Why is Nancy Pelosi in Syria? Because George Bush isn't. If he would just do his job, we wouldn't have to send U.S. Representatives to the region to let everyone else know that there are at least some sane people left in the country.
Every sane president has done diplomacy and negotiations with our allies -- and our enemies! Ronald Reagan met with and negotiated with the Soviet Union countless times. And they were the evil empire!
Is Nancy Pelosi, or the three Republican Congressmen that were also in Syria, going to get a deal with Bashar al-Assad? Of course not. But that's not what they're there for. They are there to simply open up a dialogue which can one day lead to a reasonable agreement.
In fact, Israel's Prime Minister asked Pelosi to pass a message along for him. Since Bush the Child is not playing with Assad anymore, Ehud Olmert had to find some way to get a diplomatic message to Syria. So, he chose the one responsible senior US stateswoman going there -- Nancy Pelosi.
Conservatives keep arguing that Assad is a bad guy. Wow, you figured that out, genius? Of course, he's a bad guy. Does that mean the mature, diplomatic thing to do is to turn your back and pretend he doesn't exist? You can hold your breath until you're blue in the face, but Syria and Iran will still be in the region when you come up for air. Just because you wish they weren't there isn't going to make it so.
If you're in any way a capable statesman, you find a way to make deals with your enemies that are to your long term advantage while maintaining short term stability. In other words, the exact opposite of what Bush does. He creates incredible short term instability (the civil war in Iraq) to get to even worse damage in the long run (strengthening Iran by handing them a Shiite partner in Iraq). Come on man, step aside already. If you won't to do the job, let someone else step in.
Fire Cheney already before he starts another war -- and as you can read here, he is definitely trying -- and hire a real statesman. Bring in James Baker. He knows a thing or two about diplomacy. There are hundreds of Republicans left over from the first Bush or even Reagan that know how to handle foreign affairs deftly. Do us all a favor and bring one of them to lead the hapless Bush in another direction. Otherwise, Nancy Pelosi will have to keep doing his job for him.
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Nancy Pelosi Has to Do Bush's Job For Him
Posted Apr 4th 2007 2:59PM by Cenk Uygur
Filed under: Iraq, Middle East, George Bush, Young Turks, Democrats, Republicans, GOP, Nancy Pelosi, Syria, Dick Cheney
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Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 5)
31. Wow. Who does this woman think she is? Well, my guess is that she knows she will never be elected president, so she is trying to act like one now and doing a poor job if it. She reminds me of Jesse Jackson, sticking her nose into places it shouldn't be. I would say she's ruining the democrats chances of winning the presidency in 2008. She's also ruining any chance we have of suceeding in the war in Iraq. We are coming across to the rest of the world that we are a country divided, and the terrorists just have to bide their time before we pull out and they have free run of the middle east.
Nancy, come back to the USA and shut your mouth about the war. Maybe try to balance a budget, help the poor of this country, or something meaningful like that. And forget about being president.
dan at 10:40PM on Apr 4th 2007
32. Democrats will lose in 2008 due to the idiot policies of the war we are in...how stupid can they be...Flat Tax what a great idea...I see a Republican in the WH 2008
Tommy at 10:42PM on Apr 4th 2007
33. Looks like a lot of us agree that Nancy is being made a fool by the terrorist state of Syria. Sadly, she really believes her own nonsense and is a danger to the United States. When she returns, her party needs to remind her of the role she was elected to and that she is NOT the Secretary of State or any other type of diplomat. This woman is out of control!
Dave at 12:00AM on Apr 5th 2007
34. NANCY PELOSI has NEVER done ANYTHING that did not focus on NANCY PELOSI.
Like ALL MOVIE STARS who cannot get a job now i.e Rosie, they have to do something to keep their name recognition out there.
NO ONE ASKED HER TO DO ANYTHING BUT BE THE SPEAKER (Not mine)
NancyPuffer at 12:52AM on Apr 5th 2007
35. Pelosi is not a representative of the United States, it's government, or the Congress. She is a representative of her district, San Francisco, CA. Don't think so? Email her and you'll get an email back that says to write your own congressional representative because she doesn't represent you unless you live in her district. That's all, and to attempt of foist herself off as representing the people of this country is fraud. For some reason she thinks she was crowned Queen of the country. In the end she is supporting terrorism by attacking this nation in a country that supports all kinds of terrorist organizations, Syria.
RogerM at 12:57AM on Apr 5th 2007
36. I never thought I would live to see the day, when America would be in the condition she is in now. We live in a time where the ooze of our errors have matured into people who can run for office and vomit on the ideals of the generations that came before them.
America is being Hi-Jacked by the sick, perverted, chaotic and non-residents, What Nancy PELOSI is doing has truely shocked me into amazement, her vulgar disrespect for the office of president, stands to ruin our very political process, not just a single president, the arrogance, the rudeness of her is shocking. however on to the point. Nancy PELOSI is our enemies dream come true, they prayed for one such as PELOSI,she reminds me of that one human on BATTLE STAR GALACTICA, the cylon raiders used him to gain knowledge about humans, what he got in return was the appearance of power and prestige. yet in the end the cylons were true to their goal, KILL ALL HUMANS!that included the traitor as well. Nancy PELOSI and Rosey ODONALD are playing a very dangerous game with very dangerous people, both of whom would find themselves in a bowl of deep KIMCHEE if the very people they seek to help were in greater power.
When President BUSH made it clear he was not going to be "PUNKED" by PELOSI who is used to swirling testicles in her hands, she went into panic mode and brokered a deal with IRAN, ROSEY ODONALD was right ironically, the abduction of the 15 British was a staged plan, but not by President BUSH, it was PELOSI,CLINTON and others, it was done to lend them a bit of credibility, for you see, there are other women in this country who dont feel like PELOSI does ,they love this country and they believe in this country, they believe so strongly in this country,it is their children who are serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, PELOSI who show cased her grand children as some sign that she is human has made one terrible mistake by playing this dumb game of chicken with the president, she has put at risk the lives of American Mothers Children, PELOSI may be a bitch on wheels, but she is no match for a peeved off mother when you mess with her child, PELOSI needs to take her own advice and "Calm Down". for as it stands right now , she makes an old saying come to mind and it does not bode well for her, in going to syria and staging this event with Irag, the old saying " Is not the enemy of my enemy, not my friend?" PELOSI whos side are you really on?
Brantus44 at 1:17AM on Apr 5th 2007
37. You can't negotiate with evil.
stef at 9:25AM on Apr 5th 2007
38. Usual uninformed rwinger comments. One even asked who voted 'her' in. The answer quite simply; WE THE PEOPLE!!! That my dear fellow citizen, is WHO voted her in.
geoWge with his dICK wavering in the buSH's nearby gave the usual sound bites, was hypocritical in his comments relating to Speaker Pelosi, since three of his members had just been to Syria...They were not on a golfing expedition.....
geoWge is the divider, along with his entire regime they've purposely set out an agenda along the Rove doctrine of split and divide. Sadly their manipulation has worked, just look at the minority who have posted their facile blather here today..
It's about D-I-P-L-O-M-A-C-Y stupid..House Speaker Pelosi has the support and encouragement of the majority of this nations citizens. Those still rattling the branches of buSH's are blind to the fact that geoWge has considered himself unanswerable to anyone. The GOP has already proven to be losing ground, due to geoWge's action.
OH> NO> That's not fair! It's not geoWge's actions! Poor geoWge, he can't help it, the neo con figurehead puppet whose strings are being badly managed by the neo-cons, one of whose leaders could be seen using a remote while hiding in the SHRUBS!
Speaker Pelosi, Thanks! YOU are demonstrable of what is still good in our great nation-the AMERICAN spirt lives...
Steve at 8:11AM on Apr 5th 2007
39. Politicians are so full of themselves. Nancy could be a force for positive change but she cannot get beyond her own self-edification and arrogance. She is trying too hard to be a hero. Heroes only emerge during true periods of hardship. She will not qualify.
JT at 12:51PM on Apr 5th 2007
40. I am so tired of people like her that try and make our country look disorganized and torn to the rest of the world, all for political gain. The simple truth is we are hated for our freedom and our commerce, yet we still help those in need, it is always what we have been about. Unfortunately there is a growing number of people who have forgotten this. They would have us 'Like" the rest of the world, which in essence would destroy the good we are capable of sharing. They can't even get this right however because the rest of the world would not display a hatred for their own land and people.
Faye at 8:33AM on Apr 5th 2007
41. "Usual uninformed rwinger comments. One even asked who voted 'her' in. The answer quite simply; WE THE PEOPLE!!! That my dear fellow citizen, is WHO voted her in."
Excuse me STEVE, but I did not vote for her, I didn't even get a chance, she is from California, only California voters voted for her...In particular San Fransico, which says a lot right there.
"geoWge"....also, could you please explain your private joke regarding your idiotic spelling of a very simple name. We don't all get it.
Again, obvious BUSH haters cannot be trusted in a true opinion. The truth is, Pelosi is not a diplomat nor is she an ambassador. She was not assigned by the President to make this trip. She has made a very big blunder of something she says she was suppose to tell Syria from Isreal. Really, thats none of her business.
Another blogger has called the President a coward, excuse me, but he is not a coward, he doesn't take polls and get permission to make an informed decision. He does what is right. And if that means fighting people that want to turn us all into muslims and bow down to Muhommad, and have me wear a head scarf, then go for it, fight them. Blow them back to the middle ages, because for all intense and purposes, they are still living there. And they want us to live there too.
Connie at 9:20AM on Apr 5th 2007
42. I have a question for all you wonderful bush haters.which one wants to commit themselves, or a bush hating friend to act as a human shield to protect the sain people from the next wave of attacks. thank you
tim at 9:38AM on Apr 5th 2007
43. Wow, Bob! Your post is a fine example of how Conservatives tend to either twist the facts (which, thankfully, you don't do) or make an argument which defies logic (which is what you do).
The White House (and supporters like you) state that Pelosi's trip will confuse Syria as to who is "in charge"--i.e., who is in charge of foreign policy. (One could argue, however, that President Bush has no foreign policy--that can be expressed--and if he did have one, it doesn't include diplomacy. Funny how the movies get it right when the quote Sun-Tzu, who wrote The Art of War about 2,400 years ago: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But I'm not making that argument here.)
In other words, based upon our Consitution, the executive branch, and not the legislative branch, is in charge of foreign policy. (However, turnabout is fair play. The same Constitution says that Congress--who represent We the People--has the power to declare war. So it just seems fair that if President Bush can declare war on Iraq, Congress can make diplomatic efforts to keep WWIII from breaking out in the Middle East. But I digress again from my point.)
And the point is this: Why isn't it also confusing for three congressmen (regardless of their party affiliation) to go to Syria to talk diplomacy when the Secretary of State or the President will not? These men were not sent by the White House, one went with Pelosi. It's still a question, Bob, of who's in charge of foreign policy: Congress or the President?
There's your twist of logic--ignoring the fact that Congress, regardless of party, shouldn't be going at all. The lack of criticsm for the three Republicans smacks of either "politics" or sex discrimination.
Speaker Pelosi didn't go alone-- she left with a contingent of members of Congress that includes Reps. David Hobson (R-OH), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Tom Lantos (D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), and Nick Rahall (D-WV).
The other two Republicans, who went separately, were Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), visiting Israel and Syria.
Personally, as a Democrat, I don't care who goes to TALK--as long as somebody goes. (I don't like a shoot-first-ask-questions-later attitude by the police or by someone who's supposed to be in charge of foreign policy. Innocent people die when that happens.) In The Art of War (which is read at West Point, the other military acadamies and by military leaders), Sun-Tzu also wrote: "The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities...It is best to win without fighting." And he also wrote: "Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win." (Seems like George W. Bush never read the book.)
It's my guess that the Republicans who went to Syria believe that we should be talking and listening to to them. (Who knows? Syria just might be able to help us achieve the political-not-military solution to the Iraq War). Or maybe the three went to prevent the Republicans from being upstaged by Democrats--or by a woman.
Richard at 10:00AM on Apr 5th 2007
44. HEY I'M A REPUBLICAN!!
Let's blame the liberals!
Let's blame the liberal media!
If you're Democrat you must be un-American!
If you want to end the war you don't support the troops!
If you're Democrat you hate God!
ACTUALLY I'M SURE AS HELL NOT A REPUBLICAN... AND I AM SIIIICKKKKK OF HEARING THE SAME OLD TIRED EXCUSES FOR EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON. THE ABOVE ARE JUST WAYS TO SHUT OUT A DEBATE. GET OVER YOURSELF GOP.
Heather at 10:39AM on Apr 5th 2007
45. Nancy Pelosi is a traitor to America, she isn't doing anything but trying "BROWNIE POINTS FOR HER EGO", this woman is one of the most stupid people on earth. The intelligence to speak to anyone is not there. SHe is dillusional about her position, feeding her out of control ego of her worth anyplace. She goes against our troops, AMERICA. Does she honestly believe she can make a difference? NO,especially cooing up to terroists, they must be making fun of her stupidity and well they are right, but all she did was weaken anything done in past. I hope she suffers the consequences, plus she endangered others by going there, who cares what happens to her.Nut case all the way. VERY< VERY EVIL WOMAN, not for America, just her inflated ego.
jane at 10:56AM on Apr 5th 2007