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Remember when all the papers were insisting that Pelosi’s decision to pass Jane Harman over for the House Intelligence Committee constituted a "catfight"? That worm has turned, though it seems worth remembering how the misogynist media was so quick to portray it as schoolgirl animosity at the time.
Actual headlines and excerpts follow:
- The Independent: Pelosi turns on one-time ally in Democrats’ ‘catfight in Congress’
- The Washington Post: Passed Over by Pelosi, Harman Doesn’t Get Even. She Gets Mad. "Catfight aftermath: Rep. Jane Harman is still quite irked that House Speaker-designee Nancy Pelosi nixed her for chairman of the House intelligence committee — and she’s not exactly being stoic about it. Friends and colleagues say Harman has openly complained that she was cut loose by her fellow California Democrat and one-time friend, Pelosi …"
- Think Progress reporting on the media framing of the contentious chair appointment as petty, girly backbiting: Dick Morris Accuses Nancy Pelosi Of Discriminating Against Women "… Washington Post columnist Robert Novak recently described Harman as Pelosi’s "rival diva from California," and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd called the disagreement a "catfight between two strong-willed, expensively dressed Democratic pols married to California gazillionaires." …"
- FOX News: Pelosi Bungling Democratic Win With Hastings Appointment "… The fact is that the fight between Pelosi and Harman reflects badly on Pelosi herself. She is inevitably one of the “cats” in the catfight. It hardly elevates her as a leader to be thought of as a petty woman counting and comparing her Sunday television appearances with the other prominent woman in the delegation. …"
- Newshounds reporting on FOX News cable coverage: Fox News Belittles Most Powerful Woman in Politics "Reacting to the idea of a powerful woman, Fox News Thursday (January 4, 2007) marked the occasion of the swearing in of the first woman as Speaker of the House with coverage that mocked her authority and depicted her policy disagreements with other members of Congress as petty jealousies typical of women. … As the trio discussed the story, Fox News displayed a banner reading "Congress Catfight." …"
Nice to see that the mainstream press’ record of being wrong about nearly everything continues unbroken.
3 Comments
Well, since Pelosi has now admitted that she knew, a long time ago, that Harman had been wiretapped, and didn’t tell her, whether it’s a catfight or a political no-holds-barred fightnight, it’s safe to say that the situation between them hasn’t gotten any better since Pelosi’s admission.
Thanks Natasha. Between Obama, Reid, and Pelosi, I think Nancy is our least bad hope.
” Intelligence officials, angry that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had blocked an FBI investigation into Democratic Rep. Jane Harman’s interactions with a suspected Israeli agent, tipped off Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, that Harman had been picked up on a court-ordered National Security Agency wiretap targeting the agent.
In doing so, the officials flouted an order by Gonzales not to inform Pelosi, three former national security officials said.
On April 19 Congressional Quarterly reported that the FBI was poised to question Harman about the telephone call and her interactions with the suspected Israeli agent when Gonzales intervened, telling then-CIA Director Porter Goss, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and National Intelligence chief John D. Negroponte not to brief Pelosi, according to three former national security officials. “
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/sp…..ipped.html