Posted on 12/23/2006 5:38:30 PM PST by Congressman Billybob
Most of you know her as Nancy Pelosi. When I first met my one-time neighbor, she was daughter to one Mayor of Baltimore, Tommy DAlesandro, Jr., and sister to Tommy, III, whod later become Mayor.
Some of the stories about her, as she prepares to become Speaker of the House, have mentioned her past, but not honestly. At most, the glowing stories refer to the Baltimore City politics she grew up in as rough and tumble. Politics there and then were much more than rough and tumble. They were crooked as a dogs hind leg.
I know. I grew up there. I made my first run for public office there, in 1971. Lemme tell yall how Baltimore politics were conducted, then.
First, it was all Democrats. The last Republican was elected to the City Council in 1943. And among the Democrats, the law of the jungle applied. The strongest won, and prospered. The weakest lost, and were destroyed.
Elections in Baltimore were run by the machines, which had a feudal relationships like barons in the Middle Ages. Strongest was the DAlesandro machine. Second to that, but working hand and glove with it, was Jack Pollacks machine. Pollack personally was a frugal man, never accused of taking a penny for himself. But he kept hundreds of thousands of dollars in safe deposit boxes, to be dispensed as needed. Pollack had, in his pocket, many politicians including Congressman and State Senators, plus more than a few judges.
Election day funds were called walking around money. Each precinct captain got a stack of money proportionate to the vote he was expected to produce. Sure, the captain would keep some for himself. But a wise captain would keep his greed within limits, and use most of his allotment to buy votes.
Was this illegal? Absolutely. Then, now, and all years in between. But thats the politics that Nancy DAlesandro Pelosi grew up in. And what did the successful politician do in Baltimore when he, and now she, had won? Reward your friends. Punish your enemies. Start gathering the money and allies to win the next election.
Honesty or corruption had nothing to do with this process. Results were all that counted. This was displayed in the DAlesandro family history. Tommy, Jr., was never indicted for anything. But Tommy, III, was sloppy.
He was indicted for rape as a young man. He was indicted for corruption as Mayor. Both times, the charges were dismissed when the principal witness made herself / himself scarce until the charges were dismissed. In the latter case, the witness turned up alive and well in a Las Vegas casino, after the charges against DAlesandro were dropped. The same charges against Councilman Mimi DiPietro, had not been dismissed. When I as a candidate pointed out that DiPietro could still be tried for corruption, the DAlesandro response was to send a compliant States Attorney before a compliant judge, to drop those charges also.
With a clear understanding of how her politics were developed, DAlesandros actions as pending Speaker make more sense. She stood by Jack Murtha in his bid for Majority Leader, because Jack had stood by her. It was irrelevant that Murtha missed being indicted in Abscam because he decided to take his agreed-upon bribe of $50,000 later, rather than right away.
DAlesandro/Pelosis background also explains her actions concerning the Chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee. She is crosswise with Jane Harman, the senior Democrat, so she dropped Harman like a hot rock. Next in line was Alcee Hastings, a loyal ally and leading member of the Congressional Black Caucus. But hed been removed as a federal judge for taking bribes from drug dealers. She dropped Hastings the same way that the DAlesandro machine had relied on black votes, but then turned their backs on blacks after the election.
Even something that may happen January 2nd, when the House is sworn in, may reflect DAlesandros culture of corruption. According to the official results from Florida, Republican Vern Buchanan, won the 13th Congressional District by 369 votes. But DAlesandro can use her power as Speaker to steal that election for the Democrats and install Christine Jennings as the winner and new Congresswoman. The Democrats did that in 1984 over a seat in Indiana. It would be in character for DAlesandro to do that in 2007.
The more you know about a politician, the better you can predict his/her motive and actions. You now know more about Nancy DAlesandro Pelosi than most of the MSM reporters and editors either know, or dare to report. Dont say I didnt warn you.
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About the Author: John Armor is a lawyer specializing in constitutional law, who may again be a candidate for Congress in the 11th District of North Carolina. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
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bump
11 yr old and 13 yr old girls, IIRC.
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