In Praise of Nancy Pelosi

What, exactly, did Nancy Pelosi do wrong?

She visited Syria. She hardly offered any support for Hezbollah or Hamas. In fact she used the occasion to acknowledge and criticize their support for these groups. She is visiting Assad - and let's hope she strikes the right somewhat-frosty tone when she leaves the meeting - but that's one better than Condi Rice, who has done little more than dispatch an undersecretary.

And Pelosi made the sign of the cross while visiting a tomb within the Omayyad Mosque - one which is said to contain the head of St. John the Baptist. These types of gestures are not lost on folks in the Middle East, especially the often-oppressed Christian minorities.

There was a time when the elder statesmen of the Republican Party recognized the virtues of an open channel of communication. Nations might be on the verge of war, but there's no downside to having a representative of America charge right up the steps and ring the doorbell of the worst regimes. Bush senior had this skill - and surrounded himself with others, like James Baker, who had the finesse necessary to make it happen. As a full supporter of the war on terrorism I think there's wisdom in the old proverb - keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Now lets be clear: Nancy Pelosi can take stick party's thinly-veiled tax increase where the sun don't shine (no, it's not just for "the rich", a definition which has been rigged to include firemen and teachers) . And the notion of a victory date for the Iraq insurgency (excuse me, a "pullout date" for U.S. troops) would cause 20 years more to be added to this global struggle if enacted into law.

But a cool-tempered visit to Syria by one of America's genuine leaders? Not a shabby idea. It reminds me of another proverb, one which is said to sound better in the original Klingon: Only Nixon could go to China.

Tags: Nancy Pelosi, Syria, Obstinate Contrarianism