I never worry about writing on the same subject as Cassandra because I know our takes will differ. That’s why I felt free to write about the Speaker’s classy speech. I would expect nothing less from the most consequential speaker in American history. She’s leaving leadership, not the Congress. Who’s a better consigliere than Nancy D’Alesandro Pelosi?

Minority leader is a thankless job. I hope Nancy Smash has a supply of popcorn to munch on as KMac struggles to lead an unruly and tiny majority. A reminder that there were 31 votes again him. He has a tough act to follow: Speaker Pelosi was respected and loved by her caucus, but she could put the fear of god into them if need be. KMac is neither respected nor feared. House extremists are going to walk all over him should he become Speaker. Pro-Tip: Never turn your back on Steve Scalise, KMac.

I grew up in the Bay Area, so I’ve been proud to have a San Franciscan by way of Baltimore play such a prominent part in our national drama. She made history as the first woman speaker. She was responsible for countless pieces of progressive legislation, especially the ACA.

Our much-missed former publisher Athenae wrote a great piece for Dame Magazine about Nancy Smash and misogyny in the aftermath of the attack on her husband, Paul. A rightly points out that it was an assassination attempt caused by years of hatred whipped up by right-wing extremists:

Right-wing men want to murder Speaker Nancy Pelosi. They have wanted to kill her for years. They have talked about it, joked about it, written about it, broadcasted it. They want her to be humiliated, be hurt, to suffer. They want Nancy Pelosi killed dead.

 

Perhaps the only thing more shocking than the violent attack on her octogenarian husband, Paul, by a hammer-wielding Trump supporter who broke into the family home looking for her was corporate media’s deliberate oversight of the motive: the Right’s hatred for the female Speaker of the House.

Yeah, you right, A.

Politics is all about timing. The best politicians have an internal clock. The time was right for Nancy Smash to step aside. The Republicans will overreach and make a mess. They still want to please former President* Pennywise despite the well-documented fact that he’s a LOSER.

I hope Speaker Pelosi’s decision will inspire Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn to follow her example. They’ve served the country and party well. I’d hate to see either of them go out by losing a leadership election.

As far as I know, Nancy Smash is the only current House member to have met JFK more than once *and* to have won the Profiles In Courage award:

To paraphrase that great Democrat: It’s time for the torch of freedom to pass to a new generation of Democrats.

I’m not going to speculate about leadership candidates. It’s neither the time nor the place to do so.

I came to pay tribute to a great American and a great Democrat. What a career, what a broad.

The last word goes to Tony Bennett: