Nancy is NOT playing

[Soph0571]

Link to tweet

Well damn. Nancy just dragged the FUCK out of that reporter. 😳 Are there any follicles left on her scalp?

BOOM. This needs to happen more often..

[Sherman A1]

1. Game, Set, Match

A superb response.

[hlthe2b]

4. She needs to do this more.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

43. Or, "Game, Set, Mitch"!

[lindysalsagal]

2. If we're totally honest....

She has not impeached. Just using foreign aid to Ukrain to force them to get oppo research on Biden is impeachable, and there's video.

She needs to impeach.

[diane in sf]

3. I believe she and the House Dems are in the process of impeachment. Check out the rules they are

setting in place for their investigation interrogations a la Watergate. They are setting up their timing and approach to maximally F up tRump’s re-election attempt. They can expose his massive criminality and Russian control, but they can’t force him out of office without cooperation from the criminal Republican Senate. They may be working on digging up enough dirt to force their hands. And of course many of the Congressional Repugs have been taking money from Russian oligarchs through the NRA and directly. So hopefully a whole bunch of these criminals can be ousted. Really the whole Republican Party needs to be ended along with their funders and propaganda organs, like fox.

[Act_of_Reparation]

53. She's not really involved in that.

At least not publicly.

Which makes her public stance of reservation kind of pointless. As long as this group of Democrats is proceeding with impeachment inquiries, the GOP is going to like impeachment is inevitable and underway. We're going to suffer the political consequences of impeachment without actually committing to it.

[StarfishSaver]

54. Lol

When they weren't impeaching, it was all her doing. Now that they're moving on impeachment, "she's not really involved in that."

Okaaayy.

[Act_of_Reparation]

55. Has she said they are moving on impeachment?

Citation needed.

[StarfishSaver]

58. Who cares whether she says it or not?

They're doing it. That's what matters.

Impeachment doesn't depend on the Speaker of the House saying any magic words in order to initiate it.

Arguing that it doesn't count unless the Speaker says it, while ignoring all of the actual activity taking place - including the court filings drafted, signed and argued by the House attorneys who report directly to her - is just goal-post transporting that seems to be intended to continue criticizing the Speaker while refusing to give her any credit at all for doing exactly what those criticizing her have been demanding up until now.

[Act_of_Reparation]

64. No, perception is what matters.

When the initiative moves without the explicit support of the most senior Democrat in the House, we send a mixed message about our commitment to impeachment. One that the GOP will be more than happy to exploit.

If you don't agree, that's great, but I don't understand why this concern is being dismissed out of hand as an excuse to criticize Nancy Pelosi.

[StarfishSaver]

65. No. What actually happens is what matters

And I also know that no matter what Pelosi says, she'll be attacked. I can only imagine what people were saying if Pelosi was talking a lot of shish but the Judiciary Committee wasn't doing anything - I doubt she'd be getting any credit for saying the right things and giving the right "perception."

I don't need the Speaker of the House to read from a script to keep me happy. I need the Judiciary Committee to DO just what it's doing. I don't care what Pelosi is saying about impeachment in public statements. I care that she's obviously telling Nadler to "go for it."

[Act_of_Reparation]

66. "And I also know that no matter what Pelosi says, she'll be attacked"

That's exactly my point. The GOP is going to attack her for the impeachment effort regardless of whether she endorses it, so what does she have to gain by not endorsing it?

I don't need the Speaker of the House to read from a script to keep me happy.

That's great, man. Neither do I. But we're ostensibly intelligent people. What about the broader electorate?

[StarfishSaver]

67. I'm not talking about attacks from the GOP. She's constantly attacked right in this forum.

Most of the broader electorate also doesn't give two hoots about whether Nancy Pelosi says it or not. Pelosi saying the magic words is primarily an obsession of the media looking for red meat and Democrats more concerned about being told what they want to hear than actually having a process that moves impeachment forward.

[Act_of_Reparation]

68. It's the same calculus.

If 1) a significant sampling of Democrats want Nancy Pelosi to explicitly back impeachment efforts, and 2) the broader public doesn't care either way, then what is there to lose by not explicitly backing impeachment?

Because the math suggests a net benefit. Whether they're right or wrong, those demanding Pelosi speak up will be satisfied. And since most people don't care, and the Republicans will attack anyway, there's no associated cost.

[OnDoutside]

5. So they impeach, and they can't get any witnesses to appear, because the White House continues to

block their co-operation, what then ?

[EffieBlack]

17. Shh. The people criticizing Pelosi haven't thought it through that far.

They believe that if Pelosi simply comes out and says “We’re gonna impeach the mother fucker,” the skies will open and the White House will shiver and quake, and Trump and his henchmen will show up to testify, documents in hand. Because impeachment has more clout or something like that.

Check that. Some of them have thought it through and don’t really believe that. They just want to go after Pelosi and will attack her no matter what she does. They’re the same people who trashed her in 2018 and demanded she not run for Speaker because she’s too old or or has been around too long or too “divisive” or “controversial.”

Now, they (or the people whose bidding they’re doing on DU) are pissed that she’s still there and kicking ass, so they’re coming at her from a different direction. The pivot they’ve made on her about impeachment - blaming her for blocking it and now that it’s happening, giving her no credit for it moving forward - is so obvious and ham-handed, it’s laughable.

But it’s not going to work. Nancy’s not having it and she’s not going anywhere.

[ehrnst]

28. Yes, I've heard that impeachment is the answer to all ills in this administration.

And should it fail to remedy them, we all know that it will be Speaker Pelosi's fault because REASONS!

[sheshe2]

31. ;)

[mcar]

36. This

[StarfishSaver]

42. +1,000

[Cetacea]

52. Sorry to toot my own horn...

..but I always thought that they should hold back until the final stretch. I must say my political instincts are nearly impeccable...

[EffieBlack]

62. It's the smart move

[lagomorph777]

32. Fuck 'em. Get the documents by hook or by crook and read them on TV.

Haul in less-protected witnesses and get them to destroy the privileged ones.

[OnDoutside]

51. And where would they get those documents ?

What less protected witnesses (who probably know less) ?

[JI7]

14. what has that got to do with Mcconnell not doing the job of passing legislation which the house HAS

passed ?

the media is trying to blame Pelosi and democrats for things not getting passed which would help the people . Pelosi is responding to those lies by saying the house DID pass bills which would help the people. it's the senate with mcconnell which has not done it and stopping these things from getting done.

[happy feet]

16. +1

Yes

[ehrnst]

27. +1000. (nt)

[VOX]

61. Precisely.

[GilmourtheCat22]

20. C'mon, do something... anything!

Don't worry. I'm sure that any day now she'll have a presser and Express her concern and disappointment with the president. So that will teach him.

I wish she would think about doing what a rep controlled house of representatives would do if it was a democratic president that had a slight whiff of scandal and corruption about them like this one does.

How about throwing some red meat to the democratic base for a change instead of fretting about about the lack of civility and bipartisanship in Congress. If she wants to have team building exercise and sing folk songs around a camp fire with the bad guys that's her business. Right now she has a historically unpopular and corrupt president and she should at the very least be loudly reminding the American people of this everyday.

[Bettie]

21. The only people who matter are

"moderates". Those of us who want something more than an occasional harsh word or two and some concern are "leftists" who don't matter.

Remember how Republicans started winning elections by moving toward the center and being more moderate? Nah, I don't either, but hey, I'm told that is what our party needs to do...leave the lefties behind and be the party of the middle and only the middle, because "STATUS QUO! FOREVER!" is a super message!

Oh and lest I forget....

[ehrnst]

26. Yeah, I totally got "STATUS QUO! FOREVER!" from Pelosi in the video in the OP...

[ehrnst]

25. Did you watch the video? You thought that was "singing folk songs?"

Also, I'm not sure about what in the House Speaker's job description includes "throwing red meat to the Democrat base."

I guess all those Democratic reps we have can't be expected to do that in their districts? Ted Lieu is just sitting there twiddling his thumbs, I guess...

Funny how this wasn't ever demanded of previous Dem House Speakers. Why Her all of the sudden?

[ehrnst]

29. "C'mon, do something... anything!" Isn't that what the reporter was saying about Congress?

Perhaps you should watch the video before repeating the same "silliness" as Pelosi pointed out it is.

[IronLionZion]

30. Welcome to DU!

[Phoenix61]

35. What does any of that have to do with the OP?

She is doing her job in a very difficult situation. She has a lot more information than we have and I trust her to make good decisions based on that information.

[ehrnst]

41. "To someone with only a hammer for a tool...

everything looks like a nail."

Seeing a lot of that lately. Thanks for articulating it.

[BamaRefugee]

60. Don't forget some SHARPLY WORDED LETTERS!

Those have struck fear into Rethuglican hearts since...um...since...ahh fuck it

[ehrnst]

23. Because that has to do with getting effective gun safety legislation passed?

Can you clarify?

[CaptainTruth]

48. I hope we all understand she can't impeach, the Speaker of the House doesn't have that authority.

She doesn't even have the authority to initiate an impeachment inquiry, although the Chair of House Judiciary (Nadler) does.

Yet everyone bashes Pelosi while remaining silent about Nadler.

I find that curious.

[StarfishSaver]

49. It's only "curious" because you don't understand how things really work on the Hill

In reality, the skill required to persuade and cajole enough of the Caucus to voting with her on a close vote on a bill that's on or almost on the floor is exactly the same skill needed to force 100 or so Members to vote for something that they clearly aren't ready to support.

AND the fact an impeachment inquiry hadn't been opened was proof positive that not only did she refuse to use her immense and magical powers of persuasion to force more than half the Caucus do something they didn't want to do but is also further proof that she doesn't think Trump should be impeached

BUT when an impeachment inquiry was opened, that is proof that the Judiciary Committee Members, who a few weeks ago were so frightened of her they couldn't do anything are now openly defying her by opening an impeachment inquiry because, suddenly, no one around there gives a hoot what Pelosi thinks.

Understand now? I didn't know any of this, but several keyboard quarterbacks on DU have schooled me about how all this works, so I'm sharing my newfound knowledge with you.

[betsuni]

6. K&R

[mfcorey1]

9. It sounds like you just described Moscow Mitch and the Repubs.

[rurallib]

11. WTF?

The House passed major pieces of legislation that McConnell is sitting on reducing to do anything.

[Roy Rolling]

8. Love It!

Reject the stupid framing of the issue. Idiot reporters, they should at least know the process of the legislative branch before being credentialed to ask a question to the Speaker of the House.

Have they not at least seen “I’m Just a Bill” from Schoolhouse Rock?

She didn’t answer the question, she answered attack. She is the best at this legislating thing, soooo far ahead of the class.

[Ramsey Barner]

10. She's the best at what she does, no question.

I go back and forth between immense respect for her abilities and accomplishments and frustration that she is dancing around the topic of impeachment while the edifice of democracy is crumbling around us into a pool of orange goo.

[PunkinPi]

12. K&R

[stonecutter357]

13. K&R

[brutus smith]

15. That should be the standard question

Ask these reporters why don't you ask Moscow mitch, are you afraid?

[HAB911]

18. +++++++++++

[ehrnst]

19. So much for all this talk of her being "skittish" and "scared."

[lark]

22. Boom goes the dynamite! Gawd, I just love her

That was an absolutely perfect response - ask Mitch McConnell if he has any regrets about how many people died because he refuses to take action.

[NoMoreRepugs]

24. I trust her judgement implicitly. The hurry up and Impeach

now contingent need to STFU.

[FakeNoose]

33. Thank you Speaker Pelosi - that's exactly the correct tone

[CrispyQ]

34. Outstanding!

The reporter's answer: "But McConnell's a white, republican man. We don't question them!"

[UTUSN]

37. It's said Speaker P can scald somebody without their knowing. This reporter *knew*.

[asiliveandbreathe]

38. Yep..Nancy's daughter..

“She’ll cut your head off, and you won’t even know you’re bleeding. That’s all you need to know about her."

[Desert Dem]

39. I love this woman!!!!!

She is boiling Trump like a frog, just wait

[Dem_4_Life]

40. I love her!

[stopdiggin]

44. Yeah. The "Why Don't You Do Something?" sh** it getting real old (nt)

[PhoenixDem]

45. Nancy Pelosi is amazing.

Seasoned, savvy and with a firm grasp of issues and a handle on her caucus.

[LiberalFighter]

46. The reporter needs to be called out and identified.

[Niagara]

47. Give them hell, Nancy!

Nancy most likely knows exactly how much money the NRA has given Moscow Mitch to block gun violence prevention laws as well.

[ffr]

50. This is how any of us would react, because we're passionate about protecting Americans

Republicans are only passionate about protecting the greedy.

[Gothmog]

56. Speaker Pelosi is amazing

[homegirl]

57. Every Democratic elected official

should respond to the very first question asked in an interview with a concise version of Speaker Pelosi's statement. Maybe the media will acknowledge, loud and clear, that Mitch McConnell is a paid operative of Putin, just like Trump!

[ewagner]

59. +1Daaaauuuuuummmmmm!

That's the spirit we need!

[DFW]

63. Reporter: "Gotcha!" Pelosi: "You got NUTHIN' !!"

You'd think all these 2 bit journalist wannabes get their training at Fox Noise.