Today’s “Daily Journal” guest columnist is Shelley Gonzales, a Research Intern at the John Locke Foundation.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been feeling the flames of fire, and for good reason. Her total denial that she was ever aware of the CIA’s employing the use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay prison has led to her dangerous accusation that the CIA deliberately lied to her and to Congress about their use.
This is a very sad day for our country. While the CIA has not proven that Ms. Pelosi is lying, she has yet to prove she is not lying. The burden of proof falls on the accuser. If the evidence shows she has spoken falsely, her behavior borders on treason.
Treason? Isn’t that a bit severe? Consider one of the main definitions of treason: the betrayal of a trust or confidence, a breach of faith. In my opinion, if it is shown that Pelosi did know about the interrogation techniques, and was not lied to by the CIA, this is a betrayal of trust and confidence and breach of faith of the highest magnitude.
The most frightening aspect of this is that Ms. Pelosi is not just a member of the House of Representatives; she is the speaker, the leader of the House, and second only to the vice president in the line of succession to the presidency. To have such a high-level official run and hide every time an unpopular prior decision becomes the least bit controversial — simply to protect her political career — is not a shining example of a person with integrity.
Nancy Pelosi seems unwilling to admit she agreed to any of the harsh interrogation techniques at all. This seems very unlikely due to her high position in the federal government. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has called on Pelosi to resign due to her impulsive accusations against the CIA at the first sign of trouble. “She really disqualified herself to be the speaker,” Gingrich said on “Good Morning America.” “She has a unique responsibility for national security. … She made this allegation that smears everyone who’s trying to defend her.” Gingrich claims that allowing her to remain speaker would be “very dangerous for the country.”
Pelosi is certainly not new to controversy. She has a history of borderline undemocratic, even potentially unconstitutional, acts. Some have passively accused Pelosi of violating the Logan Act of 1799 (pdf link here) when she took a very publicized, self-approved diplomatic trip to Syria. She has admitted her goal was to influence Syrian foreign policy but claimed she did not say anything against Bush administration foreign policies.
Even if it is true that she followed the policies of the current administration, it is irrelevant. It is not the content of the conversations that violates the law, but the trip itself. Pelosi’s trip was never investigated, nor was she ever reprimanded for the trip. According to the law, she could have been fined and sentenced to federal prison.
Another questionable act was as recent as August 2008. Pelosi absolutely refused to allow a House vote for domestic oil drilling. She would never give a straightforward answer to any media as to why she wouldn’t allow the vote to take place. This dodging of questions encouraged speculation that she knew there was a high probability the result would not be in the Democrats’ favor. And a final memory down Pelosi lane — her claim that birth control would stimulate the economy. These are just a few examples of the kind of leadership Nancy Pelosi embodies.
We can all be certain good ol’ Nancy is not going down without a fight. She believes it is her right to be House speaker, not her privilege. This is the main difference between a politician and a statesman/stateswoman. The worst kind of politician will not stand up and defend past votes and decisions. Pelosi is so closely aligned to the Democratic Party that she seems to forget she is an American first. Any vote or decision that comes back to bite her must surely be the fault of some other person or agency.
This is not the definition of a leader; it is the definition of a coward. No person with such a blatant disrespect for the law and the American voter has any business being in public service, much less a leadership position like speaker of the House.