Nancy versus Steny

The House Democratic Caucus is scheduled to select its majority leader Thursday and the Dems are jockeying over the spoils of victory.

Presumptive House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed Iraq war critic Rep. John Murtha to be majority leader (her second-in-command) over Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the current minority whip.

Amazingly, the left-tilting Washington Post today endorsed Hoyer as “by far the better choice for the job. He is a moderate and highly capable legislator whose selection would reinforce Ms. Pelosi's announced commitment to govern from the center.”

“Murtha's candidacy is troubling for several reasons,” said the Wash Post, “beginning with his position on the war in Iraq.” While crediting Murtha for sounding an alarm about the deteriorating war, the Post categorized his descriptions of the stakes as “consistently unrealistic,” and his solutions as “irresponsible.”

HOLY COW!!!

Last week Murtha denied that the United States was fighting terrorism in Iraq, while Pelosi said it was not a war to win but a situation to be managed. Those two deserve each other.

According to the Post, Murtha claimed that “stability in the Middle East, stability in Iraq,” would come from an abrupt withdrawal, when, in fact, “virtually all Iraqi and Middle Eastern leaders have said that it would lead to a greatly escalated conflict that could spread through the region.”

In addition to his war fantasies, “John Murtha is not the right poster child for a message that stresses ethics,” said Thomas Mann, a Brookings Inst. expert on the Congress.

During the Abscam congressional bribery investigation in 1980, Murtha was videotaped discussing a bribe with an undercover FBI agent. Murtha has opposed stronger ethics and lobbying rules. He has been an avid participant in the orgy of earmarking, including numerous projects sought by a lobbying firm that employed his brother.

Pelosi is about to blow another divisive decision when she chooses the new leader of the Intelligence Committee. She has decided to dump Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the panel, in favor of Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), an African American who was impeached as a federal judge in the 1980s. Pelosi voted for his impeachment.

Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D), leader of the conservative Blue Dog Democratic coalition in the House, supports Hoyer. Cardoza warned that Democrats would suffer if the liberals in line to head many of the House's key committees don't listen to the conservatives.

In fact, Steny Hoyer may have enough votes to win the job of Speaker of the House himself. Just imagine if the Blue Dog Dems join with all the House Republicans to select a conservative Democrat, say Cardoza, as Speaker. The Republicans in Conn. did just that, voting to retain Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman.

Nancy P will pull out the rest of her eyebrows.