The Nancy Pelosi deathwatch

[Cail]

Pelosi's fancy footwork

Nancy Pelosi is a woman of many talents. Yesterday, she performed the delicate art of backtracking while walking sideways.

The speaker of the House had just read a statement accusing the CIA of lying and was trying to beat a hasty retreat from her news conference before reporters could point out contradictions between her current position and her previous statements.

"Thank you!" an aide called out to signal an end to the session. Pelosi walked, sideways, away from the lectern and, still sidling in a sort of crab walk, was halfway to the door when a yell from CNN's Dana Bash, rising above the rest of the shouting, froze her in the aisle.

"Madam Speaker!" the correspondent called out. "I think there's one other question that I would like to ask, if that's okay."

"Sure, okay," Pelosi said, in a way that indicated it was not okay. Pelosi had no choice but to sidle back to the lectern.

Over the next few minutes of shouted questions -- "They lied to you? Were you justified? When were you first told? Did you protest? Why didn't you tell us?" -- the speaker attempted the crab-walk retreat again, returned to the lectern again and then finally skittered out of the room.

The session was bound to require fancy footwork. Intelligence officials last week released documents indicating that Pelosi was briefed in September 2002 about the use of aggressive questioning techniques. The CIA also disclosed that a top Pelosi aide had been briefed in early 2003 that waterboarding was being used to question terrorism suspects.

Republicans pounced: "Nancy Pelosi was an accomplice to 'torture' " said a headline on a piece by Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal. Particularly problematic was Pelosi's statement on April 23 that "we were not -- I repeat -- were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used."

Pelosi was out of sorts as she met reporters in her ceremonial office yesterday. "I want to read a statement, because I need to take the time out to do this," she said awkwardly, fishing around for the papers before her. "So bear with me for a moment, because it'll be shorter if I read it. But I am, again, in the -- in the busy schedule that we have, I think it's important to take the time to read this to you."

Carefully, she read that "those briefing me in September 2002 gave me inaccurate and incomplete information" about waterboarding. She admitted that an aide had been briefed a few months later, but then she moved to her fallback argument: It didn't matter if she was told about waterboarding, because "it was clear we had to change the leadership in Congress and in the White House."

NBC's Mike Viqueira was the first questioner. He asked if she had been "complicit" in the use of techniques such as waterboarding because her aide had been told that such techniques were in use.

"My statement is clear, and let me read it again. Let me read it again," she said. She looked for her statement. "I'm sorry, I have to find the page," she said. She read a few lines, then paused. "I'm sorry, I had the pages out of order." By now she had begun to employ her hands in the conversation, raising an index finger, circling her hands and finally moving both hands as if conducting an orchestra.

ABC's Jonathan Karl wanted to make sure he'd heard right. "You're accusing the CIA of lying to you?"

"Yes, misleading the Congress of the United States," Pelosi repeated. As she answered, she held a fist up, waved her index finger, formed her hand into an O, pushed her hair back, then resumed leading the orchestra. She appeared to have developed a case of dry mouth and was swallowing hard.

Now questions were being shouted from all around the room; Pelosi chose one from the back. Did she wish she had done more to object? "No, no, no, no, no, no," Pelosi said. "As I say in my statement," she repeated, looking down at her papers again.

Chad Pergram of Fox News asked if the episode makes it more difficult to have a "truth commission" to probe the use of harsh interrogation methods. Pelosi went back to her written statement: "And that's why I say in this . . ."

An aide was already trying to shut down the session with a "last question" cry, but Pelosi found a reporter who asked about health care -- and then demanded a follow-up. The other reporters grumbled. "Did you get booed?" Pelosi teased.

It was then that the speaker tried to crab-walk out of the session, and CNN's Bash stopped her in her tracks, demanding to know why Pelosi said last month that she hadn't known waterboarding was being used.

"I meant 'we,' we in that -- in that -- meeting," she attempted to answer.

"We were all clearly trying to get at the broader question of whether you knew about waterboarding at all," Bash said. "And the idea that we got from you was that you were never told that waterboarding was being used. But now we know that later, in February, you were told."

"That was beyond the point," Pelosi tried to argue.

As more skeptical questions were shouted, Pelosi opened her eyes wide. She licked her lips. She chopped the air with her hand and moved her arm like a windshield wiper. She swallowed hard. She used both hands to clear her hair from her face as she fired off pleas that "I wasn't briefed," "I wasn't informed" and "They misled us."

"That's it -- we're done!" a Pelosi aide said as the reporters continued to shout questions. Finally, in a burst of sideways energy and with the help of her aides, the speaker crab-walked out of the room.

This article is from that centerpiece of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy, The Washington Post. There's blood in the water folks.

[Plissken]

Hell, I'm hoping the sharks have lasers attached to their heads. I just hope everybody who authorized this crap (or looked the other way while it was happening) in my name goes overboard with her.

(We're gonna need a bigger boat!)

[Cail]

Then again, with Obama's reversal on nearly everything he promised during the campaign regarding Gitmo and the alleged abuses, she may end up walking.

[dlbpharmd]

Just goes to show that the use of torture was ok with practically everyone in Washington; until, suddenly, it wasn't.

Liars. Hypocrites. Pubs and Dems alike. Every damn one of them.

Bah! I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire.

[High Lord Tolkien]

I see this as having absolutely no negative/positive effect on Pelosi.

[lucimay]

heh. i agree with all the posts above!! grrrrrrr.

[Cybrweez]

I'd love to see the video, b/c this portrayal has to be slanted. How could a Congresswoman act in that manner. Unable to answer questions herself? Having to find the right page? I have to believe its slanted.

And I agree, probably won't affect much. Caught lying? Big deal, what's new? And people get excited over politicians. How come in sports, athletes caught lying about steroids, seem to get it harder then politicians. At least the athletes themselves become ignored (McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro) or scorned (Manny, A-Rod). W/politicians, it seems more often the issue itself gets ignored. But maybe they can continue to probe into sports cheating...

[Cail]

thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/pelosi-cia-misled-congress-over-waterboarding/?hp

I can't view videos at work, but I believe that it's available at the above link.

[Zarathustra]

I'd love to see the video, b/c this portrayal has to be slanted. How could a Congresswoman act in that manner. Unable to answer questions herself? Having to find the right page? I have to believe its slanted.

No, that was spot-on. She was completely unprepared and nervous. Her body language screamed, "I'm lying!"

The only way this can amount to "nothing" is if the Left gives her a pass. It's good to see bipartisan (or tripartisan, in my case) condemnation of her here on the Watch. But if she escapes any consequences of her complicity, then entire issue of Bush and Cheney "war crimes" will go away. How could any Democrat complain about those two when one of their own gets away with her complicity in these "war crimes," too? I predict that the Left will gradually become quiet on this issue, and Pelosi will suffer no consequences in the short term. She might lose some power in her own party, but that's it.

And the Left forgiving her of her "war crimes" will be the final proof that this has all been concocted as a political witch hunt to distract from our current problems.

What's surprising is how utterly stupid Pelosi has turned out to be. What a miscalculation on her part. I think she actually assumed that the media would let the Dems get away with anything.

The media is coming out the big winner in this. They are actually doing their jobs. Way to go, media!

[Cail]

The media is coming out the big winner in this. They are actually doing their jobs. Way to go, media!

I agree. I'm thinking that it may stem from realizing that they were used by the Obama Machine, and that it still is business as usual in DC.

[Farsailer]

I'm fond of the saying that inside the Beltway, there are no longer Republicans and Democrats, there are only the Ins and the Outs. Just maybe the media will realize that and start treating them equal opportunity muckraking.

[Cybrweez]

I watched it. Didn't see any sidling, but it cut off so I can't speak to that part of press conference. I wouldn't say overly nervous tho. She does keep steering the issue to only waterboarding, saying she was led to believe they were not doing it, but I thought the issue was enhanced torture techniques in general, which she didn't make clear about her knowledge at the time. And, typically, keeps steering it to what the Bush admin did wrong. I wished someone asked the question if there were no torture techniques, would there be more attacks?

EDIT: just read malik's post, and that does remind me how she mentioned a few times that this whole thing was just a republican diversion tactic. So she used the diversion tactic of blaming Bush admin for everything.

[Farsailer]

EDIT: just read malik's post, and that does remind me how she mentioned a few times that this whole thing was just a republican diversion tactic. So she used the diversion tactic of blaming Bush admin for everything.

Classic attempt to change the subject to get the heat off herself. Guess it's a tad uncomfortable in that kitchen...

[[Syl]]

I've been ready to see Pelosi go for a while, and this is just another nail in the coffin. Cut 'er loose.

[Cagliostro]

As a lefty, but not really a democrat, I've not been fond of Pelosi. I'd be a little happy to see her go. As long as she isn't replaced by the next higher demon.

[wayfriend]

The woman went from being a housewife to being two seats away from being the president. Say what you want about mistakes, but overall you have to admire her achievements.

I wouldn't write the obit yet, though.

However, taking the focus off of who authorized torture, and moving it to whether anyone in congress knew about it ... making that the *bigger* story ... well, that *IS* diversionary politics. While Pelosi may come off like an excuse factorty trying to make that claim, it is true in the end.

Cheney played no small part in trying to move the political magnifying glass over to the other side of the aisle. He succeeded.

[Farsailer]

Cheney played no small part in trying to move the political magnifying glass over to the other side of the aisle. He succeeded.

And that is bad how?

The point being made here is that Pelosi is not the innocent babe in the woods that she was making herself out to be. And that is a good point to have out there, people need to know that as much as they need to know what Cheney was up to.

[lucimay]

The woman went from being a housewife to being two seats away from being the president. Say what you want about mistakes, but overall you have to admire her achievements.

I wouldn't write the obit yet, though.

However, taking the focus off of who authorized torture, and moving it to whether anyone in congress knew about it ... making that the *bigger* story ... well, that *IS* diversionary politics. While Pelosi may come off like an excuse factorty trying to make that claim, it is true in the end.

Cheney played no small part in trying to move the political magnifying glass over to the other side of the aisle. He succeeded.

arg. i also agree with this.

i'm just too damned agreeable lately huh!

dudes, it's political ping pong in washington, dc. who can poop on who.
and THAT is bidness as per usual.

[Vraith]

I just don't understand it. I never understood how she became so important, got to be speaker, any of it. There are so many better liberals/dems...maybe I have some unrecognized prejudice, but 90% of the time, when I hear her speak, I'm just...huh? what?
I just hope they replace her...but I think it unlikely.

OTOH, Dick Cheney is a dangerous SOB...no one should ever take their eyes off the man.

[Orlion]

I know I'm echoing many hear when I say this, but:
-If "torture" of terrorist suspects was bad, everyone involved should be accountable, Dem or Rep
-Because of this obvious statement, the Dems may let the torture issue slide to save face... business as usual in D.C.
-It is good to see that there are reporters in all stations that would not turn from this issue because "they're liberal media." Almost restores some semblance of faith in journalism...