END OF STORY - Nancy Pelosi

With all the hand wringing going on as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's failed leadership continues to crumble around her (or, at least, that's what one would think given how much ink her support of John Murtha over Steny Hoyer for Majority Leader has gotten), I think that it's important if we distill this down to its most rudimentary components. Per Atrios, who absolutely slams it out of the park:

Pelosi backed her friend out of loyalty, he lost, everybody moves on.

Wow. I don't think anyone could have put that any plainer. Thank you, sir.

Of course, if you're interested in something a bit more complex in its analysis, I direct you to The Nation, who does its best to quell the tempest in a teapot this stupidity has become.

Democrats from both camps contended that while Pelosi may have miscalculated in backing Murtha so aggressively, the entire race will be forgotten in a week. "She's a very smart woman who made a mistake in judgment," said Barney Frank. "But it's a one-off thing." Added David Obey, the 68-year-old incoming chair of the Appropriations Committee: "I've seen a lot of bigger fights. This was mild by comparison."

And through it all, the Democrats will somehow forge on. After 12 years of lock-step discipline within the Republican caucus, it's understandable that the media might not recognize quaint notions like debate and differences of opinion. Hopefully, in time their memories will be sufficiently jogged.

WE SEE WHAT WE WISH TO SEE

This past Sunday I commented on Saturday Night Live using its cold open on a wonderful Nancy Pelosi skit. (I checked YouTube throughout the week for it, but NBC pulled all the videos due to copyrights and they have not posted it on their website, which is a shame, because it's a funny skit. The best I can do at this point is to direct you towards a transcript of the skit; better than nothing, I suppose) I reproduce my original post on the topic below:

Last night, Saturday Night Live did its part in recognizing the new world order now dawning in Washington. After years of tired John Kerry and Al Gore jokes, the show hit one out of the park with it's cold open featuring Kristen Wiig as Nancy Pelosi. As soon as I can find a video or link, I'll put it up, but it's basically a worst-case-scenario as far as the conservative fears over Pelosi becoming House Speaker as she brings her "San Francisco values" to the position two heartbeats from the presidency. The skit featured an excellent impression of Pelosi by Wiig and a leather-clad office assistant (in a role Will Forte should do more of because his Bush impression is nothing short of painful to watch most times) accompanied by his human ashtray.

About the only non-funny thing about it was the fact that some lonely conservative voter sitting home alone Saturday night turned to his dog and said, "Yep, that's what them dern Democrats have unleashed upon the U S of A. Bastards!"

One thing you should know about me - I never ever get tired of being proven right, and boy was I right about that last sentence. So right, that there's an entire message board full of people who continue to prove my point that the right does not have a sense of humor.

Courtesy of our buddies on the right, I bring you comments from Free Republic:

- Hilarious. SNL finally got one right for a change.

- Hilarious and true. SNL finally got one right for a change. I hope the DUmmies have seen this.

- Too funny....sadly too true

- That *POP* sound is that of heads exploding over on DU. SNL gets everyone. Now it's their turn! =D

- This is a must view skit to see what is probably the next Speaker of the House. SNL hit one out of the ballpark!

- Thanks, that's great! SNL does on occasion make fun of Dems, unlike The Daily Show.

- Thanks, I sure believe You and am fearful for what America will experience in the next hopefully only two years. Everyone should check this out. Its scary!!!!!!!

Um, Freepers, I'm not sure how to break this to you gently, so I'm just going to come out and say it - this skit was not making fun of Democrats or Nancy Pelosi. This skit was making fun of people like you who actually believe number one, that there is such a concept as evil "San Francisco values" and number two, that these values would lead to a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah in Washington now that Pelosi is House Speaker. The fact that you all didn't get that the joke is on you leads me to believe that either you really are as mind-numbingly stupid oblivious as most people believe you to be or that you all are in such a state of denial that you cannot comprehend satire at its most basic level. I'll hedge my bets and assume that it's an unhealthy combination of both. I blogged about it earlier this week how the right seems to have some sort of affliction that does not allow it to comprehend humor when it is aimed squarely at them; this is simply further corroborating evidence of this phenomenon.

Oh, and I mentioned before that the video was pulled by NBC as the skit being broadcast around YouTube is a no-no because the content was used without permission. Fair enough; it's their stuff, they have a right to control it as they see fit. I don't agree with it because I think it's like free advertising, but it's their stuff. However, to the Freepers, it's all a big conspiracy:

- Oh yea, NBC want's it pulled cuz it slams a dem. Have they EVER had one pulled that slammed a conservative?

- This video has been removed at the request of copyright owner NBC Universal because its content was used without permission slams a Democrat
Fixed.

Freeperland is a scary scary place. Enter at your own risk, but be forewarned, your IQ may drop by double digits for every moment you spend there. Extensive exposure may result in drooling and unhealthy Bush worshipping.

WE HAVE ARRIVED

NANCY PELOSI and SNL


Last night, Saturday Night Live did its part in recognizing the new world order now dawning in Washington. After years of tired John Kerry and Al Gore jokes, the show hit one out of the park with it's cold open featuring Kristen Wiig as Nancy Pelosi. As soon as I can find a video or link, I'll put it up, but it's basically a worst-case-scenario as far as the conservative fears over Pelosi becoming House Speaker as she brings her "San Francisco values" to the position two heartbeats from the presidency. The skit featured an excellent impression of Pelosi by Wiig and a leather-clad office assistant (in a role Will Forte should do more of because his Bush impression is nothing short of painful to watch most times) accompanied by his human ashtray.

About the only non-funny thing about it was the fact that some lonely conservative voter sitting home alone Saturday night turned to his dog and said, "Yep, that's what them dern Democrats have unleashed upon the U S of A. Bastards!"

Zingers from the Update desk:

"This week, on Tuesday night, in an ironic turnaround, Iraq brought regime change to the U.S."
- Amy Poehler

"Nancy Pelosi, the like Speaker of the House, had lunch at the White House with President Bush, though just to rub things in, she left early to have an abortion."
- Poehler

"Today's Veteran's Day, so that won't affect anyone in the White House."
- Seth Meyers

TALKING OUT OF HER ASS

BAY BUCHANAN


Bay Buchanan is on CNN right now and she is once again playing up the idea that Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker equals the fall of the republic. She sites a supposed instance where a Democrat actually came up to her as she campaigned for some candidate in Missouri where the Dem claimed that Nancy Pelosi is the main issue for him and he cannot vote for the Democrats because it would make Pelosi speaker.
On some many levels this is beyond preposterous. It's only Republicans who are touting the specter of the Pelosi-monster as a reason to vote for the incumbent party. No Dem is worried about this. And for Buchanan to present some made up story as proof that even Dems fear the "San Francisco liberal" is asinine.

How far the mighty GOP has fallen when they cannot run on their records, but must instead invent a boogeyman to scare voters into keeping their incompetent and power-drunk asses in office.

MADAM SPEAKER

NANCY PELOSI


There's been a lot of chatter on the right in regards to nightmare America will become if Nancy Pelosi becomes House Speaker as expected if the Democrats win control of the House this November. Her evil San Francisco ultra-liberal ways would no doubt be the death knell of this once great republic; at least, according to administration mouthpieces like Bill O'Reilly, Brit Hume and Sean Hannity.
The Washington Post has a decidedly different take on her. The piece is a nice chronicle of her time as minority leader, including her ascension through the ranks of the Democratic minority. It definitely paints a picture of a very strong and tough person.

Dismissed by her critics as too liberal, too elitist and too lacking in gravitas, Pelosi, serving her 10th term, has proved to be a tough-minded tactician who has led her caucus from the political center and kept the fractious House Democrats in line. Pelosi and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) rarely work together, and the Democrats voted along party lines 88 percent of the time last year -- the most unified voting record in 50 years -- according to a Congressional Quarterly study. By hanging together, the Democrats have thwarted many GOP initiatives, including the centerpiece of Bush's second-term agenda, restructuring Social Security.

...

In describing her dealings with fellow Democrats, Pelosi said, "I expect a certain level of discipline when we have agreed on where we're going." Some members, she said, "mistake sometimes my courtesy for a lack of strength, and they ought not to do that."

If polled, I was one of those people who had no real opinion of her. Certainly I supported her in that she was a Democrat and I am nothing if not a blazing partisan, but I will readily admit to not knowing all that much about her, other than the basic biography. The Post piece was a nice introduction to her and those wishing to know the future Speaker of the House should give it a read. Find the whole article here.

PERVERTED ACTS OF DESPERATION

It's official. Republican's have hit bottom in sinking to a new low. To get any lower, they will have to bring in an earthmover.

Via CommonDreams, according to an article in UK's The Independent, Andrew Gumbel writes from Los Angeles that Republicans are accusing Democrats of supporting a "group of gay pedophiles", or NAMBLA, the North American Man Boy Love Association.

"Why?" you ask. Well, because they are utterly morally bankrupt, I answer. But, let me go into more detail.

Amongst hundreds of obscure campaign workers in one Democrats campaign, lurked a man convicted of exposing himself to children.

Self-same Democrat had abstained from a vote relevant by only the most twisted convolution.

A Democratic challenger in California is a member of the ACLU.

Democrat Nancy Pelosi, representing San Francisco, participated in gay pride parades.

Wait for the kicker....

Congressman Brad Miller (D-NC) voted once for appropriations to the National Institutes of Health. The NIH is one of the leading medical research facilities in the world. They have made tremendous strides towards cures for some of the most fatal diseases known, and in the treatment and cure of incurable diseases such as the one from which I suffer.

For such Angel's work, Mr. Miller has not only had his sexuality questioned for being childless when his wife is unable to bear children, but has been further slimed by homophobic Republican challenger Vernon Robinson with the following advert:

"Instead of spending money on cancer research," a recent campaign advert ran, "Brad Miller spent your money to study the masturbation habits of old men ... Brad Miller even spent your tax dollars to pay teenage girls to watch pornographic movies with probes connected to their genitalia. Brad Miller pays for sex, but not for body armour for our troops."

I am speechless. I am just absolutely speechless. It takes my breath away.

ATTACK OF THE CLONES

BRIT HUME & FRED BARNES


As I have blogged about in the past, certain rightwing bobbleheads have made it their mission to demonize current House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in an effort to rile up the GOP base and make certain that Pelosi does not become House Speaker, assuming a Democratic takeover of the House this November. Bill O'Reilly fears for the future of the nation with a California liberal like Pelosi in charge of the House while Sean Hannity feels that keeping Pelosi from becoming House Speaker is something worth dying for.
On Sunday, another Fox bobblehead put forth his two cents in attacking Pelosi, this time pulling stuff directly from of his own posterior. Brit Hume had this to say about her (via http://mediamatters.org/items/200610150005):

Let's talk about this possibility -- it seems likely now, in almost all cards that the Democrats will get control of the House, which will bring us two years of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is not a popular figure or respected figure nationally. Her behavior will be more visible than ever, more conspicuous than ever. What effect does that have on the possibility of Hillary Clinton being nominated or even elected in 2008? I think it is a very good question. I suspect the effect would not be terrifically positive.

First of all, the claim by Hume that Pelosi is not a popular figure doesn't hold water. A full forty percent of those polled, according to a recent USA Today/Gallup poll either have never heard of her or have no opinion of her (35% have a favorable opinion with 26% unfavorable). Yet, she is "not a popular or respected figure"? And as for her effect on a potential Hillary Clinton presidential run, how would he 'suspect the effect would not be terrifically positive'? Did he use some special glasses or perhaps jump into Doc Brown's DeLorean with Marty and zoom forward to 2008 to see what two years of life under Speaker Pelosi would be like?

Of course, the lies didn't stop there, as The Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes (a frequent guest on the "fair and balanced" news network) attempted to spin the same schlock about Pelosi's unpopularity, claiming, "[...] Pelosi is the most unpopular national politician in America." Is he out of his ever-loving mind?! I mean really, how did he actually write that last sentence without cracking up laughing? The intellectual dishonesty of the spinmeisters on the Right is enough to make a reality-based individual want to barf.
Excuse me for a moment while I borrow judiciously from Media Matters again:

Bush:
According to an October 10-11 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll, 54 percent of respondents had an "unfavorable" opinion of Bush, compared with 43 percent who had a "favorable" opinion. The October 6-8 USA Today/Gallup poll put Bush's "unfavorable" rating at 55 percent.

Cheney:
An October 5-8 CBS News/New York Times poll put Cheney's "unfavorable" rating at 48 percent, compared with the 20 percent of respondents who had a "favorable" opinion of him.

Rumsfeld:
According to a September 22-24 CNN poll, 50 percent of respondents had an "unfavorable" opinion of Rumsfeld, compared with 35 percent who viewed him favorably. Moreover, the October 6-8 CNN poll found that a majority of respondents (52 percent) thought Rumsfeld should be fired as defense secretary, and 48 percent thought he should resign (compared to 41 percent who thought he should not).

Hastert:
The October 6-8 CNN poll found that 36 percent of respondents had an "unfavorable" opinion of Hastert, compared with 28 percent who viewed him favorably, 24 percent who had never heard of him, and 12 percent who were "unsure." The October 6-8 USA Today/Gallup poll also put Hastert's unfavorability rating at 36 percent, compared with 27 percent who viewed him favorably, 23 percent who had "no opinion," and 13 percent who had never heard of him.

Frist:
The October 6-8 CNN poll found that 36 percent of respondents had an "unfavorable" opinion of Frist, compared with 28 percent who viewed him favorably, 22 percent who had never heard of him, and 14 percent who were "unsure."

Sadly, this is all just a lame attempt to paint Pelosi as a scary ogre in an effort to drum up Republicans supporters to get out to the polls in three weeks. I think it speaks quite poorly about the right if their main message is, "Gee, I know we in the GOP have done a crappy job, what with a huge deficit and the Iraq debacle and some other stuff too, but can you imagine how much worse it would be if that Pelosi-monster were in charge of the House?"

PELOSI IS COMING! PELOSI IS COMING!!

BILL O'REILLY


It appears to me that the talking heads over at Fox News have made it there mission to do and say anything and everything in order to avert the greatest disaster that America would ever face - Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. Recently it was Bill O'Reilly's turn to take a bat to the Pelosi pinata as he warned his viewers that if the Dems win control of the House in a few weeks, Pelosi-zilla and her crazy, fag-loving, pot-smoking, ultra-liberal San Francisco values would run amok in the hallowed office of the Speaker and reverberate through the halls of Congress. The message here was clear - don't vote for Republicans because they're the better party, instead vote for them because the alternative is a Speaker who has remained married to one man and raised five kids and even waited until they all started school before she started her career. Truly the End of Days is near with a scoundrel like that in charge of the House.
About a month or so ago, Sean Hannity donned his khaki overalls and strapped his proton pack to his back and armed himself with his particle thrower in order to go hunting for the evil Pelosi-monster (with Ray Parker Jr. theme music pumping in the background, no doubt). On his radio show, he posited the notion that stopping Pelosi from becoming House Speaker is something that is worth dying for. And now O'Reilly felt is was his civic duty to warn America that a vote for a Dem this November is a vote for all manner of lewd and lascivious conduct in the halls of Congress (oh wait, we've already got that in the House).

In all honesty, I think all of this speaks volumes for the dearth of anything to actually run on in the Republican Party. Things have gotten so desperate as more and more unfavorable polls come out that the GOP and their annointed mouthpieces on Fox News must spend their time belting out asinine ad hominem attacks rather than telling voters why they should vote for Republicans.

It just popped into my head that Repubs are always attacking Dems for having no plan for anything, but I cannot remember for the life of me what the GOP plan is if they happen to hold onto the congress. Could it be because they have no plan (other than to bend over and take whatever Bush-suppository he deems to jam in their collective asses over his final two years in office)? Could it be, as is evidenced by Hannity's and O'Reilly's attacks, that they have nothing to run on so they instead spend time and money attacking Dems and riling up the base? If nothing else, one thing has been made certainly clear - this Grand Old Party is a long way aways from their Contract with America days. And let us hope and work and pray that their days as the majority party in Washington are numbered.

[h/t to News Hounds for this one.]