Pelosi Gets Tough

Vin Weber, a former Republican Congressman from Minnesota and top advisor to Newt Gingrich, said something interesting about Nancy Pelosi right before the election. "She will be as effective a Speaker as the party will allow her to be," Weber said.

In the wake of her surprise endorsement of Jack Murtha for House Majority Leader, many in the party and press are already questioning Pelosi's judgement. "The biggest puzzle, and biggest disappointment," wrote Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus, "is Pelosi, who was pitch-perfect in her first several days as speaker-elect." In other words, what is she thinking?

Maybe there is an easy explanation for why Pelosi would use so much of her political capitol on backing Murtha. "Hoyer and his aides have consistently worked to undercut Nancy Pelosi since she defeated him to become minority leader," former Congressman Les AuCoin, a liberal Democrat from Oregon from 1974 to 1992, wrote yesterday. "Now Nancy is backing Jack Murtha over Hoyer, the current Democratic whip. Why would a shrewd operater like Nancy take such a risk before even being sworn in as speaker? Simple: She thinks Hoyer, as majority leader, will work as hard to cut her throat as to perform his duties."

Pelosi needs a deputy she can trust. This race may not be about Iraq or corruption, but about who will allow her to be the most "effective" Speaker. That's why she's going all out, calling members of Congress and urging them to back Murtha.

"She will ensure that they [the Murtha camp] wins," Congressman Jim Moran told the Hill. "We are entering an era where when the Speaker instructs you what to do, you do it."

We'll see.

Comments (36)

1. I think Pelosi is acting as Pelosi...whats they surprise here? I hope she continues...

   Posted by john maasch at 11/15/2006 @ 11:59am

2. This has everything to do with corruption and Iraq. Murtha's Airwar Plan means big bucks for Pelosi's aircraft manufacturer donors. Spend a few fucking minutes on Opensecrets.org ferchristsake.

   Posted by AlanSmithee at 11/15/2006 @ 12:05pm

3. Murtha's a time bomb...one that Pelosi and the Murtha-ite blogosphere are building for Karl Rove or whoever.

   As David Corn noted, Melanie Sloan of C.R.E.W. (hardly a conservative or right-wing watch-dog group) has expressed surprise even dismay at the pushing of Murtha who won an "Honorable Mention" from CREW of "Top 20 Corrupt Congresspeople".

   Imagine this scenario....

   May-June 2007 and investigations into Bush are in full swing, and Dems have passed their "Clean Up Congress" legislation...and NEW evidence against Murtha and his dealings in Congress come out.

   Heat gets taken off Bush and Jack and Nancy have to stumble over themselves trying to explain how they really didn't mean it, when it came to "culture of corruption".

   Posted by Mask at 11/15/2006 @ 12:12pm

4. But the point is: if not Hoyer (who cannot be trusted by Pelosi), then whom? Murtha will probably at least act in a loyal and grateful manner towards Pelosi and, while having input on the Dem agenda, will (that word again) loyally support the Speaker. This ain't rocket science people!

   Posted by The Goods at 11/15/2006 @ 12:25pm

5. THE GOODS,

   You are absolutely right. If Hoyer has continually tried to put knives in Pelosi's back while Minority Whip, why should she back him to be Majority Leader? The stupidity of keeping your enemies closer is only for the braindead at heart. You don't keep backstabbers in your midst. You keep them at arms length........

   Posted by POSEIDON at 11/15/2006 @ 12:29pm

6. alan, are you suggesting that the murtha withdrawal plan, which will ultimately entail more air strikes in the waning months, will provide kick back to pelosi, and her wealthy donors?

   are you suggesting that they are only accepting withdrawal plans that will ultimately enrich themselves and their political mobility? that they don't care about the troops or the iraqis? just about money?

   you're sick, dude.

   Posted by darladoon at 11/15/2006 @ 1:23pm

7. ALANSMITHEE 11/15/2006 @ 12:05am

   Huh? Okay, I went looking for dirt on opensecrets.org. Pelosi spent 1.7 million last year. Contributions from "Defense - Aerospace" were 17,500. That comes to about 1%.

   Sorry, but I don't see your point about corruption.

   Am I missing something here?

   Posted by MyParadigm at 11/15/2006 @ 1:24pm

8. we all know that congress is corrupt to the bone, but i refuse to believe that murtha, deep inside his own heart, does not want to get out of iraq for the sake of the troops, the troops' families, and the iraqi people. pelosi, who is already enormously wealthy, doesn't need labor kick back.....she won in a landslide, and will continue to do so......

   Posted by darladoon at 11/15/2006 @ 1:25pm

9. myparadigm, it's about labor unions.....not defense specifically. it's the guys who make the planes........

   Posted by darladoon at 11/15/2006 @ 1:26pm

10. Why isn't this in our press???? – except for Fox News???

    From the The Australian News Paper Beheaded girls were Ramadan 'trophies' Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta correspondent November 09, 2006

    THREE Christian high school girls were beheaded as a Ramadan "trophy" by Indonesian militants who conceived the idea after a visit to Philippines jihadists, a court heard yesterday. The girls' severed heads were dumped in plastic bags in their village in Indonesia's strife-torn Central Sulawesi province, along with a handwritten note threatening more such attacks. The note read: "Wanted: 100 more Christian heads, teenaged or adult, male or female; blood shall be answered with blood, soul with soul, head with head." Javanese trader Hasanuddin appeared in Jakarta Central Court yesterday charged with planning and directing the murders in October last year. He faces a death sentence if found guilty under anti-terrorism legislation. Hasanuddin allegedly returned from a visit to members of Philippines Islamist group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front with tales of how that organisation regularly staged bombings to coincide with Lebaran, the festival that ends the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He later spoke with a preacher in Poso, Central Sulawesi, about whether such a plan could work in Indonesia, but expressed doubt about whether it was appropriate. However, after further discussion with friends, he decided that beheading Christians could qualify as an act of Muslim charity. Conscripting several accomplices at a local pesantren, or Islamic school, he directed one of them, Lilik Purnomo, to seek out "the head of a Christian", prosecutors alleged. "It would be a great Lebaran trophy if we got a Christian. Go search for the best place for us to find one," Hasanuddin allegedly ordered his companion. Lilik returned to say he had found an "excellent" target - a group of schoolgirls who travelled to and from class by foot in the Central Sulawesi village of Gebong Rejo. The village is in the district of Poso, where hundreds of people have died in sectarian violence in recent years. Many observers worry that Central Sulawesi has become the latest battleground in a deadly jihad. Three Christian men were executed there last month for their role in a massacre of Muslims in 2000 and there have been a series of deadly attacks in the province in recent months. Prosecutors yesterday detailed how Hasanuddin, Lilik and co-accused Irwanto Irano planned the schoolgirl beheadings with six other men. They prepared six machetes and black plastic bags for carrying off the severed heads and spent several days surveying the area where the students regularly passed by. The operation was called off on one occasion, when a woman spotted the attackers hiding by the roadside, waiting for their victims. On the night before the attack, Lilik told Hasanuddin: "I hope you are ready to receive your Lebaran gift." The attack was launched the following morning, but only four of the six targeted girls appeared. Lilik, directing the attack from a nearby hill, told his accomplices to act quickly so that the remaining two girls could still be killed should they appear behind their friends. The attackers cleanly beheaded three of the students but a fourth, Noviana Malewa, escaped after a struggle and ran away screaming. Her attackers gave chase but were unable to catch her. The bodies, dressed in school uniform, were left by the roadside near the execution site, but the heads were carried in a backpack to Hasanuddin.The trial of his two co-accomplices was adjourned until Wednesday, when Hasanuddin will also reappear.

    Islam is such a "peaceful" religion.

    Todd

    Posted by Oksportsguy at 11/15/2006 @ 1:30pm

11. Posted by OKSPORTSGUY 11/15/2006 @ 1:30pm

    Uh, Todd....not doubting you or nuthin', but...

    do you have the link to that "Australian News" story?

    Posted by Mask at 11/15/2006 @ 1:40pm

12. It's a disaster that the Democratic Party can't produce a better choice than Murtha or Hoyer.

    Someone explain why it's so wonderfully more progressive to kill Iraqis from the air than from the ground. Is kill-without-dying to subjugate another people a progressive principle? Is it an American principle?

    Posted by fromredbird at 11/15/2006 @ 1:41pm

13. "In another troubling sign that Mr. Bush may be a has-been, White House spokesman Tony Snow revealed today that the president had signed on to make an appearance on the ABC series "Dancing with the Stars."

    ABC spokesperson Carol Foyler confirmed that the president was slated to appear, but added that Mr. Bush was far from the network's first choice.

    "We wanted Nancy Pelosi, but she said she was too busy," Ms. Foyler said.

    Posted by fromredbird at 11/15/2006 @ 1:50pm

14. The laetes psuedo-knowledge form MAASCH_OCHIST

    I think Pelosi is acting as Pelosi...whats they surprise here? I hope she continues... Posted by JOHN MAASCH 11/15/2006 @ 11:59am

    Today, MAASCH engages in yet another laughable charade of knowing something about something, all for having absorbed rightwing barking points the way dirt absorbs fecal fertilizer.

    MAASCH believes that the less one has read, examined or knows ... the more one knows! Otherwise why would one believe, without any knowledge ... unless it were true just by being assumed/repeated?

    Also, MAASCH, before your predictably lame and implosive attempts to defend yourself: Get your much ballyhooed "office" to explain to you the bone-crunching criticism of how your brain works found above, since it is obviously beyond your own dim comprehension.

    Posted by Glenn Lemon at 11/15/2006 @ 1:51pm

15. That is ... "The latest psuedo-knowledge from MAASCH-OCHIST ..."

    Posted by Glenn Lemon at 11/15/2006 @ 1:51pm

16. Islam is such a "peaceful" religion.

    Todd

    Posted by OKSPORTSGUY 11/15/2006 @ 1:30pm

    TODD,

    Is that a quote from CaveMan Cheney, right before he added, "They will loft flowers at our troops as liberators"?

    And perhaps that assumption of 60s-style hippie/commune peace and tranquilty toward foriegn elements was what underwrote the Bush/Cheney plot to construct Americastan in Iraq ... ???

    Posted by Glenn Lemon at 11/15/2006 @ 1:56pm

17. it's no surprise, glenn or todd, that islam is viewed historically as an aggressive religion......but no less aggressive than christianity.

    Posted by darladoon at 11/15/2006 @ 2:03pm

18. It's a disaster that the Democratic Party can't produce a better choice than Murtha or Hoyer.

    Posted by FROMREDBIRD 11/15/2006 @ 1:41pm

    OH, lighten up, FRB.....remember you WON!

    Posted by Mask at 11/15/2006 @ 2:16pm

19. Osama Bin Laden: What? OH NO!!!

    Top Lieutenant #1145: Yes Master, the Americans have invaded Iraq.

    OBL: Thats terrible!!! Now we wont be able to fight them on the streets of New York City! Now we will have to fight them on the streets of Baghdad! Its all over - we`re doomed!

    TL1145: We mustnt give up hope. Maybe the Democrats will win an election. Maybe we can get Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House. Then we can finally crush Freedom once and for all, nasty, horrible, disgusting Freedom, destroy it!

    OBL: But, it will take time. It might be 5 years before we get a Speaker Pelosi. What will we do? What if Iraq becomes a Democracy? MY GOD MAN, WHAT IF IRAQ BECOMES A DEMOCRACY?

    TL1145: God would never allow that. What I recommend, Master, is get Saddam Hussein on the phone. He has millions of tons of chemical weapons. Lets get that stuff transferred to Syria right away. Everything - get all those mobile Anthrax labs, all those unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and tell Saddam to increase production at our Ricin factory in the Kurdish territory to the maximum!

    OBL: Yes, of course. With Gods help we might somehow last until we get a speaker Pelosi - then Freedom is doomed. I hate Freedom. Get me Saddam on the phone - we must prevent Democracy in Iraq at all costs. God, how could this happen? We were about to fight the Americans on the streets of New York, and now this? How can we defeat George Bush if we have to fight him on the streets of Iraq?

    Posted by LiberalPride at 11/15/2006 @ 2:27pm

20. Oh, yes, I forgot,

    OBL: Another thing, get our allies in the liberal media, tell them to print lies saying the Americans are losing in Iraq. No good news must be allowed to get out of Iraq - that is our TOP priority - its the only way we can defeat Freedom. If good news gets out of Iraq to the American people, then Iraq will get Democracy and this new battelfield will be lost.

    Posted by LiberalPride at 11/15/2006 @ 2:32pm

21. Mask,

    Here you go...

    http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20726085-2703,00.html

    todd

    Posted by Oksportsguy at 11/15/2006 @ 2:32pm

22. Ouch.

    Unfit for Majority Leader

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article /2006/11/14/AR2006111401230.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

    Posted by New Dawn at 11/15/2006 @ 2:35pm

23. Posted by OKSPORTSGUY 11/15/2006 @ 2:32pm

    S'okay, Todd....I found it....at wikipedia.org--

    "The Australian"

    (informally referred to as The Oz) is a national daily broadsheet newspaper published by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Headquartered in Sydney, but with bureaux around Australia, it was founded in 1964, losing money for nearly thirty years.

    Its circulation is still quite small, with a weekday circulation of approximately 130,000 and a Saturday circulation of approximately 195,000.

    Posted by Mask at 11/15/2006 @ 2:42pm

24. With the environment back in the political arena (as the Dems actually try and attend to these things once in a while) I though this germane (and who knows, maybe one of these writers will pick up on it....)

    Sweden Tops Climate Change List.................................................................... ..... Monday, November 13th, 2006 at 2:39pm.................................................................. .. . AP: NAIROBI, Kenya

    Sweden, Britain and Denmark are doing the most to protect against climate change, but their efforts are not nearly enough, according to a report released Monday by environmental groups.

    The United States _ the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases _ ranked at 53, with only China, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia doing worse.

    "We don't have any winners, we only have countries that are better compared to others," said Matthias Duwe of the Climate Action Network-Europe, which released the data at the U.N. climate conference. "We don't have big shining stars."

    The index ranks 56 countries that were part of a 1992 climate treaty or that contribute at least 1 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. The countries make up 90 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions.

    So Hoo--rah, we're #3 (from the bottom)

    Posted by leftofcenter at 11/15/2006 @ 3:01pm

25. Re this business of Murtha being touched by the quarter-century old AbScam sting:

    They tried to entrap him, and didn't exactly tell them to go to hell, but he didn't take the bait either. It's in Clinton-lying-about-his girlfiend territory as far as I'm concerned.

    Right now, given the choice between a Democrat with guts and few ethics problems, and an altar boy with no clout, I'll take the old soldier in a heartbeat.

    Posted by MyParadigm at 11/15/2006 @ 3:27pm

26. Posted by LEFTOFCENTER 11/15/2006 @ 3:01pm

    Interesting....Sweden, Britain, Denmark on top....US, China, Malaysia on the bottom huh?

    Now, what OTHER factor might play into that?....like, oh...population, maybe?

    Posted by Mask at 11/15/2006 @ 3:29pm

27. Posted by MYPARADIGM 11/15/2006 @ 3:27pm

    Isn't it also....Karl Rove and "Plame-gate" territory?

    I mean LEGALLY....Rove never indicted or even named an "un-indicted co-conspirator" (as Murtha was)...would be MORE innocent than John, right?

    Posted by Mask at 11/15/2006 @ 3:30pm

28. Actually, that's kind of my point. Not to give Karl any props but he's a very smart operator and basically he shoved it down our throats. It just gave us something to gossip about for a year. The right wing can have this to kick around if they want. It'll never amount to anything.

    And not to belabor the point, but NOT getting burned by a sting is pretty damned noble compared to tossing around the name of a CIA agent working on WMD issues, when WMD is THE issue.

    Posted by MyParadigm at 11/15/2006 @ 3:40pm

29. Posted by MASK 11/15/2006 @ 3:29pm

    Actually Mask..not so much. See the data yourself (second link, one page PDF) CCPI

    Posted by leftofcenter at 11/15/2006 @ 4:28pm

30. Posted by LEFTOFCENTER 11/15/2006 @ 4:28pm

    Before we get to "germanwatch.org"....did THEY compile the data?

    Posted by Mask at 11/15/2006 @ 4:36pm

31. It's political capital not political capitol.

    Posted by ravi at 11/15/2006 @ 4:57pm

32. One thing is for damn sure: if this is all we get for "Pelosi getting tough", then she isn't getting tough enough, not by most of the distance to tough enough.

    nothing is good enough for zero, especially when the top two items on his personal agenda are:

    1. withdrawing all support for israel, and dissolving the israeli lobby

    2. a total and immediate withdrawal from iraq

    pelosi would have to align herself with barbara lee in order to make zero happy.

    Posted by darladoon at 11/15/2006 @ 5:10pm

33. Why do we need either of these clowns, with their ethical baggage and other sorry histories? Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has blasted Murtha on ethics, and Pelosi for endorsing him (www.citizensforethics.org). Murtha steered lucrative military contracts to clients of his brother, a registered lobbyist. Curt Weldon, anyone? Murtha was protected from prosecution in Abscam by a corrupt Democratic House leadership -- see TPM Muckraker posts here [tpmmuckraker.com] and here [tpmmuckraker.com]. And Hoyer has bragged about setting up a Democratic version of the K Street Project. Eeeewww.

    I spent every Sunday for the last six weeks or so, and all of Sunday, Monday and Election Tuesday until the polls closed, volunteering for Jerry McNerney in CA-11. And we won. We booted out the corrupt disgusting toad Richard Pombo, and we did it the old fashioned way, picking up the phone, knocking on doors, and talking to people. We ran in part on Pombo's corruption, and the Dems in general campaigned against the "culture of corruption." And now -- this? This is the best the Dems can offer us?

    It's a reminder to me of why I continue to be registered as a Green.

    Posted by siegeljd at 11/16/2006 @ 03:59am

34. Well Mask, I hope you have me a serving of crow ready, since Hoyer won today (and not by a little either.) I was thus wrong, wrong, wrong, and have lost whatever metaphorical cash I laid down on the outcome. It seems that Pelosi was not able to overcome the old boy network enough to get this through. They all put a good face on it, but what this is going to do to the 100 Hour plan I don't know. Let's hope Hoyer has seen which way the political winds are blowing outside of Congress and doesn't resist a solid withdrawal scheme. Maybe Pelosi can still pull off what needs to be done. I certainly hope so.

    Posted by Stwriley at 11/16/2006 @ 10:50pm

35. Oh no! What'll Pelosi's own...er...funders do for government contracts now?! As true and faithful democrats, you shoulds stand up and demand your airwar!

    Posted by AlanSmithee at 11/17/2006 @ 06:37am

36. OKSPORTSGUY,

    TRUTH BE KNOWN, ALL RELIGIONS ARE CULTS OF TERROR:

    Wanting the clash of civilizations I see. This story, if true, and I am not doubting it is, is very horrifying. This act should be condemned in the strongest of terms by everyone. What should also be condemned is your trying to characterize ONLY the Islamic faith as violent, which isn't true. One could make the case, rightfully so, that all religions are cults that advocate death and destruction. Radical Christians want the entire Middle East to be blown up to bring in the rapture, Radical Jews want all Arabs and Muslims ethnically cleansed from the soil of Palestine which they claim is greater Israel, Radical Muslims want 72 virgins everytime they commit a suicide bombing. The only difference in these religions is their methods. Radical Jews and Christians have the Israeli and American armies that they can hide behind and use to fight for their lunatic religious causes where as Radical Arabs and Muslims, since they have no official armies, navies, and air forces at their command have to resort to hit and run attacks and guerilla tactics used to expel occpuiers. Right now, believe it or not, the radicals are in the driver's seat and control all the levers of power. If all religions were banned, the world would be a much safer place.

    Posted by POSEIDON at 11/17/2006 @ 4:14pm