The efforts by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to prolong the Iraq War at least until September 2008 are a terrible betrayal of the movement against the war in Iraq and our troops. Her efforts to use Karl Rove style spin to portray this as an effort to stop the war show how far she will go to mislead Democrats and her overwhelmingly anti-war constituents.

Pelosi has all the power needed to block a vote on the supplemental appropriations bills the Bush regime is using to fund this illegal and unAmerican war. She refuses to use that power because she would rather side with Big Oil, Halliburton, and other corporations making money off of the war.

I remember living in the Bay Area when she was first elected. She was recruited by the Waxman-Berman political machine which was desperate to keep an openly gay man from being elected to Congress from San Francisco. Pelosi even resorted to gay baiting Britt during the campaign, attacking Britt as "gay socialist."

And, that homophobia carries through to today. Despite “representing” one of the most heavily queer districts in the country, Pelosi has done nothing on lgbt issues since the November elections. Instead, she avoids the subject all together.

And, one should not forget the racist comments she made about Hugo Chavez when he merely mocked the unelected tyrant currently occupying the White House. This shows how desperate Pelosi can be to cater to Bush. Then again, what should one expect from someone who refused to do anything about the thefts of the 2000 and 2004 elections.

She continued the pandering to Bush in her capacity as Speaker with her infamous proclamation that impeachment of Bush and Cheney is “off the table,” even though a majority of San Francisco voters expressed their support for impeachment in a 2006 ballot initiative.

Now, Pelosi has something terrible in common with Bush and Cheney. They don't just have the blood of our troops on their hands; they are bathing in it.

Push polling is a common, though dirty political tactic. Generally, callers will pretend to be running an opinion poll, but the questions will be slanted as to try to shape the opinions and voting behavior of the people receiving the phone calls, not to gather data.

I just received something that is a new wrinkle (at least to me) on this tactic: a push poll via USPS mail. It had the amusing title of “Republican Party Census Document.”

The start of the accompanying letter was a hoot.

Dear Fellow Republican,

You are among a select group of Republicans who have been chosen to take part in the official 2007 CENSUS OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

Enclosed is your new 2007 GOP CENSUS DOCUMENT, which was assigned and prepared especially for you as a representative of all Republicans in your voting district.

Of course, I am not a Republican and have given them no reason to think I am or to have my address. Even more hilarious is that they are calling the mailing a “census document,” an apparent attempt to intimidate the gullible into filling out the survey.

The questions being used inspired some chuckles as well. Here are some examples of the loaded questions the Republican National Committee was using.

Should we do everything we can do stop Democrats from repealing critical border and port security legislation?

This is especially cute, given that Republicans have fought against port security legislation with absolute fanaticism. More examples follow:

Should President [sic] Bush's successful income and capital gains tax cuts be made permanent?

Should Republicans in Congress oppose the new wasteful government spending programs proposed by the Democrats and their leaders, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid?

Should we continue working for serious tort reform to protect individuals and small businesses from predatory lawsuits?

Do you support President [sic] Bush's initiative to allow private religious and charitable groups to do more to help those in need?

These kind of questions just make the GOP look idiotic to well-informed people, but they could significantly influence people who do not follow the news or who get fake news from Faux News, Rush Limbaugh, the New York Post, etc.

However, there was one sincere part of the mailing, the part where they were begging for money.

From WakeUpWalMart.com

One of the greatest dangers we face in America is a nuclear weapon in the hands of terrorists being shipped through an American port. But, did you know, we only inspect about 5% of the cargo containers coming into America.

That is why the U.S. House of Representatives passed a 9/11 bill to strengthen America's port security by scanning 100% of the cargo containers being shipped into the U.S. from abroad.

But, yesterday, Wal-Mart's special interest lobbyists defeated the 100% scanning portion of the 9/11 bill in the U.S. Senate.

Why?

Because, even though 1 Wal-Mart container arrives at a U.S. port every 45 seconds, Wal-Mart fears that inspecting 100% of these containers might slow down its imports from countries like China which could hurt Wal-Mart's profits.

Are Wal-Mart's profits really worth the cost of leaving America vulnerable to another terrorist attack?

Please write your U.S. Senator today and tell him/her to put America's security first and support 100% scanning of all cargo containers as passed by the U.S. House.

More Info

This is yet another reason not to shop at Wal-Mart.

It also is a good reason why Hillary Clinton needs to apologize for having been on Wal-Mart's Board of Directors for six years.

Clinton's lack of regret for her involvement with Wal-Mart is one of many reasons why this Mo is supporting Dennis Kucinich