One suspects that Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi would call it an absolute war crime if a Republican expressed unconcern about Americans suffering “collateral damage” from Republican policies.
But apparently she’s fine with collateral damage — her words — to recalcitrant voters, produced by the policies of Democrats.
Last Sunday, Pelosi appeared with Paul Krugman, New York Times editorial columnist and sometime economist, at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, an event described by America Magazine as “a reflection on finding ‘a path forward.'” The “tête-à-tête,” said America Magazine, “turned out to be more of a retrospective, like a documentary about a once-popular rock band.”
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
If that description is less than rousing, the talk seems to have begun promisingly:
“Imagine it’s January 2021,” said Mr. Krugman, “and the Democrats control both houses, and President Michael Avenatti….” The audience, a mostly silver-haired, bespectacled bunch presumably hoping for a Blue Wave this November, howled. (Mr. Krugman quickly added that “Taylor Swift would be too young” to run for president in 2020.) What would be on the party’s agenda?
Pelosi responded with boilerplate.
“We are for the people,” Ms. Pelosi proclaimed, listing goals like reducing prescription drug prices, increasing wages, protecting Dreamers, passing gun-control legislation and working toward campaign finance reform. (The last one prompted the loudest and longest cheers.)
But as with so many things, Pelosi isn’t really for all of the people. The others, the ones she is not for, seem to be what she’s talking about in a brief aside caught by the folks at RNC Research.
Unhinged: Nancy Pelosi endorses "collateral damage" against Americans who don’t share her views. https://t.co/eEiHXsztl3 pic.twitter.com/KyIwq6ljt9
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 18, 2018
Said Pelosi (emphasis added):
I think that we owe the American people to be there for them. For their financial security, respecting the dignity and worth of every person in our country. And if there’s…some, um…collateral damage, for some others who do not share our view, well, so be it…
It’s certainly not the first time Pelosi has taken a sour, even vindictive perspective on the impact of Democratic policies. She has been especially up-front about that since Trump took office; Ben Bowles noted it in August, for example, when she stated very clearly that Democrats are pushing amnesty for illegals because it’s an important part of a political leverage equation. Said Ben:
It hasn’t exactly been a well-guarded secret that the Left’s long-term plan is to allow as many Hispanic immigrants into the country as possible because of their marked propensity for voting Democrat.
Pelosi merely confirmed that obvious truth when she linked a Democratic win in November to having “leverage” for illegal migrants to break America’s laws even more.
Ms. Pelosi’s perspective is somewhat skewed, in any case. Average Americans have been thrilled to see jobs flooding back and unemployment, including their own, plummeting under Trump. But not Pelosi. The remarkable economic surge reported in June 2018 was just an excuse for Pelosi to tie it somehow to economic woes.
“May’s jobs report shows that strong employment numbers mean little to the families hit with soaring new costs under the Republicans’ watch,” the House Minority Leader said in a statement. …
[T]he President’s reckless policies are exploding gas prices, wiping out the few meager gains that some families should have received from the GOP tax scam, as wages remain stagnant.
It continues to sound like Pelosi wants her “crumbs” back. And she’s made it plain: any collateral damage to folks who want to hang onto their crumbs is just a casualty of war.
