A New Way

Check out my very first post on Huffington Post! It provides a little insight on John Edwards' announcement yesterday in New Orleans.

Happy New Year!

Welcome Madame Speaker

Nancy Pelosi will be sworn in as the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives on January 4th. This is an incredibly historic moment that we should be very proud of. She has worked very hard for our Party and our country. She is disciplined, focused, and politically talented. After successfully raising SIX children, I believe she is capable of anything.

Such an historic moment merits celebration. Accordingly, the Speaker-Elect has planned four days of diverse events to honor the occasion of her ascension to one of the most powerful positions in government. Many of these events are as simple as a dinner with her family, mass at her old Church in Baltimore, the renaming of the street she lived on as a kid, a meeting with female legislators from around the nation, and a non-denominational church service on Capitol Hill. Of course, there will be a glitzy fundraiser to pad the bank account of the DCCC. There's even a party at the Italian Embassy. So what?

The Republicans can't stand it. Here's an excerpt from the Washington Post where Republican flack Mike Murphy shows how utterly bitter his party is to see Pelosi take the Speaker's gavel:

Mike Murphy, a Republican political consultant and former adviser to Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), said the four-day extravaganza is excessive. "What? No fireworks?" he said. "I'm glad they canceled the tickertape parade. They probably couldn't find biodegradable tickertape and a hybrid convertible."

He said the schedule is "classic Pelosi."

"She's not known for a light touch," he said. "She has every right to throw a new-speaker celebration, but it's 500 percent from what is normal. It's an aggressive act to grab the spotlight. Sounds to me like there's nobody at the meetings saying, 'Maybe that's a little too much.' She's needs a deputy chief of staff from the 'It's Not About You' department."

What's his problem? He must not think it's necessary for the newly elected Speaker of the House to pay homage to the people and traditions that laid the foundation for her successful political career. It must be the Republican notion that people who achieve success 'deserve it.' Instead of showing an appreciation for diversity, the Republicans would hold a long series of fundraisers with their hands held wide open to collect fat checks from K Street attached to legislation written by lobbyists for their corporate clients.

Times are changing and they can't stand it. Welcome, Madame Speaker!