In wmtriallawyer's Recommended diary, The Impeachment Talking Point that Needs to be Dropped, the diarist makes a point that Cindy Sheehan's statement about Nancy Pelosi contains some errors, most notably:
If Nancy Pelosi doesn't do her constitutionally mandated job by midnight tonight, tomorrow I will announce that I am going to run against her.
The result is that Pelosi, who is now apparently being challenged by Sheehan in the next election, is painted as a Speaker who is not performing her duties.
It's part of the MSM and GOP script that Pelosi is a failure as Speaker. And when Cindy Sheehan says it loudly, others listen.
Others like Dana Milbank in today's Washington Post:
"If Nancy Pelosi doesn't do her constitutionally mandated job by midnight tonight, tomorrow I will announce that I am going to run against her," Sheehan announced outside the cemetery's gates yesterday. "I will beat her in California."
Sheehan then waded into constitutional law, and the little- known mandatory impeachment clause. "Impeachment is not a fringe movement -- it is mandated in our Constitution," she asserted. "Nancy Pelosi had no authority to take it off the table. If she takes impeachment off the table, what else will she take off the table -- the First Amendment?"
Hmmm... "the little-known mandatory impeachment clause"? - one has to believe that this is snark from Dana Milbank. But wouldn't it be nice if Milbank made that clear? But he doesn't want to - he is very happy giving the impression that the Impeachment crowd is part of the lunatic fringe and that Sheehan is the saber rattler:
Sheehan's return to the workforce has come with occupational hazards. The left-wing Daily Kos Web site banned her postings because of her challenge to Pelosi. Britain's Guardian newspaper, which has a large antiwar following, ran an article titled "The epic narcissism of Cindy Sheehan."
And while he's at it, he gets two take two swipes at DailyKos. By now, everyone knows that Sheehan was not "banned" - only that she cannot post about her third party candidacy here:
This is about TORTURE & BushCo's War Crimes (16+ / 0-)
Not about my probable run against Pelosi. For the record, my understanding is that I am not allowed to post about my potential candidacy, but otherwise am fine - which is why I asked my good friend Linda Milazzo to put this up for me since I'm on the road with Journey For Humanity.
I am on my way to a memorial service for a dear activist friend right now, but I'll be on later...
Cindy
by CindySheehan on Sun Jul 15, 2007 at 11:37:34 AM PDT
But Dana Milbank isn't about to let some silly facts get in his way of making a point about DailyKos. His second swipe is that we are "left wing" - Dana stands with the O'Reillys of the world in an attempt to marginalize DailyKos (the WaPo has done this many times before) out of the fear that we be described as what we really are - a mainstream site for Democrats.
Sheehan's recent stunt in Conyers office and her stunt to challenge Pelosi - both acts are an attempt to grab the spotlight from strong Dem leaders - gives the Milbanks of the world more fodder to make the Impeachment crowd look fringe. It this happens just at the moment that it is becoming accepted in the eyes of a majority of Americans.
Here's the ammunition that Sheehan and her merry band provided Milbank with:
One of the activists, David Swanson, wore fake blood on his hands and explained the march to the ultraliberal Conyers's office: "We are going to be there to demand impeachment, and if we do not get it, we are not going to leave."
A man wearing a Bush mask and red tights and carrying a devil's pitchfork delivered a harsh judgment on his fellow marchers. "They're not going to get anywhere," he said.
But Libby changed all that, and by yesterday Sheehan even thought the planes departing from National Airport were conspiring against her. "They stepped up the air traffic," she complained as a jet interrupted her speech.
The paranoid also may have been suspicious about the low-flying military helicopter as the marchers crossed Arlington Memorial Bridge, or the man in the car with U.S. government plates who took pictures of the demonstrators as they reached the Tidal Basin -- "for personal use," he claimed.
Yep - Milbank has painted a picture of the Impeachment crowd - nutjobs.
Nice work guys - there are some people that are seriously working to make Impeachment happen. And they are gaining traction. Then, like bulls in a china shop, Sheehan and her pranksters stomp right in and turn it into a circus.