Legal Commentary

Pelosi Faces the Netroots

By Professor University of Miami School of Law

Speaker Pelosi came and faced the angry netroots — after we were given a strong lecture by the moderator that if we weren’t nice to here, we’d be escorted out of the hall and have our credentials taken.

Pelosi was a mix of good ol’ fashioned Democrat — we’d like some good programs, more investment, help veterans etc. and infuriating good ol’ fashioned Democrat — prevarications at best, falsehoods more likely. [Update: I’ve decided that was a little harsh. I think she believes the stuff about FISA. The mystery is why.]

Pelosi tried to suggest that the House had done all it could to stop the war, which she in effect defined as one bill without war funding. That was pretty unconvincing.

Worse was the line on FISA in which (hiding behind a column by Mort Halperin) the Speaker told us that we had a better chance of getting the truth about illegal wiretapping from the telcos by relying on the Bush administration Inspector Generals in a post-immunity world than we would have from discovery in court.

At the receiving line after the talk, I shouted out that we couldn’t rely in the IG’s. Pelosi made a face and said, “then we’ll have to force the issue.”

But that wasn’t the big story of the event.

The big story was the “surprise guest”: Vice President Al Gore. He gave a superb speech. Look for it on YouTube: Al Gore at Netroots Nation 2008, Part 1; Al Gore at Netroots Nation 2008, Part 2.

He was great. She was good enough to come, and I still have my credentials.

Full post as published by Discourse.net on July 19, 2008 (boomark / email).