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Nancy Pelosi Eschews Legalities, Gives House Chairs Control in Perpetuity

By SusanUnPC on January 10, 2009 at 2:30 AM in Current Affairs

First, there’s whatever happened to the Charlie Rangel investigation, which Speaker Pelosi promised would be completed by January 3, 2009. What’s the tie-up? Well, isn’t this something: the House Ethics Committee is without a chairman.

But, then, who needs an Ethics Committee or Chair when one party controls the House? And when chairs of all committees no longer have any term limits? Nancy has seized the reins of power and is letting the horses run wild, not to mention amok.

Even Vladimir Putin must be impressed with Nancy’s nerve and iron-fisted rule.

Soon there’ll be a special menu in the House dining room for Republicans, with a most unusual additions of seating instructions (“fall on your knees!”) and verbal menu choices:

1) Eat crow.
2) Eat humble pie.
3) Eat dirt.
4) Lick the dust.
5) Eat crumbs from Nancy’s cake.
6) Chomp on Barney’s Frankfurters. (I never typed that; an evil Obot hacked my ‘puter.)

And, file this under “hilarious”: There’s what happened to the Hamas TV station in the middle of the night when some bored technicians switched over to a Polish “porn” station:

How low Howard Dean has gone:

If you missed it, check out LisaB’s “Dean, Obama, Emanuel – Mean Girls.”

If I may, I would like to point out that Howard Dean’s 2003-2004 presidential primary campaign pointed the way to stir up “grassroots” organizing through its stupendously successful MeetUps and fundraising “house parties.” Then there was Dean’s hugely successful exploitation of the Internet through a lively Web site that featured a blog, unheard of to most politicians, and outreach to bloggers around the nation. Daily Kos became, in effect, “Howard Dean Central Station.”

All that Dean and his campaign team brought to that race was picked up by the Obama campaign which took it all the way to the White House.

Which is just my small way of hinting that, perhaps, Barack Obama owes some of his campaign’s successful strategies and fundraising might to the trail that Howard Dean blazed.

But, instead of being thanked, Howard Dean is not only under the bus, he’s been left flat in the middle of the road, miles behind, with nowhere to go.

  • truthtelling007

    Thank you Susan. You work so hard for us, and I appreciate it.

  • FranSC

    Everyone here seems to be trashing Dean. I surely did my share of blaming him, along with Pelosi for Hillary’s pseudo defeat. However, Dean may very well be our key to finding out how all the players in this came together.

    I knew something was up when Dean spoke up at that symposium on the election in mid November. This was when he expressed outrage about the sexism in the campaign toward Hillary. Everybody said, “too little, too late”, etc. He will know all the DNC players including Donna Brazile, one of the major race-baiters for O’s camp. I wish he would write a tell-all book that would fry all of them. I think we should placate and use him, not shut him up into obscurity.

  • Mr. X

    mmmmmm… sea kittens with lemon juice. Tasty!

  • Jackarooty

    Well the Dems are doing a bang up job so far! Let’s see what happens in 2010 and 2012. Let’s give Nancy and her sycophants a few short years on the hamster wheel.
    John Kerry still hasn’t finished the bitter pills that he was forced to swallow by Barry.
    Key Democrats Blast Obama Stimulus Plan
    http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/09/democrats.stimulus/
    I have a feeling there may be a GOP coup by 2010.
    Maybe HRC is doing the right thing by getting out of the Senate.

  • getfitnow

    Nobody’s arm was twisted to participated in the most sexist,race baiting, extravagant campaign ever. They all wanted their piece of the pie. I applaud Dean for the innovations but as my grandmother would say: WHEN YOU’RE WRONG, YOU’RE WRONG! It will catch up with the rest of the “conspirators” sooner or later. Just like it did with the Repubs. And I can’t wait to see them all get their just rewards.

  • Linda C.

    Obama, wanting to appeal to everyone and no one will have a warmed over package that will do too little.

    His health care policy is futile. Computerizing records? Many places already have computerized records in some form. The problem is that the computers don’t talk to each other if one is outside that particular network. Therefore, your private practice provider would need in-office access to every hospital system, private lab system and free standing radiology business within their own regional area. This isn’t a bad thing, but it will take at least 10 years, with huge up front expenses and won’t provide any one with any insurance. It will save the insurance company though on some repeat spending for duplicate tests, but the cost of all of this computerization will not be funded by the insurance company. Therefore, we, probably through tax dollars, and the private health care sector with funds that might have went for clinical care, will bear the burden of expense.

    Unless something happens we will be in a holding pattern again while people loose their jobs, the deficit continues to balloon without any positive result from the risk, and more people will be without health care.

    • Clara Barton

      Linda C., I couldn’t agree more what your analysis of the grand plan to computerize records. You have hit on every point I recently discussed with a colleague.

      My husband and I have worked in healthcare, labs and the development, installation and implementation of e-records for many than years. Hospital administrators and physican practices have millions of dollars already invested into one system or another. Granted, they were often done in a piecemeal fashion and don’t communicate. Training and implementation of multiple systems cost healthcare workers countless hours out of their workday. Who or what is going to incentivize the users to change all this out and start over, and to what degree of savings could this be done? Hospitals and medical practices are already battling reimbursement issues, including the vast red tape that comes with insurance firms.
      They are looking for savings in all the wrong places.

    • goldengrahme

      Here’s an idea from out of the box:

      The computer records of all of our medical history,
      DNA, possible organ-doner matches?

      Scarey, in spades! “The better to see you with,
      me dear.”

  • JulieD

    Great work Susan! You covered the whole range of emotions in this unfolding Greek Tragedy.

    Enter: Pelosi in her Academy Awards outfit (the lifetime achievement has-been kind) at BO’s Greek Week and Rangel (rules are for you little people, not Dictator Hammock of Ways & Means) are despicable.

    To prepare for their roles they attended “The Leona Helmsley Charm School”.

    And BO’s Thin Skin Theater of the Absurd:

    How far away can we get Dean…? Samoa, yeah that’s the ticket.

    I guess they could have put him on a space shuttle.

    Even if Dean does write a book now, he’s just another Powell or Bush Press Secretary. A willing co-conspirator, an accomplice.

    I hope BO enjoys every creepy ass-kissing moment of Eddy Munster Kaine.

    Kaine will feel “The Thin-skinned One’s” wrath soon enough.

    That will be the sequel.

  • Sassy

    I disliked Dean at first sight, and thought I would be sick at the idea of voting for him…in the days I voted Dems only.
    Kerry was not much better, made palatable with Edwards on the ticket, before I knew his true character!
    I took time to view the entire House session installing Pelosi, again deluding myself into thinking it a note-worthy moment in history.
    What is note-worthy is my gullibilty in regard to pols…not going to happen again!

  • Chris

    Poor Howard. Under the bus he goes but he’s really stuck in the tail pipe. What did he do to get this treatment I wonder? He expected a big post and got the undercarriage of the bus. Couldn’t happen to a better buffoon. When are these lackeys going to realize they sold their careers for nothing to the grand Obama machine. Grinds em up and spits them out when their done with them. There is no soul in the great One’s plan only the unremitting quest for total power unopposed.

    • Annie Oakley

      What did he do to get this treatment I wonder?

      My guess would be that Dr. Dean got involved in politics partly from a genuine desire to reform healthcare from a doctor’s perspective. Like Hillary, this alone would be enough to see to it he never came close to Health and Human Services. The profits in health “care” must be protected.

  • FedUp

    Imagine their consternation when he Republicans take back the House and do the same as the dems. It can’ come soon enough!