Publish to Newswire
Add an EventFrom the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Nancy Pelosi Is Not My Hero
San Francisco Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi should be my hero. She’s about to become the first female Speaker of the House in American history. She’s also the first Italian American. But identity politics isn’t enough. Sure, it’s great that she’s the first woman and Italian to be one heartbeat from the highest office in the land. America’s “come a long way baby,” since the days when women were supposed to be barefoot and pregnant and Italians were gangsters in the movies.
The country needs more than entries in the Guinness Book of Records. It needs real change. Nancy Pelosi isn’t going to do that. She’s certainly an improvement over the corrupt leadership that Congress has had for 12 years. She’s already talking about some worthy goals, including raising the minimum wage (hopefully to a living wage) and reducing the cost of medicine (universal healthcare would do that, though she hasn’t mentioned that yet). The problem is: She doesn’t represent my “San Francisco values.”
Take impeachment for example. There couldn’t be a president more deserving of that fate than George Bush. He’s led us into two unjust wars, botched the response to hurricane Katrina, failed to respond to intelligence reports about an attack on this country just prior to 9/11, authorized spying on Americans, and violated basic civil rights via the Patriot Act and the repeal of habeas corpus.
Read More
http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=3896#more
Take impeachment for example. There couldn’t be a president more deserving of that fate than George Bush. He’s led us into two unjust wars, botched the response to hurricane Katrina, failed to respond to intelligence reports about an attack on this country just prior to 9/11, authorized spying on Americans, and violated basic civil rights via the Patriot Act and the repeal of habeas corpus.
Read More
http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=3896#more
Add Your Comments
Comments
(Hide Comments)
With Hand on Heart: Pelosi Admits Israel Comes First
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/jfrank.php?articleid=6157
by Joshua Frank
"The lessons we should learn from all
The fighting in the days of old
When providence bestowed divine
The sanctuary purified
Let lightning circle all you hold
And don't uproot the olive grove."
- Mirah, "Jerusalem"
I think it is finally time we stood up and thanked Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the darling Democrat from the Bay Area who leads her party in the House. Pelosi's recent speech to the Israel-American lobby AIPAC, the second largest lobby in Washington, was monumental – truly unparalleled in its candor.
Despite the fact that AIPAC was recently busted for spying on the United States, Pelosi, along with many other top bureaucrats from Washington, gushed effusions of praise on the foreign power. "There are those who contend that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is all about Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza," Pelosi said as she rallied AIPAC loyalists. "This is absolute nonsense. In truth, the history of the conflict is not over occupation, and never has been: it is over the fundamental right of Israel to exist."
Apparently Pelosi has never asked Palestinians what they think of Israel's brutality. Not that she hasn't witnessed the occupation firsthand; Pelosi is just not concerned in the least with the Palestinian resistance.
"This spring, I was in Israel as part of a congressional trip that also took us to Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq," said Pelosi. "One of the most powerful experiences was taking a helicopter toward Gaza, over the path of the security fence. We set down in a field that belonged to a local kibbutz. It was a cool but sunny day, and the field was starting to bloom with mustard. Mustard is a crop that grows in California, and it felt at that moment as if I were home. And then we were told that the reason we had to land in that field, as opposed to our actual destination, was because there had been an infiltration that morning, and they weren't sure how secure the area was. And that point alone brought us back to the daily reality of Israel: even moments of peace and beauty are haunted by the specter of violence."
Pelosi, like so many other Democrats and Republicans in D.C., does not appreciate the asymmetry of the conflict. She cannot understand that Palestinians are faced with violence every day as their livelihoods and homes are uprooted to make way for new Israeli settlements. Never mind that the farm collective where Pelosi landed in her fancy helicopter was at one time operated by Palestinian farmers. For the land, according to Pelosi, has always belonged to the state of Israel.
"One thing, however is unchanged," Pelosi added. "America's commitment to the safety and security of the state of Israel is unwavering. America and Israel share an unbreakable bond: in peace and war; and in prosperity and in hardship."
Sadly, Palestinians don't figure into Pelosi's lopsided equation; those darn Arabs just don't matter. And when Pelosi speaks of "safety and security," it's only Israelis she's talking about. While Pelosi ignored Israel's vast arsenal of chemical, biological, and nuclear weaponry, along with the numerous UN resolutions the country has broken, she still had the audacity to lash out at the latest troublemaker in the Middle East: Iran.
"The greatest threat to Israel's right to exist, with the prospect of devastating violence, now comes from Iran. For too long, leaders of both political parties in the United States have not done nearly enough to confront the Russians and the Chinese, who have supplied Iran as it has plowed ahead with its nuclear and missile technology."
So, three cheers for Pelosi! Her honesty has been crudely insightful. Especially given the fact that two AIPAC staffers have just been indicted for espionage by the U.S. government.
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/jfrank.php?articleid=6157
by Joshua Frank
"The lessons we should learn from all
The fighting in the days of old
When providence bestowed divine
The sanctuary purified
Let lightning circle all you hold
And don't uproot the olive grove."
- Mirah, "Jerusalem"
I think it is finally time we stood up and thanked Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the darling Democrat from the Bay Area who leads her party in the House. Pelosi's recent speech to the Israel-American lobby AIPAC, the second largest lobby in Washington, was monumental – truly unparalleled in its candor.
Despite the fact that AIPAC was recently busted for spying on the United States, Pelosi, along with many other top bureaucrats from Washington, gushed effusions of praise on the foreign power. "There are those who contend that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is all about Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza," Pelosi said as she rallied AIPAC loyalists. "This is absolute nonsense. In truth, the history of the conflict is not over occupation, and never has been: it is over the fundamental right of Israel to exist."
Apparently Pelosi has never asked Palestinians what they think of Israel's brutality. Not that she hasn't witnessed the occupation firsthand; Pelosi is just not concerned in the least with the Palestinian resistance.
"This spring, I was in Israel as part of a congressional trip that also took us to Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq," said Pelosi. "One of the most powerful experiences was taking a helicopter toward Gaza, over the path of the security fence. We set down in a field that belonged to a local kibbutz. It was a cool but sunny day, and the field was starting to bloom with mustard. Mustard is a crop that grows in California, and it felt at that moment as if I were home. And then we were told that the reason we had to land in that field, as opposed to our actual destination, was because there had been an infiltration that morning, and they weren't sure how secure the area was. And that point alone brought us back to the daily reality of Israel: even moments of peace and beauty are haunted by the specter of violence."
Pelosi, like so many other Democrats and Republicans in D.C., does not appreciate the asymmetry of the conflict. She cannot understand that Palestinians are faced with violence every day as their livelihoods and homes are uprooted to make way for new Israeli settlements. Never mind that the farm collective where Pelosi landed in her fancy helicopter was at one time operated by Palestinian farmers. For the land, according to Pelosi, has always belonged to the state of Israel.
"One thing, however is unchanged," Pelosi added. "America's commitment to the safety and security of the state of Israel is unwavering. America and Israel share an unbreakable bond: in peace and war; and in prosperity and in hardship."
Sadly, Palestinians don't figure into Pelosi's lopsided equation; those darn Arabs just don't matter. And when Pelosi speaks of "safety and security," it's only Israelis she's talking about. While Pelosi ignored Israel's vast arsenal of chemical, biological, and nuclear weaponry, along with the numerous UN resolutions the country has broken, she still had the audacity to lash out at the latest troublemaker in the Middle East: Iran.
"The greatest threat to Israel's right to exist, with the prospect of devastating violence, now comes from Iran. For too long, leaders of both political parties in the United States have not done nearly enough to confront the Russians and the Chinese, who have supplied Iran as it has plowed ahead with its nuclear and missile technology."
So, three cheers for Pelosi! Her honesty has been crudely insightful. Especially given the fact that two AIPAC staffers have just been indicted for espionage by the U.S. government.
Please everybody watch Aaron Russo's film America Freedom to Fascism
You will start to understand what is going on. The income tax is illegal. Watch it.
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-4312730277175242198&q=aaron+russo
Pelosi is not the speaker yet! It's absurb the media says that she is.
She has to be voted in.
She does not represent the people.
Join http://www.afterdowningstreet.org and protest.
You will start to understand what is going on. The income tax is illegal. Watch it.
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-4312730277175242198&q=aaron+russo
Pelosi is not the speaker yet! It's absurb the media says that she is.
She has to be voted in.
She does not represent the people.
Join http://www.afterdowningstreet.org and protest.
For more information:
http://www.prisonplanet.com
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Donate
$330.00 donated
in the past month
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network