Lauer Pelts Pelosi's Foreign Fling: 'A Lot of People Think She Messed Up

NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

I suppose you could chalk it up to his concern for the Dems' long-term best interests, but there's no denying that on this morning's "Today," Matt Lauer absolutely unloaded on Nancy Pelosi and her ill-conceived venture into foreign policy.

The segment was entitled "Democratic Diplomacy: Has Pelosi Gone Too Far?", virtually answering the question by its very asking. In the set-up piece, David Gregory rolled two telling clips. The first was of VP Cheney's comments on the Rush Limbaugh show yesterday to the effect that Pelosi's statement regarding her trip was"nonsensical." The second was of former congressman Lee Hamilton, warning that if his fellow Dems box in the president on foreign policy, Americans might conclude that the Democrats have gone "too far."

Interviewing Tim Russert at 7:06 AM ET, Lauer came out guns ablazin'.

LAUER: Vice-President Cheney called Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria "bad behavior," a Washington Post editorial on Thursday called it "counter-productive and foolish," and op-ed in the Wall Street Journal this morning goes a step further and suggests her trip may actually have been a felony, that it may have violated something called the Logan Act. Tim, is this the way the Democrats wanted to get off the mark in terms of foreign affairs?

View video here.

RUSSERT: No, they clearly wanted to distinguish themselves from the president's policies, but you have to be careful, as Congressman Hamilton suggested. One ranking Democrat, Matt, said "we have an alternative Democratic foreign policy." That is going to be very difficult to articulate and put into place when you don't control the White House. On the other hand, Speaker Pelosi issued a statement last night on behalf of the bi-partisan delegation she is leading. Her delegation includes Republican congressmen. She is saying she has done nothing wrong or inconsistent with American foreign policy.

LAUER: Well, that's their side of the story. However, if you look back at the mid-term elections, clearly some voters in this country were unhappy with the administration's foreign policy, specifically in Iraq; it's one of the reasons we think Democrats took control of Congress. But if the Democrats and Speaker Pelosi appear to be acting irresponsibly or incompetently, and let's face it, a lot of people think she messed up on this one, what's the impact for Democrats overall?

RUSSERT: It's considerable. The Democrats have always had a difficulty being competitive with the Republicans in the public voter's mind on national security and foreign policy issues. And if the people perceive missteps, it's going to create and underscore that perceptual problem of Democrats.

LAUER: And let's go back to the point you touched on a second ago. If it's seen . . . what is the bigger and longer-term issue here if a political party is seen as usurping presidential power in designing and implementing foreign policy?

RUSSERT: As we learned in 1994 Matt, when Republicans took control of Congress with the Republican revolution and the Contract With America, people voted for change. But the voters are also willing to turn that around on its head, if they believe people have gone too far. That's why this debate is so important.

Message to Speaker Pelosi: how do you know when you've messed up? When David Gregory and Matt Lauer respectfully cite VP Cheney's criticism of you.

Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net

[Mo1]

LAUER: Vice-President Cheney called Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria "bad behavior," a Washington Post editorial on Thursday called it "counter-productive and foolish," and op-ed in the Wall Street Journal this morning goes a step further and suggests her trip may actually have been a felony, that it may have violated something called the Logan Act. Tim, is this the way the Democrats wanted to get off the mark in terms of foreign affairs?

Hey Lauer ... there was a reason why the Dems hid Gramma Nancy a month before the November election .. they were afraid she would say and do something stupid

Now that she's speaker of the house .. they can't hide her like before

[Paperdoll]

Did anyone else happen to hear George Nory interview Bridget Gabrielle on her book, “Because They Hate Us” last night? Very chilling. We Infidels had better wake up, if it is still not too late! Pelosi played right into the Muslim’s hands.

[Cuttnhorse]

I’m tellin’ youse guys...Ms. Nancy is not smart...she is stupid; stupid in the not intelligent type of stupid. She is going to do more damage to the democrat party then all the Republicans and conservatives combined. She has screwed up continously since assuming “power”.

It’s fun to watch.

[driftless2]

Pelosi is like many liberals who firmly believe that they’re much smarter than they actually are.

[Let's Roll]

Matt will probably be “re-educated” over the weekend.

[lucysmom]

So, Pelosi being a liberal Catholic, as well as a liberal Democrat among other things, won’t wear a head covering out of respect for her God, or for attending Mass in her own religion, but instead kow-tows to muslim sensibilities for the sake of a good photo op.

I don't know if she wares a scarf to Mass or not, do you?

[lucysmom]

I believe she was photographed waring the scarf outside a Mosque she visited.

[Sal]

I really get the sense that Pelosi is on an immature, feminist ego trip.

I've lost count of how many times she's told us that she is the first woman Speaker of the House; she broke the glass ceiling; and most of all, she is the most powerful woman in the world.

IMO she's delusional enough to think she should be the first woman president. So far at least she hasn't pointed out that she didn't have to get to where she is now by riding on her husband's coattails.

I would sooo enjoy the coming show except for the terrible danger it's putting our troops and our country in.

[TN4Liberty]

I don’t remember Condoleeze Rice wearing a headscarf. Is that because she goes to the Middle East on the business of the United States?

Pelosi is the Speaker of the House and leading an official congressional mission. I think that qualifies as the business of the US.

Historically, Americans aren't expected to bow to foreign royalty because we simply don't do it. At one time, such was expected. Similarly, we don't dip our flag to the host nation at the Olympics, although I believe all other nations do.

[Mia T]

The leftwing media were so quick to denounce Pelosi.

Hmmm....

At whose bidding, I wonder....

This feckless woman screwup isn't good news for missus clinton, (a feckless (woman?) screwup in her own right)....

It isn't that they can't see the solution. It is that they can't see the problem.

G. K. Chesterton

 

... While America appears not to be ready for a female president under any circumstances, the post-9/11 realities pose special problems for a female presidential candidate. Add to these the problems unique to missus clinton. The reviews make the mistake of focusing on the problems of the generic female presidential candidate running during ordinary times.

These are not ordinary times. America is waging the global War on Terror; the uncharted territory of asymmetric netherworlds is the battlefield; the enemy is brutal, subhuman; the threat of global conflagration is real.

Defeating the enemy isn't sufficient. For America to prevail, she must also defeat a retrograde, misogynous mindset. To successfully prosecute the War on Terror, it is essential that the collective patriarchal islamic culture perceives America as politically and militarily strong. Condi Rice excepted, this requirement presents an insurmountable hurdle for any female presidential candidate, and especially missus clinton, historically antimilitary--(an image, incidentally, that is only enhanced today by her clumsy, termagant parody of Thatcher), forever the pitiful victim, and, according to Dick Morris, "the biggest dove in the clinton administration."

It is ironic that had the clintons not failed utterly to fight terrorism... not failed to take bin Laden from Sudan... not failed repeatedly to decapitate a nascent, still stoppable al Qaeda... the generic female president as a construct would still be viable... missus clinton's obstacles would be limited largely to standard-issue clintonisms: corruption, abuse, malpractice, malfeasance, megalomania, rape and treason... and, in spite of Juanita Broaddrick, or perhaps because of her, Rod Lurie would be reduced to perversely hawking the "First Gentleman" instead of the "Commander-in-Chief."

Mia T, 10.02.05
HILLARY'S COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF PROBLEM
(see descriptor morphs)

"The power of the harasser, the abuser, the rapist depends above all on the silence of women." (Ursula K. LeGuin)



VOTE SMART: A WARNING TO ALL WOMEN ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON
(PLEASE FReep)

by Mia T, 3.11.07
A RESPONSE TO 'VOTE DIFFERENT'
(A Mashup of Obama-Apple 1984 Ad Mashup)

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VOTE SMART UPDATE:
LEFTIST TAKE ON YouTube VIDEO + HILLARY CLINTON

[Smocker]

Quite sure Mrs. Pelosi does not wear scarves to attend Mass, no mantillas, hats or other types of head coverings either, except perhaps as a fashion statement if it fits with her wardrobe.

[lucysmom]

So what did you think of Laura Bush wearing a scarf while visiting a mosque, or Condoleezza Rice?

Does it make a difference that the mosque Pelosi visited housed the tomb of John the Baptist?

Do you think getting all worked up about a scarf obscures and trivializes the bigger issues, particularly when the First Lady and Sec of State have set a precedent?

IMHO, when we make a fuss about the little stuff, it makes us look petty, and when we look petty, we lose elections.

[Smocker]

Don’t let yourself get all worked up now,

I gave an impression based on a photo, what’s the line? a picture is worth a 1000 words?

I also think that Western women don’t need to kow tow to the worst tendencies of muslim cultures which is what the headscarf issue is all about.

First Lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice have no need to feel that not wearing a head covering is somehow tantamount to showing disrespect to a muslim.

Both ladies ought to be PROUD of their OWN culture, their OWN backgrounds, and their OWN method of dress. They represent Americans just as much as the foreigners they meet represent their own cultures. As such, I’d rather they dress as they would for ALL Americans, and not act like somehow American dress is deficient somehow and needs or requires some head covering, when in fact Our styles don’t call for women to cover their heads, except if they damn well please.

In my opinion which is not important to anyone but me, neither one of those fine ladies should have worn scarves for any reason for any foreign men. It implies that Western women somehow need to cover their heads when addressing foreign men. ICK. ICK. ICK.

If you think getting all worked up over a scarf is petty, well, that’s your opinion, but it goes deeper than that.

I think Our First Lady and Our Secretary of State have nothing to feel ashamed of if they tour the whole world and meet all kinds of foreigners and don’t cover their heads, except if a pretty headcovering/hat/scarf fits in with their beautiful wardrobe of the day.

[Smocker]

I forgot to address the issue of the tomb of St. John the Baptist.

If Nancy Pelosi doesn’t wear a headcovering when in a Catholic Church to show respect for the True Presence, certainly why would she turn around and wear a headcovering because of being in the presence of the relics of a saint?

Catholics are always being accused of worshiping saints and that is a prime example of why that kind of charge would be leveled against a Catholic: Wearing a headcovering while doing a photo op in front of the reliquary of a saint in a once Catholic building, now in the hands of muslims, and yet not showing proper reverence to Our Lord when supposedly worshiping in a Catholic Church. go figure.

I wouldn’t even want to get into that kind of a conversation.

You’ve raised good points Lucysmom, it’s been fun discussing them with you, thanx.

[scratcher]

Folks I know who aren’t interested in politics are even taking shots at her. She’s bleeped up big time.

No kidding, even the CA democrats are throwing her down......Big Time.  Also, my liberal neighbor said  "I guess we're not ready for a woman president"  She related this stunt more to a "woman thing" instead of liberal ignorance. 

[scratcher]

Hillary does not want Nancy getting out ahead of her and creating a ‘bad taste of a woman in charge’ for the voters

It's too late.