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Speaker of the House Resigns!
No, not Pelosi. But if Britain can get rid of its disgraced speaker, America can do the same.
Before all you PJMers fall off your seats or choke on your grits thinking you might have missed a Fox alert, be advised the speaker in question is not Mrs. Pelosi but the UK’s very own Michael Martin, speaker of the House of Commons here in Blighty.
How did this come to pass? As reported in a previous PJM submission, Britain has been gripped by a scandal involving parliamentarians of all parties featuring taxpayer money being used for moats and manure and church donations. At its very worst, the series of misdemeanors, exposed by the Daily Telegraph newspaper in a mini-Watergate-type investigation, has included MPs and ministers charging the taxpayer for ongoing payments on mortgages that had long ago come to an end, offices that apparently did not exist, and entertainment centers costing $15,000 each.
The mistakes Speaker Martin made were not so much his own financial dealings but his complete miscalculation of the public mood. At the height of the scandal he roundly criticized members of the House of Commons for talking to the press and for allowing their affairs to be aired in public. Whizz-bang! Even MPs who were themselves being revealed as guilty parties were appalled at his lack of judgment. He had already angered both parties for his apparent complicity in a police raid on Tory MP Damian Green’s home. Cabinet ministers were falling like flies but Martin was angry at them and at lawmakers for owning up and letting the public have frank admissions of their dishonesty.
It is a tribute to the decorous manner in which British parliamentarians treat their speakers and the long fuse possessed by MPs that no such action has been taken in centuries. However, in a short time in May moves were afoot to remove Speaker Martin — the first time such an event had unfolded in Parliament since 1695. In fact, as I reported in my previous article, speakers of that era were even beheaded from time to time. Martin announced his resignation date: June 21, 2009. He said to the British people, “We have let you down very badly indeed. … We must all accept the blame and, to the extent that I have contributed to the situation, I am profoundly sorry.”
In a May 24 PJM op-ed, “Pelosi’s Lies Roil Dem Establishment,” James Lewis recounts the rumblings on Capitol Hill about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s hypocrisy in discussions of prosecuting Bush administration lawyers for complicity in waterboarding at Guantanamo Bay amid her claims that she was misled by the CIA during briefings in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. It is generally acknowledged, as Jennifer Rubin also reports in the PJM article of May 11, “Madame Speaker, Have You No Decency?,” that Mrs. Pelosi was fully aware of the methods being employed to extract information from high-value terror suspects in order to prevent another attack on the American mainland.
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Carol Gould is the Philadelphia-born author of Don’t Tread on Me: Anti-Americanism Abroad, Spitfire Girls, and A Room at Camp Pickett, a play about her mother’s experiences as a WAC in World War II; she has just completed films about black GIs and GI babies. Carol has been a panelist on BBC's Any Questions?, hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby, and is a commentator on Sky News, Press TV, the BBC World Service, and Five Live.
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13 Comments
1. seansarto:I would like to ask the Speaker of the House and the other members of this administration, “Is the US at war with Pakistan?…With all due respect, could they at least please clarify the terminology that is being used to explain the liberal methodology being determined there….or is it too much of a smear for their “holier then thou” platform.
Jun 24, 2009 - 5:09 am 2. "progressive"watch:The British counterpart of Pelosi was caught with his pants down several times and the British media counterpart,even the state-owned British media,has said Michael Martin’s pants are down. But in the United States,the former msm and the radical Democrats say Nancy Pelosi’s pannies are not down around her ankles,no more than ours are.
Jun 24, 2009 - 5:13 am 3. WR Jonas:Several weeks ago I was ridiculed on PJM for telling comment responders that Nancy Pelosi would not be leaving and they were wrong in expecting democrats to force her resignation . There has been no effort to remove her and she remains defiant and in denial.
Jun 24, 2009 - 6:01 am 4. DaveinPhoenix:There is zero possibility she will step down.
In other words ,nothing has changed.
Most of the people I know who are under 40 don’t even know who the Speaker of the House is. They’re too busy buying the latest iPod or shopping for their spoiled rotten bratty kids who will elect the NEXT Socialist pantywaist President of the United States and corrupt congress. No one cares. Really sad.
Jun 24, 2009 - 6:43 am 5. Andrew Ian Dodge:I look forward to chatting to Douglas soon and ask him how he felt about achieving something that has not been done on 300 years. Alas the person they replaced the last one if a bit of a cretin. The man’s views are governed by the wind and not principles. I remember him from the Federation of Conservative Student/Conservative Way Forward days and now he is Labour-lite.
Its a great that he is the first Jewish speaker of the house however.
Jun 24, 2009 - 7:23 am 6. anton:I think that Pelosi does more damage to the Dems by remaining in office; just think how much more effective a level-headed, clear thinking Machiavellian Speaker would be that the current nut-job. I say that if we have to put up with a Commie in the Speaker’s Chair they should at least be amusing.
Between her and Biden Obama is safe from any assasination attempts (the old “Dan Quail is the VEEP?” insurance policy).
Jun 24, 2009 - 7:55 am 7. David Thomson:“Several weeks ago I was ridiculed on PJM for telling comment responders that Nancy Pelosi would not be leaving and they were wrong in expecting democrats to force her resignation .”
You were half right. Nancy Pelosi is still in office—but the Democrats are politically weaker. They are becoming increasingly frightened of the wrath of the voters. There is a very good chance that the Democrats will not be able to pass any major legislation whatsoever! Pelosi is now a feckless leader of impotent legislators.
Jun 24, 2009 - 10:02 am 8. Steve:The best way is to vote out all your own national representatives especially if they are democrats, if you do vote for a democrat be sure before you do that they do do agree with the current democrats in our congress and senate, if not then do my country a favor vote for a republican.
Please quit voting the party line for once in your life. If Pelosi survives the 2010 election and hopefully the democrats can not retain the majority then the new majority can easily conduct investigations and start rescinding the awful bills already passed and possibly start impeachment proceedings against Obama in Jan of 2011.
Jun 24, 2009 - 11:34 am 9. karlstro1:I could never, ever trust or believe anything Pelosi says. Her antics has tainted anything that comes out of her mouth. The media press sugar coats everything the Democrates say or do and no one seems to be leading for all Americans. To shut off debate and reasoning from the other side of the aisle is a disgrace to democracy. It has to stop now!
Jun 24, 2009 - 12:36 pm 10. WR Jonas:Thanks David. Which part of the statement is wrong? She is weaker, but she is still Speaker. And her colleagues are not aboutto throw her out. In conclusion I stand by my statement and your assumption is incorrect.
Jun 24, 2009 - 1:08 pm 11. David Thomson:“She is weaker, but she is still Speaker.”
You have candidly concede that Pelosi is weaker. She is now irreversibly damaged goods. That she remains in office is almost irrelevant. It probably is even a major plus for the Republicans.
Jun 24, 2009 - 1:51 pm 12. JDW:Why are we so quick to WANT Nancy out of her position? She is absolutely essential to our having any chance of regaining the House in ‘10. If she is ousted before that and replaced by even a half-way competent and decent Democrat, we’re screwed. Enough with trying to nail Pelosi. Keep her right where she is and keep letting the public know right where to find her.
Jun 25, 2009 - 11:09 am 13. WR Jonas:Our discussion was not about her strength but about retaining her Speakers chair.
Jun 25, 2009 - 2:08 pmBut, I give you credit for trying .