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Everyone realized it was a symbolic vote. House Republicans, whose feelings were apparently hurt when Senate Democrats rejected their plan to approve a constitutional amendment through extortion, brought their own version of Harry Reid’s debt-reduction plan to the floor, just so they could vote against it. This was meaningless theater, even by congressional standards, apparently intended to make the GOP feel better about itself.
But the debate was fairly intense on the House floor anyway. The decorum and niceties that are generally common during congressional debates were forgotten, with many speakers finding themselves booed and derided by their rivals on the other side of the aisle.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stood out, however, for showing the kind of spirit that inspires confidence in her leadership.
If you can’t watch clips online, Pelosi told her colleagues, “It’s time to end this theater of the absurd. It’s time for us to get real. It’s time for us to get real and listen to the wisdom of the American people. They have said to us that they support, in overwhelming numbers, a bipartisan, balanced approach, in overwhelming numbers that we should all pay our fair share. And they all agree that we should get this over with so we can get back to work putting the American people back to work by creating jobs.”
Then she turned her attention to the developments in the chamber from the last several days. “The Speaker chose, when he didn’t have the votes, instead of to reach out in a bipartisan way to see how we could work together, he chose to go to the dark side,” Pelosi said, drawing sharp boos from the House GOP. She immediately added, “Let me repeat. And I repeat, he chose to go to the dark side by putting forth a bill that he himself told his members would sink in the Senate — and I add, lead to default, lead to default. We cannot default. We are the greatest country that ever existed in the history of the world. We are the United States of America.”
Why did I like this so much? It’s not just the message, which happens to accurate. It’s also because Pelosi said something provocative, drew the disdain of her rivals, and said it again.
It was almost as if Pelosi were saying, “Oh, you didn’t like that one? Then let me repeat it for you.”
Update: I neglected to mention a point of context. Pelosi’s remarks came in defense of Reid’s plan to resolve the Republican debt-ceiling crisis. In other words, Pelosi was giving a speech in support of a conservative plan that cuts spending and doesn’t raise taxes, but was still booed by the GOP.
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K in Va on July 31, 2011 8:57 AM:
A voice crying in the wilderness.
A voice unheard by most, and unheeded by the few.
But a good and true voice nevertheless. A voice that, alas, is soon silenced by all those around her.
Live Free or Die on July 31, 2011 9:00 AM:
Every elected Dem needs to repeat this 5 time a day
Oddly, many voters prefer the policies of Democrats to the policies of Republicans. They just don’t trust the Democrats to carry out those promises. "
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/opinion/sunday/tuning-out-the-democrats.html
Live Free or Die on July 31, 2011 9:02 AM:
reposted:
I agree with the posters about Steve doing a wonderful job. He has had one of the top blogs this year. No, I am not related to Steve. My only complaint: I am slowly going blind trying to decipher CAPTCHA.
Danp on July 31, 2011 9:04 AM:
I often cringe when Pelosi speaks, since she tends to stick to simplistic platitudes, but even more often, I think she's the smartest Dem at the party. This is one of those times.
Kathryn on July 31, 2011 9:16 AM:
"They just don't trust the Democrats to carry out those promises". I don't disagree but, even sadder, they should trust the Republicans to carry out their promises. Hope those tea partiers aren't too attached to S.S. and Medicare.
sduffys on July 31, 2011 9:18 AM:
Yes - good speech. Will it get out to the general public, not.
The thing is,, the Democrats are the adults in the room. I wonder..Recognizing that the ceiling must be raised, they are (do not lash at me) letting the lesser priorities fall aside.
In hopeful(?) anticipation that the voters (finally!?) will see the light and return some sense of maturity with the next election.
Lose battle now vs winning war in end? (bad metaphor probably).
c u n d gulag on July 31, 2011 9:19 AM:
The Republicans would boo Santa Claus.
After all, that bleeding-heart Liberal Socialist gives out toys to rich AND poor kids - regardless of relgion, race, sex, or sexual orientation.
Santa should only bring toys to the deserving children of the "Job Creators" (Praise be unto them, Hossanah, and may blessings of peace and fortune rain upon them).
Socialist! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
c u n d gulag on July 31, 2011 9:21 AM:
Oh yeah, and Nancy has more spine and balls than any other Democrat out there. Especially that guy in the White House.
"YOU GO, GIRL!!!"
"MAN UP, BARACK!" And take a lesson from Ms. Pelosi.
bushworstpresidentever on July 31, 2011 9:26 AM:
When Obama calls Pelosi and Reid in to tell them how he is going to cave further and damage SS (which, of course, has nothing to do with the deficit) to prevent default, and that they must get their members in line, my hope is that Nancy has the stones to tell him to go %^&** himself.
bmoodie on July 31, 2011 9:26 AM:
Right on, Nancy! Makes me even more glad I bought my mom and sister Nancy Pelosi mugs with the slogan: "A woman's place is in the House -- as Speaker!" Think you can still find 'em, and make a worthwhile contribution at the same time.
Brenna on July 31, 2011 9:28 AM:
There's not a lot to add. Nancy Pelosi is stupendous at her job. No question.
I just read an article by Mauren Dowd, titled "Watching him turn into Carter before our eyes." I cringed while reading it. It's true. Obama has some real strengths and has accomplished some great things so far, but his need to compromise hasn't just weakened him, it's weakened all of us. Selling out the big three is going to turn out to be a huge mistake, I fear. That's not what he was elected to do.
Bill on July 31, 2011 9:49 AM:
Also underlines Pelosi's heroic role in pushing health care reform through. Whatever one think of their Parties and policy positions, as Speaker she was clearly much more effective than Boehner, and hopefully will be again.
RD Padouk on July 31, 2011 10:00 AM:
Those of you who are saying that Obama needs to stand firm against demands on the right are totally misinterpreting what Pelosi is saying. She is saying that to double down against a political opponent even though such intransigence is sure to sink a deal is wrong. She is saying that refusing to compromise is a weakness and not a strength. Yet she is also acknowledging that such an approach, because it plays so well to one's base, is intoxicating and alluring. (You know, like how Darth Vader tempted Luke.) This is what she means by going over to the dark side.
mmm on July 31, 2011 10:48 AM:
I also thought Steny Hoyer had a great contribution that led to some ruffled feathers from the Repubs. He was very clear, very direct, very strong.
T-Rex on July 31, 2011 10:48 AM:
No wonder they hate her so much, and can't stop barraging her with nasty, adolescent obscenities and insults. The once and future Speaker makes Boehner look like the miserable, incompetent little hack he is.
BO_Hank on July 31, 2011 11:35 AM:
Nancy Pelosi’s leadership on display for all to see. We need to be thankful for this articulate and charming woman, who has rightfully risen to the top of the Democratic Party. Go get ‘em Nancy. Get that Teabagging Boehner.
bardgal on July 31, 2011 1:47 PM:
My money is still on a clean bill.
Then the Bush Tax Cuts™ expire.
WIN.
TCinLA on July 31, 2011 3:11 PM:
I think it is now clear, looking back at the past seven months since the radical Republic majority took the House of Representatives, that we have been seeing our domestic politics play out the way international politics played in Europe between January 20, 1933, and October 1938.
The fact is, Obama is our Neville Chamberlain, and this "debt agreement" is his Munich Agreement. And the Democratic Party is the equivalent of Chamberlain's Conservative Party, with the Republicans playing the role of Hitler, and the American people taking the role of Czechoslovakia. And Nancy Pelosi playing the role of Winston Churchill.
And so I think it's appropriate to recall what Winston Churchill said about that agreement in the House of Commons in October, 1938, because it has some relevance to our situation today.
October 5, 1938. House of Commons
If I do not begin this afternoon by paying the usual, and indeed almost invariable, tributes to the Prime Minister for his handling of this crisis, it is certainly not from any lack of personal regard. We have always, over a great many years, had very pleasant relations, and I have deeply understood from personal experiences of my own in a similar crisis the stress and strain he has had to bear; but I am sure it is much better to say exactly what we think about public affairs, and this is certainly not the time when it is worth anyone's while to court political popularity.
We had a shining example of firmness of character from the late First Lord of the Admiralty two days ago. He showed that firmness of character which is utterly unmoved by currents of opinion, however swift and violent they may be. My hon. Friend the Member for South-West Hull (Mr. Law), to whose compulsive speech the House listened on Monday, was quite right in reminding us that the Prime Minister has himself throughout his conduct of these matters shown a robust indifference to cheers or boos and to the alternations of criticism or applause. If that be so, such qualities and elevation of mind should make it possible for the most severe expressions of honest opinion to be interchanged in this House without rupturing personal relations, and for all points of view to receive the fullest possible expression.
Having thus fortified myself by the example of others, I will proceed to emulate them. I will, therefore, begin by saying the most unpopular and most unwelcome thing. I will begin by saying what everybody would like to ignore or forget but which must nevertheless be stated, namely, that we have sustained a total and unmitigated defeat, ...
The utmost my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has been able to secure by all his immense exertions, by all the great efforts and mobilisation which took place in this country, and by all the anguish and strain through which we have passed in this country, the utmost he has been able to gain for Czechoslovakia in the matters which were in dispute has been that the German dictator, instead of snatching the victuals from the table, has been content to have them served to him course by course.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer [Sir John Simon] said it was the first time Herr Hitler had been made to retract - I think that was the word - in any degree. We really must not waste time after all this long Debate upon the difference between the positions reached at Berchtesgaden, at Godesberg and at Munich. They can be very simply epitomised, if the House will permit me to vary the metaphor. £1 was demanded at the pistol's point. When it was given, £2 were demanded at the pistol's point. Finally, the dictator consented to take £1 17s. 6d. and the rest in promises of goodwill for the future.
Now I come to the point, which was mentioned to me just now from some quarters of the House, about the saving of peace. No one has been a more resolute and uncompromising struggler for peace than the Prime Minister. Everyone knows that. Never has there been such instance and undaunted determination to maintain and secure peace. That is quite true. Nevertheless, I am not quite clear why there was so much danger of Great Britain or France being involved in a war with Germany at this juncture if, in fact, they were ready all along to sacrifice Czechoslovakia.
The terms which the Prime Minister brought back with him could easily have been agreed, I believe, through the ordinary diplomatic channels at any time during the summer. And I will say this, that I believe the Czechs, left to themselves and told they were going to get no help from the Western Powers, would have been able to make better terms than they have got after all this tremendous perturbation; they could hardly have had worse.
There never can be any absolute certainty that there will be a fight if one side is determined that it will give way completely. When one reads the Munich terms, when one sees what is happening in Czechoslovakia from hour to hour, when one is sure, I will not say of Parliamentary approval but of Parliamentary acquiescence, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer makes a speech which at any rate tries to put in a very powerful and persuasive manner the fact that, after all, it was inevitable and indeed righteous: when we say all this, and everyone on this side of the House, including many members of the Conservative Party who are vigilant and careful guardians of the national interest, is quite clear that nothing vitally affecting us was at stake, it seems to me that one must ask, What was all the trouble and fuss about?
... When this resolve was taken and the course was followed - you may say it was wise or unwise, prudent or short-sighted - once it had been decided not to make the defence of Czechoslovakia a matter of war, then there was really no reason, if the matter had been handled during the summer in the ordinary way, to call into being all this formidable apparatus of crisis. I think that point should be considered.
... What is the remaining position of Czechoslovakia? Not only are they politically mutilated, but, economically and financially, they are in complete confusion. Their banking, their railway arrangements, are severed and broken, their industries are curtailed, and the movement of their population is most cruel. The Sudeten miners, who are all Czechs and whose families have lived in that area for centuries, must now flee into an area where there are hardly any mines left for them to work. It is a tragedy which has occurred. There must always be the most profound regret and a sense of vexation in British hearts at the treatment and the misfortune which have overcome the Czechoslovakian Republic.
They have not ended here. At any moment there may be a hitch in the programme. At any moment there may be an order for Herr Goebbels to start again his propaganda of calumny and lies; at any moment an incident may be provoked, and now that the fortress line is turned away what is there to stop the will of the conqueror? Obviously, we are not in a position to give them the slightest help at the present time, except what everyone is glad to know has been done, the financial aid which the Government have promptly produced.
... In my holiday I thought it was a chance to study the reign of King Ethelred the Unready. The House will remember that that was a period of great misfortune, in which, from the strong position which we had gained under the descendants of King Alfred, we fell very swiftly into chaos. It was the period of Danegeld and of foreign pressure. I must say that the rugged words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, written a thousand years ago, seem to me apposite, at least as apposite as those quotations from Shakespeare with which we have been regaled by the last speaker from the Opposition Bench. Here is what the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle said, and I think the words apply very much to our treatment of Germany and our relations with her.
"All these calamities fell upon us because of evil counsel, because tribute was not offered to them at the right time nor yet were they resisted; but when they had done the most evil, then was peace made with them."
... Whatever we may think of it, we must regard those steps as belonging to the category of affairs which are settled beyond recall. The past is no more, and one can only draw comfort if one feels that one has done one's best to advise rightly and wisely and in good time. I, therefore, turn to the future, and to our situation as it is to-day. Here, again, I am sure I shall have to say something which will not be at all welcome.
We are in the presence of a disaster of the first magnitude which has befallen Great Britain and France. Do not let us blind ourselves to that. It must now be accepted that all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe will make the best terms they can with the triumphant Nazi power. The system of alliances in Central Europe upon which France has relied for her safety has been swept away, and I can see no means by which it can be reconstituted. The road down the Danube Valleyto the Black Sea, the road which leads as far as Turkey, has been opened.
... and do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is only the first sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigour, we arise again and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time.
bardgal on July 31, 2011 3:51 PM:
TC
But it's not. It's America 2011 with a House full of under 60 IQs who believe in MagicMoneyTree™ who are the most racist individuals in the history of the universe.
CHILL THE FUCK OUT - HE'S GOT THIS.
Clean bill will happen. Bet on it.
Anonymous on July 31, 2011 8:31 PM:
c u n d gulag on July 31, 2011 9:21 AM:
"YOU GO, GIRL!!!"
That is just too funny. Those are the exact words I sent to her in an email.
crapcha....Islands eyouppec....come over here and say that!