Nancy Pelosi - Worst... Person... In the WORLD Take Two

My favorite straight-faced quote: "It's about how we collect intelligence to protect the American people. And that is a very serious responsibility of Congress to do the proper oversight."

Evidence of her commitment to do the proper oversight:

• Did not question what she was told
• Did not act on what she had been told
• Did not share what she had been told

I dispute that Peosi is the Worst ... Person ... in the World. Remember, Dick Cheney still lives.

She is, however, way too mesmerized by the Washington power game. The past eight years showed what child's play it is for a determined executive to strip constitutional authority from a Congress entirely focused on its own perks and electoral interests.

In 1992, with the "advice and consent" of Congess, the U.S. signed the UN convention against torture. As Pelosi rightly notes, that gave it oversight responsibilities. The idea that secretly briefing a couple of legislative "leaders" could somehow override the publicly expressed will of the entire Congress is an unconstitutional travesty. That Pelosi and her ilk accepted such a proposition in exchange for being "kept in the loop" shows terrible judgment and a lack of principles.

But I wouldn't single out Pelosi for blame. The vast majority of congresscritters, even those currently out of the loop, aspire to "play with the big boys." The careful doling out of insider knowlwdge is a tried-and-true tool for an unprincipled president (or usurping VP).

By all means, shame Pelosi, as a warning to others in Congress. But realize what's at fault here is the entire sycophantic, self-aggrandizing, self-serving culture that has taken root in Washington. It will take more than a change in administration to weed out.

Good to see you blogging at Dag, dija.

While I've certainly got my reasons to get involved in good a Pelosi pile-on, I think people need to take a step back here and re-evaluate this situation.  Let's not let our possible misgivings about the Speaker overshadow the facts.  The CIA, who we know was torturing people and has also destroyed evidence of such, has produced some memos that vaguely assert that Pelosi was told they were waterboarding people.  This is the same CIA that drugs, kidnaps and tortures, which is why we're even talking about this stuff in the first place.  Even if Pelosi isn't being forthright, she still supports an investigation, which would likely put the CIA under a white-hot spotlight (although in the currently ambiguous legal and moral climate I suppose the option remains to "enhance" these proceedings as necessary).

Better still is that Bob Graham comes out of retirement with his legendary anal-retentive notebooks to question the CIA's timeline.  The CIA responds, "Oops, you're right, three of those meetings didn't ever happen."  I mean... wow.  I don't know.  You really can't make this stuff up.  People are getting taken for a ride.

I've got plenty of criticisms of Nancy Pelosi, but the worst person in the world?  On this?  Not even close.