Pelosi knows she'll win her next election

[mudesi]

It's all the Democrats really care about. Her liberal constituents will vote for her, (because they have no other choice) so it doesn't really matter if she gets anything done or stands up to the Bush administration. It's all power and money. They don't care about you.

I wasn't this cynical in 2006, but the Democrats have shown who they really are not through their words, but their actions. I am disappointed, infuriated, and disillusioned.

They blew it in the spring by utterly capitulating on Iraq. I decided they'd get one more chance in September. Now, September has passed and they blew it again. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Kudos to the minority of Democrats who actually have principles. The rest of them can go to hell.

I give up. Nothing short of a public uprising will remove the corruption that has overtaken Washington, D.C. I'm talking a complete stoppage of all economic activities and a massive camp out in every single town, city, and state. A general strike. But it won't happen, because Americans just don't care. A new season of American Idol starts soon, after all.

Nothing changes. Ever.

[Lerkfish]

1. there's nothing I can really add.

a vast bait and switch has been pulled on the american voter. "elect us to end this war" and then, once we do "gee, we don't have the power to do that!"

[Disturbed]

3. The Dem Leaders want to maintain the US Occupation.

They want to keep the Fiasco going for their benefit of the '08 Elections & also want that Oil Deal to be finalized. The MIC & the Multi-Corps control them all; Repugs & Dems. The majority of Repugs & Dems don't give a rat's ass what the citizens want. They are also banking on Dems to vote for them no matter how betrayed they feel.

[Orsino]

31. I'm thinking that most don't really want it...

...and are simply afraid to end it. No one wants to be the first to admit "defeat," even with the White House obviously responsible for a doomed effort right from the start.

It is undeniable that corporate pro-war interests are funding a lot of Dems now, though.

[lonestarnot]

38. Fuck'n A!

[tridim]

4. They do have the Constitutional power to end the war

But the Constitution no longer applies.

[bdamomma]

23. you know or we know that is total BS, these Dems are probably

being wiretapped or blackmailed, but just can't someone anyone standup and challenge these thugs???

[Lerkfish]

25. whatever the reason, the result is the same. If they cannot expose the blackmail

then how are they leaders?

If I was elected, and allowed myself to betray the public trust for my own safety, then what am I there for?

[Hydra]

2. I prefer to judge by actions rather than rhetoric

And by that measure, this congress is the worst we could have imagined. At least the Repubs would have gotten the blame had we had another round of rubberstampsville.

[Lerkfish]

5. to me the most disappointing thing is we were told previous to 2006

that they couldn't doa nything, being in the minority. Now we're told they can't do anything,being only a slight majority, we must elect even more before they can do anything.

yet the republicans are doing just fine as a minority.

[MisterP]

20. "now we need the Presidency, whimper whimper"

then the Duma and the Lok Sabha and the Omani advisory council and

[bdamomma]

24. exactly more of us have to VOTE to get more Dems in

what is the percentage of people who voted, was it something like 40% in November 2006, now if that is true that is pretty sad, I guess people have different priorities.

[Toots]

33. I suspect that percentage will drop precipitously after this last Congress

Why vote when all you get is the same damn thing. Democrats are raking in the money but not from the regular people. It comes from the same corporations that just two years ago gave to Republicans. I need to have something to vote FOR..

[bdamomma]

37. I will never stop voting, or do we have to lose this right also

the logic of not voting is something that this sick regime would like to see, I can hear them saying well Americans want to have a daddy to take care of them permanently and we have the say. Or am I really off base.

[Toots]

39. Yep, go touch that screen and spend the evening worrying whether your vote was actually recorded

If it makes you feel better..

[bdamomma]

41. electronic voting should be trashed also.

or have a paper receipt.

[Devlzown]

6. I think she needs a challenger.

She's in a liberal district, right? I'm sure a lot of her constituents are fed up with her lack of action. If she lost the nomination like Lieberman did, and had to run as an independent, she wouldn't be able to be able to be Speaker anymore, would she?

[Tesha]

7. She has a challenger, but we're not allowed to mention her here...

...since her challenger has decided to challenge Nancy
in the General Election rather than the Primary.

Tesha

[Devlzown]

9. Well, I didn't know about that.

I think she needs a challenger in the primary, that's what I was speaking of. I think a lot of these Democrats need challengers, but I believe in working within the party to do it.

[depakid]

14. Well, I'll mention her

It's Cindy Sheehan, of course.

She doesn't have any hope of unseating Pelosi- but it might be interesting to see what's said if she ends up with a significant percentage of the vote.

[cali]

40. If she ends up with more than 15% of the vote that

will actually be significant. She's about as weak a candidate as could be imagined.

[skipos]

10. She has a very anti-war challenger, so we will see how many of her constituents are fed up. nt

[Didereaux]

8. Challenger her as Speaker, not as Congressman n/t

[DeSwiss]

11. K&R!!!

I'm pretty close to where you are. And I don't like being here either.

But after all this, no one gets a pass from me anymore. And you're right, it may have to be all torn-down in order to make the changes needed. But I doubt that will ever happen....

[unblock]

12. cynical though it may be, i'll reserve judgment until the dems have more power

i might prefer a dem congress with a nutcase president to behave differently, but the bottom line is that a dem congress can't always get its way when the veto is in the hands of the other party.

as i said, that doesn't justify doing more to actually get us out of iraq, etc.

but the bottom line for me is what happens once the dems also have the white house in 2009. if they continue to behave like this, then i'd probably agree with you.

[RiverStone]

13. Then where will you go from here?

Disappointed, infuriated, and disillusioned sums it up for me too.

And yet, most people polled on DU indicate they will still vote DEM in the General (no matter who the candidate is). Sadly, the arrogance of Dems on The Hill has led to their complicity with Shrub.
I'll admit that I will vote DEM in the General; and I do believe that when the rubber meets the road and we are looking across the way at Rudy, Mitt, or Fred - the disgust factor and an extreme disire to NOT having a puke in the White House will out weigh the disappointment factor in the Dems....and folks will go vote.

But....

In 09 and in particular if HRC is president, I can fathom a new wave of enthusiasm to form a true Progressive Party and the liberals to the left of Hillary (which is a lot of liberals) would be looking at that option with interest.

[Lerkfish]

15. I think that if Bush is allowed to attack Iran

all bets are off, anyways for 2008 and beyond.

[Pyrzqxgl]

16. GENERAL STRIKE! HAH! WE SHOULD ALL BECOME WOBS.

Utah Phillips says "The General Strike would last about 15 minutes" and all that stuff we don't like would go away.
How about now? I'm leaving work. Gonna go get a bite and take a nap. When I'm done, the strike will be over & the
promised land will have arrived. See yuh.

[Zandor]

17. If Sheehan is her challenger

Let's hope Nancy wins.

[mudesi]

18. Why?

Is Cindy Sheehan not anti war enough?

[cali]

29. I'll tell you why I oppose her:

Her ignorant and nasty screed in her kos post about how dems started ALL the wars in the 20th century, her stupid comment about the income tax being unconstitutional, and her declaration that the dem party IS the party of slavery- not was, is. There are lots of valid reasons to criticize the dems, none of those is even remotely fucking related to reality.

She knows little about foreign affairs; in a recent piece she made incredibly ignorant and false statements about the middle east, why Ahmadinejad was elected, and demonstrated a complete lack of understanding about that neck of the woods.

What does she know about the district?

Being anti-war, is not in and of itself, a qualification for Congress.

[depakid]

21. Have you any reason- or set of reasons why?

Just curious.

[Lerkfish]

22. because he wants unending war and continued capitulation to the republicans?

because that's what it would mean.

[Richard Steele]

28. DingDingDing! nm

[deacon]

19. She's a back stabber - a lying sack of crap. Maybe people will wake up and vote her out.

[mmonk]

26. And that's the problem with our "democracy".

[LWolf]

27. You want to see some action from the Speaker?

Replace her. Replace her with Dennis Kucinich.

I guarantee you'll see some action. :D

[cali]

34. Fantasy Congress. What's the point? n/t

[LWolf]

43. The point, as already stated, is to see some action.

To see the speaker support what Democratic voters want, to see someone hold Democratic reps in Congress accountable for representing, for standing for, for fighting for, for acting on, the issues their voters have repeatedly asked for action on.

If expecting Democrats in Congress to represent Democratic voters is a "fantasy," then Congress is corrupt beyond redemption and serves no valid purpose.

[Orsino]

30. We have a poor choice...

...between the semi-benign neglect by current Democratic leaders and the naked malevolence of the GOP.

[mmonk]

32. Or replacing current leadership with good leadership.

[Orsino]

35. I would hope that that's an option.

My hope fades, though, every day that Congress fails to legislate Big Money's role as an election gatekeeper. I'm afraid that almost no candidates are allowed to reach office without having been thoroughly trained to sit up and beg.

[Cha]

36. If Nancy continues to stonewall

The People..there's no telling what hell her life will be..good luck with that Nancy.

[natrat]

42. fuck someone , anyone , run against that pos pelosi