It's not like she disclosed the identity of a covert CIA agent, or started a war by lying about weapons of mass destruction, or stole an election, or something.

pelosi must be running for secretary of state ..

Or is it?

Never mind that that statement is ludicrous: As any diplomat with knowledge of the region could have told Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Assad is a corrupt thug whose overriding priority at the moment is not peace with Israel but heading off U.N. charges that he orchestrated the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. The really striking development here is the attempt by a Democratic congressional leader to substitute her own foreign policy for that of a sitting Republican president. Two weeks ago Ms. Pelosi rammed legislation through the House of Representatives that would strip Mr. Bush of his authority as commander in chief to manage troop movements in Iraq. Now she is attempting to introduce a new Middle East policy that directly conflicts with that of the president. We have found much to criticize in Mr. Bush's military strategy and regional diplomacy. But Ms. Pelosi's attempt to establish a shadow presidency is not only counterproductive, it is foolish.

Given the Post's incessant beating of the war drums before and after the Iraq invasion, I'd say their editorial page certainly fits within the cluster of "usual suspects" regarding the Middle East.

But Ms. Pelosi's attempt to establish a shadow presidency is not only counterproductive, it is foolish.

Is this more or less foolish than Dennis Hastert doing the same thing during the Clinton presidency?

Hastert said he would to correct this situation and expedite aid to countries allied in the war on drugs and also encouraged Colombian military officials to "bypass the U.S. executive branch and communicate directly with Congress."

--Socialist With A Gold Card

It is hysterical to think that Bush's foreign policy is basically to puff out chest and make threats. His secretary of state is off doing what?

Oh, heady stuff. Defining down "genocide" for Armenia, apparently.

The United States should leave Turkey and Armenia to resolve their dispute on whether the mass killings of Armenians in the wane of the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a US Congressional committee Wednesday.

"What we've encouraged the Turks and the Armenians to do is to have joint historical commissions that can look at this, to have efforts to examine their past, and in examining their past to get over it," the AP quoted her as saying. "I don't think it helps that process of reconciliation for the United States to enter this debate at that level," Rice added.

In other news, Ferragamo is fully restocked for spring.

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People getting rich. Some people saying "Markets!" More death. Neil Young. Death.

Even Jesse Jackson doesn't make mistakes like this and he is not the greatest diplomat.

Holy MoFo. That's just surreal. It's like someone bitching about the taste of the communion wafers in the midst of the Spanish Inquisition.

Let's go ahead and say that this has everything to do with keeping Turkey happy as Iraq (and by extension, Kurdistan) becomes a huge problem on its southern border.

NATO membership has its privileges. And yet another connection to Pelosi.

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, backs the resolution and at first wanted a vote in April. But under Turkish pressure, Bush administration figures have lobbied for the Democrats in charge of Congress to drop the measure.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent strong letters of protest to her and to Representative Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which has not set a date for the vote.

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People getting rich. Some people saying "Markets!" More death. Neil Young. Death.

It's not like she disclosed the identity of a covert CIA agent, or started a war by lying about weapons of mass destruction, or stole an election, or something.