Archive for the 'hit piece' Category

As mcjoan pointed out last night, as the first woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi – and the American voting public – has come a long way, fellow babies.

Perhaps it’s time for the press corps to catch up.

From the Washington Post this morning:

Catfight aftermath: Rep. Jane Harman is still quite irked that House Speaker-designee Nancy Pelosi nixed her for chairman of the House intelligence committee – and she's not exactly being stoic about it.

"Catfight?" "Quite irked?" "Not exactly being stoic?"

Arrrgh. This kind of language reduces the serious tactical political differences between the two reps to the level of a couple of women who purchased the same dress slapping each other silly in a back room over who gets to wear it to the swearing-in.

Hmmmm ... remind me again: What was Pelosi’s objection to Harman anyway? Oh, yeah (insert head slap here), it was this:

Pelosi and other liberal Democrats believed that Harman, a moderate, failed to challenge the administration's alleged abuses of intelligence.

The matter of holding the president accountable for his actions is one of the foremost – if not the foremost – issues facing the 110th Congress. To frame the Pelosi/Harman dispute as a "catfight" trivializes both the leaders involved and the underlying importance of Congress’ duty to challenge the president. See, it’s a two-fer: Belittle the players, belittle the issue.

Try this thought experiment: The next time Harry Reid puts the power squeeze on a male colleague, will it be characterized as a "catfight?" Will the squeezed senator be described as "quite irked" or "not exactly being stoic" if he fights back? I’m guessing ... um ... no.

And before everyone goes all "male chauvinist pigs!" on the Washington Post, take a deep breath and click through to the link. The columnist is a woman.

We expected as much from Fox, of course, and Fox delivered. Newshounds has a terrific blow-by-blow analysis of two hours of catty, petty Pelosi coverage, complete with one segment sporting a "Congress Catfight" banner.

Lest anyone worry that our new leadership is all about hissing and scratching in the back alleys over petty scraps of Constitutional import, BarbinMD sent me the following link this morning to reassure us that the press hasn’t completely overlooked the benefits of having a woman in power. Barb wondered if the Nevada newspapers were running similar articles about the new Senate majority leader. Really, people. You must click on the link to get the full ... how shall I say this? ... suitability of this story for this historic present moment.

Then let out a yowl or two.

(Bumped -- kos)

Nancy Pelosi has just become the first woman in the history of the United States to be elected Speaker of the House, the first woman to be [second] in the line of succession to the Presidency.

And how do the country's major papers opinion pages handle this historic moment? They don't. No mention at the LA Times, and WaPo features another George Will set of prevarications running the gambit from the New Deal worsening the Depression to the fact that minimum wage workers really aren't poor.

Actually, the NYT does feature a column about Nancy Pelosi, from the always odious David Brooks, this time adding a dash of sexism to his usual drivel.

Some people believe that Pelosi is an airhead, but that is wrong. Some people believe she is a radical San Francisco liberal, but that, too, is wrong. The main fact to know about Pelosi is that she is a creature of the modern fund-raising system. Some politicians rise because they run political machines. Some rise because they are great communicators. Pelosi has risen because she is a master of the thousand-dollar-a-plate fundraising circuit....

She paid her dues selecting party favors, arranging seating charts (after that, legislation is easy), and laying thick dollops of obsequiousness on cranky old moguls and their helmet hair spa-spouses. She has done what all political fund-raisers do: tell rich people things they already believe, demonize the other side, motivate the giving with Manichaean tales of good versus evil.

Airhead? Party planner? Thank you, Mr. Brooks, for so minimizing the achievements of this talented politician. Would David Brooks ever discuss another, male politician in these terms? Would David Brooks ever ask if a prominent Republican, say George Bush, was an airhead? If he got to where he is in politics because of his name, his family connections, his money?

One paper, fittingly Ms. Pelosi's hometown paper, the San Francisco Chronicle rightly recognizes the import:

NANCY PELOSI'S election as speaker of the House will bring a moment of history today, to be followed by 100 hours of furious legislative activity.

First, let's pause to recognize the historic significance of the first woman and first Californian to assume a position that will put her second in succession to the presidency of the United States....

There is an aura of high expectation about Pelosi's ascension in the San Francisco Bay Area, not only because of what her role means for this region's clout in the nation's capital, but also because her dignity and capabilities are so well known here. Pelosi has represented San Francisco in Congress since 1987. As a rank-and-file member and more recently as Democratic leader, Pelosi has proved adept at building alliances with a charm undergirded by the toughness and shrewdness of a veteran who has navigated the shark-infested political waters of San Francisco.

Congratulations, Speaker Pelosi, for your past successes and for your historic achievement today. While the media seems loathe to recognize this historic moment, we celebrate it.