Nancy Pelosi continues to exercise ultimate power over Democrats
Nancy Pelosi continues to exercise ultimate power over Democrats
This summer’s events – Biden bowing out, Harris running and Walz as VP pick – show Pelosi’s considerable influence
When you’ve lost Nancy Pelosi, you might as well clear out your desk.
Amid all the chaos and whiplash in US politics over the past few weeks, one law remained constant: Pelosi is uniquely influential and has the power to make or break careers – even those of American presidents.
The former House speaker did more than anyone else to re-engineer the race for the White House, breathing new life into her Democratic party and sending Donald Trump’s Republicans into a tailspin.
Pelosi, 84, publicly encouraged 81-year-old Joe Biden to make a decision about his re-election campaign when he had already insisted he had no plans to step aside. Once he did drop out and endorse Kamala Harris, Pelosi scored another victory when former congressman Tim Walz was named as running mate.
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Ultimate power sounds kinda nefarious. Seems to me like she's doing a hell of a job, currently. I don't have any particular love or hate of her, but her job has got to be like herding cats, and she clearly does it will.
Ultimate power sounds kinda nefarious
Deservedly so. She didn't get where she is by NOT currying favor with and doing the bidding of the ultra-rich and their corporations.
her job has got to be like herding cats, and she clearly does it will.
Nah, her job is to receive and carry out the wishes of the owner donors. That's why she originally supported Biden staying in: the wealthy patrons were still on his side. It was only when THEY started pulling their support that she used her power to oust him.
If her job is to carry out someone else's wishes, then she doesn't really have "ultimate power". It's just like, penultimate power, best case.
Dammit, that's actually a good point lol. She's mostly a vessel through which even richer, even more powerful, and even more corrupt people exert their will on the public.
She's damn effective and brutal about it, though, making her chief amongst corrupt middle managers.
Yeah, Democract elites, they suck, blah blah.
They do. As do Republican, third party, and politically neutral elites.
In a system specifically designed to reward greed, ruthlessness, and authoritarian tendencies, you don't get to be one of the elites without being an awful person.
It does seem inevitable in the systems that we have built that you eventually sell out.
Only if your greed and lust for power are stronger than your higher principles.
You can fight the system, even from the inside, without selling out, but they won't let you pull the levers behind the scenes unless you're much more rich and/or powerful than it's possible to become without selling out.
For an easy and obvious example, see Bernie Sanders. He's stood behind his principles from the day he was born and never sold out to anyone. He's a beloved figure across the whole country and a huge percentage of Americans supported his run for president.
He has next to zero power, outside of using his established position to shame other politicians. If you're immune to shame, he can do nothing.
From a cynical perspective, you've described how all politics works in every system. Make peace with it.
No. Only the most corrupt politics, of which Pelosi is a chief proponent.
Corruption is unacceptable, especially on the scale of the likes of Pelosi and most if not all Republicans.
Politics are NOT as corrupt in every system and even if it was, that would be something to fight to change, not "make peace with" like a good little slave.
What are you going to do about it? Money and power dominate every system. Monarchy. Feudalism. Communism. Democracy. Even anarchy is rolled by the person with the biggest guns.
Even anarchy is rolled by the person with the biggest guns.
Anarcho-capitalism? Sure. Left anarchism? Nope, only according to the deliberately misleading establishment narrative 🙄
There is no organization of people, from a marriage to a nation, that can't be unbalanced. Someone always has influence (wealth, power, knowledge) that can be used corruptly or violently to take from another.
Yeah yeah, the world is unfair and we're all powerless to influence anyone so we should just give up now 🙄
Isn't it exhausting to go through life with such an utterly defeatist attitude?
No. I just worry about the things I can change and not the things I can't.
Sounds dreadfully utilitarian and limiting.