(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
AP is reporting that Nancy Pelosi was chosen as Speaker-elect of the House of Representatives by a unanimous vote today. She is the first woman to ever achieve the post, and is the highest ranking woman ever to hold office.
I have to say, my XX chromosomes are feeling awfully proud at the moment.
No official word on the Majority Leader position as yet, but will let you know when I get something solid.
UPDATE: Hotline reports that Murtha doesn't have the votes. But nothing confirmed as yet — they've been behind closed doors for more than an hour now. (H/T to Taylor for the Hotline link.) Have to say, I've had mixed feelings about both Majority Leader candidates all along, but whomever wins, we need to be united coming out of this on the reform agenda that Pelosi is proposing — we need some serious changes, and soon, on a whole lot of issues.
UPDATE #2: John Casper noticed a quick turn-around on the Hotline story — and I wanted to be certain that everyone saw it. Hotline has corrected itself, says that Majority Leader vote hasn't yet occurred, and is backtracking from the "Murtha doesn't have the votes" angle. Very interesting, indeed. Questions that come to mind: who was the original source on this? Was it expected to effect some votes as people were going into the caucus meeting? Were they hoping staffers would Blackberry it into the room, and that it would juke the vote? I'd like to see a little more explanation than the little bit that Hotline put up as a correction, frankly, because that's very, very odd.
UPDATE #3: Steny Hoyer chosen as Majority Leader, with a fairly sizeable vote.
Related posts:
- Pelosi Beating Up Progressives to Take “Watered Down” Public Option
- “It might not be 2011 but 2012, 2015, 2020″
- Will Pelosi Crack Heads for “Robust” Public Option as She Did for ACES and the Supplemental?
- Pelosi to Include Medicare+5 Public Option in House Bill
- Pelosi Believes She Has Votes for Robust Public Option*
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Fitz
Girl power indeed!
Nancy!!!
Clap clap clap.
But shouldn’t they have told us whose clothes she was wearing for her big day?
Howard Dean!!
No surprise. I’m just wondering whether she has the pull to get Murtha elected.
I think it is not only the fact that she is a woman, but that she is just simply the best qualified person for that job. It will be a pleaasure to see the agenda of the House under Pelosi. Together with Boxer and Feinstein, California really is represented by women!
Balrog @
4
They fit so well I’m sure they’re hers. They don’t have that hand me down look. :-)
Heard on the radio coming in to work a few minutes ago that Hoyer has enough votes.
Just what I heard, no confirmation.
Hear! Hear! for Madam Speaker Pelosi!
Here’s to sensible heads prevailing so she has a Majority Leader she can work with.
She’s got a whale of a job to do, cleaning up and moving fwd after the last bunch trashed the House.
Yay Pelosi!
I’m actually bracing myself for Hoyer to win. When it comes right down to it, most rank and file Dems seem to like and trust him. They are going to vote for him without making a big stink about it, because it’s a secret ballot and they don’t want to cross Pelosi.
jeffreyw @
8
Unless her sister Armani is the same size…
Speaker Pelosi!
Speaker Pelosi!
Speaker Pelosi!
I heard they’re scraping Sean Hannity’s brain off the wall at Faux. What little there were.
I’m thrilled for Speaker Pelosi. I don’t know enough about Murtha’s positions, but after reading the Q & A session with Steny Hoyer over on TPM Cafe I was almost apoplectic with anger over his views on the Bankruptcy Bill. He is just totally out of touch with the struggles of real people. Whatever happens, I trust Pelosi to manage. If it ends up being Hoyer, and he starts to be a problem, she’ll just have to cut him off at the knees. IMO, she was both correct and courageous in her response to Jefferson’s shenanigans.
Hey FDL,
Hot line has retracted their statement. You should also pull it.
Nancy Pelosi!
She voted against both Gulf Wars!
My kind of lady. It is natural that she would pick Murtha who at least recognized that Iraq 2 is a complete and utter failure back in November.
She and Murtha are smart enough to know it is all about the war (s).
I am seriously proud of her for not playing the DC game and sticking with “tradition” and her buddy, Steny. She is representing the people who spoke on Nov. 7.
OT, but too good not to share:
“Look at it: Thirty-five years ago he joined the Texas Air National Guard to stay out of Vietnam. Now he’s going to Vietnam to stay out of Washington.”
–Ted Koppel, on last night’s Daily Show, plugging his upcoming Discovery Channel broadcast on Iran.
nicked that from one of Keninny’s two great morning posts at DWT. Keninny also posits that Rahm may be behind the leaking of Abscam tapes of Murtha from decades ago.
Keninny puts it right, though:
Apart from the antiquity of that tape, let’s try to stay for just a second in some kind of touch with reality: What we see there is a young Jack Murtha turning down the bribe offer. Let me say that once again: What we see there is Murtha turning down the bribe offer.
Ari Berman on why Pelosi wants Murtha:“Hoyer and his aides have consistently worked to undercut Nancy Pelosi since she defeated him to become minority leader,” former Congressman Les AuCoin, a liberal Democrat from Oregon from 1974 to 1992, wrote yesterday. “Now Nancy is backing Jack Murtha over Hoyer, the current Democratic whip. Why would a shrewd operater like Nancy take such a risk before even being sworn in as speaker? Simple: She thinks Hoyer, as majority leader, will work as hard to cut her throat as to perform his duties.“Pelosi needs a deputy she can trust. This race may not be about Iraq or corruption, but about who will allow her to be the most “effective” Speaker. That’s why she’s going all out, calling members of Congress and urging them to back Murtha.”She will ensure that they [the Murtha camp] wins,” Congressman Jim Moran told the Hill. “We are entering an era where when the Speaker instructs you what to do, you do it.”
Hotline retracted that Murtha had conceded.
CHS didn’t state that.
There’s no way to tell which way it will go. After all, it’s a secret vote and these are politicians ; )
John at 19 — interesting — when I put the link in, the older post was still there. No correction. That was a quick correction — and I wonder why so fast? Very interesting indeed.
Watching the WaPo live video feed, waiting for the incoming Speaker’s announcement of her team, I wonder if the assembled pressbots, chatting away, know we can HEAR and SEE them?
I am beginning to suspect that Jack Murtha’s “ethicial troubles” are like Howard Dean’s “scream” — a media artifact. Take a wisp of innuendo, whip it into a big glob of cotton candy, and let the talking heads feed on it and speak it, like gods, into reality.
Less ornate version: I can’t stand Andrea Mitchell.
Today is a great day for America. I have no doubt that Nancy Pelosi will lead the Democrats well, the only question remaining is whether they will follow her lead.
Regarding Hoyer vs. Murtha, I think they’re both significantly flawed, but Murtha is less likely to interfere with Pelosi, so I give him the nod. I don’t think it matters much, though, because unlike Hastert, Pelosi will actually lead from the front instead of acting as a puppet to the rest of the leadership, and ultimately, the caucus is bound to follow their #1 leader, not the #2.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 21
I wonder if the same people who leaked the perverted version of Murtha’s “crap” statement also leaked the “fact” that he had conceded?
LindaR @
25
duh…
TeddySanFran @
22
Rule #1 for anyone in front of a microphone and/or camera: IT IS ALWAYS ON!
(Hear/see anything juicy, Teddy?)
A question from Mrs. Emanuel, perhaps, for Peter Baker at WaPo this morning….
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01229.html
Was it my imagination, or was Sean Hannity
having an orgasm when he showed the 1980 clip
on Murtha?
Jack
I find it sad that we have to accept a less than honest, less than forthright person to do our bidding. Having a criminal represent you is a difficult thing for an attorney to contemplate.
I am wondering why our guys are “better” than the other guys. I am not being specific, for their are obvious differences, I only wish to put the potato out there as a generic potato.
it appears that many of our “leaders” are bending the law for their benefit. are we ignoring that our side appears to have a lot of scum floating to the top right now? and when I say ‘our” side, I only refer to the fact that they appear to be slightly more open to reality than the ones we just voted out. and that collective “our” is meaningless until they begin doing things to reverse the “combustion engine vehicle on the road to dictatorship” that they have been working toward since reagan.
what are they going to do? impeach of course, probably on most all of our minds. But what happens when we see this group ignore, or give up on the things that we want them to do? LBJ did one of the most impressive things any politician could do. Instead of riding the train, he broke the civil rights movement open, he put his foot down and made things happen. He drove the train.
we haven’t seen anyone since that has done a damn thing for “we, the people” since. They talk a lot, but they do not act for fear of the next election.
it is sad how ignorant and yes, stupid we are as a collective species. some of us give up their character and the authority to run their lives to other people. our government seems to believe they are collectively smarter than we are. they tell us what to do instead of the reverse.
one would think they would ask us what we want, but they never will. they will take polls, and investigate and try to get what we want from walmart’s customer survey. anything but open public discourse.
if that is going to happen, it will be up to us.
according to TPM, they’ve elected the minority whip (some guy from SC…).
Which IMHO is very interesting… it means that if Hoyer loses, he’s out in the cold since his current Whip position is filled.
And not to be too ambiguous or anything, but…
1) the election of a Southern Blue Dog was in exchange for votes to support Murtha, and the election of the House Whip before the Majority Leader vote was a sign of SOMEONE’s desperation…
or
2) the election of a Southern Blue Dog is Hoyer knowing he has the votes, and rubbing it in to Pelosi not to cross him any further…
hopefully, its Number 1….
When I met (future) Speaker Pelosi in CT, I told her it was a relief to see she didn’t resemble Satan, not matter what Fox News says. She had a good laugh over that one.
Later, during her speech, she talked about “when I take the gavel from the outgoing Speaker.” A hush fell over the room, as if possibility had turned to probability.
p.lukasiak @ 31
That would be MAJORITY whip.
That would be MAJORITY whip.
old habits die hard, I guess ;)
FYI The “democratic fingerpointing” article Jane is now the headline on NYT website
Cozumel @
20
Just tell us when the smoke comes out of the plume so we can all run up to the Hill.
Peterr @ 33
No intrigue there — they elected the positions that were uncontested first.
FYI the “democratic fingerpointing” article Jane highlighted yesterday is now the headline on the NYT webiste
There was some flirty-sounding chit-chat like everyone has at work, I guess, hard to tell what’s being said. Just heard from the Capitol Hill setup guy that they’ll bring the flags in for the backdrop seven minutes before the principals come to the microphones already arrayed.
Now lotsa tech talk about multi-plexer mic hookups.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01139.html
p.lukasiak @ 34
Just don’t call Grandma Pelosi “Mister Speaker.” ;)
OT– the Senate is discussing the India nook deal.
Dorgan is making a chilling speech that is right on target.
Armani? I’m sure I heard that her sister was Betty Crocker.
Pelosi. She da woman. The boss gets Murtha.
Doors open to the meeting room, lotsa Congresscritter-looking types pouring out. Door now closed. There must be an anteroom behind the guarded door, where staffers are allowed; those can’t all be C’Critters.
WaPo has an article with a funny title:
New Methods Let Scientists Analyze Neanderthal DNA
Just thot someone clever here could take that and run.
OT – according to TPM, Rove is still nonplussed about the failure of “THE math”. Some boy genius.
Just started balloting, according to press briefer.
I see the struggle in the Murtha thing as a one between the Speaker and the Senator from N.Y. The Hill is flexing her muscle. Back off Hill.
Secret vote for majority leader happening now.
In DC Murtha is obviously ethicallly challenged, due to the fact the he DECLINED to take a bribe.
Just what kind of an unswayable cretin is he anyways, not taking a nice large wad of cash.
-GSD
OT: More fun with bipartisanship.
Shorter Abizaid: “Stay the course! Stay the course! They stand up, we stand down! AWWWWWWK!”
On this day :
1776 Hessians capture Fort Washington, Manhattan
Ft. Washington was located near the present day east anchorage of the G.W. bridge. General Washington stood on the west anchorage in New Jersey, and watched as the Hessians massacred many of their American POW’s, under what was known as the ” Right of Quarter”.
Seeing this, the General gave orders that from that point on, prisoners in American custody were not to be harmed.
5 weeks later, when the Hessians awoke to the Americans in the streets of Trenton, no one was executed.
Thus our policy of treatment of prisoners was set for this country.
230 years ago.
Pelosi? So it’s TRUE? We’re gonna have San Francisco values? Holy Shit! How are we gonna survive all that Irish Coffee?
MayDaze @ 46
As you know, perhaps better than I. Math is f’ing a priori.
Definitely sounds like something from Hoyer or his camp/staff.
Let’s not forget that two years ago, Hoyer insisted to the media that he had at least 101 committed votes for Minority Leader, yet when the they were counted only 94 people voted for him.
Interesting to me that TradMed has inflated this into a test of Grandma’s leadership, as well as a disconnect from her promise to lead the most ethical Congress ever. Lotsa talk in the papers about pressure being brought to bear by Grandma on new members at orientation and social events.
I wonder whether she has really done more than write a letter supporting a long-time supporter and brave Marine who got called a “coward” on the floor of the House by a nitwit Flag-Code-violating GOP colleague.
Your headline is incorrect. Nancy Pelosi has not been elected speaker. That will happen in January.
She has been unanimously nominated for speaker by the Democrats. That means that all Democrats have pledged to vote for her in January, assuring that she gets the job. But all house members, including the Republicans, vote for speaker after the new Congress convenes.
It was very interesting when Murtha declared on Chrissie Matthews’s show that he was CERTAIN he had the votes. We’ll see …..
Hillary views Pelosi as a threat. As well she should.
rwcole @ 53
By drinking an extra cup!
OT Bush gives go-ahead for ‘Bush Center’ in Israel
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/788582.html
Bush opined that if they were going to do a lot of writing there, he preferred the blue crayons. He also asked that instead of calling it a “center” could they call it a “far right”. He finished by asking them when they were going to convert to Christianity.
Press guy to press gal, off-camera: Well, that’s okay, I’ve got a long cord.
Press gal: I know you do, but they are bringing in a multi.
Joe Buck @ 57
Pretty much a technicality, then, isn’t it?
Speculation:
The fact that the ballot is secret should help remove pressure from various East coast Senators.
The fact that Pelosi was unanamous suggests Murtha will be named her leader, as she endorsed him.
Joe Buck at 57 — thanks — as I’m dealing with a sick child this morning on top of doing my work here, I hope you’ll forgive me shorthanding this. It’s all I can do to get posts up today.
@37..I don’t think Rep. Clyburn of SC is a blue-dog. He is African American.
LOL, Hugh. Very good.
How many others are out there in the ethers, tuned in to FDL to find out how the vote/nomination goes, & what that means? heh
I love this place.
B-r-e-a-t-h-e folks…. ;->
feel better, peanut !!
Adie @ 68
Hah, I’m hitting f5 obsessively.
Reflect for a moment. Hillary likes the Iraq war. Murtha does not.
Urban Pirate @ 70
Steve @ 66
You’re right, Steve, He’s not a Blue Dog.
Steny likes the war too, despite his waaaaa claims that he signed “the letter”.
hmmm.
:) OK kiddo.
Christy – sick ‘peanuts’ always come first. ALWAYS. We can mutter to ourselves until a chance comes for you to write more. That computer thing must be both a blessing and a curse some days.
Been awhile since I had a sick kid on my hands, but during a 4 day baby???sitting job with my grandkids, wouldn’t you know that the day after the parents left, the 5 yr old comes down with 103 temp. So back to alternating motrin and tylenol plus some lukewarm spongebaths.
And I came away with step. he was on the mend in 3 days. Geez. Same ole, same ole…
murtha is corrupt period. crew has him in the top 20. sloan has a great record and gets it right. i haven’t seen her screw up yet. take a look at crew’s top 20 and start cleaning.
Urban Pirate @ 70
dittodittodittodittoditto ;->
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has officially been named Speaker-elect of the House of Representatives, RAW STORY has learned.
Democrats chose Pelosi unanimously earlier this morning. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) was elected majority whip and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) was chosen to become caucus chairman.
A battle for majority leader between Reps. John Murtha (D-PA) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) is still undecided.
A secret vote later today will determine whether Murtha, a Pelosi loyalist, or Hoyer, who once challenged the Speaker-elect for minority leader, will become her top lieutenant.
raw story
Oklahoma kiddo @ 71
I think is an unfair characterization of Senator Clinton’s position. I’m no HRC fan, but she doesn’t “like the Iraq war,” does she? Not the way McCain does.
EvilDrPuma @ 72
{{{{{HUGS}}}}} Christy and Peanut ;->
I take Mr. Clyburn must now be the highest ranking African-American in congress in US history.
Lot’s of ceilings getting shattered today.
-GSD
Link, please. thanks.cmm @ 76
Hillary’s problem about Iraq is that she figures americans won’t vote for a woman who isn’t- literally- a battle axe- and the only way she can prove her axiness is with the war she was given- not the war she would like..So she and the war are stuck with each other- but she may be sleepin around.
egregious @ 45
From Novakula’s WaPo column today:
“This is a no-win situation for Pelosi. If Murtha wins today, she will be accused of personal vindictiveness in derailing Hoyer, who is more popular in the caucus and better qualified for leadership. If Murtha loses, as is much more probable, she will be seen as bumbling her first attempt to lead the new Democratic majority. Pelosi could have avoided this dilemma by standing aside as Newt Gingrich, then the presumptive speaker, did when he voted for his ally Robert Walker as majority whip but did not ask members to oppose Tom DeLay.”
When men play the game, it’s “hardball” politics. When women play the game, it’s “vindictiveness.” Oh yeah, and Nancy, be more like Newt, wouldja?
No linkypoo to the douchebag of liberty.
raw story:
cmm at 76 — I think, technically, that Murtha wasn’t in the top 20, but was on CREW’s “one to watch” portion of the list. And I have yet to see any analysis done on Hoyer, but I do know that his KStreet connections also give me pause. Which is why I’ve been saying all along that I’m awfully glad that it is Pelosi’s agenda that will be getting pushed, and not either man’s. Frankly, I kept hoping for a third way — both candidates have both good and bad things to them — obviously, Murtha’s position on Iraq is strong and Hoyer’s got a lot of organizational experience from being the Whip and is a very hard worker by every account I’ve heard. So we’ll just all have to wait and see which side of the penny turns up after the vote.
OT: Bush warns North Korea: Don’t spread nukes
Doug MacKenzie: My topic today is, don’t kill bugs…because sooner or later, no matter how good you are, somebody will hate you and will think of you as a bug. And then the next thing you know, you’re gone. So, like, don’t kill bugs.
cmm @ 76
Nixon was a red-baiter and red-hater. Nixon went to China. Murtha would be just the guy to clean up ethics on the Hill, if Grandma gets her way.
WaPo live feed is losing sound and falling all over itself. That’s the last time I post a vid-link for you obsessive f5 ‘pups!! *g*
I do agree that Hillary likes this war. It is hillbill’s opinion that she is going to have to show a strong hawk tendancy to even get near the presidency. This was her chance and she is not going to back down.
If Bush wants more money – Hill will vote for it. If Bush was more troops, Hill will vote for it. Any comments by her about this war, few and far between it seems to me, would be to complain that Rummy is doing an awful job at said war. But nothing about the choices at the beginning.
This battle between Hoyer and Murtha is the same reason why so many refused to accept Lamont. Anti-war was not the refrain the D.C. dems wanted to hear. Still don’t. Rahm, Hoyer, Joe, etc. etc . all want to keep hope alive that the war is winnable. Stupid.
scarecrow @ 85
I didn’t know scarecrows had bone marrow…
mc at 86 — Novak is a moron. I think that Nancy will do well either way the election goes, frankly — because it is her agenda that will be put into play. Both men were apprised of that right off the bat when they threw their hat in the leadership ring…and word is that they both agreed to the terms.
It’s a great day for our country that we have our first woman Speaker of the House.
MSNBC says they’re counting right now. Hmmmm . . . I wonder if they’re using Diebold machines to count the votes?
“And the new Majority Leader is . . . Newt Gingrich?”
Redd–yeah–the goopers who just got eviscerated in the election last week are all hangin out the windows heralding the collapse of the new democrat majority. Gives em somethin to do- keeps em off the street and away from congressional pages.
punaise @ 87
But Larry Kudlow said the moderate Democrats would rally behind George W. Bush….there is no way that his analysis can be mistaken, can it?
I mean the moderate Dems would be stupid not to ally themselves with Mr. 31% and his Veep Mr. 18% in order to bottle all of their power and the goodwill of Americans who, in the words of Karl Rove believe Bush is still “personally popular”.
-GSD
Wrt corruption, both sides have to drive lobbyists to contribute to their campaigns. It’s the only way to get elected, until, we publicly finance national elections. That won’t solve the probem completely, but imho, it will be a GIANT step forward.
I really like CREW, but I’m not going to get hung up on their ratings in this fight.
Breaking…
Hoyer wins
It’s amazing to me that Novakula still gets picked up in syndication, and that some folks still pay for his Evans&Novak “newsletter.” I guess some narrow-minded people only want to read within their preconceived ideological parameters (*g* at self!!).
cnn – it’s hoyer.
149-86
mc @ 86
And how, pray tell, did the DOL characterize the one-vote win of Trent Lott yesterday to be Mitch McConnell’s deputy? Civil war in the republican senate ranks? Two old bulls knocking heads to be the #2?
Ok, now we get behind him. I’m cool w/ that.
Peterr @ 95
Peterr! DON’T DO THAT!!! *shudder*
in any speculative venture you can’t profit without taking risk. depending on the outcome of this vote, Nancy’s bold gambit either pays off in spades or she comes out weakened – within the caucus and in the public perception. for that reason alone I think it is imperative that Murtha prevail.
http://www.citizensforethics.o…..p?view=156
I’m ‘tuned in’ here…am I missing CSPAN coverage? Don’t see it streaming 1,2, or 3.
Anyone? (RealPlayer. Will NOT use WMP…ala CNN and others.)
——
Novak’s scribbling is just a variation on: Dem win is good for GOP…
Nancy wins Speaker, but the Majority Leader is BAD for Dems…same lame junk.
jmho.
As it ends up being Hoyer, I hope Murtha keeps talking about Iraq and refuses to be quiet and sit down. His has been a great voice and I sincerely hope to hear it much more.
I’ve gotta admit- I find Novak entertaining- George Will too. Goopers have a few writers worth reading.
Ouch.
-GSD
oops.
Joe Buck @ 57
By the same token, we do not elect a President, but only the electors who will elect the President. Seems to me, we should call it an election when the decision is made, not when it is formally ratified.
Mrs Greenspan sez 149-86 for MSNBC.
cmm @ 107
Note that CREW lists Murtha as one of five “members to watch” and NOT as one of their twenty “most corrupt members of Congress.”
C-Span has it on the bottom of the screen. Hoyer wins.
Oh well. Now we have work to do to hold him accountable for EVERYTHING he does.
Novak was probably very proud of himself this morning- those “no matter WHAT happens the
GOP wins” columns are on his wet dream list. Pretty good job- if yer a fuckin gooper that is.
Its Hoyer
Monday morning quarterbacking: Nancy over-reached. have to admire her gumption, however – it bodes well.
mc @ 86
That must be where the AP got this little headline (which does not relate in any specific way to the story): Pelosi faces no-win outcome over Murtha.
From the Associated Press Statement of News Values and Principles:
Except, of course, when they don’t.
Did someone say that Hoyer is against Net Neutrality?
At least Steny will stand up for federal employees. Under this administration, they need all the help they can get.
Hoyer? Don’t know much about him- but probably the right decision if Murtha really does have some integrity issues. Don’t wanna hand the goopers a golden issue right out of the box.
(I have to admit, too, that I get a little “Randy Duke Cunningham” feeling when I see Murtha the great war hero on the tube- maybe it’s nothin but….)
punaise at 106 — I heard some speculation last weekend that Nancy’s support of Murtha was one of those win-win sorts of things for her. If Murtha won, it would be on her coattails. If he lost, it would be because she gave a lot of the Blue Dog folks and other new members an ability to vote for her for Speaker, but vote “against” her on the Majority Leader spot, so they could say they were independent of her. No idea if it is good speculation or not — I couldn’t get confirmation from Pelosi’s office on it, but then, I really didn’t expect to get it. *g* I do know that Hoyer is said to be incredibly organized, so hopefully that will work to our advantage over the next coupla years.
punaise @ 112
707
Hoyer would do well to have Murtha with him ever time ‘Iraq’ is mentioned. (News conferences, etc.)
Forward.
Murtha got the ball rolling.
Lamont picked it up.
Both sidelined. Up to the rest of US to PUSH!
Shez @ 121
I read that somewhere, too.
Well, that said and done. It is time to support the new Democratic team and face Team Loser head on.
Hoorah.
-GSD
Shez @ 121
I seem to remember something about that. However: Hoyer is Majority Leader now, not Speaker, and Grandma Pelosi can still put his teeny little balls in a vise if he tries anything naughty.
punaise @ 119
I don’t know if this was Nancy overreaching or if Murtha’s recent comments about ethics reform shot himself in the foot.
And I don’t really care. Steny is going to work for Nancy, and not the other way around. They did a good job together over the last two years, holding the Dems together in the House on a number of big battles. (Not that it did much good, given the GOP control, but in a couple of cases it was key.)
So let’s hoist that Irish Coffee, in the midst of our Bay area fog/mist/rain, and toast the speaker-elect!
Coulter named “Sexiest Praying Mantis Alive” by People magazine.
rwcole @ 123
I just don’t see Murtha with lava lamps on a yacht…
It’s a win for Pelosi to get the word out that she is loyal to those who are loyal to her. It will increase her power inside the caucas. Now she has to kick the shit out of a couple of congresscritters to show that she can do that too. (probably she already has).
TeddySanFran @ 79
Perhaps we’re dealing in semantics. If one doesn’t like the Iraq war. Why support it? Why not come out against it?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 124
Maybe the next time you’re stuck in the airport and Nancy calls you, you can ask her directly.
Don’t know lots about Hoyer but the only face to face I had with him was when he and Bob Ney came to a show “hearing” that was happening after the last election. They were touting HAVA as a team.
His seemingly very friendly association with Ney kind of creeped me out.
GSD
Yep- well said.
Alright Ms. Speaker. Time to kick some Demo ass into line.
Here’s the full slate of Dem. leadership for the upcoming Congress:
Nominee for Speaker:
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Majority Leader:
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Majority Whip:
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC)
Caucus Chair:
Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL)
Vice-Caucus Chair:
Rep. John Larson (D-CT)
Christy Hardin Smith @ 124
interesting take, thanks for *alleged* the back story. if true, then that’s pretty clever…
Hoyer wins, big.
LOl Peterr at 135 — well, first of all, I called into a conference call and, second, if I get to talk with her directly any time soon, maybe I will ask. *g*
your right..he’s on the watch list. my memory sucks…sorry. however, after reading about him i still think he’s got ethics problems up the ass. we must hold everybody in the belt way accountable, including our own.
Murtha was a Marine on the ground. Duke flew the F4 Phantom.
Andrea Mitch-head is overstating the case.
Hasn’t she read Profiles in Courage…
Pelosi has taken a stand against the war, get it!
The fucking war must end…
It’s why this Nation is hurting and hurting deeply.
Go Nancy!
Jack
Hoyer wins. The Great Repudiation of Bush — Grand Opening. Grand Closing.
Gang — I want to put together a list of great places to purchase holiday gifts/gift donations/etc. for this weekend’s Pull Up A Chair. If anyone has favorite charity gifts, places you can buy products where some of the proceeds go to a worthy cause…anything like that…and you want to send me a link, I’d really appreciate it. I’m putting together some of my own, but I’d love suggestions from all of you. Thought this might be useful for everyone with the present-buying season approaching.
hoi polloi
Hoyer – Pelosi
the new team for the common people!
OK Kiddo:
That’s Madame Speaker to you!
:-)
Oh, and new thread. I think the Plameologists will enjoy it.
RWCole at #133
I hope your analysis is correct. I’m let down that Hoyer won. It is going to make the fight against the war that more difficult, and the fight against K street even more difficult. We have come a long way in two and a half years, but the big money still talks louder than we do.
On to the next battle. We won a big one last week, and Nancy is in the Chair.
Deep Blue MA delegation snubbed – again! (just joking.)
OTOH, who will chair House committee that has Net Neutrality?
http://energycommerce.house.go…..embers.htm
Steny is like Lieberman:
This sucks.
Good for Steny. He’s done a great job representing a diverse and changing district (reaching from conservative Southern Maryland up into the suburbs). He has a good relationship with the press and knows how to work with people.
My family’s home used to be in his district when I was a kid, before redistricting put that part of southern PG County elsewhere. Despite his increasingly high profile over the years, Steny still recognizes his consistuents and former constituents and calls them by name with no prompting. A few years ago, Mom and I were taking a visitor on a tour of the DC monuments and so forth. We saw Steny doing an interview with a gaggle of press, cameras and lights all going. He noticed Mom and left the cameras to come over and hug her and ask how she’d been. As he walked back to the cameras, our guest stood there awestruck. A Congress person would tell the press to wait so that he could talk to a constituent. Imagine that.
I’ve followed Hoyer’s career most of my life. He’s a good man and has done a good job for Maryland. He’ll make a fine majority leader.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 147
Great idea *g*
I’ll send you some more when I get some time. RIght now I have to do some errands that have been waiting since, believe it or not, before the election.
I recall getting a mild reproof awhile that alarm over the Neo-con pro-war agenda Rahm
supports/enables is nothing to be concerned about since Murtha will be Majority leader.
And Schumer getting a big pat on the back, I’m sorry but Rahm and Chuck carry water
for the Neo-Cons, their self congratulations is smug arrogance.
OT: but worth sending a flare over
The Center for Constitutional Rights has a web form for
petitioning Germany to proceed with war crimes charges.
http://www.democracyinaction.o…..n_KEY=5929
rwcole @
53
#1 San Francisco value: parking.
Blank Kludge @ 152
Markey has been a champion on this. I assume he will continue to be so when he gets to chair it (I assume).
Knut
I don’t think that it affects the battle against the war at all. Murtha was a great advocate- and he remains one. The job of the majority leader is not to draft the agenda or to be the main spokesperson for it- it’s to make sure it HAPPENS- it’s a PROCESS job.
If he is against Net Nutrality then we need a petition started now to send to “our own” party. If they lose the vote I will never vote for one of them again, and will teach my kids the same.
Cliff Varnell @ 157
#2 SF value – driver training (and double course work for the cretin who sideswiped my parked car this AM!)
Christy….
Howie indicated that Hoyer wanted to come here as a special guest — but only if no one was allowed to call him a “shill” or whatever.
First off, I hope you haven’t committed to Hoyer, especially under “special” rules. I’d be really disappointed to see this blog trading our right to express our opinion for “access” to Democratic Party bigwigs.
Hoyer is the personification of what is wrong with modern politics (in both parties.) He’s a K-Street shill — collecting money from lobbyists and doling it out to other congresscritters campaign funds — with the obvious but unstated quid pro quo of votes for cash. Hoyer’s primary agenda is the aggegration of personal power, not serving his constitutents or advancing the agenda of the Democratic Party, and he accomplishes that goal by being the middleman between K-Street and Democratic congresscritters. He’s as “anti-progressive” as it gets, in other words.
Murtha may be “corrupt”, but he’s old school corrupt — his “corruption” is in service to his constituents, and isn’t about gaining personal power. I can respect a blue collar guy like murtha skirting the ethical line in order to keep jobs in his rust belt district, Hoyer, on the other hand, deserves no respect, because he’s simply in it for the power and influence.
Christy:
Watching Nancy Pelosi work as a Dem fundraiser and party leader here in San Francisco, she’s used to working to unify the most moderate and the most liberal politicians in her camp. Democratic politics in CA are no joke, and Nancy cut her teeth on that, wheeling and dealing for the likes of John, Phil and Sala Burton, Willie Brown, Feinstein, and Boxer.
She’s the classic “behind-the-scenes” power player. Given her history locally, from what I’ve observed, she can handle Hoyer.
Paul at 162 — we ended up deciding not to have an interview with Hoyer as a chat, because we weren’t willing to do that sort of screening. So Howie did a phone interview with him instead. The write-up that you saw was the result. You know us well enough to know that we don’t pull punches on something like this, I hope.
I assume you live in Southern Maryland since you’re speaking for Hoyer’s constituents. How’s the weather in Waldorf? Has the storm passed down there yet?
Hoyer’s moderate and represents the views of his district quite well, thank you.
Steny will undermind Pelosi at will, and he will be all for Bush’s positions on the Iraq war. Watch for it.
Paul at 162 — we ended up deciding not to have an interview with Hoyer as a chat, because we weren’t willing to do that sort of screening. So Howie did a phone interview with him instead. The write-up that you saw was the result. You know us well enough to know that we don’t pull punches on something like this, I hope.
PHEW!!!! :)
(the main reason I asked was that Howie wrote that Hoyer wanted to come here after the Leadership elections, and left open the question of whether he’d be invited. I didn’t know that the phone call was a “substitute”)
Thanx again! (((((((((Peanut)))))))))
Hi Terry, greetings from California. So let me get this straight, you are OK with Steny’s denigration of fellow Dems for their view against the war? He may represent the folks in your neighborhood, but how does that translate to the national party?
I’m confused.
Pelosi got her job the old-fashioned way–she earned it. Now let her do it. She can handle Hoyer and Murtha, boys and girls. I. am. so. proud. of. her. Let the fun begin!
Paul at 167 — he still may come, but it won’t be with any restriction on discussion, other than the same requirements we have for all our Blue America discussions. These are elected officials or people running for office, and we expect folks to be polite. But I don’t know that there has been any planning other than a small mention that maybe they could make space/time in the schedule for it. Look, I see this sort of thing as an opportunity to do some education. In all of my interaction with a lot of the folks on the Hill, I try to bend their perception that all bloggers are just insane nutball types — I’m a mom and a former prosecutor and an adult who owns her own home. Whatever stereotype they are working from on bloggers is inaccurate — but the same may be true for them as well, so I’m open to give them a shot to prove that their actions are better than what we expect. I think we should all operate from that framework where it’s possible. (For some folks, it’s just not possible. Their actions have long spoken loudly.)
The bankruptcy bill passed because of Stenys “leadership” with other vichy dems.
p.lukasiak @
162
House Progressive Caucus plus Net Roots = XDCCCX
Terry, so’s you know I am not a born left coaster, and have two sisters and a brother there in Maryland. I used to work on Crabbs Branch Way, in Gaithersburg.
Shucks…
Not that Murtha didn’t get it. Shucks that he had skeletons in his closet that interferred.
But we won on honesty, and that’s just the way it is in 2006…
LindaR @
23
jus catching up on ol threads. LindaR, if you are reading this, *beautiful* phrase. Lovely picture.
Two Friedmans from now, when Bush is contemplating Baker II after The One Last Push bs, the Democrats will be entangled deeper into Bush’s Iraq folly, just like the Emanuels and the Clintons want.
My guess would be that the voters will not be as kind in 2008 to the Democrats as they were last week. Kerry stuff all over again. Oh well, what’s a few hundred thousand more dead Iraqis to the Democratic neocons.
Thrasyboulos @
176
God, you’re an idiot. Did you not see how the House Democrats just elected an anti-war Speaker?
The Democrats are not about to start pushing to get us deeper into Iraq just because they decided to elect a Majority Leader who opposes immediate withdrawal when the only other option was very, very ethically tainted.