Nancy Pelosi

I don't know why I should be shocked, but I am. The right-wing commentators and bloggers have been making hay for days over Nancy's "power trip" - demanding a private plane to fly her back and forth to her district. But in fact (though when did those ever matter to these wingnuts?) this is a non-story. Dennis Hastert had exactly this same priviledge when he was Speaker of the House. The only difference is that his district is in Chicago, so it's a lot closer to D.C. Nancy's district is in California, so she needs a bigger plane to be able to fly that far without stopping for fuel. The Sergeant at Arms of the House suggested that Pelosi get the same priviledge as Hastert - it wasn't her idea and she hasn't demanded anything. This is pure fabrication to try and distract from real issues. Shameful, though they certainly accomplished their goal.