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After Pelosi Hits Back, NRCC Holds To 'In Her Place' Comment
Rachel Slajda | October 8, 2009, 2:22PM
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Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
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In a press conference today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to a statement from Republicans that Gen. Stanley McChrystal should "put her in her place," saying "that language is something I haven't even heard in decades."
"I'm in my place. I'm the Speaker of the House, the first woman Speaker of the House. And I'm in my place because the House of Representatives voted me there," Pelosi said.
"They really don't understand how inappropriate that is," she said.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has been attacked for the comments by Democrats and women's rights groups, but it's not backing down. In a (somewhat garbled) response to Pelosi, the group accused her of making politics a higher priority than "defeating terrorists."
"Rather than deflecting from the real issue at hand and refocus on defeating terrorists, Nancy Pelosi would rather make party politics a higher priority than our national security," the statement said. "The fact of the matter is that most Americans agree with General McChrystal's strategy on Afghanistan, but Pelosi self-righteously believes she is better suited to craft our country's military policy."
After the original statement drew criticism, the NRCC didn't back down. "She's playing out of her league and she knows it," said a spokesman.
They also lashed out at Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL), who said the comments amounted to sexism.
"Attacking white males hardly contributes to the debate," the NRCC said in a statement.
Here is Pelosi's response today:
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GTFOOH
October 8, 2009 2:44 PM
Whoa, SNAP!
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Reefdancer
October 8, 2009 2:47 PM
Newsflash for the GOP. Most Americans want out of Afghanistan. And puh-leeze, let's not start with the "rooting for the terrorists" crap that you did during Bush.
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thomas1
October 8, 2009 2:48 PM
A woman's place is in the "House" as Speaker of the House.
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jfields
October 8, 2009 2:52 PM
Isn't it fascinating that the NRCC statement says "white males"? How precisely did race enter into this?
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LBJs Brain
October 8, 2009 2:57 PM in reply to jfields
Bingo! Good catch. I swear, the GOP should just take the next couple years off, go visit some folks without healthcare, deliver food to the needy in Africa and just STFU. Come back when they've "grown up".
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tiowally
October 8, 2009 3:06 PM in reply to LBJs Brain
If the GOP had to go away until they've "grown up" we'd never see them again.
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CityGuy
October 8, 2009 5:18 PM in reply to tiowally
Fine with me. Then maybe we'd get an actual opposition party with actual IDEAS of their own! (I know, I'm not holding my breath.)
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hunter
October 8, 2009 5:19 PM in reply to tiowally
Deal.
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Richardxx
October 8, 2009 3:35 PM in reply to LBJs Brain
It's just more proof that the conservatives are the party that is afraid of the social changes that have been happening since WW II. That's the history that Bill Buckley wanted to stop.
Only it ain't stopping. And I am proud and delighted to see Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House and Brack Obama and President. They are two of America's finest. (Not flawless, but outstanding.)
The fact that the changes aren't stopping and, if anything are speeding up, is a big reason why the conservatives are acting so panicky and extreme now. That's why they are putting Bachman, Palin, Wilson, DeMint, and Coburn up to shoot off their mouths and spout idiocies. Nothing less has worked. The problem is that when the current idiocies don't work, they are going to have to get even more extreme.
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diachronic
October 8, 2009 4:38 PM in reply to Richardxx
Is that a problem, or is it the solution?
Given that the GOP has wrecked the country, isn't it good for the nation if they devolve into a freak show that no independent can vote for?
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Richardxx
October 8, 2009 9:19 PM in reply to diachronic
I'd say it's a good thing IF the Republicans just shut up and go away or at least fade to black. But I don't think they'll go quietly.
The Republican patterns is much like all ideologues, left and right wing. When what they are doing doesn't work, they come back with something more extreme. The next stage after the current craziness is violence. We've already gotten a taste with the murder of Dr. Tiller, the Chattanooga killings at the Unitarian Church and the killing of the security guard at the Jewish Museum - all encouraged by the Republican Propaganda machine on radio and TV. It's going to get worse as their other efforts fail.
I'd love to be proven wrong. I don't expect it.
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Ann Arbor
October 8, 2009 3:01 PM in reply to jfields
If we were in mid-campaign, "white males" would be a gaffe that would dominate the news cycle.
As it is, the Dems ought to be able to get some mileage out of that.
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B. Madsen
October 8, 2009 3:34 PM in reply to jfields
Actually, that statement was in response to Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz who spoke of the makeup of the NRCC being "100% white and 80% male". She specifically re-directed the conversation by focusing on the source of the original comments instead of the actual credibility of the statements made.
Now, frankly, I don't really agree with the NRCC's comments as the Speaker of the House has the responsibility to address matters of military policy, given that the military is funded by the government. However, I tire of the bringing up of racial / sexist matters in cases where it's highly suspect whether that was the intention. D.C. looks to me like a bunch of bickering fools ever since I can remember.
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Richardxx
October 8, 2009 3:44 PM in reply to B. Madsen
I don't see how you can fail to see that to have McCrystal put Pelosi in "her place" is anything other than saying that women aren't capable of operating in the "masculine" realm of the military.
It assumes that the male General is capable and the female, even though she is holding the office of Speaker, is not. It is that gender-ranked assumption that is clearly built into the phrase "put her in her place" in context that made it sexist. Which it clearly is.
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Seeryer
October 8, 2009 2:52 PM
"Attacking white males hardly contributes to the debate," the NRCC said in a statement.
At least they know who runs the NRCC.
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Xantar
October 8, 2009 2:55 PM in reply to Seeryer
Indeed. I wonder if the NRCC realized how ironic it was for them to acknowledge that they are in fact a bunch of old white men.
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SchrodingersCat
October 8, 2009 3:08 PM in reply to Seeryer
Well, the first step is acknowledging the problem...
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Schmed
October 8, 2009 3:25 PM in reply to SchrodingersCat
It's more like self-awareness than an admission of a problem. For them, anything that isn't white male is the problem.
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tiowally
October 8, 2009 2:56 PM
If anyone needs to be put it their place it is Gen. Stanley McChrystal, that place being in front of a courts martial for his despicable participation — if not orchestration — in the cover-up and politicization of the death of Pat Tillman.
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kgb999
October 8, 2009 3:42 PM in reply to tiowally
Or maybe all that Iraq torture he was in charge of? Oh yeah ... lookin forward.
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diachronic
October 8, 2009 3:55 PM in reply to kgb999
It pains me to say that we cannot just blame Obama for this 'see no evil' stupidity that has been his hallmark thus far. The Democratic Congress approved McChyrtsal.
We will soon see if Obama can make a real break with the past in Afghanistan. McChystal wants to win, sure... but like his mentor Petreaus, he has no strategic vision.
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jfields
October 8, 2009 2:59 PM
I'm about ready for the trend of publicity-seeking celebrity generals to end, personally.
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couser
October 8, 2009 3:19 PM in reply to jfields
You have a bit of a wait.
Gen. David Petraeus has been in the process for a run for Commander-In-Chief for awhile. Fun primary for 2012.
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SchrodingersCat
October 8, 2009 3:11 PM
Hmmm...Pelosi is two heartbeats away from being CIC. Can someone please ask the NRCC to clarify if they are in fact stating she is unqualified for the position?
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Cool Blue Reason
October 8, 2009 4:48 PM in reply to SchrodingersCat
I haven't seen a birth certificate, have you?
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ejg3
October 8, 2009 3:12 PM
Her place is second in line to the Presidency. McChrystal's is to take orders from the President through the Defense Department.
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mans_best_friend
October 8, 2009 3:20 PM
Who wrote that response, Rudy Guiliani?
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fkaZk0sm0
October 8, 2009 3:38 PM
"Attacking white males hardly contributes to the debate," the NRCC said in a statement.
ah yes, the poor oppressed white males of the united states of america who have to suffer under the tyranny of a black president elected by the people and a woman speaker of the house elected by her caucus. a single tear slowly trickles down my cheek for these members of this long-oppressed group. their plight is like the sad story of those unfortunate christians who suffer here in these united states. especially around christmas time when retailers supposedly wish them 'happy holidays'. if only women knew their place was in the kitchen and blacks knew their place was at the back of the bus and mexicans knew their place was south of the border and gays knew their place was the closet and the tax code knew its place was 1981....
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Richardxx
October 8, 2009 3:51 PM in reply to fkaZk0sm0
Do you, like Glenn Beck, use Vicks Vapor Rub to generate the tear?
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kenga
October 8, 2009 4:01 PM in reply to fkaZk0sm0
Let's be serious - the real issue here is that their penises (penii?) shrivel when they see her and realize that she's in charge of the House, and in line of succession for the Presidency.
It makes them feel small and inadequate, and they are accustomed to lashing out at anything that does so.
There's money to be made there, selling boner pills to their mailing lists.
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tiowally
October 8, 2009 5:24 PM in reply to kenga
Penis is singular; penises is plural; penii is two or more Rethuglicans.
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docrocktex
October 8, 2009 4:20 PM in reply to fkaZk0sm0
if only women knew their place was in the kitchen and blacks knew their place was at the back of the bus and mexicans knew their place was south of the border and gays knew their place was the closet and the tax code knew its place was 1981....
absolutely brilliant. you hit the nail on the head!
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Peter Principle
October 8, 2009 3:40 PM
In a (somewhat garbled) response to Pelosi, the group accused her of making politics a higher priority than "defeating terrorists."
LOL. In GOP-land, it's always 2002.
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Peter Principle
October 8, 2009 3:41 PM
"Attacking white males hardly contributes to the debate," the NRCC said in a statement.
Correction: In GOP-land, it's always 2002 and 1861.
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Minne sconsin
October 8, 2009 6:38 PM in reply to Peter Principle
1861 - the last time the GOP was on the right side of the race debate?
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atticus1104
October 8, 2009 3:47 PM
While commenting on Nancy Pelosi, Dennis Miller showed that someone can be a racist and a misogynist at the same time.
http://progressnotcongress.org/?p=3088
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Rich in NJ
October 8, 2009 4:05 PM
*paging Sigmund Freud*
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docrocktex
October 8, 2009 4:22 PM
You tell 'em Nancy!!!
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acf_ma
October 8, 2009 4:43 PM
Just imagine if Bush had kept his eye on the ball, and got bin Laden at Fallujah (sp?) when he had him on the run? Instead, he satisfied the neo con dream of getting Saddam Hussein and invaded Iraq. al Qaeda in Afghanistan would be dead. The Taliban would not have come back strong. Pakistan would not be a worrisome problem. We could have saved more than 4000 lives, a trillion dollars, and been home sipping pina coladas, instead of having this discussion about Nancy Pelosi and whether or not to put more troops into Afghanistan. Think of all the families not mourning troops killed in action, and what we could have done with that trillion dollars. Health care, stimulus spending could have been done without all this hand wringing about deficits. All would have been possible. Instead, we still have to do those things, plus worry about Afghanistan.
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Cool Blue Reason
October 8, 2009 4:57 PM in reply to acf_ma
I believe you're thinking of Tora Bora, in Afghanistan. Fallujah was (and is) in Iraq, a land where Bin Laden was never welcome.
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Cool Blue Reason
October 8, 2009 5:00 PM in reply to acf_ma
And, as for your alternate reality, we would still be dealing with problems. Such as what the stock market crash did to our newly privatized Social Security and Health Savings accounts...
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moose966
October 8, 2009 4:51 PM
Hey NRCC, in regards to your comment about Speaker Pelosi being put in her place, FUCK YOU and the horses the dwindling number of you all rode in!
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BenP
October 8, 2009 4:58 PM
"Rather than deflecting from the real issue at hand..."
Freudian slip? Or Grand Old Projectionism?
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RedMolly
October 9, 2009 12:19 PM in reply to BenP
Totally Grand Old Projectionism (which is brilliant, btw). It's the only way they know how to be.
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billp
October 8, 2009 5:19 PM
I'm ambivalent about Pelosi, but I'm beginning to like how much she infuriates the GOP.
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