Nancy Pelosi Is Wrong for San Francisco

Our Congressional representative is San Francisco's voice to the world at large. Through this person, we have a chance to influence national and international debate. Does Pelosi forcefully represent the vision, ideals and passions of the people of San Francisco? And if she does not - if her primary focus is the care and feeding of the Democratic Party - is that what this country needs right now?

Nancy Pelosi stood behind the President in the buildup to the invasion of Iraq. She continues to vote in favor of spending billions on the Iraq war. She voted for the original Patriot Act. She negotiated turning the Presidio into the first national park forced to make a profit, setting a terrible precedent. She clearly failed to speak for San Francisco at these crucial moments.


A look at Pelosi's behavior around the Murtha controversy is a classic example of her bob-and-weave. Rep. John Murtha, a marine veteran and hawkish Democrat, came to the realization that the occupation of Iraq was a total failure and called for a phased withdrawal. This looked like a breakthrough for peace, but Pelosi only said, "Mr. Murtha speaks for himself."

When the peace movement responded with anger to Pelosi's cowardice, she placated them by changing her tune and saying that she DID support Murtha's withdrawal proposal after all. She was acclaimed an avatar for peace, even though she specifically said she would not ask any Democrats to follow her lead.

Then the Republicans proposed a bill calling for immediate and complete withdrawal from Iraq, a ploy to provoke the Democrats to run from the issue. And run the Democrats did, hounded by Pelosi. Pelosi successfully pressured all but one of the Democrats to vote against immediate withdrawal. Pelosi values Democratic unity highly, and unity in spinelessness is just fine with her. Thus, Pelosi helped derail the peace initiative of another Democrat, because she feared her party appearing "unpatriotic."

Pelosi refuses to call for the impeachment of President Bush, and this is crucial because the power to impeach rests with the House of Representatives. She uses her considerable power to herd the Democrats toward immobility. Those of us infuriated by the Democrats' continued passivity in the face of continued Republican criminality must face the fact that Pelosi is a large part of this problem.

We San Franciscans are known for our commitment to peace. In 2004, we voted overwhelmingly for Proposition G, which demanded that the United States withdraw from Iraq. And yet we passively accept that Nancy Pelosi owns the job of representing us, even though she consistently obstructs initiatives to end the bloody and unjust occupation of a country that did not attack us. We meekly send her back to Congress with huge majorities every two years, so she can do the only thing she's interested in, which is raise money for the Democratic Party.

At this perilous moment in our nation's history, the special voice of San Francisco is desperately needed in Congress. We must look past Pelosi's aura of power so that we can see her true actions and their devastating effects on the country. She does not represent San Francisco's ideas of where the United States should be going. Democracy only works if we voters take responsibility to send someone to Congress who truly represents our vision.

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