Bailing on Bailout & Dumping on Pelosi

With politicians bailing out of the bailout bill, we saw the end of an era. Oh, the era of narrow partisan interests will continue. The era of politicians voting in their short-term interests and not those of "We the People" will surely continue. What has changed is that with the repudiation of their own leadership both Republicans and Democrats have wounded their leaders beyond saving. Add to this the increasingly irrelevant president (What's his name?), and we have a real transition--possibly to chaos.

Bush could not marshal his own troops. He couldn't influence his own congressional leaders. He got more Democrats than Republicans. He is a spent force with no real friends left on either side of the aisle. He, however, was already on his way out--timed out by term limits and political poison for current candidates for congress, the senate and McCain.

The surprise loser from this debacle is clearly Nancy Pelosi, who following a stunningly inept impulse, blew the possible compromise out of the water with a partisan indictment of Bush and the Republicans. I will not fault her on issues of fact, but how tone-deaf and stupid do you have to be to have worked for compromise around the clock with people who fundamentally disagree with you and then, only moments before the vote, attack them for past sins of commission and omission?

Rule one of politics and negotiations is really quite simple: Stab your adversary in the back after you have gotten what you wanted. She stabbed them in the front before they could deliver. She ought to be removed and find a quiet retirement with W. I assume, but don't know, that as professionals they counted the house before the vote. You really don't want to vote without knowing the outcome. That counting clearly took place before Pelosi's screed. What an incredible political miscalculation and disaster.

Yes, Republicans are using her as a convenient excuse for voting their well-founded fears of their own constituencies. But there is no question that her rant cost the bailout bill valuable votes. There is also no question that her lack of leadership was manifest in all the Democratic defections. She gets a twofer, a double F grade for alienating potential transitory Republican allies and failing to round up her own team--particularly from the Black Caucus and western Hispanics.

Our political leadership is on both sides shameful, inept and self-indulgent. Even if the bill is brought back from the grave and passes, this is really the time for a change of leadership for both parties.