I just received an email from a friend of mine who sent me the story about Rep. Cynthia McKinney's participation on the Katrina Panel, and the 71 page report she provided on the floor of the House today. You can read about it here:
http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/....
What bothers me about this is the fact that when the Republicans formed a Congressional Panel to investigate the slow response of the Federal Government to Katrina's victim, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called for the Democratic Caucus to boycott those hearings, citing that it was for partisan gain.
Once again, McKinney's instincts served her well, and once again, she was proven correct.
Since Paul Hackett dropped out of the Senate Primary against "anointed" nominee, Rep. Sherrod Brown, many who visited this board were flaming at the treatment of Hackett by Democratic Leadership in the forms of Sens. Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid, as well as Rep. Rahm Emmanuel. But, by and large, we should be equally outraged when House Minority leaders call for boycotts of hearings such as what caused the slow response to Katrina's victims by the Government that further illustrate why there is evergrowing contempt for the current Democratic party that appears out of touch, and can't get their act together where the Party can have a real impact.
Pelosi pretty much "ordered" no participation from the Democratic side of the House. And most members, save for those Democratic members whose districts were evicerated by Katrina, were all too willing to obey Ms. Nancy.
Except Cynthia McKinney, who was a five term member before falling victim to an AIPAC orchestrated defeat in 2002 by Denise Majette. The voters returned McKinney back to her seat in 2004, and she has not changed in standing up for her convictions, morals and principles. For doing her job, Pelosi has tried her best to isolate McKinney, even down to refusing to restore McKinney's seniority as a sixth term member.
Pelosi got tripped up out in San Francisco, when a reporter cornered her on the issue of McKinney's seniority:
"Cynthia got ... uh ... Cynthia chose to leave the.... She chose, she left Congress ... uh ... she was voted out," Pelosi stammered, "But there's nothing, nothing there that says, when members come back, that other members should be disrupted in terms of their seniority."
However, the reporter went on to point out that Reps. Dan Lungren, after a 15 year absence, had his seniority restored
as did Rep. Bob English. You can read more of the article here:http://www.blackcommentator.com/...
So, when we want to ask the questions as to why the Democrats waffle, seem to have no coherent action plan, and continue to get their asses handed to them by the Rethug Party, we have to start naming the players who are largely responsible for the continued failure of the Democrats, and force them to stop engaging in circular firing squads where they shoot their own.
The Black Commentator article also points out Pelosi's "war hawk" stance until the San Francisco crowd reminded her that they never supported the Iraq war, and a former Green Party Mayoral candidate named Matt Gonzalez, threatened to run against her in the Primary this year. Those of us who live in the Bay Area know that Gonzalez came THISCLOSE to upsetting the apple cart and becoming the first candidate from the Green Party to be elected to a major office like Mayor of San Francisco. So, current Mayor Gavin Newsom can breathe a sigh of relief...for now. However, if Gonzalez throws his hat in the ring against Pelosi, she could go the way of former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, because Gonzalez has enough supporters in San Francisco to make things plenty uncomfortable for Ms. Nancy.
If you've been hearing Pelosi sound more like the Democratic liberal she has usually been, the Matt Gonzalez threat to challenge her for the nomination is the reason why she's sounding less like a war hawk. Too bad she didn't do it sooner, cause she sure left Jack Murtha and his resolution twist in the wind until she learned that most of the Nation supported his resolution and loved how he successfully fended off being "swiftboated".
As we all know, the Democratic House Caucus goes the way Pelosi mandates, but they shouldn't always follow like sheeple, then use the excuse to blame the House Minority Leader when their action or lack thereof, blows up in their faces, as they have to face their districts demanding an explanation from them.
We already named Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, and Rahm Emmanuel as perpetrators of the continued ineptitude of the Democratic Party. And their refusal to cooperate with DNC Chair Howard Dean speaks volumes in that they are so unwilling to hear us, the people who vote for them, by cutting him off at the knees and always bragging about how Dean doesn't speak for them (even though when he speaks, he's on point with the truth). It appears that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also needs to be added to this list. And should the Party lose most of the Senate races and do not take back any branch of the Federal Government in November, we must demand that they resign their leadership positions and work the grassroots to replace them with the candidates that will best represent our interests.
The survival of America depends on it.