This is old, but funny.
I am picturing John Boehner and Paul Ryan having a drink together on a portico tonight.
But can she keep it up? A lot of expectations are now riding on her. I don’t really see many people she could form a team with. After 50 years Democrat leadership is still damaged after a string of assassinations in the 1960s.
I would vote for him.
The absence of a 93-year-old RFK and an 89 year old MLK Jr are acutely felt in the party leadership, for sure. If only 101-year-old JFK could be here to offer his guidance.
There are plenty of capable members of government in various departments inspired by JFK. But I don’t think as many people aspire to positions of political leadership as much as they might have had MLK, JFK and RFK not been killed. They have been suppressed.
Is there any evidence of this?
Here, let’s try this exercise. You know how in 2018, there was all kinds of talk about the amazing recruitment of strong candidates that the Democrats managed to do? And how that played out and resulted in a pickup of 40 seats and 235 Democrats seated for the current session?
In 1974, the Democrats controlled 291 seats in the House. In 1976, they managed to pick up another one, to sit at 292 seats. 57 more representatives in congress than the current House majority. From 1980 through 1992, Democrats held an average of 261 seats in the House. It’s hard to see where you’re coming up with the idea that qualified, talented potential candidates failed to get involved in politics. By ballot box evidence, there were plenty winning elections, year after year.
I am trying to Google for info, but am mostly getting results about the actual assassination, the Grassy Knoll, conspiracy theories, etc.
Some other members of her caucus seem to appreciate the Speaker:
https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1089003717087690754
I do wonder what the world would look like now if people like JFK and MLK had lived their full, natural lifespans. We’ll never know. But I think it’s a stretch to say that leaves Pelosi without potential allies.
I think AOC is very promising. I would add Sanders too. But it’s still only two additional people, and you don’t really see them all together in the same place.
AOC is also very green. If she still shows the same level of enthusiasm after 10 more years in Congress I will be more impressed.
Oh, I agree completely with your assessment. I just thought it was funny when I saw a “Where will Pelosi find allies” post 20 minutes after seeing the new darling of the left express her own enthusiasm for the current holder of Trump’s manhood.
I don’t so much mean allies (i.e. people who will vote along side her in Congress) but more of a Rat Pack of close partners/pals she can share the spotlight with. Maybe right now they are still in high school? I dunno.
My point is that few Democrats have thrived in the limelight like the Kennedys did. Maybe people are avoiding higher office due to what happened to them?
1992 was 27 years ago.
Great! That’s some math right there!
Now, you’re aware that the time span of 1974 through 1992 comprises 18 years in between the 50 years since RFK was the last sadly successful major political assassination and 2018? Like, that’s something you can grok? So that means that LOTS of Democrats across the last 50 years were happy to jump in and run for a variety of offices, right?
Honestly, this feels like trying to discuss with The Flaming Carrot. :)
And in fact I would say that the exact opposite effect of what you’re trying to postulate happened.
For instance, Bill Clinton’s entire political career was apparently predicated by his meeting with JFK, who became Bubba’s idol. Members of JFK’s cabinet and his inner circle of friends, mentors and mentees in the House ans Senate dominated American politics into the 1980s and 1990s, including one of the most powerful House speakers in history, Tip O’Neill.
MLK’s political family tree includes Jesse Jackson and Andrew Young (both of whom were present at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis that awful day in 1968) as proteges and John Lewis as a peer.
As far as RFK goes, he was part of JFK’s cabinet, and then when he was elected senator, one of the most important Democratic figures in the latter half of the 20th century – his younger brother Teddy – only really seemed to find his voice after Robert joined him in the Senate in 1965. And RFK’s closest political friend was ex-astronaut John Glenn; Glenn was the guy who (along with Mrs. Glenn) took in the Kennedy children the day after their father was shot so that Ethel Kennedy could be at her husband’s bedside when he died. Glenn was elected to his first Senate term in 1974, and served for 25 years.
I mean, I could go on, but there’s just no evidence that:
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assassinations of three Democrats 55 and 50 years ago dealt long-lasting blows to the party, or
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That those deaths leave Nancy Pelosi without a peer group. I mean, Harris Wofford just passed away last week. He was a 35 year old special assistant and undersecretary in JFK’s cabinet…and he died last week at 92. 92!
I mean, I’m just not able to make sense of what you’re saying here, I guess.
It should also be noted that Nancy Pelosi does have her own peer group. She and Steny Hoyer were both interns for Maryland senator Daniel Brewster in the 1960s. She and Jim Clyburn are very close. In fact, Nancy’s “cabinet” includes Hoyer, Clyburn, Nita Lowey, Zoe Lofgren, Rosa DeLauro. Those reps all make up her inner circle.
His bluffs are profoundly stupid.
He’s so dishonest that he doesn’t even know what truth is supposed to look like.
I was just thinking that. Trump must be a terrible, terrible poker player. He’s incapable of nuance. It’s just constant bullshit turned up to eleven.
What does he think will happen? Pelosi will read that tweet and think, “Oh, no! My caucus is turning toward Trump!” LOL.
I just love the word ‘dozens’. High comedy.