Four thoughts on Sheehan vs. Pelosi [View All]

[Bicoastal]

1. Activists make lousy politicians. Politicians make lousy activists. Just my observation.

2. In my mind, the Impeachment conundrum consists of 3 seperate questions.

I. Should Bush/Cheney be impeached by this congress?
II. CAN Bush/Cheney be impeached by this congress?
III. If we're unsure of the answer to II, is it worth trying to impeach them regardless?

The answer to the first questions is blindingly easy, the second tricky, and the third is a question for the ages. It pits the idealist against the pragmatist, the impossible dream against the inconvenient truth, the right thing to do against the smart thing to do. And I, for one am stumped. But it seems foolish for me to suppose that we could legislate our way out of Iraq AND try Bush and Cheney for crimes against the Constitution at the same time. (Ending the war IS the primary motivation behind Impeachment, right?) Either way, our troops will be staying in Iraq for a while...which sucks for them.

3. It can never be overstated that we Democrats are suckers for the underdog, and this rivalry proves it. We loved Pelosi and Conyers until they were in a position of power, and then 6 months later, many of us turned on them in favor of Mrs. Sheehan, who now seems like the true underdog in a battle against a Dem-run Congress. If Sheehan was elected to office, we'd anxiously wait for her to DO something--and when nothing did happen (and I honestly can't imagine a scenario where a lone Independent with bad blood between both parties sways an entire legislative body towards her way of thinking), we'd probably pine for Pelosi return, or perhaps some other up-and-coming politician/activist.

Sounds impossible? Just remember how many progressives disparaged John Kerry when he won the nomination, preferring Dean, Kucinich, and others who were less Moderate. It was lucky for him that he lost--he's now much more respected around these parts than he ever was in 2004. So Sheehan has everything to lose by winning and everything to win by losing--at the very least, you have to respect the risk she's taking. But...

4. For the record, I'm sick of both Nancy and Cindy's increasingly empty and windy rhetoric, respectively. There MUST be a logical middle ground--maybe Al Gore could help us out. He's usually right when it comes to this sort of thing.