption I made was that the Republicans would soon see the light," she said.

This woman sounds like the most insincere politician I have ever heard speak.

[LWolf]

85. Democrats miscalculated her

ability and motivation to lead.