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Democratic Caucus Should Remove Nancy Pelosi Jerry Zeifman On April 6, a Washington Post editorial aptly described Mrs. Pelosi's trip to Demascus as a "pratfall," which the dictionary defines as "a fall in which one lands on the buttocks, often regarded as comical or humiliating." In my view that word was a discrete understatement. As a lifelong Democrat and former congressional chief counsel I regard her conduct as an unconstitutional abuse of power that warrants her removal by our Democratic caucus. As I previously noted in my NewsMax article of April 7, she persistently fosters what Thomas Jefferson denounced as "tyranny by the majority," and violates House rules that give her the duty to maintain order, civility, and decorum, and to foster "comity" (a word rarely used these days, meaning "mutual respect"). Her trip to Damascus was more than a blunder. In denying President Bush's request as well purporting falsely to Speak for Israel it was a usurpation of presidential power. As a result of her defiance of the president, Democrat Leon Panetta, the former chief of staff to President Clinton, cautioned in the April 2 New York Times that if the Democrats "go into total confrontation mode on other than [domestic issues] . . . that's a recipe for losing seats in the next election."
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The Wright Precedent The prior history of Democratic Speaker Jim Wright is now being repeated by Nancy Pelosi. After Wright became speaker, five South American presidents had agreed on a peace plan which the Reagan administration vigorously opposed. Anti-Sandinistas and contra hardliners became incensed when they learned that Speaker Wright had secretly sat in on a meeting between Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo the Catholic leader being asked to mediate the peace. Then House Minority Leader Newt Gingrich began filing numerous accusations in the Ethics Committee of malfeasance by Wright. In the end the House Democratic caucus determined that Wright had lost his effectiveness as speaker and compelled him to resign.
They voted to replace him with Democrat Tom Foley — who restored the traditional civility and comity that had prevailed under previous Democratic speakers. To date the Democratic caucus has either been suffering from a loss of institutional memory or is hopefully keeping its power dry before taking up the matter of her counterproductive loss of effectiveness as Speaker. Also few if any media writers ever refresh the public's recollection of the controversy in the Democratic caucus in 2002 when she first ran for minority leader. Then she was opposed by Rep. Harold Ford Jr., D-Tenn., a black Southern Democrat who lost a 2006 Senate bid to Republican Sen. Bob Corker. Five years ago Ford appeared on the Don Imus show and described Pelosi as: "destructive," "obstructionist," and "not the kind of leadership we [Democrats] need." Last year after becoming Speaker Pelosi supported her closest ally, Abscam-Scandal-tainted Rep. John Murtha, to be majority leader. However, she was overruled by Rahm Emanuel and the Democratic caucus which by a large majority voted to appoint Steny Hoyer, Pelosi's long time rival. Mrs. Pelosi, whose San Francisco constituency is far left, currently claims credit for leading the Democratic Party's election victories last year. However the credit really belongs to Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., a former key member of Chicago Mayor Daley's staff, whom Bill Clinton hired to be his chief of staff. The truth is that Emanuel had the political acumen to recruit enough conservative Democrats to defeat Republicans and control the House. In my view, the best way for Democrats to try to win control of both Congress and the White House in 2008 is for Emanuel and the Democratic caucus now to follow the Wright precedent of 1989 and force Pelosi to resign. Then Emanuel should use his political acumen to replace her with a more moderate Democrat with a reputation for civility and comity.
This will shift our party's partisan policies toward a more centrist position — and reduce the demagogic political warfare that is now diminishing the moral authority of both political parties.
The result will restore the pre-Pelosi Democratic tradition, in which Democratic partisan policies are determined in the Democratic caucus and not in the speaker's office — and our House speakers are role models of civility.
What Citizens Can Do About Pelosi In the case of Wright, the Democratic caucus responded to a wide spread public outcry against his fierce partisanship that was generated by the proceedings of the House Ethics Committee that investigated his political history. Under today's House rules such an investigation can be launched by petitions filed by House members. In my view, Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike should contact their representatives in Congress and urge them to file such a petition with the Ethics Committee.
Jerry Zeifman is a lawyer turned author and formerly served for 17 years as counsel of the House Judiciary Committee — and as its chief of staff during the Nixon impeachment. For his books and articles see his Web site, www.Jzeifman.com.
Copyright © 2007 Jerry Zeifman.
Editor's note:
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