As Mehdi Hasan reports, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives seems to be far more dismissive and critical of the progressive members of her own party than of Donald Trump and the Republicans.
THEY CALL THEMSELVES the “Squad.” From climate change to student debt to migrants in detention, progressive House Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley have been energetic and outspoken since getting elected last November — and, as a result, have become inured to constant attacks from congressional Republicans and, of course, Fox News.
But how about from their own boss?
In an interview with the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dismissed the Squad as “four people” who have their “public whatever and their Twitter world” but don’t “have any following.”
Ouch. This isn’t the first time Pelosi has trolled the left-wing quartet. In April, when she was asked by Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes to comment on the newly emboldened progressive wing of her party, Pelosi responded: “That’s like five people.”
In the wake of November’s midterms, Pelosi mocked calls from AOC and her allies for a Green New Deal: “The green dream or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is, but they’re for it right?”
To be clear: none of these freshmen Democrats have personally attacked Pelosi and all four of them backed her bid for the speakership. As CNN’s Nathan McDermott tweeted, “It is pretty notable that the most vocally anti-Pelosi Democrats (ala the moderates in swing districts who opposed her leadership) don’t get as much criticism from her as the left-wing of the party.”
This should not cause any surprise. The Democratic party leadership is right-wing and joined at the hip to the oligarchy and is more terrified of left-wing populism than of Trump and the Republicans. When Pelosi dismisses the progressives because they do not “have any following”, what she means is any following among the people that really matter: the wealthy donor class, the financial sector, the military-industrial complex, the mainstream media pundit class, and the social circles in which she moves. Ordinary people just do not count in her world.
It is really interesting how the class lines are finally being exposed and talked about, even if at the moment that discussion is taking place largely outside the mainstream media.
She has always been a manipulative lover of power. People should not make the mistake of thinking that, just because she is opposed to Trump, she is a progressive. She wants power.
Every backgrounder on Pelosi mentions her “fund-raising” skills.
Just as McConnell controls the Senate Republicans by receiving and distributing Big Money contributions, so Pelosi dominates the House Democrats. In both cases, the funders seek a
puppet“leader” who can keep the rank and file politicians in line for purposes of the corporate agenda -- and in both cases they get their money’s worth.I so far have not been able to imagine any other reason Pelosi intends to go down in history as the first Democratic Speaker to protect two blatantly guilty Republican presidents from impeachment. Why do even the progressive media never mention the shame of Jan/Feb ’07?
As has been described elsewhere, Pelosi and others are hanging onto the old way of things, using every tool at their disposal to hold back the coming tsunami. They will be swept away before long, but perhaps not soon enough to prevent a great deal of damage to the US. As a Canadian, I have no say, but unfortunately a lot at stake since whatever happens in the US will hit us with collateral damage as well. unfortunately, the DNC old guard still have too much control so that even if a true progressive wins the presidential election and the Democrats take a majority in the senate, it is unlikely that much progress will occur.
As for the media, owners and editors of “left-leaning” (that would be right of centre elsewhere in the world) are largely from the same group as Pelosi, so it’s not a surprise that they don’t point out how out of touch her direction is with the opinion of the majority of people.
just because she is opposed to Trump
Nancy Pelosi is “opposed to Trump” LOL