The Democratic speaker skirmish

Re “Pelosi’s early setback has her party on alert,” Nov. 17

What a lot of sturm und drang about nothing! Incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) threw her support to the Democrat who pushed Iraq to the forefront in the election discussion and who supported her run for speaker. Her action also threw a bone to progressives and anti-Iraq war Americans who support Rep. John P. Murtha’s (D-Pa.) solution in dealing with the devastation in Iraq, and it gave Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) the message to represent all of us, not just centrists.

The conservative media hardly raised an eyebrow this week when Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) was recycled as the Republican minority leader, and few hands were rung in 1994 when Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) beat then-Speaker Newt Gingrich’s (R-Ga.) handpicked choice for majority leader.

I hope the Washington-based journalists don’t think Americans are going to be happy with this kind of kindergarten food fight we had to live through during President Clinton’s terms. We have larger problems in this country and world, and we want adults in charge again in government and in our media.

LIBBY BREEN

Altadena

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We learned a few days ago that Pelosi, who says she is determined to clean up all the pork in Washington, has been one of the greatest abusers of “the other white meat.” Now, in the wake of the Murtha/Hoyer flap, The Times reports that Pelosi is an old-fashioned, Boss Hogg-style, you-scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours good ol’ boy. What have we gotten ourselves into? I wish I’d known all this on Nov. 6.

JAMES MARR

San Dimas