Pelosi Links Gay Rights and Health Reform

(AP)  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that the anti-government rhetoric over President Barack Obama's health care reform effort is troubling because it reminds her of the violent debate over gay rights that roiled San Francisco in the 1970s.

Anyone voicing hateful or violent rhetoric, she told reporters, must take responsibility for the results.

"I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco," Pelosi said, suddenly speaking quietly. "This kind of rhetoric was very frightening" and created a climate in which violence took place, she said.

Former San Francisco Supervisor Dan White was convicted of the 1978 murders of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist. Other gay rights activists and others at the time saw a link between the assassinations and the violent debate over gay rights that had preceded them for years.

During a rambling confession, White was quoted as saying, "I saw the city as going kind of downhill." His lawyers argued that he was mentally ill at the time. White committed suicide in 1985.

Pelosi is part of a generation of California Democrats on whom the assassinations had a searing effect. A resident of San Francisco, Pelosi had been a Democratic activist for years and knew Milk and Moscone. At the time of their murders, she was serving as chairwoman of her party in the northern part of the state.

On Thursday, Pelosi was answering a question about whether the current vitriol concerned her. The questioner did not refer to the murders of Milk or Moscone, or the turmoil in San Francisco three decades ago. Pelosi referenced those events on her own and grew uncharacteristically emotional.

"I wish that we would all, again, curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements that are made," Pelosi said. Some of the people hearing the message "are not as balanced as the person making the statement might assume," she said.

"Our country is great because people can say what they think and they believe," she added. "But I also think that they have to take responsibility for any incitement that they may cause."

Pelosi's office did not immediately respond to a request for examples of contemporary statements that reminded the speaker of the rhetoric of 1970s San Francisco.

The public anger during health care town hall meetings in August spilled into the House last week when South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson shouted "You lie!" at Obama, the nation's first black president, during his speech. On a largely party-line vote, the House reprimanded Wilson.

The tone of the protests has sparked a debate over whether the criticism of Obama, the nation's first black president, is really about his race. Former President Jimmy Carter has said he thinks the vitriol is racially motivated, but Obama does not believe that, a White House spokesman said.

Asked about Pelosi's remarks Thursday, House Republican Leader John Boehner said he hasn't seen evidence that any of the public anger could lead to violence. And he took issue with Carter's remarks.

"I reject this resoundingly," Boehner told reporters, noting that he and other Republicans called Obama's election last year a defining moment for the nation. "The outrage that we see in America has nothing to do with race," Boehner said. "It has everything to do with the policies that he is promoting."

[williamc949]

The Speaker says that we need to "curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements being made". Using her own statements as the baseline of acceptable lets all agree not to go beyond what she herself has called us. That is "Neocons", "Un-American", "Nazi", "Astro-turf", "Mobs" and "Brownshirts" and while I did not find a specific statement in her own voice she has also implied we are racist. After being called a Nazi I think I am safe in saying Mrs. Pelosi that "You Lie".

[stuart-johns]

I think Nancy Pelosi should not have said what she did only because she knows full well how the republicans despise her. She had to have known that if she was the one to make those comments, the republicans would be sure to go on the attack and draw more attention away from what matters - HEALTHCARE REFORM W/ PUBLIC OPTION!

Nancy was right to be concerned about the threats of violence the republican extremists are pushing in their passive/aggressive manner.
She just should have let someone else bring the message.

[faceofus]

Pelosi failed to mention her own loud inciting remarks denigrating the American people when she worries about violence. If there is violence (heaven forbid) she must be held accountable as well. Why doesn't she respond to why congress will not accept as their own health care what she is pushing.

[stuart-johns]

"The outrage that we see in America has nothing to do with race," Boehner said. "It has everything to do with the policies that he is promoting."



Pathetic liar, Boehner.

[G H M]

NO House Speaker Nancy Pelosi relates hate crimes then and what will be now if the idiots do not stop. You the news media with this article are fanning the flames of additional hate.

[jgg00009]

seriously, does this administration think people are that stupid not to see through this? This is such a lame attempt to get gays on board this healthcare disaster. And michele trying to get women on board, and those who disagree with barry are racists. This "strategy" to garner support and deflect criticism is insulting.

[jrod222]

Nancy if anything you say incites me to anger or violence I do not want you held responsible. I am responsible for my own thoughts and actions. The fact that thousands or million, or whatever, held a rally in D.C. last weekend and there was not a single arrest doesn't exactly support your arguement but like CBS News we should not let facts, reason, or fairness inhibit whatever we want to say. By the way, Nancy lay off the Botox, you look like you could break.

[vnthend]

Uhh, where was the "violence" from those groups who oppose the current health reform bill? Come on Pelosi, get a spine. There's a BIG difference between raising someone's voice (and most being senior citzens) and from outright violence! What's the Webster dictionary have to say about that one...I think Pelosi needs to go back to school and re-learn her English.

[stn_sage]

Well, everyone has an opinion, and Pelosi is entitled to hers!

Though, it reminds me more of the right-wing Republican mob that stormed the voting centers, pounding on doors and threatening tabulators, and effectively shutting down the presidential recount of 2000 in Florida!

IF Boehner says he hasn't seen any evidence that public anger could lead to violence it's because HE'S NOT LOOKING and the core group of agitators APPEAR to be republican!

[DaVicar6]

"Well, everyone has an opinion, and Pelosi is entitled to hers!"


Not really. Her job as preacher of the House is to shut up, and bang her gavel every now and then...with emphasis on the "shut up" part.