And it all started at Beseen....married not dead...lol

I ran into Rainy on a beseen clone message board a while ago.

I heard about that place. Went there a couple of times, but it was dead quiet. No one about at all.

Rain got banned from here didn't she? Or was it just dov, and she left?

I've revealed enough of our sordid past message board escapades.

lol...there's nothing sordid about it, but pretty soon the chat police will be here to break up the convo anyway. ;)

This is a fair way out of any thread and I have gone this way many times myself.

My own final answer: the whole thing exposes Pelosi for what she is, but doesn't reflect on other Democrats or the Party in general. It's not particularly scandalous, all things considered, but it tells you that Pelosi figures that she is an elite, entitled to this sort of thing. If she cared, she wouldn't do it. Contrast Biden, who proudly pointed to his use of Amtrak for commuting as a Senator.

Ds should not grant her an automatic pass on this one, but not spend too much time on it either.

Thats a pretty good summation of how I feel about it as well. However, I did not like Pelosi to begin with and this is just a little more fuel on the fire.

BTW - It was nice that her husband could join her.

Yea? So you couldn't bitch about it maybe and point out how wasteful he's being.

If she has to go somewhere on business, which clearly she did, what is wrong with her having some leisure time while there? You are just trying to stir shit up. Admit it Merc. :p

So what? Even the First Lady goes on goodwill tours at taxpayers expense to other countries. It doesn't matter whether or not SHE sets policy, it matters whether she can contribute by visiting foreign countries. Members of Congress go to foreign countries all the time at taxpayer expense. And when they do, they all fly on some government plane, not on commercial planes.

This is a new administration. We need as many people as possible reaching out and assuring the world community that our policies have changed with regard to foreign policy. I think it is very important that we do that. Of course, I don't expect you to support that in any way.

Back atcha babe. *smooch*

At least two posts were made demonstrating that Pelosi DOES, in fact, have both reason and constitutional standing to set/influence policy with individual nations.

You simply blew the posts off with a crappy ad hominem attack.

I thought you knew your shit. Guess I was wrong.

Look dude, I saw them, I just don't give them as much weight. The job of the Congress is to oversee, not to make the policy. She has no business going to any country and working national policy IMHO. Oh, and as I stated earlier, if she did go why a trip to Italy? In the military they call it throwing you a bone. Only she gave herself the bone.

Naw. It was just the constitution, after all. Can't compare to Hannity or Beck.

She's the freaking SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. Of course she has business going to other countries. Good grief. Going to visit another country as a member of the US government does not mean you get to make policy. Do Ambassadors make policy? No, they don't. But it is their job to represent the United States government, just as it is for any member of Congress who goes overseas.

...the ANSA English Media Service reported (accessed from the Nexis database): "Since arriving in Italy on Saturday, Pelosi has visited the American air base at Aviano in northeast Italy and the American military cemetery in Florence and is due at the NATO Joint Forces Command in Naples Wednesday." Further, a February 19 press release issued by Pelosi's office stated: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Congressional delegation today were briefed by U.S. Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa, and Commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples. Admiral Fitzgerald and his NATO staff provided information on NATO activities in the Balkans, the ongoing training of Iraqi Security Forces, and operations against pirates off the coast of Somalia." The release further stated: "On Saturday, Speaker Pelosi and the Congressional delegation visited Aviano Air Base where the Speaker pinned the Bronze Star Medal on Technical Sergeant Phoebus Lazaridis for extraordinary service in Afghanistan. The delegation paid their respects to the more than 4,400 American World War II soldiers buried at the Florence American Cemetery on the outskirts of Florence on Sunday."

Nonetheless, in his report -- all or part of which aired on six occasions on CNN's The Situation Room, Lou Dobbs Tonight, American Morning, and CNN Newsroom -- Griffin did not mention that the delegation reportedly met with U.S. soldiers and military commanders in Italy, or that Pelosi reportedly gave a major speech on security and global warming there. Indeed, in discussing his report, Griffin and CNN anchors repeatedly suggested that the trip was a frivolous waste of taxpayer dollars... http://mediamatters.org/items/200902230022

Not to mention that she also went to Afghanistan. yea, she wasn't working at all...

oh please, big fucking deal.

She does not set public policy on our relations with Italy. Have you not read a single frigging thing in this thread?