[sugarpop]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

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.

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...