The Best Speaker In U.S. History

From President Biden's statement on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's consequential tenure:

When I think of Nancy Pelosi, I think of dignity.
 
History will note she is the most consequential Speaker of the House of Representatives in our history. There are countless examples of how she embodies the obligation of elected officials to uphold their oath to God and country to ensure our democracy delivers and remains a beacon to the world. In everything she does, she reflects a dignity in her actions and a dignity she sees in the lives of the people of this nation.

In 2007, she made history as the first woman Speaker, but that was just the beginning of the history she has made during her four terms. I know because I’ve seen her in action during my career as Senator, Vice President, and now as President. With Nancy, you see a father’s daughter who learned by his side how to win and govern. With her leading the way, you never worry about whether a bill will pass. If she says she has the votes, she has the votes.  Every time.
 
History will record her leadership with President Obama to rescue the economy in crisis from the Great Recession. With her sheer will, passing the Affordable Care Act to ensure health care is a right not a privilege.  Ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell so patriotic Americans can serve the country they love no matter who they love. The list goes on, including her leadership in defending democracy and advancing human rights around the world.

In the first two years of my presidency, she is a singular force securing once-in-a-generation bills that will define our nation for decades to come. The American Rescue Plan to get us through COVID-19. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to rebuild our roads and bridges. The CHIPS and Science Act to ensure the most advanced manufacturing is done here in America. The most significant gun safety law in nearly thirty years – for the children. One of the most significant bills helping veterans and their families exposed to toxic materials. And, the Inflation Reduction Act that took on Big Pharma and won, and reflects the most aggressive action ever to tackle the climate crisis.
 
Because of Nancy Pelosi, the lives of millions and millions of Americans are better, even in districts represented by Republicans who voted against her bills and too often vilify her. That’s Nancy – always working for the dignity of all of the people. And, as a fierce defender of democracy through our laws, history will also note her fierceness and resolve to protect our democracy from the violent, deadly insurrection of January 6^th. It’s a threat of political violence and intimidation that continues and she and her family know all too well, but that will never stop her from serving our nation.

We can only echo that, and this:

Nancy Pelosi has been simply the best speaker of the House of the modern era. She is probably the best speaker in US history. It was time for her to step down from her leadership role, but it likely will be a long time before we see someone of either party master the job as well as she did.

It's good that she's staying in Congress to continue to serve the country and her party as we fight against the anti- democracy, anti- freedom forces gathered against us.  Having her counsel will be of immeasurable assistance to whoever becomes the House Minority Leader and to the rest of the Democratic leadership in the House.  Kudos also to House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) for stepping aside for the new generation of House Democrats to continue the fight he and Nancy Pelosi have so successfully fought on behalf of the American people.

(Photo:  Speaker Pelosi taking back the gavel in January 2019/ Getty Images)

QOTD -- Disarray And Suffering

“We’ve been anxious to negotiate for two months and 10 days when we put forward our proposal. They’re in disarray and that delay is causing suffering for America’s families.” -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sunday on "Face the Nation," describing the chaos caused by the unconscionable delay by the Trump regime and Senate Republicans in crafting a follow- up coronavirus relief package proposal.  Among other things, Republicans are balking at including an extension of the $600 weekly payments for the unemployed.  As the Speaker noted, House Democrats passed a bill in May that's been gathering dust on Moscow Mitch McConnell's desk ever since.

QOTD/ Vid Of The Day -- The Morbidly Obese Sub-Moron Self-Medicates

“He’s our president, and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and his, shall we say, weight group ... morbidly obese, they say." --  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi once again amusingly neutering dimwit Donald "Disinfectant Donnie" Trump for his recent declaration that he's been taking the unproven and likely quite dangerous drug hydroxychloroquine (which can cause heart failure) as a COVID-19 preventative for "a couple weeks" because he "heard a lot of good stories."  [Ed.: what a sub-moron we've been stuck with for 3 1/2 years.] Whether or not that's true has been a matter of great speculation, but we're not going to take up any more time on it.  But it would be the irony of all ironies if Disinfectant Donnie fell ill or, shall we say, worse from taking the "cure" he's been touting for several months now.  Lots of good stuff here, here, here, here, and here, if you haven't heard enough about it already.

This is perfect (you should be following her if you're not already):

How to hydroxychloroquine pic.twitter.com/yMObDCFGXS

— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) May 19, 2020

QOTD -- Impeachments, Like Diamonds, Are Forever

“This president is impeached for life, regardless of any gamesmanship on the part of Mitch McConnell. He will be impeached forever."   -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday on This Week with George Stephanopoulos.  Meanwhile, she remains completely embedded in malignant nitwit Donald "Rump" Trump's otherwise empty head.

Monday Reading

As always, please go to the links for the full articles/ op eds.

Starting off with some nice news:

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was honored with the ACLU’s Roger Baldwin Courage Award at the ACLU of Southern California’s annual Bill of Rights dinner Sunday night.
Ford, whose appearance was a surprise, was being recognized for her testimony during Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination process.

“I did one thing. When I came forward last September I did not feel courageous. I was simply doing my duty as a citizen.” Ford said at the ceremony Sunday night. [snip]

Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levenson says Ford’s testimony was and still is criticized by conservatives: “Some people thought she was lying. Some people thought embellishing. Some people thought there was a there there, but she was making too much of it. Basically, it was a long time ago and she needed to get over it.”

But the civil rights group says no one would lie and open themselves up to such public scrutiny.

“She spoke the truth and paid an incredible price for it. She was subjected to incredible vile hate and unspeakable threats.” said ACLU Executive Director Hector Villagra. [snip]

Dr. Ford asked the audience to believe Ambassador Marie Yavanovitch who testified during an impeachment inquiry hearing last week. And she says she chose to accept the award because it was the same distinction given to Anita Hill after Hill testified in Clarence Thomas’ confirmation process.

Dave Roberts has an interesting read about the ongoing "tribal epistemology" on the right, the effects of which we see damaging our country every day.  A few long excerpts:

Tribal epistemology happens when tribal interests subsume transpartisan epistemological principles, like standards of evidence, internal coherence, and defeasibility. “Good for our tribe” becomes the primary determinant of what is true; “part of our tribe” becomes the primary determinant of who to trust.

A circular logic, which has become quite familiar in the impeachment affair, emerges: Anyone who says anything contrary to the tribe marks themselves as an enemy of the tribe (cough *deep state* cough); enemies of the tribe cannot but trusted, so their testimony or evidence can be ignored. Thus, by definition, nothing that questions the tribal narrative can be trusted.

A decades-long effort on the right has resulted in a parallel set of institutions meant to encourage tribal epistemology. They mimic the form of mainstream media, think tanks, and the academy, but without the restraint of transpartisan principles. They are designed to advance the interests of the right, to tell stories and produce facts that support the tribe. That is the ur-goal; the rhetoric and formalisms of critical thinking are retrofit around it.  [snip]

Now everyone with any power on the right is deep in the bubble, right up to the president himself, who spends a considerable portion of his time watching and tweeting about Fox News. There are no more moderates or responsible Republicans behind the curtain, keeping an eye on the difference between tribal tall tales and reality. Fox natives are running the show, including the federal government. 

Roberts goes on to dissect the need for Republicans to maintain doubt and prevent consensus:

This is the story of American politics: a narrowly divided nation, with raw numbers on the side of the rising demographics in the left coalition but intensity and outsized political power on the side of the right coalition. Put in more practical terms, the right still has the votes and the cohesion to prevent a Senate impeachment conviction.  [snip]

All they need to do is to keep that close partisan split frozen in place. Above all, they need to ensure that nothing breaks through to the masses in the mushy middle, who are mostly disengaged from politics. They need to make sure no clear consensus forms, nothing that might find its way into pop culture, the way the entire nation eventually focused its attention on Nixon’s impeachment. 

We'll stop there, but there's more relating to the current impeachment that we see playing out already.

While we're at it, check out this Through The Looking Glass quote from The Dumb Don's Roy Cohn that perfectly illustrates the points made above:

“In waging a scorched-earth, no-holds-barred war against this administration, it is the left that is engaged in shredding norms and undermining the rule of law,” [Attorney General William "Low"] Barr told a room of attorneys at the annual gathering of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group that has been influential in determining President Donald Trump’s nominees for federal judges.  (our emphasis)

That's some powerful gaslighting there.  But judging from the looks of him, Barr has a lot of gas to light.

Speaker Pelosi has an offer nitwit crime family boss Donald "The Dumb Don" Trump can't will refuse:

“If he has information that is exculpatory, that means ex, taking away, culpable, blame, then we look forward to seeing it,” she said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Trump “could come right before the committee and talk, speak all the truth that he wants if he wants,” she said. [Ed.:  love the way Pelosi continues to break down big words for the nitwit to digest.]

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer echoed that suggestion.

“If Donald Trump doesn’t agree with what he’s hearing, doesn’t like what he’s hearing, he shouldn’t tweet. He should come to the committee and testify under oath. And he should allow all those around him to come to the committee and testify under oath,” Schumer told reporters. He said the White House’s insistence on blocking witnesses from cooperating begs the question: “What is he hiding?”

One more look back at the latest Republican debacle produced by The Dumb Don, the Louisiana governor's race:

“If you had any doubt that Trump was a human repellent spray for suburban voters who have a conservative disposition, Republicans getting wiped out in the suburbs of New Orleans, Louisville and Lexington should remove it,” said Tim Miller, a Republican strategist and outspoken critic of the president.

The Louisiana results are a stinging rebuke for the president, because he spent so much time there and because Trump allies couldn’t chalk it up entirely to local factors as they did for Kentucky, where Mr. Bevin was deeply unpopular. And even before the Louisiana race was called on Saturday night, finger-pointing from the Capitol to the White House to Mr. Trump’s campaign broke out about why he spent so much political capital on the race in the first place.

Trump and his rotted- out Republican Party will have to lie, cheat and steal to win in 2020 -- and they'll certainly try.  But somehow, in 2018 and in this year's off elections in Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana and elsewhere, they're still coming up short.

As always, we end by highly recommending Infidel 753's link round- up to provide his usual cornucopia of "various interesting stuff" he found from the past week or so.  Infidel 753 also surveys how the impeachment hearings are playing in the right- wing's bubble, which mostly validate Roberts' observations, as well as his own thoughts about the impact (or lack thereof) of the hearings.

Tweet Of The Day -- Extremely Stable Genius

DOPUS today at an event with farmers at the White House: “I'm an extremely stable genius. OK?”

When the “extremely stable genius” starts acting more presidential, I’ll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues. https://t.co/tfWVkj9CLT

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 23, 2019

Europeans Clap Back Hard At Trump

It appears the Munich Security Conference presented an opportunity for European nations to do more than just ignore the sycophantic remarks of Vice President Mike "Dense" Pence.  They (specifically, leader of the Free World Angela Merkel) provided a powerful pushback to Putin puppet Donald "Rump" Trump's actions to destroy 70 years of trans-Atlantic cooperation:

An annual security conference where Western allies have long forged united fronts erupted Saturday into a full-scale assault on the Trump administration’s foreign policy. European leaders, would-be Democratic challengers and even the president’s Republican backers took the floor to rebuke the president’s go-it-alone approach. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel — habitually cautious about provoking Trump — led the charge, unleashing a stinging, point-by-point takedown of the administration’s tendency to treat its allies as adversaries.  

The speech appeared to provide much-needed catharsis. Trump’s antagonistic behavior has bred two years of accumulated grievance in much of Europe but has been met with few substantive answers on how to effectively challenge it. 

Merkel accused the United States of strengthening Iran and Russia with its plans for a speedy military pullout from Syria. She expressed shock that the Trump administration would deem BMWs made in South Carolina a threat to national security. 

And she lamented that the U.S.-led global order “has collapsed into many tiny parts.”
The crowd gave the German chancellor an extended standing ovation — a rare display at the normally button-down Munich Security Conference. The customarily reserved Merkel beamed as she took her seat. Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and a top adviser, looked on from the crowd, stone-faced.  (our emphasis)

There at the conference, continuing the "Reassurance Tour" led by the late Sen. John McCain at the 2017 conference, was Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a number of Congressional Democrats, as well as former VP Joe Biden.  They were they to reassure the Europeans that Trumpism did not represent America's beliefs about the relationship and would not last.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA):

“I think that we can go a long way to satisfying our allies that support for the relationship is not only strong, but it is bipartisan, even if it is not always reflected in the Oval Office,” said Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI):

“The real reason I’m going there is to make sure that we send a strong signal, a bipartisan signal from both sides of the aisle, from both houses of Congress, that our allies are important to us, that they fight alongside of us, they die alongside of us,” she said of Munich. “So that they know that the next generation that’s coming up also deeply believes in reassuring allies.” 

Joe Biden:

Biden himself offered the crowd a warmly received assurance that Trumpism won’t last and that a more familiar strand of American leadership will return: “As my mother would say: This too shall pass. We will be back. We will be back. Don’t have any doubt about that.” 

Our allies in Europe and elsewhere are tired of pretending that Rump is a leader in any sense of the word and are increasingly standing up to the ignoramus.  They see the clock ticking on his aberrant (and abhorrent) regime, and they're standing up for the values our American government used to promote when it was at its best.