Looks like most of us agree that Cindy Sheehan isn't ready to tackle Nancy Pelosi. I don't think that Nancy Pelosi's constituency wants to loose its status or Nancy's as Speaker of the House.

I wonder if Cindy thinks that the Speaker position will be hers if she wins the election.

I truly feel sorry for Cindy Sheehan. I hope she gets the help she needs.

well the first thing we need to do girlfriend, is polish up. put on some makeup and pick a hair color. She looks like she's just gotten in from camping in Crawford.

second, what's she going to do in Congress when she comes to disagreements? Stand uncompromisingly by her points, and camp out in the middle of the floor while business as ususal continues around her?

Oh KrisSugar! You absolutely paint quite a picture!

I did not mean that to be rude, btw. no woman has to be perfect! But if you look at the women in office, either party, they look a little more polished up! If you want to win, look the part! Dress for success. etc.

She wants to blend in with us common folk, kris...

well i'm common folk, but I don't go appear in public looking like I've been hiking in the wilderness.

it's hard to fault cindy sheehan for questioning the real reasons behind her son's death and for devoting her life to getting answers. it's really no different than a mom who loses a child to a drunk driver and devotes her life to fighting against that.

as someone who lives in the bay area who was excited when pelosi became speaker (and when she promised to begin impeachment proceedings), i have to say i'm disappointed by her and the entire democratically controlled congress for taking it off the table. yes it would drain resources they should be using for ending the war, but they're not doing that either. november 2006 was a loooong time ago and we've seen little progress since, so she's got a good point.

sheehan won't win against pelosi, but she's getting media attention which is most likely her real objective anyway. i say good for her.

sorry, that WAS rude. But I would have come out a little more polished for my running for Congress sign planting event!

I feel bad for Sheehan, obviously, some unfortunate things have happened in her life, but she can't blame Nancy Pelosi for everything that has happened.
I guess some people forget that there are two different parties trying to work together to get legislation or just decisions in general solved or passed. It's not like Pelosi can just stand up in front of everyone in the House of Reps and go, "well, this is what we want, so it's happening." Doesn't exactly work that way...

The democrats don't have an unstoppable majority...it isn't as if they have the power to dictate what happens in our government. Bush has vetoed anything he doesn't like and Republicans are sticking to party lines, so there isn't much that can get done until we get a new president or more house seats.

Do we elect people just to work for things that are possible under the current system? Or can we ask legislators to be a little more creative, visionary, even smart and to create opportunity for change? Pelosi couldn't do anything to stop the U.S. from invading two countries and plan attacking a third, during her 10 terms huge numbers of Americans have lost their jobs and their health care, our school systems have gotten worse and a handful of very rich people have gotten very much richer while the rest are either stagnant or sliding downward economically. If Nancy's just going to shrug and say 'what are you gonna do' I say show her to door.
I don't know if Sheehan's the right person to replace her, but more Congress people like Sheehan would shake things up and maybe make better things possible.

Well, clearly it's up to her constituents to decide whether or not she is effectively representing them. That said, I really don't think Cindy Sheehan has a chance at election.

jen! come on! look at all her supporters in that picture!

apparently the person behind her cares more about "gary" than cindy sheehan... i wonder who gary is...

Cindy Sheehan's plight is very unfortunate. Does she have a chance to win an election against veteran politician? I strongly doubt it.

i can't stand plastic pelosi

Finally! A pragmatic centrist in the running!

Nancy Pelosi can't impeach the president, she doesn't have the votes and she knows it. That's why she doesn't move forward. She's doing the smart thing. Can you imagine if she tried to impeach the president and failed? The ammunition she'd give the republicans.

Pelosi may not have the votes to impeach, but not introducing articles of impeachment also gives the Repubs ammunition. I can see the commercials now..... "She promised articles of impeachment. She promised change. What has she done for America? Nothing."

Another thought, maybe she hasn't introduced articles because she knows there aren't any grounds for impeachment.

Actually, Pelosi never promised articles of impeachment. Interestingly she promised the opposite. Running up to the 2006 election she said impeachment was absolutely off the table.

Ms.Sheehan's definitely a revolutionary but her expression and delivery are simply too radical and unbridled regardless if most Americans want to get out of Iraq as well.

This country doesn't need a revolution. This country doesn't want a revolution. What this country needs is for every one eligible to get up off their behinds and go vote. That in it self will be revolutionary.

sheehan (or shall i say Moveon.orgs puppet) isnt fit to run for any office.

It's funny that Sheehan's considered a revolutionary but a President who consistently adds statements to legislation say 'I'm not going to abide by any part of this Constitutionally passed law', spies on Americans, and starts two wars for oil, isn't.
If Pelosi actually was smart, she would have learned from Newt Gingrich that waiting for what you want to be possible is for wimps.

i don't like Cindy Sheehan and i don't like Nancy Pelosi. One's become way too radical and another is simply out of touch and ineffectual.

I really think Congress should have term limits and all Reps should be limited to four terms (8 years) and all Senators to 2 terms (12 years).

However, in order for them to have term limits, they'd have to vote for ousting themselves out of a job and no Congressperson in their right state of mind would EVER do that. I think something like that should be instated by an independent governmental authority that's non-partisan. However, i'm sure that would have to be approved by Congress as well!

I dont consider her a revolutionary at all, she is a sad human being who is being used by liberal nut jobs to further their causes. She needs to go home for good, i thought we were rid of her.

i don't consider her to be a revolutionary either, just a woman who never dealt with her loss and has instead chosen to manifest her grief this way...

i understand why she feels the need to fight against this war, i certainly don't fault her for her own opinions, however when that role becomes life consuming then that is not healthy.

Should Nancy be voted out - YES! She promised a transparent government- still waiting. But Sheehan is not the one to do it. She is need of a really good shrink to help her get on with her life. Is there no one else in SF who can run?

Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy ran for office after her husband was murdered and her son wounded by a gunman on a commuter train in NY; Jim Brady and his wife launched the Brady Campaign against gun violence after he was wounded in the Reagan assassination attempt; Mothers Against Drunk Drivers is a virtual army of grieving parents. Sheehan's not a nut job being used, or unreasonably consumed by her son's death. Running for office as an anti-war candidate is a perfectly reasonable way for a woman who doesn't want other lives wasted by war to respond to her pain.

1) The Brady campaign is not against gun violence. Its against all guns 100% and their site is FILLED with lies to support their position.

2) MADD is a great organization.

No one is saying she shouldn't be angry or choose to support the causes she does. But I don't see how you could seriously argue that she isn't being used or unreasonably consumed by her son's death.

Camping outside of the Presidents home for weeks on end is not reasonable. Having fantasies of suicide or acts of revenge on the President is not reasonable. Pushing away your family until your husband of 28 years divorces you is not reasonable.

I'm sure the Bradys would be deeply chagrined to learn you disapprove of their site.
Having seen first hand what the death of a loved one in combat can do to at least two generations of the surviving family, I don't think she is "unreasonably" consumed. Camping outside the President's home brought world attention - not unreasonable if you're serious about your cause. Having fantasies of suicide or acts of revenge - not unreasonable, and not unusual, in the immediate weeks and even months after the death. There are studies that indicate a child's death can strain marital relationships - Sheehan's husband filed for divorce slightly more than a year after Casey's death. Does that mean it's all her fault? Do you know the family well enough to judge?
She's not being a good military mom, hanging a Gold Star in her window quietly (you realize of course, that the Gold Star Mothers were started by a woman grieving for her child).

I agree with cabaker (again), but whether or not Sheehan's being used, I don't know and it really doesn't matter.. I personally don't think the woman is emotionally stable and can't possibly see how she could be a benefit to our government, at least not in office anyway. I think she could get some help and then be a benefit at the grass roots level, but she seriously needs to deal with her emotional health first.

Steph I doubt you would have the same opinion if instead of swinging so far anti-war, she actually decided the war is absolutely worth it and was acting out in that way.

Oh, this is entertaining. More liberal carnage. If there's not a word which means "self-cannibalism" we really need to invent it.

I wish I could vote both "Yes" and "No Way". America *does* need real people, as long as they're qualified, representing us all.

Pelosi seems to spend most of her time playing political games and glorying in her self-importance.

Sheehan, however...well, I can't say too much bad about her. She's just too pathetic. Something in her just snapped when her son was killed, and there are too many mercenary b@stards out there willing to use her as a pawn. Shameful, really.

Cabaker, I know people who have responded that way because they need to believe the death has a meaning.
I won't condemn them or insist that they now are unstable.

Many people respond that way because they are emotionally unstable prior to the tragic even in their life - sometimes it's not the event that makes them unstable, rather they already were which is why the reaction is so strong.

*event not even

I'm sorry but Cindy Sheehan needs to cut it out and get professional help.

Jillz, I agree, but as long as she has people with ulterior motives using her as a puppet, she never will.

As long as she's standing for something that you oppose, Sheehan's a troubled woman who's being used. Your concern for her mental health is highly suspect.

same could be said for her supporters stephly.. as long as she's standing for something you support, your view of her stability is highly suspect. It goes both ways.

I get what you're saying and I can't and won't even try to make anyone agree with me, I'm simply stating my opinion and in this particular case, my opinion of her mental state has nothing to do with whether I oppose what she's standing up for or not. But that's just me and even if it were someone who I agreed with their views on something - the way they go about handling the situation and showing their support goes a long way with me and if they were being radical about their views/opinions I would question their stability as well.
I go more by a person's behaviors than by their words.

Stephley: "As long as she's standing for something that you oppose, Sheehan's a troubled woman who's being used. Your concern for her mental health is highly suspect."

My sympathy comes from being a mother of a son with a mind to a military career. I believe her activities dishonor her son.

I don't think our involvement in Iraq was a good idea--in retrospect. However, I believe it was the best decision we could make at the time, given the information available.

Now that we're involved, I believe it would be cruel, selfish and inhumane to cut and run and leave the Iraqis to a civil war which would be orchestrated and encouraged by their neighbors. I guess that's how I differ from the Democrats in Congress.

oh and by the way I'm not saying that I'm suspicious of your views of her. Your views of her are yours, for whatever reason, I'm not here to judge you for that. I'm just stating my own views, and whether or not anyone is suspicious of my concern for her mental health, is really no concern of mine... I recently heard something about other people's opinions that I really liked... it seems to fit here... your opinion of me is really none of my business. so anyone can think whatever they want of me.

"the way they go about handling the situation and showing their support goes a long way with me and if they were being radical about their views/opinions I would question their stability as well."

i agree Kim

I think Cindy Sheehan needs professional help. Not because she opposes the war, but because she stood outside the President's estate in Texas for (two weeks?) hoping to talk to Pres Bush. She is not grieving the loss off her child in a safe fashion.

Despite her tactics, I appreciate her reluctance to apathy.

I really enjoyed this lively debate. I have to agree with Lainetm about the Iraq war and the aftermath. Prior to the "invasion", most Democrats took the stance that was dictated by the Clinton administration: that Saddam was a dangerous and ruthless dictator, with ties to Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations/terrorist sympathizers. When certain information, used peripherally in the initial decision, was revealed to be miscalculated (WMDs), the reactionary left called for the immediate withdrawal of troops. Good call, kids. Let's leave a poorly trained and prepared country to the wolves of the region. Pelosi, by not supporting the costly and ill-conceived impeachment strategy, was working in the best interest of her constituents. And Sheehan? She doesn't have a fighting chance of winning. Her limited scope and reactionary ideas will not win her any elections.

No, I don't think Nancy Pelosi should be voted out of Congress. Nor do I think that Cindy Sheehan should be castigated for her actions. She may well be crazy with grief, but I can't imagine that any mother in her place wouldn't be.

The vitriol directed at Ms. Sheehan makes me ill

Miscalculated? WTF was miscalculated? The fact that no WMDs existed? The info about WMDs was not "miscalculated" it was flat out LIED about. And the invasion of Iraq was predicated on way more than WMDs (even info the current administration may have inherited from the previous administration)

I don't think that Sheehan will win, but I sure don't fault her for fighting her fight

There is no evidence that the current administration LIED about the WMDs. Considering Democrats and Republicans both acknowledged their existence in the past, and the considerable possibility that they were MOVED, is a reality. I am not a fan of the Bush admin, but that doesn't change that fact that before the war was so ridiculously mishandled, both sides were for it. And yes, for multiple reasons. Also, I didn't say Sheehan shouldn't run... she can do what she pleases. After all, we still live in a free country. I did say, however, that she will not win.

stephley i agree with you 100%

Thanks Sweetrae.