Tom’s Tidbits- Bye, Nance. Don’t let the door hit ya…

Greetings,

It seems there’s much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. We all dodged a bullet as election deniers, insurrectionists, racists, and general whack-jobs lost across the board. Not all of them, but enough to be encouraged we might be passing the torch to a new generation and teasing us with the dim possibility of new leadership to rebel against our Corporate overlords.

Last week, Nancy Pelosi announced she would not run for re-election as Speaker. First elected a Representative in 1987, she became Minority Leader in 2002 and was first elected as Speaker in 2006. She was the first woman, first Californian, and first Italian-American to hold the seat, just third in line to the Presidency. Though she won’t be Speaker, she’ll continue to represent San Francisco for at least another two years as she won her 19^th term in the last election. Nancy Pelosi was widely praised as one of the most powerful and effective Speakers ever. She’s had a truly historic tenure and richly deserves the congratulations and respect she is receiving, and I’d like to join the chorus.

I’d like to, but I can’t completely because my feelings about her are so mixed. I don’t dislike her personally and I’m not fooled by the decades of her magical thinking and sheep’s clothing, but I think Nancy represents many of the worst parts of our electoral process and government in general. 19 terms is a true achievement, but it’s also an indictment of a system that allows someone to ‘serve’ for that long. Her net worth of $114 million makes her the 10^th richest person in a House that desperately needs to be recalibrated to represent the ordinary Americans instead of the richest ones. She’s a prolific fundraiser, but her donations come from closed-door conferences with corporations and rich individuals rather than accumulations of small public donations. Her longtime opposition to the STOCK act makes her emblematic of the insider corruption across government. She, like so many other politicians, is in her 80’s when our country needs the leadership of a younger generation.

Maybe worst of all is her obstinate resistance to Progressive change with people screaming for it. “I don’t think we want a new direction” she said, then led the Corporate wing of her party to push Hillary past other, vastly more popular options. She used her ‘power and effectiveness as Speaker’ to protect the Establishment against a rising tide of Progressivism. I can never forgive her for helping to elect Donald Trump.

As I said, there may actually be something to be grateful for as New York’s Hakeem Jeffries is the front-runner to replace Nancy. At just 52, he’s served six years in the New York legislature before being elected to the US House in 2013. He could be exactly what’s needed to take the Dem’s in a new direction, because get this… he’s from the House Progressive Caucus, the 100-member group that boasts Pramila Jayapal, Katie Porter, Ro Khanna, Mark Pocan, and AOC’s entire ‘Squad’! Hakeem may be just the bold, progressive leadership that… wait… wait… oh. In June of this year he helped found Team Blue PAC, “A PAC formed last year by House Democrats to combat progressive primary challengers.” Maybe they ARE just teasing us after all.

But for this Thanksgiving at least, thank you to Nancy and best hopes to Hakeem… now please pass the cranberry sauce.

Make a great day,

aaazTomSignature