Posted on 05/06/2014 9:26:21 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Good luck with that. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi faces pressure from all sides in regard to the newly-launched select committee to investigate Benghazi. Participating would legitimize the results, while boycotting it might open up Democrats to attacks on their concern for diplomatic personnel abroad, four of whom were killed in the attack on September 11, 2012, and leave administration officials no way to set the narrative through the friendly questioning of Democrats on the panel during public hearings. Pelosi hedged in the direction of participation by demanding an equal number of seats on the committee:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the select committee probing the attack in Benghazi should be split equally between Democrats and Republicans.
“If this review is to be fair, it must be truly bipartisan,” Pelosi said in a Tuesday morning statement. “The panel should be equally divided between Democrats and Republicans as is done on the House Ethics Committee. It should require that witnesses are called and interviewed, subpoenas are issued, and information is shared on a bipartisan basis. Only then could it be fair.”
Unfortunately for Pelosi, her own track record with select committees sets the precedent in the other direction. John Boehner pointed out — and Politico’s Jake Sherman did as well — that Pelosi gave Democrats nine of the fifteen seats on the House select committee on global warming in 2007.
Newly-appointed chair Trey Gowdy poured cold water on that demand immediately (via The Right Scoop, at the 4:30 mark):
MARTHA: All right. So talk to me a little it about the makeup of this committee because Nancy Pelosi just said moments ago, to our Chad Pergram, he reported that she wants this to be an evenly divided select committee, an even number of Democrats and Republicans.
And you know that up to that statement, there have been a lot of calls for Democrats to completely boycott this committee. And there’s going to be be very little credibility if it is full of Republicans, many would say.
GOWDY: Well, I certainly hope the Democrats participate. I, Martha, continue to think that some things transcend politics like the murder of four of our fellow citizens and whether or not you trust government. That is not a red or blue issue. That is an American issue. As for whether or not they boycott, I hope they don’t.
I can tell you this. It is not going to be evenly constituted and when she was Speaker Pelosi, she certainly showed no interests in having an equal number of Republicans and Democrats.
We’re in the majority. That may or may not be the case after November but we’re in the majority right now and we’re in the majority for a reason. And I just find it interesting that people’s ability to do math changes when they go from being the Speaker to the Minority Leader.
MARTHA: So what, tell me what composition you see on this select committee? What would you like it to be?
GOWDY: Well, the Speaker is going to decide that. Something in the 10-7 range or like what we have with other committees now. Every committee of Congress is constituted with more Republicans than Democrats because there are more Republicans than Democrats. And i hasten to add, every committee in the Senate is constituted with more Democrats than Republicans. I mean there are consequences to elections.
That leaves Pelosi back at square one. Does she boycott the committee and leave administration officials in the hands of the GOP with no way to push back against their interrogations, or join up and offer cooperation in the probe? Bear in mind, a refusal to cooperate will mean that Democrats won’t be able to participate in the depositions either, which Gowdy points out will be much more effective in uncovering the truth than televised hearings. Republicans will be able to release testimony at will without any opportunity to provide the context in which it was given. If the panel digs out truly scandalous information, House Democrats will be left twisting in the wind.
I’d bet on Pelosi deciding to participate. There are too many ways to lose in the other direction, and even with their participation Democrats can still claim that the entire process is politicized anyway. Why give up the small advantages they’ll have just to sit on the sidelines?
This is another great example of the left focusing on control of the debate. A two flank attack by the socialists; Pelousy and her cabal of political concubines whining about participating only on an equal footing with the majority party, while Zero and the 0bamunists at the White Hut hammer away at the pubbies for fielding ‘yet another false conspiracy theory’.
Gowdy nailed it on FoxNews, this AM. The Speaker will constitute the committee membership. Now, if Boner has the stones, he’ll push right back at the leftists. The majority holds majority seats on most all committees of the Congress, with the pubbies controlling the House, and the dhimmicraps holding the Senate.
This is a House Committee, so it should (rightly) be comprised of a majority of the right, and a minority of the left.
If Pelousy doesn’t want to play, then Boner should trot out Gowdy to lay waste to the left’s arguments and then forge ahead. Let the world know that the dhimmicraps are welcome to tag along, but they won’t be the millstone around the necks of the folks seeking to get to the bottom of this scandal.
My hope is that the Rats indeed boycott so we can watch the mainstream media figure out how to not report the special committee actions.
Hey! Nancy! Chickens, home, roost. Bite me
She is a true sleazeball. in “her” house of representatives, freshmen congressmen weren’t allowed to enter new legislation without her approval.
Then in the next election the democrats ran against those freshmen by declaring that they didn’t even introduce any legislation.
I would allow no less than a 2:1 Repub to Rat ratio because you know that the only reason the Rats would be on it would be to run interference for Obama/Hillary.
Stay home Nancy and you will have to read the report to find out what is in it.
PRAY HARD
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Paraphrasing her party’s favorite quote: we won, you can take part but you don’t get to make any decisions.
Worthless POS.
Just be taking the 50-50 approach, Pelousy signals loudly that the ‘Rat game plan is partisan in nature.
As a former speaker, she knows she won’t ever get 50-50 on this, so whether ‘Rats participate or not, this ‘Rat “requirement” is just the first partisan volley in the War on the Republic that they wage.
Nazi Pelosi said they would pass Obamacare even if it costs their jobs. The only way they lose their job is to be voted out. Cramming a law down people’s throats when the majority is against it is fascism.
Only allow 2 demoncraps on the committee, one to pour coffee and one to serve snacks and sandwiches.
I nominate Elisha Cummings to do the serving.
Sorry for my crudeness but Pelosi was the wicked witch with the gavel, and flaunted her Bitchness
while being proud to be the Bully.
Here is Pelosi in all her flaunting hubris! 
Her only goal here is to disrupt, leak, and Lie to make hay out of serious business.
I for one don’t want fair. I want just.
Letting the fox have equal standing with the farmer may be fair but its not just for the chickens.
She admits it’s all about politics to Democrats.
I say ‘embrace the suck’ - sound familiar Nan??
This is just a ploy to give her an excuse for boycotting it as partisan and not fair.
The very obvious dilemma is not in the least apparent to Nanacy Pelosi. The best she seems to be looking for is a total party-line deadlock, in which the Democrat figures all filibuster the proceedings by asking endless and totally pointless questions of the witnesses, and raise endless objections to wherever the Republican members choose to direct their inquiry.
But she is unlikely to get many volunteers to take on this rather formidable task. Elijah Cummings and Maxine Waters cannot be EVERYWHERE.
If she wasn’t so busy trying to make money off the American taxpayers, she could have paid more attention to Benghazi. She’s just another squalling Fat Cat Democrat.
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