Pelosi Derangement Syndrome

Jesse Walker | November 7, 2006

This was the year that Nancy Pelosi, an annoying but not exceptionally obnoxious politician, became an officially designated demon on the right, suitable for mentioning in the same breath as Saddam Hussein, Dan Rather, or the Daily Kos. Today, as Team Red learns whether all those attacks have paid off, let us look back at the campaign and ask: What is the single silliest thing any Republican candidate, flunky, or pundit-publicist has said about the horrors of a Pelosi speakership?

I nominate this article in The American Spectator, which says Pelosi might plunge into legalizing man-boy love. Here's the argument:

1. Pelosi once marched near NAMBLA booster Harry Hay in the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade.

2. Her office refused to comment on the subject.

3. ...actually, that's all there is.

Further nominations are welcome.

Comments

|11.7.06 @ 11:51AM|#

My God, I once walked by the former Gestapo headquarters in Berlin. Does that mean I can't run for office without being accused of Nazi sympathies?

The Wine Commonsewer|11.7.06 @ 11:53AM|#

Pelosi was way up near the top of my demon list long before American Spectator and the GOP discovered how obnoxious she is.

This Pelosi cover story is worth posting again.

See You Next Tuesday Nance.

|11.7.06 @ 12:10PM|#

"The gavel of the speaker of the House is in the hands of special interests, and now it will be in the hands of America's children."

Oh wait, you meant ABOUT pelosi, not BY pelosi. My Bad.

ChrisO|11.7.06 @ 12:25PM|#

If Pelosi didn't belong on the Bad Plastic Surgery page, I doubt the GOP would be using her as a scare tactic. Sad but true. I doubt most Americans have ever heard her utter a word.

But really, it's no worse than constantly invoking Karl Rove and Halliburton as scare tactics. It's a tried and true campaign tactic, so one probably shouldn't get too worked up about it.

|11.7.06 @ 12:25PM|#

As a mother and a grandmother...

|11.7.06 @ 12:33PM|#

People actually know and dislike Karl Rove and Halliburton, ChrisO.

Pelosi isn't well known enough to be an effective boogeyman, outside of the activist/donor base.

The Republicans are demonizing her more to set the stage for their time in the opposition than as a campaign tactic.

|11.7.06 @ 12:43PM|#

Jesse:

I think you're laboring under the illusion that your readers are reasonable, civil people. They hate Pelosi and all the freedom-hating, commie-loving, tax-grabbing monsters as much as all the other right-wing fanatics do. Scratch a right-wing libertarian...

|11.7.06 @ 12:51PM|#

Remember Bush Derangement Syndrome? It's symptoms were, as I recall, not wanting him to invade Iraq, considering his statements about Iraqi WMDs to be lies, and accusing him of wanting to take away civil liberties and torture people. Ahem.

Anyways, I guess these are the symptoms of Pelosi Derangement Syndrome:

"The headquarters for Jay Fawcett's campaign for Colorado's 5th Congressional District was vandalized overnight and a death threat - the third such threat - was also emailed to Fawcett. Both incidents have been reported to the police.

As voters headed to the polls, Fawcett campaign volunteers arriving at campaign offices were greeted with a vile "Skunk" aroma, making it virtually impossible to conduct work there. The campaign is expecting more than 200 people to come through the offices today to help with Get Out The Vote and Poll Watching efforts.

"Don't let these hooligans deter you from exercising your Constitutional right to vote," said Fawcett. "It's time to take a stand against these attacks."

This is the second time the Fawcett Campaign has been vandalized. Last Tuesday the Campaign Finance Director's car was covered in the skunk smell, while parked out front of the El Paso County Republican Office."

So, in short, we need to call out the national guard or the illegal aliens will steal the election.

Paul|11.7.06 @ 12:59PM|#

I think you're laboring under the illusion that your readers are reasonable, civil people. They hate Pelosi and all the freedom-hating, commie-loving, tax-grabbing monsters as much as all the other right-wing fanatics do.

Who the hell is Pelosi?

|11.7.06 @ 1:04PM|#

Pelosi wants to legalize man-boy love?

Sweet, getting some hot man-on-child action without the threat of the pokey is, ahem, right up my alley. Now, if we can get a national amendment legalizing all sexual activity and lowering the age of consent to nil, I'm totally there.

And yes; I'm completely serious.

Glad I voted Democrat this year...

|11.7.06 @ 1:15PM|#

Pelosi is a typical minority leader--overly partisan and too shrill for the average listener. That works okay when holding the minority position, not so well when holding the majority position. I've heard some of her wackier statements and agree with many here that she's going to ably fill the Gingrich role for the GOP--assuming the Democrats get control of the House, of course. That bodes ill for the Democrats retaining control in 2008.

Frankly, if I were the Democrats, I'd somehow oust her and put in someone more moderate. Compared to the current buffoon, there are plenty of Representatives who would seem to be an improvement.

Mike Laursen|11.7.06 @ 1:20PM|#

I wasn't a supporter of Badnarik, but I've got to give him credit for flying INTO town to ride in the San Francisco gay pride parade. Meanwhile, John Kerry flew OUT of town the night before.

|11.7.06 @ 1:21PM|#

I am thoroughly unimpressed with Pelosi.
She's a terrible public speaker, and has all the charisma and style of a particleboard bookshelf bought at Wal*Mart.

Oh, and I pretty much disagree with everything I've ever heard her say.

And just for joe, no, I wasn't out vandalizing Fawcett's campaign headquarters.

|11.7.06 @ 1:29PM|#

Pro Libertate

I have posted elsewhere that elsewhere that I am certain the Democrats will dump Pelosi in favor of someone else as Speaker. Having her there may have been stylish while they were in opposition but with the majority I think they'll want someone more substantial.

No idea who, though.

|11.7.06 @ 1:32PM|#

Pro Lib, mediageek,

Pelosi, shrill? I think she's a very accommodating consensus-builder. She's also more of a back-room party manager than a spokesperson. The model for her speakership will be closer to Hastert than Gingrich, in style anway.

John Murtha is going to challenge Steny Hoyer for the Majority Leader post if the Dems take the House, and he'll probably win. He'll be the out-front guy - looks great on camera, and is the poster boy for responsible opposition to the Republican war. But he won't actually be running things to the degree that Delay ran things as Hastert's nominal #2. Substantively, this will be Pelosi's House, even if more people recognize Murtha on teevee.

|11.7.06 @ 1:36PM|#

Sometimes politics is just damned entertaining. Good old fashioned smear campaigns are so rediculous they are funny sometimes. The Dems do the same thing with the "are you or have you ever been a member of the Federalist society" schtick they do to every Republican nominee to the bench. The Republicans now come back with the "well she is from San Fransisco and she kind looks like that woman from Washington who wanted to marry the 12 year old and she was once seen on the same street as some NAMBLA types, my God she must a child predator!!!" Fortuneately there are lots of legitimate reasons not to like Pelosi.

|11.7.06 @ 1:37PM|#

joe, I disagree completely. Pelosi has been quite unimpressive in her current role, and I have low expectations for her as Speaker. Not GOP-level low expectations, mind you--I don't think she's some She-Devil :) I say this with my political strategist hat on: I believe that a Pelosi-led House will be a GOP-led House in two years. Therefore, it's in the Democrats' best interest to find another player. There are some good ones out there, politically speaking.

|11.7.06 @ 1:39PM|#

Nobody wants to feed the troll? No love? Aw, come on guys...

|11.7.06 @ 1:43PM|#

Joe, yes, shrill, annoying, and prone to tossing out hackneyed political clichés.

As for a consensus builder, I assume you mean that she's pretty good at that sort of thing within the democratic party?

|11.7.06 @ 1:43PM|#

Apparently the Pelosi fright-mask was very popular this year.

I predict that Pelosi's tenure as Speaker (assuming the Dems take over) will be every bit the lightning magnet that Newt made famous. And people are going to get every bit as sick of the shilling for the fringe.

I don't buy this "she's just a sweet 'ol grammy" crap. Give me a break.

ChrisO|11.7.06 @ 1:55PM|#

People actually know and dislike Karl Rove and Halliburton, ChrisO.

By "people," I assume you mean Democratic political junkies and the moonbat left. I doubt that Mr. & Ms. America know and dislike them anymore than they know and dislike Pelosi. Like I said before, these are just scare tactics used to rile up the more activized members of the base.

|11.7.06 @ 1:57PM|#

It's not that she is more or less evil than any other power-hungry politician...it's that she is so...well...so ordinary. And "ordinary" kind of undermines the whole notion of a "leadership" position, doesn't it? She would be more of a Hastert than a Gingrich.

Sheesh, I really miss Tip O'Neill.

|11.7.06 @ 2:05PM|#

ed,

I miss Henry Clay. Where are the Whigs when you need them? Though I think he was a Democratic-Republican when he was Speaker.

Ah, I'm having a science fiction geek moment: When I read "Speaker", I think "Speaker to Animals" from Niven's Ringworld series. Not sure why.

|11.7.06 @ 2:13PM|#

Pelosi Derangement Syndrome....?

Isn't that a given?

Ohhhhhhh, about her...silly me.

Matt S|11.7.06 @ 2:28PM|#

Pelosi is a lot more pragmatic than people give her credit for. Those of us living in or near Baghdad by the Bay are truly enjoying the latest right-wing jihad: against "San Francisco values".

I think had Pelosi's name been followed by something like (D- Marin) rather than (D- Horrible homosexual-loving, terrorist-appeasing, Stalinist, limousine sushi latte Volvo liberal metropolis) she'd attract far less attention than she does already.

|11.7.06 @ 2:28PM|#

If we bring back Henry Clay and the Whigs won't we have to bring back dueling.

Not that I'm against that or anything.

|11.7.06 @ 2:32PM|#

Dueling and aristocratic honor sound like good ideas to me. Yeah, there's a body count associated with that, but so what if we lose a few well-to-do members of society? We need turnover there, anyway :)

Yes, I'm a member of the Musketeer School of Politics: "If it offends you, run it through."

|11.7.06 @ 2:42PM|#

...but so what if we lose a few well-to-do members of society?

You just put that in there to get joe on our side, didn't you? :)

|11.7.06 @ 2:47PM|#

Me and my rapier-wielding typing hand are that transparent, are we? Well, it is "All for one and one for all", you know. I've been typing at joe and vice versa long enough to believe that he secretly supports a sword-drawing-at-the-drop-of-a-hat and dueling society. It's actually the coherent, underlying theme to all of his postings ;)

|11.7.06 @ 3:02PM|#

"By "people," I assume you mean Democratic political junkies and the moonbat left. I doubt that Mr. & Ms. America know and dislike them anymore than they know and dislike Pelosi. Like I said before, these are just scare tactics used to rile up the more activized members of the base."

Never was a truer statement made. Nobody cares about that crap. Until the Democrats come up with some ideas and principles that appeal to someone beyond the nutroots, they are not going to accomplish anything, I don't care if they win all 535 seats in Congress.

|11.7.06 @ 3:30PM|#

You're kidding, right? You don't think Karl Rove is better known than Nancy Pelosi, and widely dispised?

http://www.pollingreport.com/P-Z.htm

This page conveniently has both Rove and Pelosi polls, John and ChrisO, so you don't have to navigate a complicated page to find out that you're wrong.

Both much better known, and much, much more unpopular.

|11.7.06 @ 3:43PM|#

Joe,

Do you really think people vote based on Karl Rove? Really? What color is the sky in your world? Do you know anyone who isn't a net troll and actually has a life? None of the ones I know, know or care who Karl Rove is anymore than they knew or cared who Sid Blumanthal was during the Clinton Administration. More importantly, if he is so important and so despised, how do the Republicans manage to win even a single seat in Congress letalone control both houses or at worst after today keep the Democrats to a slim majority in both houses? You really need to get out more.

|11.7.06 @ 3:52PM|#

John,

Is that what you do when proven wrong? Ask me about the sky?

I didn't raise the issue of Pelosi's unfavorables vs. those of Rove and Halliburton. That was Chris O. Then you agreed with him, and I linked to some actual data.

I have no idea what color the sky was when any of those polls were taken.

I do know that you comport yourself in a very low-class manner when, as happens so often, you are shown to be full of it.

|11.7.06 @ 4:03PM|#

Actually, it's a valid point to question just how widespread Anti-Rovinism really is. Just as it is to question antipathy to most shadowy public figures. Certainly, plenty of people see Rove as the evil puppetmaster, but do those people constitute a large percentage of the general electorate? Maybe, but I doubt it. I'm not sure that most people know who the vice president is, let alone Karl Rove.

I have a different answer if we start talking about the president :)

ChrisO|11.7.06 @ 4:08PM|#

Joe, without doing a point-by-point comparison, it appeared to me that Pelosi and Rove had roughly the same amount of name recognition in those polls, though I will concede that Rove had less favor. Neither appears to be very popular.

Nevertheless, that does nothing to prove the effect of these scare tactics on Mr. & Ms. America today. Most of these bullshit commercials appeared in the last days of the campaign, when it's well known that GOTV is the point, not persuading the undecided voter. And there's nothing partisan about the tactic. All sides do it because it works. That says nothing about Rove, Pelosi or anomymous party flacks, but about us as a people.

|11.7.06 @ 4:33PM|#

"I do know that you comport yourself in a very low-class manner when, as happens so often, you are shown to be full of it." - joe

Pot, meet kettle. Kettle, pot.

At least now I know what joe went as for Halloween. I can just hear him singing now:

"I'm a little teapot
Short and stout.
Here is my handle
Here is my spout.

When I get all steamed up
Hear me shout.
Tip me over and
Pour me out."

Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

|11.7.06 @ 6:30PM|#

what was that slogan again?

Vote democrat in 2006 to show just how bat shit crazy they really are.

the next two years should be fun.

|11.7.06 @ 6:36PM|#

I do know that you comport yourself in a very low-class manner when, as happens so often, you are shown to be full of it.

Is it just me or does Joe really hate the poor?

What is it Joe, are you protecting the low class from middle class from using their manners?

Note: I am a libertarian and feel that anyone can use any derogatory pejorative they want to without legal prosecution.

|11.7.06 @ 6:48PM|#

I've been the subject of some pretty weak attacks on this board, but those two are definitely the lamest.

I'm going to pour myself out on POOR PEOPLE! And SCALD THEM!

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAA!!!!!!!

|11.7.06 @ 8:08PM|#

And THAT is the funniest post of the week, Scalding Joe.

|11.7.06 @ 11:29PM|#

"The gavel of the speaker of the House is in the hands of special interests, and now it will be in the hands of America's children."

BONK BONK! BONK BONK ON THE HEAD!