Nancy Pelosi: Social Media That Doesn't Support Me & Mine Needs to Sit Down & Shut Up
Nancy Pelosi has benefited from social media. It's safe to say that site like Daily Kos was a factor in her becoming Speaker of the House during the Bush Administration; in fact, the two entities are very simpatico.
Well, Pelosi is once again Speaker, but the political landscape has changed. The anti-war (in Iraq and Afghanistan, specifically) crowd has evolved to a non-interventionist movement. Black people who saw Bush's indifference to Hurricane Katrina started talking about police brutality. Those struggling to makes ends meet have watched in astonishment as Democrats and Republicans in Congress joined Bush to bail out the banks, or shuddered as President Obama not only gave some of the Wall Street watchdogs promotions while Occupy Wall Street protesters where being pepper-sprayed and have now begun to embrace universal healthcare, a $15.00 minimum wage and student loan forgiveness.
The Real Base of the Democratic Party has moved left since Pelosi's first stint as Speaker, and she is not being receptive to it at all.
Which brings us to her latest attempt to keep corporate centrists in charge of the Democratic Party: Pelosi apparently wants the more progressive voice to quiet down and get off the Twitter.
Regardless of how one feels about Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Ilhan Omar (MN) and Ayanna Pressley (MA), their influence on social media is something to envy. Even presidential candidates recognize that it's better to be on the same side as these ladies then in their way.
And Pelosi is, sadly, in their way. She wants to have nothing to do with their progressive agenda. And before anyone argues that she has bigger fish to fry, she doesn't even want to support the "Impeach Trump" crowd that's mostly made of of her centrist cohorts.
So that leaves us with some questions. What does Pelosi really want to do, beside bang a gavel and raise money? When's the last time Pelosi went after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for stonewalling bills coming out of the House? Why is Pay-Go so important when her predecessor (Paul Ryan) proved that all the concern coming from Republicans about deficits was just noise?
The participants of the newer social media probably know how Pelosi ran things during her last turn as Speaker, and now they have better outlets (like Twitter) to criticize her. She doesn't like that, especially from a fellow congress member, and now she want to regulate it. A far cry from the days when Daily Kos diaries were used to help propel her above the criticism from conservative media.
P.S.: The Base has presumably left Daily Kos behind as well, judging by its founder floundering to explain how Bernie Sanders being consistent is a bad thing.
Well, Pelosi is once again Speaker, but the political landscape has changed. The anti-war (in Iraq and Afghanistan, specifically) crowd has evolved to a non-interventionist movement. Black people who saw Bush's indifference to Hurricane Katrina started talking about police brutality. Those struggling to makes ends meet have watched in astonishment as Democrats and Republicans in Congress joined Bush to bail out the banks, or shuddered as President Obama not only gave some of the Wall Street watchdogs promotions while Occupy Wall Street protesters where being pepper-sprayed and have now begun to embrace universal healthcare, a $15.00 minimum wage and student loan forgiveness.
The Real Base of the Democratic Party has moved left since Pelosi's first stint as Speaker, and she is not being receptive to it at all.
Which brings us to her latest attempt to keep corporate centrists in charge of the Democratic Party: Pelosi apparently wants the more progressive voice to quiet down and get off the Twitter.
Pelosi’s comments, which were described as stern, came during the first full caucus meeting since a major blowup over emergency border funding last month between progressive and moderate lawmakers as well as a recent spat with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and her freshman allies.
"So, again, you got a complaint? You come and talk to me about it," Pelosi told Democrats, according to a source in the room. "But do not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just OK."
Democrats in the room said they interpreted that remark, in part, as a shot at Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who called moderate Democrats members of the “Child Abuse Caucus” in a tweet over their support for the Senate’s version of the emergency humanitarian package.
Regardless of how one feels about Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Ilhan Omar (MN) and Ayanna Pressley (MA), their influence on social media is something to envy. Even presidential candidates recognize that it's better to be on the same side as these ladies then in their way.
And Pelosi is, sadly, in their way. She wants to have nothing to do with their progressive agenda. And before anyone argues that she has bigger fish to fry, she doesn't even want to support the "Impeach Trump" crowd that's mostly made of of her centrist cohorts.
So that leaves us with some questions. What does Pelosi really want to do, beside bang a gavel and raise money? When's the last time Pelosi went after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for stonewalling bills coming out of the House? Why is Pay-Go so important when her predecessor (Paul Ryan) proved that all the concern coming from Republicans about deficits was just noise?
The participants of the newer social media probably know how Pelosi ran things during her last turn as Speaker, and now they have better outlets (like Twitter) to criticize her. She doesn't like that, especially from a fellow congress member, and now she want to regulate it. A far cry from the days when Daily Kos diaries were used to help propel her above the criticism from conservative media.
P.S.: The Base has presumably left Daily Kos behind as well, judging by its founder floundering to explain how Bernie Sanders being consistent is a bad thing.
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