Letter to the Editor: Nancy Pelosi is an inspiration to modern women

Nancy Pelosi comes from a poor immigrant background, a woman born when there were not many women who went to college, not many women in the professional or business class, and very few women in the U.S. Congress.

Raised a devout Catholic, she married a man, to whom she is still married, gave birth to five children and is a grandmother of more. Pelosi first ran for office "later" in life. Pelosi went to the U.S. House where women were few. Yet Pelosi became the Speaker of the House, and she is a very strong speaker, which drives some men crazy. Pelosi did not become Speaker of the U.S. House because she was a weak woman.

In her veins flows the blood of Caesar, Constantine, Dante, Michelangelo, Da Vinci and Verdi; yes indeed, she is the noblest Roman of them all. None of these gave birth. None of these was ever a mother or a grandmother.

Pelosi likes to tell a story about the death of that great patrician, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Thousands lined the streets of Washington D.C. as FDR's body was moved through the streets. An ordinary man was weeping. A reporter asked him if he knew Franklin Roosevelt. The man answered that he did not know President Roosevelt, but "he knew me."

Pelosi is wealthy. She has great health insurance. Yet she is concerned about those who do not. Pelosi is a powerful woman who makes more than other House members. But Pelosi pushed "equal pay for equal work" through the House. Pelosi has not forgotten that her ancestors were poor immigrants, not college educated, not great speakers of the English language who belonged to a religion that was a minority in the United States. Pelosi's love of children extends to their parents even if too many like to call these parents illegal. Pelosi calls them the mother and father of our children.

There have been a number of very strong, powerful Speakers of the House in our history. Previously they were all men and praised for their strength and power and ability to deliver the vote. But the same kind of woman Speaker of the House drives some people crazy.

There are even some conservative Catholics who dislike Pelosi because she does not take orders from certain Catholic Bishops who are, of course, all male. And worse, for some, Pelosi goes to Mass and refers to St. Joseph's Day and attended a Mass of Thanksgiving at Trinity College from where she graduated, on the day she became Speaker.

By James Genisio
Oshkosh