Dear Nancy: Stop screwing around. Love, Sai.

Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), our brand-spanking-new Speaker of the House of Representatives (actually, she won't formally take the office until the new session starts this coming January), seems to have started off on the wrong foot. Pelosi backed John Murtha (D-Penn.) in the race for House Majority Leader, even though the Speaker traditionally stays out of such things. In a nice twist, the House went the other way, electing Steny Hoyer (D-Mar.) instead.

So what does the Speaker of the House do anyway? Wikipedia tells us that the Speaker has two main roles: (1) to be the head of the majority party in the House of Representatives (outranking the Majority Leader) and when the majority party doesn't control the White House, to effectively act as the "leader of the opposition"; and (2) to act as the presiding officer in the House, controlling the flow of the debate, ruling on points of order, and appointing committee members. The Speaker is also third in line for the Presidency, after the Vice President.

The papers are frothing over this, each giving its own take on what this says about Pelosi and things to come for the Democratic majority come January. As the LAT says, "Pelosi's failed effort to anoint her own chief lieutenant fueled doubts among critics about the political skills she brings to leading her fractious party. It also sent a clear signal of what kind of leader she is: an old-style politician who puts a premium on personal loyalty, even at the risk of high-profile defeat." The LAT goes on to quote people who wonder why the leading Democrat would choose to do something so divisive to a new majority party desperately in need of consensus. LAT's take: "Pelosi is a strong believer in rewarding those who are loyal to her, through thick and thin." The paper stops short of my first thought: aren't those same words still used to describe President Bush?

The NYT goes a bit further, saying in a strongly-worded editorial that Pelosi "has managed to severely scar her leadership even before taking up the gavel." A Slate column by Timothy Noah recommends putting Pelosi "on probation" and describes the ethics cloud around Murtha as well as Pelosi's probable (loyalty-based) choice for Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Alcee Hastings.

What is Pelosi thinking? Is she drunk on her newfound Speaker power? Does she have mad-cow disease? Is she a Republican operative gone deep undercover? All possible scenarios, but not very encouraging news for a new Democratic majority that has a lot to prove.