If you look on Congressman John Larson's web page you'll see that he crows about being the #5 Democratic power broker in the US House of Representatives.

He is in fact a big noise in Congress, and he often is seen in the company of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, literally shadowing her.

His stances reflect her stances, his positions reflect her positions, and you never hear him speak out of sync with the speaker. John Larson follows Nancy Pelosi so closely that he has been nicknamed Pelosi's Poodle.

A case in point was their recent joint excursion to Iraq where they supposedly were reviewing the progress made in the war. They found what everyone else found, that our troops are winning and winning big, the political milestones are well on their way, and the Iraqis are taking over more of their own security every day.

But Larson and Pelosi couldn't bring themselves to admit that they just might have been wrong on that issue, so Pelosi claimed to widespread derision that our troops aren't winners, it only appears that way because "Iran let them win."

Even though that was a ridiculous, disdainful comment, well deserving of a retort from even her closest confidants, Larson stood meekly in Pelosi's shadow and said nothing. Yet he claims he supports the troops. Hypocrite or what?

Now, Larson, again following Pelosi's lead, has gone on vacation, while she is out on a book signing tour. Local papers in his native Connecticut, which regularly give him free advertising, have featured Larson fiddling while Congress burns, metaphorically speaking, showing him partying as his constituents worry about their energy bills.

Meanwhile, the country's energy issues have not gone away, despite minimal declines in the price of crude oil which have brought the price of gas at the pumps down to the $4.00 per gallon level. Yes, down to FOUR DOLLARS PER GALLON level!

But while Pelosi is out signing books and Larson is partying, Republican members of the House of Representatives have remained in DC, inside the House chambers. There they are pressing the issue that it is unconscionable for Democratic leaders to walk away from their responsibilities to the American public.

Nancy Pelosi is not the Speaker of the Democratic House of Representatives, they note, she is the speaker of the full house and her duties and responsibilities extend to the full house, and thus to all Americans. She obviously doesn't see things that way, nor do the other members of her 'leadership' cabal.

Even though the debate continues, Pelosi shut off the lights, the cameras, and even tried to prevent reporters from covering the ongoing revolt.

This is bridge burning at its worst. How can these so-called representatives come back to Congress in September and make believe Americans haven't spent the last month dealing with extraordinary gasoline prices, and will soon be dealing with extraordinary heating fuel prices?

The answer is they are in such as state of denial that they will believe whatever they want to believe. If they hide under the covers and don't peek out, no one can see them, right?

But the public can see them, and more and more are questioning Pelosi's motives and her arrogance. Pelosi's heavy handed totalitarian control of the House of Representatives has even led some to question whether she is more like Joseph Stalin or Adolph Hitler.

Frankly, I have never been close enough to her to see whether she has a mustache and if so, whether it represents Stalin's more than Hitler's or vice versa, but that really isn't the issue is it?

The issue is whether the Speaker of the US House of Representatives has gone power mad, and her minions, like "Poodle" John Larson, are following right along behind her on their leashes, mute and impotent, as she tramples all over the Constitution.

Shutting off the microphones, turning out the lights, pulling the plug on cameras and slamming the door on the way out to a book signing tour pretty much covers violating the First Amendment, doesn't it? If dozens of Republican House members want to continue a debate on energy, even in the absence of the Democratic majority, wouldn't it have been better to just walk out and let them talk?

Is her next move to shut down dissent? Pull an Obama on bloggers she doesn't like? Burn everyone else's books? Should I stock up on copies of my book to make sure she doesn't confiscate them and burn them in a big pile down on the National Mall?

Couldn't she have just said "Turn out the lights and lock the door when you're done?"

So what are we to assume considering that Pelosi (nicknamed Nazi Pelosi by her detractors) and her lackeys tried to stifle public debate on the most pressing issue currently before the American public?

Is she a communist? Is she a Nazi? Is she some totalitarian combination of the two? I guess we'd have to read all the writings on the "National Socialists," the Nazis, to determine if they resemble the liberal left wing socialists in America. Is this 1933 all over again? Is another Kristallnacht next?

Others note that the Communist Manifesto contains a number of positions that parallel the left wing of the Democratic Party. Death taxes, seizure of property and abolishing "free trade" are among the examples described to me.

As a Vietnam veteran who fought against the communists, and saw the havoc they wreaked on innocent populations, I resent this unprecendented assault on our Constitution. As the son of a combat WWII veteran who stood up to totalitarian efforts to rule the world, I see this as an unprecedented outrage!

When was the last time Congress shut down as abruptly as it did when Pelosi pulled the plug? People in the know say it was 9-11, and before that the War of 1812 when the British were on the edge of town.

Those examples certainly give us something to ponder as we enjoy the last weeks of summer, staying close to home because it is too expensive to travel anywhere. I wonder who is paying the freight for Pelosi's book tour?

I read that she isn't getting much in the way of buyers, but is attracting protesters! Didn't see that in the mainstream media. Did you?

By the way, do you know the title of her book? As it was described in Babalublog when she was in Miami last week http://www.babalublog.com/ Czarina Pelosi's book is "ironically and arrogantly" titled: "Know Your Power."

Talk about art imitating life. Do you think John Larson will invite me to his next party?