Incoming House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,
brings poise and focus to
the office. -HARAZ N.
GHANBARI/AP
colleagues. "The
thought of Nancy
Pelosi as speaker of the House
makes me ill." Another nod-
ded, "I don't like her either.
There's something about her
voice that bothers me."
Her voice? It's a mature
woman's voice -- maybe it
makes these two men think of
their mothers. Rightfully
scolding them.
"What exactly don't you like
about Nancy Pelosi besides
her voice?" I asked, the under-
lying suggestion being that not
liking someone's voice is a stu-
pid reason for opposing a qual-
ified candidate for a job. My
male colleagues couldn't come
up with anything tangible be-
cause there really isn't any
reason to criticize Pelosi. Her
voice? Is being an articulate
and forceful woman a nega-
tive? Particularly after that
crude and trash-talking Texan
Tom DeLay? Yikes!
One Republican wag, a few
months before the election,
said all the voters had to think
about was having Pelosi and
Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada
leading Congress and they
would have to vote GOP. But
Pelosi and Reid, in my estima-
tion, are much more palatable
than that former wrestling
coach and speaker of the
House, J. Dennis Hastert, who
handled the Mark Foley scan-
dal so adroitly, and that ridicu-
lous doctor, Sen. Bill Frist. (I
can never forget his attempt to
watch a video and diagnose
whether the comatose Terry
Schiavo was really compos
mentis. How irresponsible.)
Pelosi is a glamorous
grandma, who, after rearing
five kids, understands the
need for discipline and rules.
She'll keep those wayward
House members in line and
she is going to make one hel-
luva speaker. She will also be
much more comfortable talk-
ing to the press than Hastert,
who clearly hated every mo-
ment in front of a microphone.
She is poised and focused; she
appears tough as nails and she
more than I can say for anyone
in the White House.
I always found former De-
fense Secretary Donald Rums-
feld's double-speak unbeliev-
ably annoying because he
refused to take responsibility
for anything, and his Rums-
feldisms are so outrageous
they are being collected in
books and turned into poetry a
la Gertrude Stein: "Reports
that say that something hasn't
happened are always interest-
ing to me, because as we know,
there are known knowns;
there are things we know we
know. We also know there are
known unknowns; that is to
say we know there are some
things we do not know. But
there are also unknown un-
knowns, the ones we don't
know we don't know." Get
that?
At least Pelosi can use lan-
guage in a plain, comprehensi-
ble way.
She is also making history
by being the first woman
speaker of the House. More
importantly, she was one of the
main architects of the Democ-
rats' recovery of the House by
keeping her party members on
track: "It's all about the war,
dummy."
came from the cradle: She was
brought up in a political house-
hold, daughter of Rep. Thomas
D'Alesandro Jr., who was also
mayor of Baltimore. She has
been in Congress since 1987,
representing the city of San
Francisco. Sensitive to her
constituents, she has worked
relentlessly to push for re-
search to find a vaccine for
AIDS and helped those with
HIV who need housing and
treatment.
And China is really nervous
about her, because she has
spoken so openly and elo-
quently about Chinese human
rights abuses.
Those are the issues Presi-
dent Bush should have focused
on when he congratulated her
on her new job. Mentioning
that he can refer her to a Re-
publican interior decorator to
find curtains for her new office
underlined everything that is
wrong with Bush-think. Let me
put it plainer: What a doofus!
Bush should be grateful to
have a Speaker as bright as
Pelosi who will work valiantly
to counter his own poor judg-
ment. And it's because of you,
George, that she has many
more important matters than
curtains on her mind.