As this year has unfolded, I have found myself increasingly infatuated with a 69 year old white woman (who is unfortunately overdoing it on the botox). Yes, I am officially hooked on Nancy Pelosi.
As a woman of color, I grew up with amazing touchstones like my mother, aunts, grandmothers, and writers like Barbara Smith, Alice Walker, and Sonia Sanchez. In the last year, I have added Nancy to my list of touchstones.
Then today, I read a piece by Lee Siegel called "Washington's Only Grown Up." I have a number of problems with his piece but it did get me thinking about my crush on Nancy. Siegel writes:
As Pelosi talks about politicians’ responsibility to their constituents and to the future, it is as if she is reating "independents" like the selfish and immature children they really are. As she reminds Americans that democracy is synonymous with majority rule, she might just as well be telling a twelve-year-old that, like it or not, "fair" or not, parents make the important decisions until he is 17. That’s just the way it is. As the poignancy and the profundity of the first black president wears off, it’s clear that our future lies in the hands of women who know how to play a shrewd yet principled game that the men have almost entirely ruined.
If Pelosi ever ran for president—and if I lived in Chicago—I’d vote for her twice.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/...
I started to think of how steadily and doggedly the Speaker has pushed forward an Obama agenda that the White House seems all too willing to compromise at every turn. I am reminded of how impressed I am by the way in which the Speaker doesn't back down.
Now I read that the GOP is making the Speaker into the villain of health care.
http://www.politico.com/...
I am sure Nancy would say: Bring it On.
I am infatuated with Speaker Pelosi and I cannot lie. You go, Girl!