Kelly Davis with thestate.com noticed my post about the Nancy Pelosi speech Monday — the one that was an outrageous example of partisan ranting at the worst possible moment, but certainly no excuse for those whiny Republicans to vote against a bill of great importance to the country — and felt like something was missing: video. So he sent me the imbed code.
I actually haven’t seen it myself yet — I just read the transcript that I shared with you earlier — and don’t have time to watch it now. But I don’t see any reason for y’all to wait any longer. Kelly sent me this early yesterday afternoon and I’m just seeing his e-mail, so we’re already behind the curve enough…
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Here’s more of interest re Pelosi’s speech, from the L.A.Times…one interesting theory I hadn’t seen before is that she was trying to win over many of the Democrats (generally from the more progressive wing of the party) who were opposing the bill. Also interesting is that the pre-submitted text of her speech (still incorrectly posted on some websites as the actual speech she gave) had far less partisan bite.
The thing is that if Pelosi could restrain herself for another month, Obama can make the case she was trying to, on his way to victory and (if Democrats are not seen as the biggest problem in Congress) a pickup of more seats in the House and Senate…then beginning in 2009 the new team can begin to undo some of the damage to which she alluded, anyway. The extent to which she is seen as partisan and as part of the problem (such as the poor timing of this speech) decreases the chances of reaching the very goals she is pursuing.
You say, "if Pelosi could restrain herself." Don’t you see that she can’t? Like the scorpion in the fable, she can’t help it; it’s her nature.
As for her motivation — of course she was speaking to the extremes of her own party. But then you have to ask yourself, why did she have to do it in front of the Republicans? Unless, of course, you believe that she was deliberately trying to sabotage the vote, but make the Republicans the scapegoat, by deliberately antagonizing them. But I don’t believe she was thinking that far ahead; I think she was doing what people who owe their positions to partisan consideration do naturally. And that’s what’s wrong with parties in America.
Imagine for a moment that the Speaker were someone else — say, our own John Spratt. Such a speech from him is unimaginable. Why? Because he’s not from San Francisco. He’s from an increasingly Republican district — one in which he has well-supported general election opposition almost every two years — so he knows better. He speaks to a broader community. Sort of like, on the state level, John Courson in his Shandon district. Sen. Courson is very much a conservative Republican, but his district demands that he conduct himself with respect to those who disagree.
Brad, back in the good old days of July, when the Bush Administration announced its estimate of leaving a nearly $500 billion deficit to its successor, who condemned “the dismal legacy of the Bush administration,” going on to say, “Under its policies the largest surpluses in history have been converted into the largest deficits in history.” ?????
Rep. John Spratt of South Carolina.
Was he “speaking to the extremes of his own party” to use your phrase? I don’t think so.
Pelosi’s speech may have been “awful” because of its timing, and you’re right that John Spratt would have had more grace and judgment than to make that speech at that time, but I doubt that Spratt found very much in her speech that he could disagree with, in his heart.
And you know that Barack Obama has been saying and will continue to say right up through election day pretty much the same things Pelosi and Spratt have said.
People in San Francisco and Rock Hill have more in common than you might think and I think folks in both places are hopping mad about this mess.
OK, name me one major Beat poet out of Rock Hill… (Actually, I think there was one, but before he could make a name for himself, his head exploded from trying too hard to find a good rhyme for "Carowinds.")
Yes, I can see John Spratt saying that, but never, ever under these circumstances, as you say.
Also, it’s one thing to berate this administration for lack of fiscal discipline. You can get something like a bipartisan consensus on that; Bush has presided over the greatest expansion of the federal gummint since LBJ. In fact, when I started reading your comment, it crossed my mind that the quote you were offering was from McCain.
The Speaker wasn’t even making sense, though. Check this zinger:
Ummm… I thought "free market advocates" were synonymous with "anything goes," sorta by definition. So what’s with the "but"? You think that’s a gotcha? But you know me; I don’t think much of libertarianism, so maybe those are separate concepts to other people…
There was not a beat poet from Rock Hill, but the Broadway actor and director, Charles Blackwell of York, was a personal friend of some of the famous beat poets.
Dale Bales, of Columbia, founder of the Joyful Alternative, was one of the Beat Poets, and left Columbia to teach in California.
Blackwell went on to found the Libertarian Party, and the SCLP in 1976. He still directs theater in Charlotte.
OK, is anybody besides me a little freaked out that Lee knows that stuff?
is it true? you know Lee.
It’s easy, when you know Dale Bales and Charles Blackwell personally, and they are both very friendly people. Charles rounded up all us libertarians who wrote letters to the editor and formed the SCLP in 1976. Charles wrote an excellent article in one of the Charlotte newspapers a few years ago about his inside view of the Beat Poets.
Dale Bales got a SC Dept of Education grant or something to go around and teach poetry in the schools, like art teachers do. Then the State of California hired him. This was all in the late 1970s. Warren Johnson, the painter (Blue Sky) might know more, since he and his wife moved to California, too.
There was always a lot of art and music coming out of SC, and especially Columbia. The inferiority complex of our so-called leaders makes them always look elsewhere, to try to buy status, like they are doing right now with that overpriced Dale Chihuly glass for the museum. I like to go look at his stuff every time I am in Tacoma, the first time being 30 years ago in his shop, but there is just as great a glass being blown in San Francisco, and in Columbia, that is affordable to the average person.
I’m finding myself in agreement with Lee a surprising number of times this week; Lee, I’m with you on Chihuly.
Lee,
You seem to be turning the screws. Keep it up and you might teach some of these bloggers something of importance.
The supply of Truth is limitless.