I’m glad to see Nancy Pelosi get her due. Her detractors, who have at times been legion, never seem to notice that the Democrats have had an unusual streak of good fortune since she assumed the leadership of the House. She’s the first woman to reach the second slot in the line of succession; a Wikipedia list of “women who have been in the United States presidential line of succession” makes for interesting and inspiring reading.
The New Republic article I’ve linked to above is a salutary reminder of a seminal moment in Pelosi’s tenure: the brilliant job she and Harry Reid (and Josh Marshall) did fending off George Bush’s attempts to reform/kill off Social Security. Atrios recalls a terrific anecdote, new to me, which occurred at a critical moment in that fight, when the Democrats refused to be bullied into offering up their own plan to reform/kill off Social Security in the name of appearing “reasonable.” Asked when the Democrats “were going to release a rival plan,” Pelosi responded, “Never. Is never good enough for you?”—which will surely remind many New Yorker readers of this Bob Mankoff classic.