2/9/2007
It’s a brewing brou-ha-ha. Speaker Pelosi recently requested military transport that is capable of a non-stop flight across the country and conservatives in general and Republicans in particular are making much of what seems to me to be quite a simple and common-sense request.
Nancy Pelosi (D - CA) in the past has taken commercial airliners for trips home, however, in her new role as Speaker of The House, she is now second in line for the Presidency after VP Cheney. As many have noted already, the military began providing their own transport for Speaker Hastert shortly after 9/11. Shortly after Pelosi ascended as Speaker, the House’s sergeant-at-arms urged her to use military transport and even favored a transport that could go non-stop across the country.
In addition, Speaker Pelosi has said that, if she cannot get a non-stop military flight, she would be happy to take a commercial flight. Makes sense doesn’t it?
But the fact is, like it or not, Nancy Pelosi is now one of the most important people in this country, which also makes her a high profile target. I like the idea of having extended protection for those in the top-most rung of our chain of command and I cannot see how it is such a big issue that the current Speaker asks for a non-stop military flight similar to what she would receive flying a commercial airline.
I think Tony Snow, the White House’s spokesperson, said it perfectly when he said that “[t]his is a silly story and I think it’s been unfair to the speaker.” I think the word “silly” is a perfect description of this situation. Are there not more important issues to be discussed than a simple request for a non-stop flight for the third most important powerful member of the US government? Lets protect our Speaker as we would protect the President and Vice President and move onto bigger and better issues.
My last word on this issue is a message to Speaker Pelosi and her fellow Democrats in congress. I think the term “you reap what you sow” applies neatly to this situation. For many years now, Democrats in Congress have grown increasingly partisan, making mountains out of mole hills and obstructing progress in Washington as often as possible without looking too much like obstructionists.
I think a perfect example is the President’s recent slip during his State of The Union speech last month when he congratulated the “Democrat Majority” rather than the “Democratic Majority.” Democrats, of course, were indignant over the slip and accused the President of intentionally maligning the name of their party.
This coming from the same people who never lose an opportunity to tell us how terrible a communicator the President tends to be. They make fun of his every slip, his every mispronunciation. Yet, when he makes a simple and innocent slip during his SOU speech, they treat it as intentional.
And so, Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Reid, and Democrats throughout congress must now deal with a Republican minority that remembers well the trouble caused by fellow Democrats when they were the minority. Who knows, Democrats probably taught Republicans some good tactics to employ over the next couple of years. And this while Democrats struggle to relearn the ins and outs of being the party in power.
All that said, I do hope Republicans will show themselves to be more honorable as a minority party than Democrats were these past four or five years. At present, however, I’m not going to hold my breath.
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