After The Gold Rush
Well, I dreamed I saw the knights
In armor coming,
Saying something about a queen.
There were peasants singing and
Drummers drumming
And the archer split the tree.
There was a fanfare blowing
To the sun
That was floating on the breeze.
Look at Mother Nature on the run
In the nineteen seventies.
Look at Mother Nature on the run
In the nineteen seventies.
(Neil Young, After the Gold Rush, 1970)
Others have noticed that the media is not playing nice with Nancy Pelosi. The honeymoon lasted a bit over a week and now the knives are out and suitably sharp.
Nancy Pelosi may have gotten the kid-gloves treatment from the media during the election, but now the gloves are off. Her championing of Murtha for Majority leader (and her simultaneous abandonment of her former deputy, Hoyer) seems to have struck a nerve.
We expected her stand to offend Republicans; that's not news. But it offended Democrats as well, not to mention Dana Milbank of the Washington Post, previously labeled "…probably the most anti-Bush reporter currently assigned to the White House by a major news organization" by John J. Miller of National Review.
Milbank doesn't sound all that fond of Pelosi's track record so far, either; he seems to think this Speaker might do well to do less Speaking and just STFU.
And it's hard to blame him, or those Democrats who are angry that Pelosi's misguided boosting of Murtha put a damper on their victory party as well as their party unity. And then there are statements by Pelosi such as the following, made after Murtha's defeat; it's almost beyond parody:
Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with us. Let the healing begin."
Ah, yes. Let there be peace on earth. The queen, after all, has ordered it to be so. Somehow, the queen's mantle is looking a bit threadbare at the moment, however. The festivities among the peasants have been dampened a bit. And the lords and ladies in the gilded chamber of the privileged elite are not at all happy. And others are noticing. Many others.
After the gold rush ends, there is a crash.
By mokus, Saturday, 18 November , 2006 @ 1:32 am
Does anyone know if the Black Caucus voted for John Murtha or Steny Hoyer? Major Murtha supporter Jim Moran (D-VA) hinted darkly his faction was aware of who voted against them even though it was a secret ballot. Moran said some members couldn’t be trusted.
I’m not asking for theoretical speculation, I’m asking for inside information. I’m disturbed because the WaPo’s Dana Milbank reported Maxine Waters supported Hoyer. If that’s so, I want to know why.
Maxine Waters is head of the “Out of Iraq” caucus and well as a member of the Black Caucus. Both of which would seem to be ideological running mates of John Murtha and Pelosi.
Now, I know politics makes for strange bedfellows, but if Maxine Waters and the Black Caucus abandoned Murtha and Pelosi, I want to know how it came about.
By Arlo, Saturday, 18 November , 2006 @ 1:09 pm
Maybe they like Pelosi and they like Hoyer but they don’t like Murtha?
I don’t know how many times I’ve seen/heard that Nancy Pelosi wears “Armani” clothes. She’s certainly not getting soft treatment. How do the reporters know what the labels on her clothes say? She is not a flashy dresser, either.
By Ollie, Saturday, 18 November , 2006 @ 3:10 pm
So much for the “liberal” media…
By mokus, Sunday, 19 November , 2006 @ 12:13 pm
After a bit of poking around, I think I’ve got it right. Seems Maxine Waters was indeed who Jim Moran said “couldn’t be trusted.”
Waters has about 70 members in her Out of Iraq caucus, and was expected to support John Murtha for Majority Leader. But, as WaPo’s Dana Milbank reported, she backed Steny Hoyer instead.
If Waters changed sides at the last moment, and brought most of her caucus along with her, she provided Hoyer’s margin of victory, and blindsided Pelosi, Murtha, Moran, et al.
It’s speculation on my part, and I’d like to see some confirmation, or some other reasonable explanation, if there is one, for the Dem debacle.