Posted on 04/06/2007 2:18:11 PM PDT by jazusamo
Nancy Pelosi has persistently violated her duty to exercise her speaker powers in accordance with the Constitution and the current "106th Congress House Rules Manual" (House Document 106-320).
In short, she has fostered what is known as "tyranny by the majority" — and violated House Rules that give her the duty to maintain order, civility, and decorum, and to foster "comity" (a word rarely used these days, meaning "mutual respect").
The "House Rules Manual" includes Jefferson's "Manual of Parliamentary Procedures," originally drafted by the founder of the Democratic Party when, as vice president, he presided over the Senate from 1797 to 1801.
In 1837 the House, provided that the provisions of Jefferson's Manual should "govern the House in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with [subsequently adopted rules]."
Jefferson's manual, which is still in effect, was a codification of 18th century "common law" and re-affirms that House Rules are "the only weapons by which the minority can defend itself . . . and by a strict adherence to which the weaker party can only be protected from those irregularities and abuses which these forms were intended to check, and which the wantonness of power is but too often apt to suggest to large and successful majorities."
Currently, Pelosi, who is second in line to the president, often describes herself as a partner in his power — a higher role than the Constitution grants to the vice president, who is first in the line of secession — and whose only official duties are confined to presiding over the Senate.
Pelosi Oversteps the Electorate
In closing the recent debate on the $125 billion Emergency Defense Appropriations bill's provision to bring our troops home from Iraq next year, Pelosi — purporting to speak for the entire electorate — proclaimed "The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of this war . . . The American people see the reality of the war; the president does not."
Both before and after the debate she has also often derided him for waging "a war without end." As Democratic Sen. Patrick Moynihan once noted "Members of Congress are entitled to their own opinions — but not to their own facts. Mrs. Pelosi's false assertion of a national consensus was then belied by a role call vote of 218 to 213."
The facts are that she presides over a House divided by both the war in Iraq and a political culture war at home. She obviously wants to win the domestic political war against the Republicans by setting a deadline for the Iraq war.
Another fact is that when she first became speaker she pledged to curtail the "earmarking" of appropriation bills with pork. Yet she encouraged her longtime Democratic ally John Murtha to use his powers on the Appropriations Committee to load the bill with $24 billion of earmarked pork. The New York Times of March 24 described it as "largely aimed at domestic program unrelated to military expenses [and] was added by Democrats to make the bill more acceptable to lawmakers."
Similarly, the Senate later approved a similar pork laden measure in a party line vote of 51 to 47, with Sen. Lieberman the sole Democrat siding with the Republicans. Despite the fact that, with defense funds due to expire in May, Pelosi then used her powers to recess until April 29 — which even her liberal supporters in the media have characterized as an exercise of partisan brinkmanship.
Pelosi's Syrian Mistake
She also denied a request by President Bush (who has primary constitutional authority over the conduct of foreign policy) that as the third-highest official of the United State she not make an official visit to Syria, which our government has officially declared to be a "terrorist state."
On a high profile televised visit to Syria, she conferred with President Bashar al-Hassad. She not only purported to speak for the American people in opposing Bush's policies and the Iraq war, she purported to have spoken for Israel. As reported in the Jerusalem Post, "[Israel's] Prime Minister Office issued a rare ‘clarification' Wednesday that, in gentle diplomatic terms, contradicted U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's statement in Damascus that she had brought a message from Israel about a willingness to engage in peace talks."
As a result of her defiance of the president and persistent confrontation of his foreign policies, Democrat Leon Panetta, the former chief of staff to President Clinton, was quoted in the April 2 New York Times as cautioning that if the Democrats "go into total confrontation mode on other than [domestic issues] where they just pass bills and the president vetoes them, that's a recipe for losing seats in the next election."
Ironically, history is now repeating itself. Our first woman Speaker Pelosi may well deserve to become the second Democratic speaker to be compelled to resign from Congress.
The prior history of Democratic Speaker Jim Wright is now being repeated by Nancy Pelosi — perhaps by a loss of institutional loss of memory of the House Democratic caucus, which forced Wright to resign.
After Wright became speaker five South American presidents had agreed on a peace plan which the Reagan administration vigorously opposed.
Anti-Sandinistas and Contra hardliners became incensed when they learned that Speaker Wright had secretly sat in on a meeting between Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo the Catholic leader being asked to mediate the peace. The Washington Post wrote "[Wright's] approach marks a dramatic shift in the running of the House and in the role of the House speaker as Washington's No. 1 Democrat."
The Wrong Way for Wright
As described 10 years later by Wright's own chief of staff: "[Then] Republican Minority Whip Trent Lott described Wright's participation in foreign affairs as "The most arrogant abuse of power I've ever seen . . . Dick Cheney of Illinois, [then] chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, got so mad at Jim Wright that he began to wax nostalgic about the warmth and affection for the previous speaker, Tip O'Neill. ‘There are no such feelings for Jim Wright,' he observed." Then-House Minority Leader Newt Gingrich began filing numerous accusations of malfeasance by the speaker in the House Ethics Committee.
In the end Jim Wright resigned.
With the unanimous endorsement of the Democratic caucus the House then voted to replace him with Democrat Tom Foley — who restored the traditional civility and comity that had prevailed under Democratic Speakers Sam Rayburn, John McCormack, Carl Albert and "Tip" O'Neill.
Currently, with public respect for professional politicians at an all time low, and the financing of presidential campaigns at an all time high, the moral authority of both the Democratic Party and the GOP is diminishing. In my view, the longer Nancy Pelosi remains our party's leading spokesperson the more her penchant for political warfare and non-compliance with Jefferson's "Manual" will enhance the chances of Republican control of Congress and/or the White House in 2008.
She will serve our party and the nation best by resigning.
Jerry Zeifman served as Democratic Counsel of the House Judiciary for 17 years. He has recently published "Hillary's Pursuit of Power." For his other books and articles go to his Web site, Jzeifman.com.
THAT’S our problem! There are no more men in this country! Everyone is so worried about what’s on their I-POD and if their Benz was crunched or their stocks went down and how they can screw the rest of the populace in voting for the right “American Idol”. I’m not going to say anymore. Good GOD people, get a life.
Look at the Washington Compost editorial about this and you be the judge. I’d say, yes.
She absolutely should resign for malfeasance, but she will not.
Very surprising to me too.
How many Republicans will stand up in the House and put themselves on record as demanding Pelosi’s resignation?
Calling Duncan Hunter, Calling Duncan Hunter! A sure fire way to get your name out there!
Riiiiiiiiiiiiight. That’ll happen.
I just made up this little parody this morning
to the tune of the Talking Heads, Burning Down the House
Speaker of the House
Watch out, you get just what you vote for
Fool lady, strange and even faker
She’s a very liberal girl
Speaker of the House
Vote Right, make sure her party’s over
Vote Right, No more for Nancy’s Power
She just can not get her way!
Speaker of the House
Here’s her ticket packed her bag: time for jumpin’ overseas
Her Jet Air liner is here
Close enough but not too far, Nancy you should stay abroad
Fighting Facts with Falsehood
Her head, she might just need a burka
Step Down, she is supporting gay rights
two Hundred twenty three she won
Speaker of the House
She is such a disgrace sometimes I just don’t know myself
Who put her in first place?
People who don’t want to work, hey but what did you expect
Now we know who to blame
Her House, out of the ordinary
That’s right, don’t want to hurt minorities
Some things sure can make me want to Shriek!
Speaker of the House
No visible signs of support and we have not seen nothing yet
Pelosi sucks all together
I don’t know what she expects not understanding her mind set
fighting facts with Falsehood
Do you want me to write them?
see post #10
LOL...Another few months of her being Speaker and you’ll have a lot more ammunition for more verses.
No; Nancy Pelosi should never have been speaker of the house.
I just sent my representative a little note. She's newly elected and is a democRAT. Below is the message I sent to her:
I am writing to ask you to represent my wishes to call for the resignation of Nancy Pilosi for violating the Logan Act by going abroad against the wishes of our President and the State Department.
Conducting foreign policy by the Speaker of the House is not just a serious violation, it is a felony. Please respond with your intentions.
Thank you,
haha thanks!
I might just have to think of another parody, I love doing that kind stuff.
The author should have picked a better example than Jim Wright - his case isn’t anything like this - he didn’t resign over foreign policy or interference in foreign policy - he resigned because he took bulk book sales to get around speaking fee limits and because he tried to get an investigation into two friendly banks quashed.
Oh, and because a business crony hired Wright’s wife but she didn’t do any work. I think were 60+ accumulated ethics charges all having to do with some sort of small personal financial gain - he wasn’t even a smart crook.
The truth is the battle to control foreign policy goes back and forth and doesn’t have a clear constitutional divide.
And for the past few years the Administration has had more power but the current President is viewed as vulnerable and will be getting such challenges.
>Events have confirmed that together the President and Congress make foreign policy, but they have not resolved the question of which branch originates or finally determines policy. The two branches share in the process and each plays an important but different role. The question of who makes foreign policy does not have a more precise answer for several reasons.<<
The State Department web site has a history of the shifts in power between the Executive and Legislative branches including times when the Legislative branch has changed or modified the President’s policies - like when congress did not like President Carter’s shift away from relations with Taiwan.
http://fpc.state.gov/fpc/6172.htm
Well, that may be true but no one has ever been prosecuted under the Logan Act. One person was indicted but charges were dropped before it went trial.
I personally believe she should be charged and tried and if found guilty let the appeals courts decide whether it’s constitutional or not, she would at least be made an example of no matter what the outcome.
She should be arrested and tried for treason. And upon conviction: stood up against a wall, and shot. (She can wear her Assad appeasement scarf over her head.)
all fixed now.
Only if they want to look like asses. The Logan Act has resulted in only one indictment (in 1803!) and no prosecutions. It is utterly dead by reason of disuse and only gets trotted out every twenty years or so when someone wants to whine about a critic.
This is just politics as usual and Bush can blow it off easily.
Thanks...I remember the Wright fiasco but didn’t remember those were the reasons he resigned. I did remember his trips to Central and South America and his efforts to circumvent foreign policy.
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