Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times
OMG, I love those shoes. Too bad, Nancy Pelosi stepped in so much SH-T wearing these beautiful purple shoes. These are the shoes Pelosi was wearing the day she trashed the Squad in an interview with NY Times Reporter, Maureen Dowd.
On July 6, 2019, Pelosi dissed the Squad big time. According to Pelosi, “All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world, but they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”
What triggered Pelosi was the Squad’s courageous opposition to a Senate bill to fund Trump’s concentration camps. Pelosi rejected the Squad’s call for stronger protections for migrant children in the overcrowded border shelters and passed the bill. She clearly capitulated to Trump and Mitch McConnell. No doubt, she was embarrassed by the national news coverage of “her striking defeat” and the Squad’s public exposure of the conditions in the camps.
I think the story that really pissed Pelosi off, though, was the Huff Post article: “What The Hell is Nancy Pelosi Doing?”
The Tip of the Iceberg
Unfortunately, Nancy’s nasty step in those awesome purple shoes was not the first attack on the Squad. It started in January with Ilhan Omar and the Congressional attempts to censure her. Then, Pelosi and the Democratic leadership aligned with Trump to suppress any suggestion that Israel’s racist oppression of the Palestinian people might become part of the conversation in Washington. As VOX pointed out, Omar’s defenders “argued that she [was] being attacked in bad faith as a Muslim woman of color who dares to criticize Israel.” We all know it is absolute heresy in Washington to criticize Israel. We all know that Israel is “the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II.” Right? Rep. Omar apparently did not get the memo.
It appears that the Democrats are intent on taking down each member of the Squad, including Omar, AOC, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley. The party machine is highly upset that AOC took out Rep. Joe Crowley. The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is still likely embarrassed that it supported the white man that Ayanna Pressley defeated last summer. He was another long-serving Democratic incumbent who the people booted out. Pressley’s comment about “black faces that don’t want to be a black voice” probably hit a little too close to home for some long-serving CBC members.
Let’s face it – these are some badass sisters who are all about kicking a** and taking names. These upstart youngsters are clearly making more positive news than Pelosi has in decades. And, they are rallying the Democratic base in ways that she never has. This is not how Washington is supposed to work. Hence the backlash.
Pelosi v. The People
What is really disturbing, however, about Pelosi’s attacks are that she had to know she was in essence “colluding” with Trump. He is rabidly xenophobic, racist and sexist. Pelosi opened the door for Trump to attack the Squad. She facilitated it in February and had to know it would be repeated in July. Every member of the Squad has received death threats. Pelosi’s rebuke of Trump in more recent days does little to assuage the perception that Pelosi is “in bed” with the Republicans.
Notably, the sisters in the Squad were not the only ones that called out the Dems’ complicity with Trump. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus calls the measure “a betrayal of our American values.” It warned Pelosi that “[W]hat happened today is unacceptable, and we will not forget this betrayal.” The 90-member Congressional Progressive Caucus also issued a scatching rebuke of Pelosi’s work to pass the bill. So, it turns out that Pelosi’s attempt to isolate the Squad as outliers is neither appropriate nor accurate.
The Wrong Answer
“If the left doesn’t think I’m left enough, so be it, she said, breezily” to Maureen Dowd. Well, Ms. Pelosi, that’s the wrong answer. Right now, the Democratic Party is in crisis because the old guard is too dismissive of bold progressives like the Squad. Like our own Barbara Lee.
Jeffries and Barbara Lee at a press conference on April 28, 2017.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
We have not forgotten that Rep. Barbara Lee should have been the first Black woman to hold a leadership position as the Chair of the Democratic Caucus. Instead, Congressional Democrats selected Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, an advocate for charter schools and admirer of Ronald Reagan. Pelosi’s decision to create a new position for Lee does not make it any less insulting to Black women that we are not considered “good enuf” to lead.
Pelosi’s actions to prevent Trump’s impeachment this year brought to mind Abraham Lincoln. Historians concede that Lincoln’s main goal was not to free the slaves but to maintain the union at all costs. In fact, Lincoln was prepared to protect slavery in order to maintain the nation. It seems that Pelosi is willing to accept violations of our moral and/or constitutional standards to maintain unity in Congress at all costs. Like Lincoln, I imagine that her efforts will fail.
Is Pelosi The Next Joe Crowley?
Congressional Democrats are feeling very threatened, for good reason. In most places, Democratic incumbents are selected by the party machine, and not by the people. As I noted last year, their “elections do not rest on the power of the people – their elections are assured by the power of incumbency.” Hence, Pelosi v. The People is a real statement as the progressive movement reflects the sentiments of local activists not aligned with the Democratic Party.
Here, at home, Pelosi faces an authentic challenger in Shahid Buttar. He is an immigrant of Pakistani descent and a Stanford-educated lawyer. Shahid is an activist for LGBTQ rights, sane environmental policies, immigrant rights, campaign reform and the peace and Occupy movements. His well-written Op-Ed piece on why Trump should be impeached has been widely publicized.
This is his second challenge to Pelosi’s seat. Last time, he started late, came from nowhere and got less than 10% of the vote. This time, if the Republicans run a candidate, he might survive the primary.
Pelosi currently appears invincible in her SF District. If she continues to step in sh-t, that could change. Even if she does it in those beautiful purple (and very expensive) shoes. STAY WOKE!
