Speaker Pelosi: "Make no mistake, we know exactly what path we're on"

[StarfishSaver]

She said this back in June (when some naysayers were claiming she was scared, moving too slowly, didn't know what she was doing, etc.), but it still applies now. She's calculated all of her options (even the ones that haven't occurred to any of us), has gamed out her moves, and knows when to lay low and exactly when to strike.

She's killing it.

[apcalc]

1. I trust her like no other.

[FM123]

2. Yep, she is soooo killing it!

[mcar]

3. I trust her completely

Look at all the crap that's come out since impeachment. She knew we have nothing to lose by waiting. In the meantime, the Rs have gotten quiet, while the "moderates" in the caucus try to weasel out of media questions.

[lark]

4. Thank you for helping us Nancy D. Pelosi, you were our only hope!

Thank you for taking a stand for our constitution and country. Wishing you great success in getting the Articles to the Senate only when they have a fair process in place.

[lastlib]

10. "Obi-Wan" Pelosi!!

It fits!

May the Force be with her!!

[lark]

25. 'Xactly!

Obi-Wan Pelosi, who is a master of the Force, has done well. May the Force continue to guide her through these perilous times.

[brer cat]

5. K&R

[malaise]

6. Keep those boots on his neck Sister Nancy

Rec

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

31. You know it!

[LiberalFighter]

7. This is why term limits are a bad idea.

People suggesting it don't have any idea what it takes to do a good job and that in reality the years a member serves is much lower on average than what people think.

If the same scenario had occurred. Her being Speaker and an impeachment but when she had only been in Congress for 10 years she wouldn't have had the understanding that she has now about the workings.

[Goodheart]

14. That's a bad argument.

You presume that there are not other talented people around.

Are you in favor of unlimited terms for the presidency, too?

[LiberalFighter]

24. What type of response is that?

Do you really want Congress to be term limited and not have anyone there with enough knowledge to understand the ins and outs? By the time anyone starts to get it you want to kick them out? And it isn't just the ins and outs it is also about establishing relationships with all of the departments and agencies which is also critical to them. If you didn't have enough in Congress with the years it would be much easier for those same departments and agencies to bamboozle the members. Career employees that are not term limited. The check and balances are needed.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

32. The point is, look where it's gotten us to...imposing term limits couldn't make things any worse!

[LiberalFighter]

39. Really?

If we didn't have the people there already, there wouldn't be a Nancy Pelosi that would know what and how to handle an impeachment or any other critical piece of legislation.

[Hekate]

50. Oh reeeeeeeally. "Couldn't make things worse" is what a shocking number of people said about Trump

They didn't go to rallies. They aren't consciously racist & would be shocked if you said that. But they share two things: they have their own issues that infuriate them past the point of reason, and they are pig-ignorant about Civics.

"He'll shake things up". . . . "I'm sending 'them' a message" . . . "There should be term limits" . . .

Term limits is what we now have in California. Government is complex, not simple. People learn as they go, but it takes time. What we have now is a mighty churning -- and (I know this will strike you as shocking) the people who know most about how everything is accomplished are special interest groups and corporate lobbyists, because they have no term limits.

[StarfishSaver]

52. I wish I could bookmark a reply

Because you said it all and said it perfectly.

[Hekate]

57. Why, thank you, Starfish

Happy new year

[LiberalFighter]

66. Yep! Those special interest groups and lobbyists have been around awhile.

[Hekate]

69. And needless to say they love greeting a perpetual class of freshman legislators...

Hyper-conservative groups like ALEC hold seminars for newbies and even give them fully-written sample legislation to present.

[mcar]

60. We have term limits in the FL legislature

You want to know how it's turned out? Look at Marco Rubio - started as a rep, then went to the FL senate, then to the US senate - bankrolled all the way by special interests like the NRA.

These crooks know they only have so much time in the state govt so they work their way up, with the help of big pocketed donors and kingmakers.

[Goodheart]

61. I say four terms is a reasonable limit for the House, and two terms for the Senate

Every congressperson would be working with the same limits. If you can't learn your job in two years then there's something severely lacking in your intellect or motivation.

[LiberalFighter]

64. There is absolutely no reason for it.

As it is, the average length of service in the House at the beginning of the 116th Congress was 8.6 years. Just over 7 months more than your suggestion.

The average length of service in the Senate was 10.1 years. Nearly 2 years less than your suggestion of two terms.

If anything, your suggestion would discourage better qualified candidates from running.

What you think is reasonable it would be in practice throughout local and state government. Term limits can be found more on the executive side of state government that involve positions elected state-wide.

As I stated before, imposing term limits on the legislative side would put members of Congress at a severe disadvantage and make them less of a co-equal branch of the federal government.

Suggesting that members of Congress would be able to reach the potential in the time frame you indicated shows a lack of understanding of the history and process involved.

Just as large corporations don't hire someone off the street and give them two years to learn the job. It is a matter of learning how a company operates from the ground floor up when they hire from within. And when it is from outside, it is with someone that has the experience.

Sure members of Congress might have some experience as a state legislator but it is a different world in Congress.

[wryter2000]

29. It's not just talent

It's experience and personal relationships.

A president without term limits could be like a king. Not the same for a speaker of the house.

[LiberalFighter]

65. Some people just don't understand that.

[StarfishSaver]

30. The consolidated and concentrated power of the executive branch makes term limits

on the presidency much more important and necessary than for Members of Congress, none of whom hold comparable power on an individual basis but work as part of a collaborative body.

[lagomorph777]

58. And power limits during the term need to be brought back, beefed up, and ENFORCED.

[TheRealNorth]

35. Term limits will make money an even bigger factor

Name recognition is always a problem for new politicians and often money (or saying something controversial that will gain you notoriety) are they only way to breakthrough.

[lunatica]

42. That's a pretty dumb response.

Having experience is the very thing that will make all those bright, smart, talented people better.

This shouldn’t even need to be said.

[Goodheart]

62. That's pretty insulting to the intellect and ambition of any newly elected congressperson.

If you can't learn your job in a few months then there's something seriously wrong with you. As a accounting executive I had to learn things very quickly... corporate profits and security depended on it. I ask no more of elected officials than I expected of myself.

[lunatica]

63. Well by all means follow your own beliefs and be sure to quit just when

actual experience, memory and wisdom become a winning factor for your company. Some other smart young ageist person will gladly take your place.

[StarfishSaver]

68. That may be true of your job, but I've never had a job I completely mastered in a few months

Never. In fact, I've never had a job that I felt I'd ever completely mastered. There was always more to learn and I always felt I have much, much more to learn, even in jobs i held for years. Frankly, I wouldn't want to have a job that I completely "mastered" within a short time. I'd be bored to death.

And I also always knew that I had plenty to learn from the people who'd been there much longer than I.

In fact, some of the most annoying - and ultimately unsuccessful - people I've worked with were those who were sure that they knew everything when they came in or that they'd learned everything they needed to know within a few months and that no one with experience had anything to teach them.

I don't know if being a Member of Congress requires very different skills and experience than an accounting executive does - I don't know enough about what an accounting executive does. But I do know Congress is NOT a job that can be mastered in a few months. I'm sure there are very few Members who believe they've "mastered" it - and I have no doubt that not a single freshman or sophomore Member believes they've completely learned their jobs or that they have anything close to the chops that Pelosi has or that they have nothing to learn from the Members who have been there many years. Thank God they don't have the same view of their positions that you have.

[druidity33]

71. it takes at least a year of training...

to learn my job as a cook in a simple co-op. This is for people who got the job as a cook who've already been cooking! I can't imagine a job as complicated as a Rep or Sen having a shorter curve.

[StarfishSaver]

73. I came home after my first week of kindergarten and announced I needed no more schooling

Because, I told my parents, I could read, write and count, so there was nothing left for me to learn

But the older I got and the more I learned, the more I realized just how little I knew.

And the more experienced I become the less annoyed and the more amused I get at younger, less experienced people who think they know so much more than older, more experienced people do about everything. And whenever I see that, I just remember what my mother used to say to me: "You'll learn. Just live a little longer ..."

[NBachers]

59. Don't worry, the lobbyists will show them the ropes. Then, when their term limits out,

the lobbyists will show the new members the way.

[wryter2000]

27. Amen

And Steyer needs to shut his pie-hole on the subject. I always end up shouting at the TV, "Do you really want Nancy Pelosi out of the Congress?"

[LiberalFighter]

40. In in ad he says "We need term limits -- because Congress shouldn't be a lifetime appointment"

Lifetime appointment? What is he thinking? They are not appointed.

[lunatica]

45. And they're not lifetime appointments either.

They’re voted into office by their constituents on a regular basis as stipulated by the Constitution who can just as easily vote for someone else.

[LiberalFighter]

47. Yep!

I really despised candidates that create a false narrative of that type.

[lunatica]

48. Well at least you can see their level of smarts when

they do this shit. For me it’s an easy elimination when they do this kind of crap. It’s instant. Checked right off the list just like that.

[2naSalit]

8. And with that...

I can be patient. I expect the end results will come in due time and she is not only engaged in this endeavor, she's probably the secret driver steering this huge nation. Seriously, there's a reason she shadows the idiot on his overseas trips and probably meets with other leaders when they come here. She has equal power to the president in many ways and I am sure that she is fulfilling those needs of the People without fanfare. At this point, at times, I see her as the defacto president.

Hopefully the whole cleansing of the WH will be visibly in progress by easter.

[ehrnst]

9. She is a badass who doesn't let being called "unlikeable" by men

stop her from doing her job, and getting results.

"I welcome their hate" as FDR is frequently quoted here on DU.

[Stuart G]

11. Nancy knows who the real threat is, and how to deal with him

" And while that may take more time than some people want it to take, I respect their impatience."

That means that she will get the job done, but be patient. It is a tough job. I respect that, because it is the total truth.

[George II]

12. Most REAL Democrats know this already.

[malthaussen]

13. I have no doubt they do.

Two points occur: 1) That doesn't mean we know the path she's on, and arguably we should, and
2) That doesn't mean we'd agree with her path if we knew it.

In fact, this is a rather smug assurance, rather like a husband telling his wife not to worry her pretty little head about things.

-- Mal

[Goodheart]

15. I agree.

Even while I believe Madame Pelosi knows what she's doing.

[StarfishSaver]

26. Actually, it's nothing like a husband telling his wife not to worry her pretty head

Not even close.

We don't need to know what path she's on in advance.

And any smugness involved here emanates from the assumption that the Speaker of the House must regularly report out to the whole world everything she knows as soon as she knows it and that she must inform us of her strategies and plans so we are always aware of exactly what she has in mind at every given moment and we can monitor her decisions in case she's doing it wrong and we need to set her straight.

[LiberalFighter]

41. And there is a difference with a husband telling his wife vs. the Speaker.

The Speaker is not doing this all on her own. She has her sidekicks or whatever we should call them that she consults with for their ideas as well.

[Captain Zero]

38. She has multiple paths

Depending on how obstinate McConnell and Trump want to be. She is not going to lay those out to us for our approval when she may not even use any but one, And then reveal all her contingencies to them? Just so we can approve ? That would have the right wing noise machine in a dither but be too distracting for morans to possibly see any of the corruption.

[WinstonSmith4740]

16. I've got to admit it.

I was one of those people that was really disappointed in her refusal to do anything in the wake of the Mueller hearings, but she is one strong, smart woman. I think she realized the stuff that Mueller investigated was kind of above the average American's pay grade, and they'd never really get it. She always said he'd figure out a way to impeach himself and he did. Abuse of power and lying is a lot easier for people to understand, and since most of us have a boss that is capable of abusing their power from time to time, we certainly get it, and don't like it. Like I said, she's strong, smart, and has POWER over him. Those are traits that Donnie can't stand...especially in a woman.
She's already beaten him at three dimensional chess, and he's still trying to find the checker board.

[StarfishSaver]

36. Exactly

She knew there wasn't enough public support - or even support in for impeachment based on the Mueller Report. And if she had tried it, it would have either failed to pass the House or, even if it did, it would have died in the Senate months ago and impeachment would have been a long ago memory

[CaptainTruth]

17. And: "I want to see him in jail." - Nancy Pelosi, June 2019

Please proceed madam Speaker.

[lunatica]

49. Yeah, I've been waiting to see what she has in mind

because she is simply not the kind of person who casually ruminates out loud about something she would believe is a pipe dream or unattainable.

Anyone who thinks she’s stupid is only projecting their own stupidity.

[StarfishSaver]

53. And remember at the time, that comment "leaked"

People got excited about it, not realizing that Pelosi's caucus never "leaks" on her. If a comment she made gets in the media, it's because Madam Speaker wanted it there.

[lunatica]

55. Exactly. At the time I felt it was almost as if

someone leaked it to make us feel she wasn’t just ignoring the rising howl from the public.

[iluvtennis]

18. Tell em Nancy...you're a #badass woman. nt

[betsuni]

19. K&R

[fescuerescue]

20. It's even more impressive when you look at the timeline

She knew in June the path ahead. That was a full month before Trump made the Ukraine call.

Speaker Pelosi knew that Trump would soon make a fatal mistake.

She didn't know what mistake he would make. But she knew it was inevitable.

Bravo.

[Southern Blueneck]

21. Nancy,

[GeorgeGist]

22. Note to self ...

[marieo1]

23. Good Negotiator

She is one brilliant lady I trust her opinion - she is a super negotiator with years of experience. I think, she has set a trap he can't wiggle out of.

[Arkansas Granny]

28. She knows how this game is played and she's following the rules.

I can't think of anyone who could have done any better.

[StarfishSaver]

43. Joe Crowley just said "The Speaker knew every single rule available to her from the beginning"

He also pointed out that she's working hand-in-hand with Schumer and is buying him precious time to negotiate terms with McConnell.

[LiberalFighter]

67. I've been in an organization for over 40 years

and didn't know every nook and cranny with procedures, rules, and bylaws. But I know more than most within my local area. But not as much as those at the International level.

[corbettkroehler]

33. "Killing It" Is Right! Such A Great Quote! (n/t)

[PatrickforO]

34. Well, you've always had a lot of confidence in her. And so far, I must admit,

she is 'killing it.'

[StarfishSaver]

44. I've never for one second doubted her

And it wasn't blind faith. She's always shown she knows exactly what she's doing and almost always comes out on top, so I feared not ...

[Nitram]

37. Love Pelosi!!!

[peggysue2]

46. As I have said many times . . .

Thank God this woman is on our side.

Nancy Pelosi rocks!

[Lexee]

51. What a bold, confident, awesome statement. That is good.

[StarfishSaver]

54. And can I say ...

If I can look that beautiful and badass in my late 70s, I will be grateful.

Oh, who am I fooling? I don't look like that now and never have ...

[Lexee]

56. Ya, no. Doesn't work for me, but you get to feel that.

I have absolutely no desire to walk that one in my 70's. I am so done with all that. Give me a Warren. She so let that go and is all that, still. I am too tired. Healthy and fit works for me. I do not do all the amenities of being a woman, anymore.

[bdamomma]

70. She's

a force to be reckoned with!! Don't mess with Speaker Pelosi.

She needs to know we have her back.

[Stinky The Clown]

72. How do I love Madame Spesker? Let me count the ways!!

[Orrex]

74. Although I'm very pleased at how she's holding Fuckhead Trump to the fire...

She didn't know in June that Fuckhead Trump was going to hand her an unambiguously impeachable offense in the form of the Ukraine bribery, and it's hardly clear that she would otherwise have pursued impeachment at all.

Having said that, I love she's handling it now that the process has begun. She is in command of the unfolding drama, and it's a pleasure to observe.