Like benching your star player because it’s not fair for him to have so much playing time.
As though giving everybody on the team a shot was more important than taking your best shot at winning for the country.
Perspective.
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And the timing is perfect - between this agreement and the meeting with Trump I don’t think she could appear any more formidable right now.
I’m hoping the Freedumb Caucus in the House as well as Mitch McConnell are having nightmares imagining their future.
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I’m afraid I have no sympathy for Paul Ryan - because of his worship of the Hassert Rule.
He could have passed much more legislation by working with Democrats for the good of the country, but he chose instead to insist that any bill passed by the House must be able to pass with Republican votes only - giving the Freedumb Caucus power over his agenda.
Ryan could have told Meadows et al where to go, but by following the Hassert Rule he gave them power they didn’t deserve.
[I’m looking forward to watching Freedumb Caucus minds blow when they try to boss Pelosi around in January the same way they did Ryan - and she tells them where to go!]
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I suspect Pelosi is planning on two years of trump/pence, followed by two years with a Democratic House, Senate and President to start unwinding the damage.
After that, I think she’ll be willing to hang up her laurals and give ‘the new kid on the block’ the gavel.
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Yes, and again, george didn’t get it.
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I disagree.
Maybe it’s an existential crisis for Yemen, but not for America. Yes, death generally is a high-level cost. But it is not always an existential crisis. The American Civil War was both: lots of casualties (both sides were comprised of Americans) and a grave threat to the nation. It is almost impossible for anything in Yemen, or any other country, to pose an existential crisis to the USA. One noteworthy exception is Russia: the rise of a KGB officer has matured and contributed to America’s current existential crisis. A decent argument could also be made for whichever country bin Laden identified with.
Deaths in Yemen do not pose a threat to the American lifeway, focusing solely on how America makes decisions (including decisions about other countries like Yemen). With a handful of exceptions, the wellbeing of our nation does not depend in any way on any human in any other country.
This distinction requires the capacity to draw lines between different domains. I am skeptical that you are capable or willing to draw any such distinction. I think you would hang my heart surgeon because I got a flat tire on the way to the hospital.
I am not indifferent to the suffering of others. But I have a special loyalty to my own country, and that sometimes requires that I disregard the wellbeing of individuals who are not subject to the jurisprudence over which I have power. I would prefer the US not cause the deaths of foreign nationals. The strength of that commitment varies based on the facts and the principles involved.
What does not vary, and what you appear to be unwilling to acknowledge, is that sane and humane foreign policy depends entirely on prerequisite political victories that have nothing to offer to foreigners.
Yemen is fucked until Trump is gone, at a minimum. Yemen gets 0 votes in that election. It seems like you refuse to acknowledge that fact.
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American war crimes against Yemen are not an existential crisis.
It’s bad, at least morally, but it doesn’t threaten the rule of law in America.
This is not an existential crisis, period. If you think it is, then you misunderstand the concept.
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And meanwhile he chooses to disparage Democrats whenever they have a victory and whenever the Republicans are in trouble. He functions as a professional wet blanket rendering the election of Trump and his ilk more likely.
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I am 45% convinced he’s an agent.
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Mark Meadows tried to get out by becoming COS and Spanky pissed on his head. I expect you will see some early retirements of FC’s before 2020.
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I will take your 45 and add 45.
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Genocide is by definition an “existential crisis.”
It was clearly an existential crisis for 84,000 kids who were systematically starved to death (so far), but I guess they don’t count because they aren’t American kids.
I don’t misunderstand the concept of an “existential crisis.” I also don’t believe that American lives are more valuable than other people’s lives.
If 84,000 American kids had been systematically starved to death, would you feel differently?
American-supported genocide in Yemen (started by Obama) is still genocide.
No democracy, no justice.
In principle, I see the merits of Democrats agreeing on term limits for House leadership positions. In this particular case, I can’t help but feel that this is another example of a senior woman having to go above and beyond what her male predecessors had done to demonstrate her fitness.
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Yes, the war in Yemen is horrible. The vote you’re talking about allowed the Republicans to squeeze their Saudi protection plan into the farm bill, but it seems the five Democrats who went along don’t particularly want to continue the war in Yemen; they just don’t care one way or the other:
Peterson, a Democrat, admits to not knowing a damn thing about the war in Yemen which you and I are being forced to subsidize. And as indicated, he and his four Democratic colleagues could have tried to evade the Republican trap but declined to do so.
So yes, the five of them should be pilloried and maybe even primaried.
You’re blaming Pelosi because, despite her reputation for playing hard-ball, she could not prevent the five from betraying the party. I don’t know how much power she had over them in this instance. Do you?
And note that six other Democrats simply failed to turn up to vote. Had they voted, Ryan might have been foiled after all.
But further: When it comes to US support for the war in Yemen, you will not find a member of Congress who has worked harder to stop it than Democrat Ro Khanna. You remember that he endorsed Bernie Sanders; he also supports Nancy Pelosi (and vice versa). And he supports the “Green New Deal” put forward by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others. Have you looked at Khanna’s net worth? It’s not inconsiderable (mostly because of his wife’s family). And have you looked at how he funds his campaigns? Like O’Rourke down in Texas, he accepts no money from PACs; but at the same time he raised half a million dollars from individuals in the securities industry.
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I don’t know how much power (money) she has over them, either.
But I have been told for months that Nancy “Pay-Go” Pelosi is the absolute bestest and most irreplaceable person to be Speaker of the House in the entire universe, and she knows how to hold the caucus together and whip votes, AND THERE IS NOBODY BETTER SO SHUTUP, SHUTUP SHUTUP!
I guess stopping U.S.-supported genocide in Yemen just isn’t that important to Nancy or her owners.
I do agree that Pelosi should not be seen as omnipotent — but then, even though too many foolish things have been written in “support” of her, I am not sure anyone actually sees her that way.
Meanwhile, is there a contradiction between these two things?
- I don’t know how much power (money) she has over them, either.
- I guess stopping U.S.-supported genocide in Yemen just isn’t that important to Nancy or her owners.
This is another of Pelosi’s “please don’t throw me into that briar patch” moments. Remember, it’s pretty clear that she wanted to retire back two years ago, before our National Dumbass Moment, and is sticking around because she feels a duty to fight TrumpIsm. But once again she’s gotten something of substance from the refuseniks in exchange for doing something that she wanted to do anyway.
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Love how you put this.
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