With the final vote for Majority Leader coming out 149-86 in Hoyer's favor, we seem to be witnessing a potential fragmentation of the Democratic Party.

Keep dreaming. You're too used to watching partisan hackery and temper tantrums from the Bush admin the last few years - grown adults handle disagreements a little more maturely than just calling the other guys a bunch of terrorist-loving traitors.

...grown adults handle disagreements a little more maturely than just calling the other guys a bunch of terrorist-loving traitors.

Ah, but you make the unsupported assumption that politicians act like grown adults. As the picture clearly shows, it is easy to be infantile at any age.

Just maybe, legion, you are too young to remember what Democrats in power are like. It's been a while.

Nancy just blew a big chunk of political capital for no possible big gain. Dumb.

Oh I'm well aware of how wrong Dems in power can go. But at least now we have the possibility of some actual progress in between the corruption we just dumped and the corruption yet to come...

And I just love how rightys are portraying a pretty straightforward 149-86 referendum on the trustworthiness of Murtha vs Hoyer for #2 guy as some sort of crippling split in the Dem power base, while completely ignoring the 1-vote margin (and associated narrower mandate) the GOP just displayed in putting Trent Freaking Lott in as their own #2 guy. Sheesh.

Classic case of a dog finally catching a car after years of chasing them and having no idea what to do next.

Also note the description: From [far] left: Pelosi, ....

Legion

And I just love how rightys are portraying a pretty straightforward 149-86 referendum on the trustworthiness of Murtha vs Hoyer for #2 guy as some sort of crippling split in the Dem power base, while completely ignoring the 1-vote margin (and associated narrower mandate) the GOP just displayed in putting Trent Freaking Lott in as their own #2 guy. Sheesh.

House & Senate -- different animals, different agendas

Obviously you've never lived in Chicago, had an alderman walk in the booth with you to show you how the voting machine works, how to flip it for a Straight Dem ticket -- if you want that is --
Then pull the handle for you -- and tell you you're all done.

Tho raised in the Baltimore Dem Machine, That's still Pelosi style, --- She's gonna have some trouble.

Rangle is also advised to remember his powerful predecessor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Rostenkowski

Who says crime doesn't pay ? Rostenkoski's congressional retirement check is $300,000 per year (including Social Security) FOR LIFE, plus benefits. Back to the Senate -- Same for Tom Daschle and he's a young guy for a retiree .... so it's a long payout ... your tax dollars at work Legion, that's who you are slaving for till every May (annual tax freedom day). They don't prefund retirement payouts it's pay as you go in the U.S. Fed Govt.

In a class society, you're just a serf, He's Landed Gentry.

Legion .... Hmmmm I've heard that name before (Gospel of Mark 5:8-9)

That photo is priceless. I may have it blown up and use it for dart board fodder. One of my regular sent me here, thanks for the laugh!

Econ-Scott,
While I don't doubt anything you said, what does it have to do with this thread?

She's mad because her friend and favored candidate Murtha lost, Murtha's mad because he lost, Hoyer's happy because he won. What is newsworthy about this, or infantile? Those reactions are entirely normal. How are they supposed to feel? What am I missing here?

You know what you're missing, Earl? Macaca.

Has there been any speculation that Pelosi's support for Murtha goes beyond "loyalty"? Given Murtha's somewhat shady history, is it possible he has some dirt on Pelosi? It's just seemed odd to me that she continued to support him even though it's been pretty obvious for awhile that he probably did not have the votes. Or maybe she just over-estimated her own influence.

Once we quit weeping over what these clowns are going to do...it's going to be SUCH FUN to watch them ruin themselves. The Bolshevik Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight.

The only thing they'll be good at is making conservatives

the corruption yet to come...

By all indications, this new machine came preloaded with plenty of corruption.

El Jefe: Iraq, Katrina, Mission Accomplished, Osama Been Forgotten, Terry Schiavo, Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, Valerie Plame, WMD, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, Ted Haggard, George "Macaca" Allen...

You say the Dems are the gang that couldn't shoot straight. Why don't you try leaving Clown World sometime? It's not so bad out here, really, you should try it.

Purple Avenger: the current crop of Repubs and their lobbyists are the most corrupt in modern memory: Cunningham, Abramoff, DeLay, Pombo, Ney, Brent Wilkes, Dusty Foggo, Safavian, Scanlon, Pombo, Weldon, etc etc are all in jail, under investigation, or irrefutably bankrupt morally. Rumor has it that Abramoff is still singing, and this list is not complete anyway.

The Dem William Jefferson is a crook. Murtha has some questions to answer, and maybe Harry Reid does also, but these two are very small potatoes compared to what your boys are in prison for. You're seeing what you want to see.

This is a huge story. So big that about 85% of the people in the country have no idea it even happened.

the current crop of Repubs and their lobbyists are the most corrupt in modern memory

I remember the last democrat congress. It was worse.

churchill was always careful to be magnanimous in victory.

he kept chamberalin in his cabinet after replacing him.

pelosi should have been nicer to steny.

now, instead of a loyal number two, the caucus is split and her power;lessness exposed.

idiot.

and murtha - instread of fighting for the spot with everything he had, he shoulda cut n run. heh.

Purple Avenger: bull, and that's why you don't even try to back it up. Go on, list the Dems from 90-94 who ended up in jail or resigned in disgrace. There probably were some, but nothing like what we are seeing now.

Like I said, you see what you want to see, even when you can't even prove your beliefs to yourself.

reliapundit: a cute little baby Instapundit, heh.
It must be nice to live in a world as simple as yours. Maybe one day you'll grow up and realize that anyone who says "the left|right|GOP|Dems|whatever is the root of all evil" is a moron.

World's BEST pout! lol

I'm not sure which network news program I saw this on, might have bee PBS, but they covered quite a bit of this press conference and the whole time Murtha was scowling, pouting and grimacing in the background, he even stalked off early and had to be dragged back for pictures. The newsreader concluded the report with this gem, "Today, the Democrats were all smiles."

It bodes well for Pelosi that was willing to spend her political capital right off the bat

Funny how she gets credit for "spending political capital" over this, but the President somehow squandered his when he held a madman in Iraq accountable for his actions.

Hoyer wins 149-86, Trent Lott wins by one vote, yet the Democrats are the ones divided. This has been another lesson in living with adult dyslexia by the Confederate Yankee.

I remember the last democrat congress. It was worse.
I do too, PA, and you're utterly full of crap. That Congress had plenty of crooks in it, but none of them so completely reneged on their job to provide oversight that they let the President slide on so many mistakes, crimes, and screw-ups. It's their job to keep the Pres in check, and even a bad Dem Congress could do that better than this crowd of cretins that's about to get shown the door. In fact, that's _why_ they're getting shown the door.

Oh, and Earl? I'll go ahead and get this out of the way for our more right-leaning commenters: In your list of corrupt Repubs, you listed Pombo twice. That, like, totally negates your entire point!

ChickenhawkRob: "Funny how she gets credit for 'spending political capital' over this, but the President somehow squandered his when he held a madman in Iraq accountable for his actions."

So you think 3,000 soldiers, billions of dollars on our national credit card, and untold civilian casualties -- with no end in sight -- are worth deposing a tin pot dictator who was a threat to no one. Clown World is full of intrigue.

Legion - thanks, they will indeed take what they can get at this stage of the game.

I'm new to this site but not new to the world. I don't think it would be a stretch to say we all know there's corruption on both sides of the aisle, but as I was reading all these blogs, I'm thinking: 'These sound like intelligent, informed people. I wonder if they're DOING anything to help improve the 'system' or just flexing their 'knowledge expounding' muscles.' I'm thinking that, with all the intelligence I see here, that someone could come up with an idea for getting this country back to the ideals of our Founding Fathers, and not just talking (or arguing)about how bad it is and which party did what (and got caught). What can we do to change things?