Democrats Need to Show Some Backbone

Whatever happened to Nancy and the rest of the Democratic leadership. They lost their spines.

Former House Speaker Pelosi had a reputation of being a feisty, no-nonsense politico who tells it like it is. She relished political combat with former president Donald Trump, calling him a “coward,” “sick puppy,” “scared puppy,” “coward,” and “thug.”

That’s why her wishy-washy statement regarding Joe Biden’s campaign for another term is so shocking.

"It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” she said on “Morning Joe” on July 10. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.” What?

Coming from one of the leaders of the Democratic Party, that’s very weak tea. Leaders are supposed to lead. (I’m looking at you “I’m with Joe” Chuck Schumer).

As Speaker, Pelosi was a master tactician, skilled at counting votes. Surely, she knows that old and feeble Biden has no shot at defeating Trump.

If not, she should listen to Colorado Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, who has predicted Trump will win in a “landslide’ against Sleepy Joe. He also said Dems will lose the Senate and House.

Or read George Clooney’s July 10 op-ed in the New York Times. The title says it all: “I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee.”

Pelosi’s unwillingness to pressure Biden to withdraw from the race will result in her worst nightmare, which is the return of her former arch-foe to the White House.

Who would have thought that Pelosi would be one of Trump’s enablers?

“The idea that we are going to slow walk into fascism because we don’t want to hurt somebody that we respect’s feelings?” said Washington Congressman Adam Smith, who has called for Biden to step out of the race. “I cannot even begin to tell you how angry that makes me.”

You got to get angry, Nancy.

Happy 75th Birthday, NATO... Trump’s threat to withdraw from NATO is contrary to the warm feelings that Americans have for the 32-member military alliance.

Two-thirds of Americans say the US benefits from NATO, according to Pew Research.

NATO’s favorability rating (58 percent) stacks up nicely vis-a-vis US institutions.

Only the National Park Service (81 percent), USPS (77 percent), NASA (74 percent) and Social Security Administration (61 percent) top NATO.

The alliance thumps bottom-dwellers: Congress (26 percent), IRS (42 percent), Federal Reserve (43 percent) and Supreme Court (44 percent).

Americans would reject Trump’s madness to let Russia “do whatever the hell it wants to,” in nations that do not spend two percent of their GNP on military spending.

Those “deadbeats” include Spain, Italy and Canada, which have many fans in the US.

Tales from he bagman. Phil Elwood, the former “bagman for dictators” tells many interesting stories in his book, “All the Worst Humans: How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons and Politicians.”

Most of his sleazy work was on behalf of the notorious PR firm Brown Lloyd James, which is headed by Peter Brown, one-time manager of The Beatles.

Qatar hired BLJ to torpedo the US bid to host the 2022 World Cup, an effort that was fronted by Bill Clinton.

Inspired by Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign to fight obesity, Elwood created a phony front group that he called “The Healthy Kids Coalition.”

The pitch: the US should fully fund K-12 physical education programs rather than host international sporting events.

Elwood paid $10K to a lobbyist to get Michigan Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick to introduce a resolution in support of Healthy Kids.

He then leaks the resolution to Politico, which publishes “World Cup vs. Gym Class.” And the PR steamroller shifted into high gear.

Qatar gets the Cup, which legitimizes the monarchy in the eyes of the world. It spends $220B to stage the games. BLJ gets its $80K retainer, which is quite a bargain.

BLJ also helped Syria “spin” the Arab Spring. Its job was to help Syrian strong man Bashar al-Assad strengthen his nation’s ties with the US.

The firm arranges for Assad’s wife to appear on the cover of Vogue.

The story, “A Rose in the Desert,” profiled the Assad family and pitched Syria as a “secular country where women earn as much as men and the Muslim veil is forbidden in universities, a place without bombings, unrest, or kidnappings.”

A few days after the Vogue story hits, Assad orders his army to attack thousands of protesters in Damascus. Blood flows on the streets, and the world expresses its outrage over the butchery.

Vogue scrubbed the Assad story from the Internet, and its editor Anna Wintour had to defend herself for running the piece in the New York Times.

Despite the carnage, BLJ continued to advise Assad. Julian Assange published an internal BLJ document about its Syrian strategy.

“If hard power is necessary to quell rebellion, soft power is needed to reassure the Syrian people and outside audiences that reform is proceeding apace, legitimate grievances are being addressed and taken seriously, and that Syria’s actions are ultimately aimed at creating an environment in which change and progress can take place.”

In firing Elwood at the bar of the Mandarin Oriental in the middle of a workday, Brown said: “The Arab Spring has been bad for our business model.”

What an understatement.