Pro-Cindy Sheehan, Anti-Pelosi Rally This Thursday, 10/23, Noon-1 PM, SF Chronicle Building

TIME: Thursday, Oct 23, 12-1 pm

PLACE: In front of the San Francisco Chronicle Building, 901 Mission St., San Francisco. One block from Market Street and the Powell Street BART Station.

BRING: Your sign supporting Cindy Sheehan, denouncing Nancy Pelosi, or whatever you feel. Or just yourself – and your friends.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN:

Every Thursday at noon since mid-September, a group of sign-carrying activists have been walking circles around the Chronicle Building, drawing attention to the Chronicle’s coddling of Nancy Pelosi, and its willful ignoring of the Cindy Sheehan campaign. On the 23rd, Cindy Sheehan (and perhaps other notables) will meet the media on the steps of the old Mint (just across the street). At 12:20, protesters will start walking circles around the Chronicle Building. Walking will continue for approx 20 minutes, allowing office workers time to get back to work.

BACKGROUND:

There are many good reasons to be upset with Nancy Pelosi: single-handedly blocking the impeachment of Bush and Cheney; funding the war instead of ending it; warrantless wiretapping; off-shore drilling; the Wall Street bailout...

But perhaps the most disturbing, the most damning, and the one reason that might explain WHY Pelosi has jumped into bed with the Bush administration, is the torture saga. By now, anyone plugged into the internet knows the bare bones of the story:

-- In September, 2002, the CIA briefed a select group of four Congressional leaders on the CIA’s secret global prison system and use of torture. News of this briefing was kept secret for five years, until Dec 9, 2007, when the Washington Post (and others) reported it. The Post reported that Nancy Pelosi was one of the select Congress members, and according to the Post, "The reaction in the room was not just approval, but encouragement.... at least two lawmakers in the room asked the CIA to push harder."

-- So Pelosi knew about torture in 2002, and had no problems with it. It now seems apparent to many members of the impeachment movement that, sometime after the CIA briefing, Pelosi realized that her acquiescence on torture cost her any presumed moral stature, and had robbed her of any ability to challenge Bush and Cheney on anything, including funding for the Iraq war. If Pelosi were to have joined those calling for Bush and Cheney to be held accountable for, to be formally impeached for, the many, many crimes with which they have been accused, Bush and Cheney could, quite fairly, say, “Too late, Pelosi! We told you all about our torture programs way back in 2002, and you gave a big thumbs-up -- if we’re impeachable, YOU’RE impeachable!”

-- In 2006, with the coveted Speakership of the House dangling almost within her grasp, many believe that Pelosi probably saw that her only available option was to go along: “Forget truth and accountability. Forget right and wrong. Win the 2006 election. Get the speakership. Don't challenge Bush and Cheney on anything -- just wait ‘em out. In 2008, the Democrats will win Congress AND the White House, and my part in this torture business will have been long forgotten.”

Does this sound like a woman who deserves to be sent back to represent San Francisco?

Pelosi needs to be defeated, and Cindy Sheehan is on track to accomplish just that.

WHAT’S THE CHRONICLE’S PROBLEM?

The San Francisco Chronicle is the daily newspaper of record for the entire Bay Area. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, lives just a couple of hills over from the Chronicle building. Pelosi's district lies entirely within the city of San Francisco. In the 2006 election, 58% of her constituency voted for a resolution calling for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. Pelosi's famous response: "Impeachment is off the table." The Chronicle has never pressed Pelosi on -- has barely even mentioned – this issue.

But wouldn’t you like to know, “Under exactly what authority did Pelosi cancel this crucial part of our Constitution?” “What deals, what promises and threats, did she make in order to enforce her edict, and to silence people like Representatives John Conyers and Barbara Lee?”

These are absolutely fair questions, the sort of questions that newspapers are supposed to ask, and traditionally HAVE asked. The Chronicle editors meet with Nancy Pelosi regularly, but if they ask her these kinds of questions, they don't share her answers with the Chronicle readership.