Debating The Issues. Not.

So, the political discourse in this country has devolved into equating the Speaker of the House with the second most disgusting term for a woman's anatomy.  While I thought Sarah Palin was a moron, I would never have referred to her using nasty nicknames because there were too many other terms that were appropriate.  Idiot, clueless and inciter of hatred being among them, the mini me version of Limbaugh.  Palin was picked as a VP candidate only because she was a woman not because she was competent or had skills and knowledge that the position needed.  The woman, and I use that term loosely, I would describe using the "C" word would be Ann Coulter and only because she invites vulgarity as she drips vitriol and reeks of self importance when she attacks the 9/11 families.  Coulter isn't an elected official, she is a tacky pundit and a fear monger in her own right.

But when you see Nancy Pelosi, the Republican National Committee wants you to think “Pussy Galore.”

At least that’s the takeaway from a video released by the committee this week – a video that puts Pelosi side-by-side with the aforementioned villainess from the 1964 James Bond film “Goldfinger.”

The RNC video, which begins with the speaker’s head in the iconic spy-series gun sight, implies that Pelosi has used her feminine wiles to dodge the truth about whether or not she was briefed by the CIA on the use of waterboarding in 2002. While the P-word is never mentioned directly, in one section the speaker appears in a split screen alongside the Bond nemesis – and the video’s tagline is “Democrats Galore.”

The wisdom of equating the first woman speaker of the House with a character whose first name also happens to be among the most vulgar terms for a part of the female anatomy might be debated – if the RNC were willing to do so, which it was not. An RNC spokesperson refused repeated requests by POLITICO to explain the point of the video, or the intended connection between Pelosi and Galore.

I don't like Pelosi because I feel she is ineffectual, she protested too much and then folded, giving the Bush administration more than they wanted. Every time.  Yet Republicans maintain that she's incompetent when it should be the Democrats who should be yelling at the top of their lungs. Do I think she lied? You betcha! But probably not about the briefing since the Bush administration wasn't well known for openness. Besides, the important question here is whether or not torture occurred, not when she knew about it.

The Republicans are trying to have it both ways, they want to have their cake and eat it too. If Ms. Pelosi was briefed in 2002 then that means the Bush administration was torturing people and all those involved should be punished. Then, and only then, Ms. Pelosi should be investigated and censured, not the other way around. The Republicans want Pelosi penalized for a crime they swear was never committed and if it was then it was justified but she should be punished for not letting anyone know about it. That only makes sense to anyone who isn't capable of stringing two related thoughts together. Or hasn't taken a logic class.

And what do Ms. Pelosi's looks have to do with job performance, such as it is? Tip O'Neill wasn't that great looking and that was never an issue while he was Speaker. And don't even get me started on Dennis Hastert. Besides, Honor Blackman was quite attractive. In true Republican fashion they really wanted to equate Pelosi's looks with Irma Bunt or Rosa Klebb but their names weren't offensive enough.

BBB