|
 |
 |
|
Just One Giddy Moment
-
01/05/07 06:59 AM ET
Anybody searching for those San Francisco values on Thursday as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) became the first woman Speaker of the U.S. House left the party empty handed. There was the expected shut-out of the minority, but other than that the GOP goody bag was rather limp. No bra burning, just lots of moderate rhetoric about unity and bipartisanship.
Following the post-election jubilance that had caused Pelosi to attempt -- albeit feebly -- to knock Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) out of the majority leader job he had already comfortably secured,
she endured a month of steady questions about her leadership. First she chose Rep. Silvester Reyes (D-Texas) over both Reps. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) and Jane Harman (D-Calif.) to chair the Intelligence Committee, then Rep. William “Dollar Bill “ Jefferson (D-La.) won the runoff election to remain a liability, and finally Reyes failed to define key terrorist groups in an interview with Congressional Quarterly.
But when Pelosi stepped up to her moment in the history books she was calm, confident, disciplined and completely in control. There were no scraps thrown to the enemy. Her speech focused on restoring faith in government, sustaining economic strength and protecting our national security -- could have been written by a thousand Republican staffers. And she managed not to float too high and lose oxygen or perspective, as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich did, momentarily, in his opening day speech twelve years ago when he urged Republicans and members of the Congressional Black Caucus to visit each other’s districts for a weekend.
Of course we were not spared the Pelosi mantra, the regulation “Baltimore-father-mayor-large-patriotic-Catholic-Italian American-family” description now inserted into nearly every press release. But on this of all days, she was entitled.
There was one unscripted moment following the speech when Pelosi allowed visiting children to come hold the gavel and then, getting a bit giddy, she banged the gavel and called the House to order on behalf of all the children in America. It reminded us that the San Francisco liberal in Pelosi will likely obey and hide in the closet, but the woman and mother in her will not. It was a slightly awkward moment, judging from the dozen people who watched it next to me. One reporter colleague drew in a sharp breath and hung his head. “Osama is really shaking in his boots now,” he said.
Ouch.
Following the post-election jubilance that had caused Pelosi to attempt -- albeit feebly -- to knock Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) out of the majority leader job he had already comfortably secured,
she endured a month of steady questions about her leadership. First she chose Rep. Silvester Reyes (D-Texas) over both Reps. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) and Jane Harman (D-Calif.) to chair the Intelligence Committee, then Rep. William “Dollar Bill “ Jefferson (D-La.) won the runoff election to remain a liability, and finally Reyes failed to define key terrorist groups in an interview with Congressional Quarterly.
But when Pelosi stepped up to her moment in the history books she was calm, confident, disciplined and completely in control. There were no scraps thrown to the enemy. Her speech focused on restoring faith in government, sustaining economic strength and protecting our national security -- could have been written by a thousand Republican staffers. And she managed not to float too high and lose oxygen or perspective, as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich did, momentarily, in his opening day speech twelve years ago when he urged Republicans and members of the Congressional Black Caucus to visit each other’s districts for a weekend.
Of course we were not spared the Pelosi mantra, the regulation “Baltimore-father-mayor-large-patriotic-Catholic-Italian American-family” description now inserted into nearly every press release. But on this of all days, she was entitled.
There was one unscripted moment following the speech when Pelosi allowed visiting children to come hold the gavel and then, getting a bit giddy, she banged the gavel and called the House to order on behalf of all the children in America. It reminded us that the San Francisco liberal in Pelosi will likely obey and hide in the closet, but the woman and mother in her will not. It was a slightly awkward moment, judging from the dozen people who watched it next to me. One reporter colleague drew in a sharp breath and hung his head. “Osama is really shaking in his boots now,” he said.
Ouch.
Most Viewed RSS Feed »
