March 20th, 2003: The day after the war in Iraq was launched; thousands and thousands of Nancy Pelosi’s constituents were in San Francisco’s streets protesting the illegal invasion. That same day on the floor of Congress, Nancy Pelosi condemned the demonstrators, and voted for a resolution declaring “unequivocal support and appreciation of the president … for his firm leadership and decisive action.”
Nancy Pelosi:
• Pushed for the Bail-out of Wall Street! Voted for the war, and has consistently voted for funding the war with no occupation withdrawal timetable, Voted for every Bush administration Pentagon budget request since 2001,
• Refused to deliver and ignored promises made to American Voters in the 2006 mid-term elections to end the war.
• Pushed the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that repealed Glass-Steagall and allowed commercial and investment banks and insurance companies to combine; it opened the door for the worst financial abuses now apparent. Pelosi also owns ½ million dollars in AIG stock, a company she is pushing to be bailed out.
• Supported the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act with President Bush.
• Voted for the 2001 USA Patriot Act.
• Pelosi was briefed by top officials and knew secretly about torture in 2002, and did nothing.
• Pushed the 2006 Homeland Security Department Authorization Act: destroying Posse Comitatus, removing constitutionally sacred provisions of preventing the military’s direct involvement in domestic law enforcement.
• Passed the 2008 FISA Amendments Act – to weaken standards of proof and warrants required for surveillance and grant telecom companies retroactive immunity for warrantless spying post-9/11.
• Pelosi voted against withdrawing from the WTO, and has praised NAFTA.
• Voted and backed similar “free trade” agreements with Australia, Peru, Chile, and Singapore.
• As House Speaker, she declared that efforts to impeach George Bush are “off the table.”
• Voted for offshore oil drilling, San Franciscans do not support this at all.
Let’s put a real candidate on the ballot who will truly represent San Francisco.
Let’s send Nancy Pelosi home, and put a real representative in the House!
Cindy Sheehan
for the 8th District U.S. Congress
(www.cindyforcongress.org)

Nader, McKinney, Gonzalez, Sheehan and Gravel would all have to be behind an effort to build another progressive party for it to be worth the effort.

If someone starts the Last Party, would it last?

Let me get this one out of the way. “The First shall be last.”

Okay, I’m done.

I’ve heard rumors that other independent candidates around the nation are either thinking about starting their own party, or thinking of joining Sheehan in starting this party. I’m not sure which one, as the rumors (I’m stressing that it’s not fact) didn’t specify.

I’ve got to agree that starting another party is a bad move for nearly anyone. At this point, it just further splits a movement. The only way I could see doing it is if a lot of prominent independents and third partisans got behind the party and made it a (relatively) big deal from the moment it started.

To be fair, the libertarians did take it over in ’72…

Calling a third party The First Party won’t change the reality of the uphill struggle it will face in getting organized.