Pelosi’s Problems

Don’t you just love it when a person is hell-bent on attacking another and they end up under a mountain of criticism? Well, that philosophy may not appear in the Bible, but it has been entertaining to watch Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) taking it on the chin over what she did or did not know regarding enhanced interrogation techniques at Gitmo. As an observer, one has to wonder how she could take the largest cannon in the liberal arsenal and turn it on herself in less than a week. It is doubtful whether Pelosi will be effective in her current roll going forward, and that is to say nothing of her fumbling the last best chance to demoralize Repubs over waterboarding.

Maybe U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) was correct when he called Pelosi, “Tom Delay in a skirt.” Though such a comparison was meant to demonstrate how heavy-handed and politically isolated both have been, the latest comparison is that both are obvious liabilities to their respective parties. I recall hearing Tom Delay’s desperate attempts to salvage his position as House Speaker and thinking, ‘this guy has lost it.’ Well, after watching Pelosi’s PR nightmare that has become a circus side-show, I thought to myself, ‘this lady has lost it.’

What was most surprising was to see Leon Panetta, the CIA Director, who is a former U.S. Congressman from California, and former White House Chief of Staff for President Clinton, push back against Pelosi’s suggestions that the CIA lied to her. Yesterday, he stated, “If they start to use these issues as political clubs to beat each other up with, that’s when we not only pay a price but this country pays a price.” In short, Pelosi has walked the political plank and has run out of options for backing out of the situation. This will not end up in a resignation, because, well, liberals don’t do that. At least, she won’t be jumping off the plank until Obama gives the green light, something that is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Now, that dirty word “waterboarding” has been defanged and it leaves the retributive ultra-lib electorate feeling disappointment over Pelosi’s behavior. They will surely continue to push for “truth-commissions,” a concept that sounds like a grand inquisition.

With Pelosi down but not out, I wouldn’t expect her to be so attacking in the foreseeable future. Perhaps, I’m wrong, in which case she would continue to draw parallels between herself and Tom Delay. That is something that likely makes Dems everywhere cringe.