As Mark pointed out earlier on this blog, and as we've all been reading over the last 24 hours, Nancy Pelosi is the kid at the parade, king, clothes, etc. who just may have opened the floodgates and spoke from the top of the Hill about Bush's incompetence and reckless behavior.
In short, Nancy took the message of the blogosphere and Howard Dean and belted it over the wall, shattering the remaining outposts of ignorant silence across America.
We all know that in the months following 9/11, very few people were willing to say what needed to be said about the White House squatters. We were attacked, confused, and looking to Washington for leadership. There were flashes of hope, but soon we realized we were in the hands of an administration in way, WAY over their heads. Their only effective action was to squash dissenting voices and label them as anti-American. It worked - for a while.
Bloggers long before this one began the call. Buzzflash was our answer to the Drudge link-a-thon. Atrios, Kos, Josh Marshall, the late (and still missed) Media Whores Online and many more sent out the cry to be heard while the country and its cowtowing media were too scared be anything except agreeable bobbleheads. Even Don Waller's Blah3 was a music review site until - to paraphrase him - the country got all jackassy. The foundation was set, and pretty soon, the voices bubbled to the surface.
Dean picked up the vibration and began the public drumbeat last year, giving everyone unfamiliar with the online underground permission to speak up. His ride was cut short by bad campaign advice combined with a hammering by the right wing media machine. Nonetheless, the new theme was finally out there, even if the bandleader was all but shot by the wingnuts.
Enter Nancy Pelosi.
"Bush is an incompetent leader. In fact, he's not a leader. He's a person who has no judgment, no experience and no knowledge of the subjects that he has to decide upon.And so predictably, the attack dogs residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have been unleashed and ordered to rip snarl and tear at Pelosi. They're fast to point out their assessment that she took the low road, while taking some detours through the mud themselves.
"He has on his shoulders the deaths of many more troops, because he would not heed the advice of his own State Department of what to expect after May 1 when he ... declared that major combat is over. The shallowness that he has brought to the office has not changed since he got there.
"Not to get personal about it, but the president's capacity to lead has never been there. In order to lead, you have to have judgment. In order to have judgment, you have to have knowledge and experience. He has none.
"This president has demonstrated very clearly that he does not have the capacity to present a plan to transition.
"The only way we can get more troops from other countries is to have a president who respects the other countries. It's hopeless for George Bush. He has made it hopeless.
"The risk in many of us speaking out in the way that I'm speaking out to you right now is that people will say, 'Oh, it's just political,'
"He's gone. He's so gone."
"She apparently is so caught up in the partisan hatred for President Bush that her words are putting American lives at risk," said House Majority leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.Well, one out of four ain't...um, great. On top of all this, she's today's cover girl on all the hot wingnut sites. It's only minutes before we'll see her face next to bin Laden's.
At the White House, press secretary Scott McClellan said, "I don't think that such comments are worth dignifying with any response from this podium."
Bush-Cheney campaign chair Marc Racicot said the comments were "a reprehensible attempt to blame America for the action of terrorists and represent a fundamental misunderstanding of the war on terror."
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said, "Was it incompetence that put Saddam Hussein in jail? Was it incompetence that disbanded the Taliban? Was it incompetence that spurred the fastest economic growth rate in 20 years? Was it incompetence that created the highest home ownership rate in history?''
But the evidence supporting Pelosi (and all who came before her) is just too overwhelming, as Hastert's lie-riddled quote underscores. That evidence is all over this site and the sites we have listed in the "daily links" down the left column.
Washington is an absolute mess. Iraq has turned into a nightmare. Bush's ability to handle money like a crackhead is now the stuff of legends. Education is in the toilet (Bush even bragged about his being a C student in his LSU commencement speech today - talk about inspiring).
You want comfort for the terrorists? The American Condition we talk about here so much is a fine place to start. Frankly, it's the worst we've ever seen, and we've seen a lot.
Tonight, we'll all raise a toast to all those who led up to The Pelosi Moment. And we'll knock one back for Nancy herself. It's a reason to celebrate.
It's our moment, and there are more - much more - to come.
