Posted by
Buster Foghorn on Friday, December 01, 2006 7:06:53 PM
Comments By Speaker Pelosi: November 29, 2006
Question to our Speaker: President Bush made the following statement while he was in Estonia en route to Jordan to meet with Prime Minister Maliki about the situation in Iraq:
There's a lot of sectarian violence taking place, fomented in my opinion because of these attacks by al Qaeda, causing people to seek reprisal. And we will work with the Maliki government to defeat these elements.
Response by Ms. Pelosi: When asked for her thoughts about the President’s overseas comment Ms. Pelosi responded that: "The 9/11 Commission dismissed that notion a long time ago and I feel sad that the President is resorting to it again." (Emphasis added)
Comment: Speaker Pelosi didn’t exactly dazzle the Fox All Stars with her blatantly inaccurate response, which they characterized as "confused," "mixed up," "she clearly screwed up here.”
What is sad about “sad” Nancy is that she missed an opportunity to defer comment with a grace note. All she had to do was say:
While the President is overseas, while he is in route to a meeting with President Maliki, all Democrats wish him the best of success and I prefer to wait until he returns from his trip before commenting on any of his remarks.
It was an opportunity for a simple turning away of a question with grace. Not only did Ms. Pelosi fail to demonstrate an instance of grace, but also she raised further questions about her judgment and ability. “To every thing there is a season, … a time to keep silence, and a time to speak….” If Ms. Pelosi had considered this she might have avoided embarrassing herself.
For an earlier Pelosi profundity blog go here.