The title of a recently released Yahoo! article is "Pelosio seems to be weathering Republican criticism just fine". Who agrees with this statement?

The first sentnece of this article is "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has avoided SERIOUS damage despite the relentless effort to discredit her, THOUGH THERE'S SOME EVIDENCE THAT THE GOP IS MAKING SMALL INROADS". So which part of this statement is true? Has House Speaker Pelosi "avoided serious damage" or have her conservative opponents made "small inroads"? In politics, "small inroads" could be catastrophic for some (just look at former South Korean President Roo Moo-hyun. To many in the international community he was known as a champion of human rights and democracy, BUT ONE SMALL CORRUPTION ALLEGATION LED TO HIS SUICIDE).

According to Stephen Smith, a Congressional expert at the Washington University in St. Louis, "This is a situation where REPUBLICANS CAN'T GO MUCH LOWER THAN THEY FIND THEMSELVES SO THEY HAVE TO GO AFTER THE OTHER WITH WHATEVER THEY CAN". This is not a statement of faith in the GOP because just because their support levels have plummeted to all-time lows. Sure, they may bounce back, BUT THIS REQUIRE A CHANGE IN THEIR POLITICAL STRATEGY AND RHETORIC.

According to California DemocraticRep. Xavier Bacerra, "At the end of the day, THE FOCUS WILL BE ON THE TORTURE POLICY" instead of Pelosi's personal reputation, which again, IS A LEGITIMATE POINT. PEOPLE ARE NEVER BAD/IMMORAL. We can only judge/evaluate THEIR ACTIONS.

According to Jeffrey Jones, a Gallup poll analyst, "Pelosi (is) LARGELY LOSING THE PUBLIC RELATIONS GAME, as she gets a more significantly review FOR HER HANDLING OF THE MATTER, than do other major players including the CIA". This is an interesting statement because Jones is suggesting that "Pelosi is largely losing the public relations game...for her handling of the matter". According to Wikipedia,Pelosi has worked on Civil Liberties issues, so perhaps she is turning this into some sort of personal crusade.

According to Yahoo!, "Republicans are hoping to build a drumbeat of criticism THAT BUILDS TO A CRESCENDO IN TIME FOR THE 2010 ELECTIONS". This is obviously not a very good strategy because the GOP is essentially hoping for more mistakes by the Democrats that they can pounce on (OK,Pelosi may have spoken too harshly this time, but will she tone down her rhetoric in the future?), but the Republicans seem to be grasping at straws right now because IF THEY CAN ONLY HOPE FOR DEMOCRATIC MISTAKES TO GET BACK INTO POWER ON CAPITOL HILL THIS REINFORCES THE FACT THAT THEY ARE NOW STRICTLY AN OPPOSITION PARTY BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY IT REINFORCES THAT THE GRAND OLD PARTY IS AN OLD PARTY RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS.

According to Peter Brown, a political analyst for the Quinnipac University Polling Institute, "SHE'S CERTAINLY A MORE OPPORTUNE TARGET THAN PRESIDENT OBAMA". This is because Pelosi is a Congresswoman and PEOPLE ON CAPITOL HILL ARE SUPPOSED TO PLAY POLITICS, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER DEMOCRATS OR REPUBLICANS ARE IN CONTROL. On the other hand Obama was brought in to "change" the White House. Unfortunately he cannot completely "change" the political culture in Washington so these people are likely to continue doing business the way business has always been conducted on Capitol Hill AND THIS INCLUDES BICKERING AND INFIGHTING.

Pelosi had the final word: "I have made the statement that I'm going to make on this. I'm not going to say any more about it. I STAND BY MY COMMENT. And what we are doing is STAYING OUR COURSE and not being distracted from it in this distractive mode". Pelosi may well lose this argument because of stubbornness. The key sentence in this statement is undoubtedly "I stand by my comment". If someone is stubborn, no one can change them.