Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Politics, Society

Pelosi Shreds Decades Of Tradition In Demonstrating Against Trump
YouTube Screenshot

This morning I have a column in the Hill newspaper on my reaction to the disgraceful conduct of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and various Democratic members at the State of the Union address last night. As I tweeted during the address, her conduct tore up more than a speech, but decades of tradition and left any semblance of civility in tatters on the House floor.

Forty-four years ago, I walked on to the floor of the House of Representatives as a new Democratic 15-year-old page from Chicago.  I stood and marveled at the beehive of activity on the floor in the People’s House. I can still remember that moment because it forged a bond and reverence that has never weakened for me.  As a Democratic leadership page during the speakership of Tip O’Neill, I watched some of the most passionate and important debates of the generation from the Neutron Bomb to civil rights legislation to sweeping national park bills.  The country was deeply divided, but both parties maintained the tradition of civility and decorum.  I was struck how members, even in the heat of furious debates, would not attack each other by name and followed rigid principles of decorum. They understood that they were the custodians of this institution and bore a duty to strengthen and pass along those traditions to the next generation.

That is why I was (and remain) so offended by this display. I believe that President Trump himself is worthy of criticism for not shaking the hand of Pelosi. I also did not approve of aspects of his speech, including bestowing the Medal of Freedom on Rush Limbaugh in the gallery like a reality show surprise scene. There was much to object to in the address, but presidents often make comments that enrage or irritate speakers.

However, none of that excuses Pelosi. At that moment, she represents the House as an institution — both Republicans and Democrats. Instead, she decided to become little more than a partisan troll from an elevated position. The protests of the Democratic members also reached a new low for the House. Pelosi did not gavel out the protest. She seemed to join it.

It was the tradition of the House that a speaker must remain in stone-faced neutrality no matter what comes off that podium. The tradition ended last night with one of the more shameful and inglorious moments of the House in its history. Rather than wait until she left the floor, she decided to demonstrate against the President as part of the State of the Union and from the Speaker’s chair. That made it a statement not of Pelosi but of the House.

For those of us who truly love the House as an institution, it was one of the lowest moments to unfold on the floor. That is why I argue in the Hill that, if Pelosi does not apologize and agree to honor the principle of neutrality and civility at the State of the Union, she should resign as speaker.

570 thoughts on “Pelosi Shreds Decades Of Tradition In Demonstrating Against Trump”

  1. Pingback: Two Democrats Call for Pelosi to Resign as Speaker After SOTU Ripping Stunt - eEventonline.com
  2. Pingback: Jonathan Turley says ‘partisan troll’ Nancy Pelosi needs to apologize or step down as House Speaker – MAGA-zine

  3. Senators Klobuchar, Warren, Sanders, and Bennett each abused their power by voting to impeach their opponent in the 2020 election. Their personal conflict of interest is obvious.- why didn’t they recuse themselves?

    ************************
    “Why am I running? Because this is about electing the jury to impeach (POTUS) and I will make a heck of juror,”
    Rashida Tlaib, March 1, 2018

    “We’re gonna go in there and we’re going to impeach the motherf****r.”
    -Rep. Rashida Tlaib D-Mich Jan 3, 2019

    *************************

    Leaders like Nancy Pelosi set the tone from the top. Or it may be that Ms. Pelosi is just a follower. Either way, Professor Turley is right. Ms. Pelosi has forfeited any claim to a leadership role.

  4. There’s a reason a loser like Jon gets stuck at the 22nd ranked 2nd tier law school

    Last time you expelled your vomitus on here you stated GW was a 3rd tier law school. So apparently he is doing something right since you state is now 2nd tier, other than providing you a forum gratis to act like a imbecile. but hey! You do you!

    I looked for Mespo at the gym this morning. I saw a surgeon in his 80s doing the stationary bike rocking it but my favorite JD wearing colorful spandex was missing.

    Wassup Mespo!?

    1. estovir:

      Actually was on the stationary today at Anytime. I’m getting up to about a 45 minutes at 14 mph. A little gouty elbow has been slowing me down.

    1. Deflect and redirect, utterly impossible for David to stay on subject? You do understand 1984 was written as fiction, not a guide book.

  6. The Shill’s Not Disappointed 

    No, I dont care that Donald Trump remains president for now. I never thought, for a moment, that Mike Pence would be an alternative. Pence may, in fact, be crazier than Trump.

    It’s known that Mike Pence was so unpopular as Governor of Indiana he might have lost his reelection bid.  Donald Trump may have saved Pence from defeat by choosing him as V.P.

    Pence has an eerie manner of acting like a robot.  An actor who looks distinguished but seems to lack personality.  In truth Pence ‘hides’ his personality; concealing the religious nut beneath.

    So, ‘no’, I won’t be feeling America missed an opportunity.  It’s not like there would have been a brief ‘golden age’ under Pence.  Instead America might have gone from one crazy to another.

    2. “No, I dont care that Donald Trump remains president for now.”

      Peter, did you ever think about the fact that no one cares what you think? To many of your statements lack knowledge or any sense of perspective. That is why your thoughts are discounted and used only to play Whack a Mole with.

    3. The Shill’s Not Disappointed…No, I dont care that Donald Trump remains president for now…So, ‘no’, I won’t be feeling America missed an opportunity.

      Try as you might Shill, the 5 stages of grief are not a la carte. Your statements of acceptance are actually evidence of denial of the true feelings you’ve displayed on this blog. This is a process and sadly, you’re light years away from actual acceptance. There is a bright side though. You’re not alone. Say hello to Natacha and Gainesville. 🙂

    1. David Benson is the God Emperor of Making Stuff Up and owes me forty-two citations (one from the OED, one from the town ordinances and two from the Old Testament), an equation and the source of a quotation, after sixty-two weeks, and needs to cite all his work from now on. – you are trying to sling a lot of old mud there, David. Should we look at the mob connections of Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro, etc. who make all this mob films? What say you, David, you without sin.

    2. David, try not to be so ignorant. There was a lot of corruption in NYC government and people went to jail all the time. Some of those corrupt people hate Giuliani today because he put them or their friends away.

      The City still needed people to build buildings and infrastructure. Without people that could navigate the corruption NYC today would be a wasteland.

      Many of the complaints have to do with builders being given special permission such as the ability to build higher. Those were deals. The builder got the height and provided small parks open to all. That type of dealing was great for the City of New York but ignorance makes people believe a different story. I have taken a few sentences out of the WP article. Take note despite the number of buildings and depsite all the criminality and thousands of interactions with it Trump was never found to do anything illegal.

      “He was never accused of illegality, and observers of the time say that working with the mob-related figures and politicos came with the territory. …

      They are there for me,” he said. “And that’s a broken system.”

      he also had to work with unions and companies known to be controlled by New York’s ruling mafia families, which had infiltrated the construction industry, according to court records, federal task force reports and newspaper accounts. …”

      Trump learned how to keep himself clean even while working with crooks. That is something our legislators never learned to do. It was valuable experience for Trump which helps him deal with crooked nations and crooked politicians at home while maintaining a spotless record.

  8. Amazing how the associations with criminals, and their lawyers, just rolls off The Donald’s reputation. He has certainly perfected the technique of the Big Lie. Looks to be that PCS is attempting to emulate him.

    1. David Benson is the God Emperor of Making Stuff Up and owes me forty-four citations (one from the OED, one from the town ordinances and two from the Old Testament), an equation and the source of a quotation, after sixty-two weeks, and needs to cite all his work from now on. – citations are needed for that, David. I will add one for The Donald and one for me.

    2. David Benson is the God Emperor of Making Stuff Up and owes me forty-two citations (one from the OED, one from the town ordinances and two from the Old Testament), an equation and the source of a quotation, after sixty-two weeks, and needs to cite all his work from now on. – according to the article, Trump was more source than mobster. You really have to bone up on your reading comprehension.

      1. I did get two citations from him, Mr. Schulte.🤓
        They were both pretty lame, but I have a better batting average at wringing citations out of him.
        Did you even get two out of all of the citations that Benson still owes you?😟

        1. Ordinarily I ignore Anonymous but in this case I will counter the Nazi Big Lie technique: I don’t owe PCS a da*n thiing, he just Makes Stuff Up.

          1. David Benson is the God Emperor of Making Stuff Up and owes me forty-two citations (one from the OED, one from the town ordinances and two from the Old Testament), an equation and the source of a quotation, after sixty-two weeks, and needs to cite all his work from now on. – David, if you don’t cite your sources, YOU are just Making Stuff Up. I have been waiting 62 weeks for the first citation, not counting the time I was absent from the blog.

        2. Anonymous – I have never gotten one citation. You are doing much better than I am.

    3. “Had I been a little bit sharper, I think I might’ve—well, it might’ve been a direction we could have gone.”
      I read the article Benson provided about a former FBI agent talking about an encounter with Trump nearly 45 years ago.
      So “had he” been sharper in 1976 “it ‘might have’ been a different direction we could have gone”.
      That seems to be pretty weak as far as building the “Trump/ Mobster” case.

    1. H.B. Glashsucko got this published in July 2016, and it didn’t seem to get much attention in the months right before the election.
      Glashsucko is not exactly up there with Woodward and Bernstein.

  11. Pingback: ‘A new low’: House impeachment witness slams Democratic reaction to State of the Union – Washington Examiner – Bee Bee Bu

  12. Right at the end of my time in DC, things got real, real, best drama show on the tube….and to think, the years I was there it was a snooze fest of decorum, and now….it’s WWE, to use someone else’s words….shouldn’t have left….it was just getting good, shoulda / coulda stayed to watch the epic flame of democracy dying…..the end.

    (I’m just joking around….not being serious)

  13. At least 2 representatives walked out, one stating that this was like professional wrestling. Which insulted the professional wrestlers, I am sure.

  14. Jonathan Turley, keep in mind that never before have we had a member of the Manhattan Mafia as president.

        1. I don’t think those count as citations Benson.
          But this 😃
          😃
          😃
          is getting closer to getting a citation out of you.

  15. Did Vice President Pence tear his copy of President Trump’s speech up because he didn’t get a handshake?

    That man is a rock!

  16. I return to the largely overlooked fact that Donald Trump himself rips up official documents in the Oval Office, which necessitates his staff having to tape them back together so that they are preserved per official record-keeping requirements.

    Where is the outrage over that behavior?

    1. N.E, Brigand – If I remember the reports correctly, they hired two people to tape the papers back together. This is full job security for two people if Trump is re-elected.

    1. I believe Rush was saying that for the purposes of getting his point accross he thought MJ Fox was holding his medication before certain interviews.

      Limbaugh is a perfectly decent human being even though the left is always demonizing those they disagree with.

Comments are closed.