Sop
Timothy Noah at Slate thinks the Democrats should probably dump Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House for her blunder in trying to get Jack Murtha elected Majority Leader over Steny Hoyer.
Hoyer’s victory is already being portrayed as a humiliating defeat for Pelosi, which it was. But it would have been an even greater defeat for Pelosi to push Murtha through and then suffer the consequences of her own idiotic decision. I doubt she understands that.
I’m not so sure I buy that. Pelosi’s reason for supporting Murtha was to recognize his position on withdrawal from Iraq. The election was about Iraq. Murtha’s rise to prominence was due to Iraq. And, if Murtha was to become Majority Leader as a reward for his anti-war antics, it was necessarily going to have to happen up front.
So, Pelosi did what she did, I figure, not because it was the truly smart move to make, but because she thought it the shrewdest way to placate the anti-war crowd inside the Democratic Party.
Enjoy the little sacrifice Pelosi made of her authority, comrades. She did it for you. She did it so you couldn’t say she wasn’t listening to your sage advice.
