Last week Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi promised to visit here at least once a week and respond to our questions and comments. Hundreds of Kossacks participated. Hundreds want to believe her; hundreds of others said they've already given up on her.
Many of her constituents would rather mount an independent or write-in SF House campaign in 2006 than vote for a Representative who bends over on illegal spying, can't take a stand on impeachment, attacks Senator Feingold's censure efforts, and rubber-stamps funds for Iraq.
Rep. Pelosi, will you represent your constituents and lead the Democratic party, or will you remain a dam that stands in the way of democratic voters on these key issues?
Rep Pelosi -
Thanks for your offer to listen - we hope it's sincere. To win your credibility back with mainstream Democrats here and in San Francisco, you must:
1)
Recuse yourself from any investigative or oversight role in the warrantless NSA wiretaps you kept secret for 4 years. When you attack Senator Feingold's censure efforts, knowing there will be no real investigation this year, you resemble a self-interested accessory to a crime. Set an example and
insist that the other apparent accessories in the "Gang of 8" recuse themselves as well, to avoid a deep conflict of interest. Until then all your "ethics" talk will ring hollow. But if you remind your constituents that you kept this secret during a time of unprecedented national stress,
and that it won't happen again, we will forgive you. I would recommend reading the 4th Amendment and the FISA law into the Congressional record, followed by a direct apology.
If you claim you don't understand the law, you have no business being a lawmaker. Face it - Bush may have confided in you, but he did
not make you a FISA judge. In a serious investigation of those wiretaps, you can be a witness, a person of interest, or an accessory -
not a prosecutor or judge. Show America that Democrats take the ethical high road by taking the law seriously.
2) Stop voting to fund the Iraq occupation, just as Rep Anna Eshoo stopped this March. When you say you oppose the war but claim Iraq funds are "must-pass legislation," you are saying you're not a leader.
3) Acknowledge that both censure and impeachment are appropriate when the president flouts the law, especially when he deceives the public in ways that cause loss of life. As a long standing verbal opponent of the Iraq war, once you commit to item 2 you will no longer be complicit in the occupation, and can focus on opposing criminal actions by our government and getting us back on track. If instead you remain an enabler or accessory to this administration's illegal activities, Democrats may take the House in 2006 and still wind up with a Majority Leader we can't trust to lead America.
Rep. Pelosi, you're in a crisis. Here at Daily Kos, fewer than 1 in 5 of us think you've been an effective leader, and more than 2/3 think you've been a poor one. Your constituents are the most disappointed - you know, you've heard their booing. Nationally, you are revered not for legislative effectiveness, but for fundraising. There have been multiple diaries aimed at holding you accountable and finding a way to replace you in November and, with all due respect, your own constituents in the Bay Area are the most enthusiastic for a change.
Please keep your word and answer these basic questions. We need someone who will defend the constitution, keep her oath, and back up her words with action when she says we don't belong in Iraq.
Kossacks - if you want answers to these questions, recommend this diary so Nancy Pelosi and her staff can be accountable to Democrats and to her constituents, the way real leaders should be. Let's prepare to organize an alternative at Yearly Kos if Rep. Pelosi breaks her word and ignores us here.
(PS - no content-free "circular firing squad" neutered comments, please. San Francisco is just 13% Republican. The only real threat there is from Democrats who won't represent us.)