The collective power of the peace movement helped the Democrats take control of Congress and turn Nancy Pelosi from Minority leader into Madam Speaker. But in May the new Congress turned its back on the peace movement, granting Bush another $95 billion for war with no timetable for withdrawal. While the Speaker of the House herself voted against the war funding, she failed to put pressure on the conservative Democrats to form a united front against another blank check for war. She also failed to effectively use her power to decide what bills would come up for a vote. In the case of both the unrestricted war funding and the expanded FISA wiretapping, Pelosi had the ability to keep the bills off the floor but refused to do so.

This morning on NPR’s morning news show, Tom DeLay promoted his new book. Of all the people in the world, The Hammer might be the last one to listen to while awakening, but he gives some insights that are very valuable, though he might not be aware of it. Delay talked about keeping order in his majority. Talked about what what the Republicans have been doing for the last years.