Cynical Nation

I'm old enough to remember ABSCAM, unfortunately, and I remember that John Murtha didn't come out looking so great. Still, it was more than a quarter century ago, Murtha was never indicted, and Pennsylvania voters have long since made their peace with the man. I really hope the Republicans have enough sense not to launch some ethics witch-hunt against Murtha in his quest for the majority leader position. Given their lack of moral authority on the ethics issue, they'd do well to let the Democrats police their own for a while.

That being said, I have to wonder what Nancy Pelosi is thinking by publicly wading into the leadership battle on Murtha's behalf. With all her talk about "draining the swamp" and rooting our corruption, why would she willingly open herself up to the inevitable charges of hypocrisy before the new term even begins? She knows good and well that her hand-picked choice for majority leader is going to draw fire from Pelosi's critics due to his past.

I'll even go one further. Why the hell would Nancy Pelosi publicly weigh in on anybody's behalf in a leadership race? She's Speaker. Why not stay about the fray? If she wants to support someone behind the scenes, that's one thing, but I don't see what she gains by diving in the morass on one side or the other. If her man wins, she's unnecessarily antagonized the losing side. If her man loses, she has visibly and publicly diminished her power as Speaker before she's even been seated.

I know she's a newly-minted Speaker and all, but she's hardly a political neophyte. She's led the Democratic caucus in the House for several years now. What is she thinking? Seriously, can anyone explain what's going on?