Nancy Pelosi Should Listen to Karl Rove By Medea Benjamin

[Demeter]

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_medea_be_070905_nancy_pelosi_should_.htm



Karl Rove might be a nasty guy, but he's no dummy. In a press interview as he left office, he gave the Democrats some free advice. He described his politics as building on the energy of the base of the Republican Party and expanding it outward. He mentioned that the Democrats could build on the energy of their base, like the "Pink Ladies", he said, referring to the Code Pink women who dogged him until the day he left office.

Instead of courting the "Pink Ladies" and the energetic peace movement that helped put the Democrats in power and turned Pelosi from Minority leader into Madam Speaker, Pelosi has alienated CODEPINK and most of the peace movement. It started the day she became Speaker, when she said that defunding the war and impeachment were off the table. It worsened when she compromised with the conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats on an Iraq funding bill instead of supporting the Progressive Caucus. And it totally fell apart in May 2007 when she allowed Congress to give Bush another $95 billion for war with no timetable for withdrawal. While Pelosi herself voted against the bill, many anti-war activists held her responsible since she failed to put pressure on the conservative Democrats to form a united front against another blank check for war. They also pointed out that in the case of both the unrestricted war funding and the expanded FISA wiretapping, she had the power to just keep the bills off the floor.

With a Bush Administration request for even more war money looming in September, CODEPINK and a coalition of 1,300 anti-war groups called United for Peace and Justice have been pushing for a meeting with the Speaker to see what her strategy will be this time around. If she really wants to end the war, as she insists she does, what lessons did she learn from the Spring defeat that will ensure a different outcome this Fall? How can the peace movement work together with the Speaker to make sure her new strategy works?

Despite countless requests, Pelosi has refused to have either a private meeting with the peace community or a public Town Hall meeting in her district. The last time she held a Town Hall meeting was in January 2006-almost two years ago!

During the August recess, while Congresspeople all over the country held meetings on the issue most pressing to their constituents-the war-Pelosi rejected a request from over 30 San Francisco peace and justice groups, ranging from Jewish Voice for Peace to Muslim American Voice, from the Labor Council to MoveOn.

So on August 12, CODEPINK took the request to her home, organizing an encampment and hunger strike outside her Pacific Heights mansion. It is a tactic that was successful with Senator Dianne Feinstein. After six days of having campers outside her home, Feinsten came out to have a cordial half-hour discussion with the fasters and promised a longer meeting. Not Pelosi. During the two-week campout and hunger strike, Pelosi's only interaction with the activists was her hostility toward them. Arriving home late one evening, hunger striker Toby Blome asked "Why won't you meet with us?" "I'll never meet with you," the Speaker screamed. "Get away from my house." When Blome asked her about the homes of all the Iraqis whose privacy we invade, Pelosi snapped and called her "a nut."

ARTICLE CONTINUES....SEE LINK

Authors Website: Www.globalexchange.org

Authors Bio: Medea Benjamin is the cofounder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK: Women for Peace

[rodeodance]

1. so---De-funding the war is OFF THE TABLE??? I did not know that!! Is this true?

[Demeter]

2. Well, Has Anything Happened to Disprove It?

[reprobate]

3. I have to ask 'WHY'? Is she a Democrat still, and if so how can she run the House

as if she were a Bushbot?

To say I am disappointed in her is the biggest understatement since Noah said "It looks like it might rain."

I certainly hope Cindy will run against her. Now THAT would be justice if Cindy won! I'll contribute to her campaign as soon as she declares. I do hope that MoveOn and the other progressive organizations got on board and support her. Who knows, could we see a progressive in her place?

[cascadiance]

4. She's *'s Handmaid...

[creeksneakers2]

5. Code Pink disrupts ribbon cuttings and news conferences

that Nancy is involved with. Since Code Pink can't be civil, I don't see why anybody would bother to meet with them.

There isn't a chance in the world that Code Pink would listen to a thing Nancy would have to say at a meeting. They'd shout at her and interrupt her. After it was all over, Code Pink would send out press releases all over the net about how terrible Nancy refused to listen to Code Pink at the meeting.

The other peace groups should request a meeting and offer a promise not to bring Code Pink.

[John Q. Citizen]

6. Gosh, are they as disruptive as cruise missles? Nancy meets with bush and he's a

war criminal.

I guess birds of a feather...

[fed-up]

7. and Nancy has permanantly disrupted the lives of 1,000's of Iraqis and hundreds of US military....nt