There Can Be Only One

If the ulterior, petty, self-defeating reason Nancy Pelosi backed the ethics nightmare that is Jack Murtha for the role of Majority Leader over the expectant Steny Hoyer was a decades-old rivalry-cum-grudge Pelosi held for Hoyer, then could her refusal to support House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jane Harman (opting instead for ethical night terror Alcee "413-3" Hastings) be rooted in similarly ulterior, petty self-defeatism?

Me thinks.

"We have a lot of interest in people who are interested in the first woman speaker," said Pelosi's communications director, Jennifer Crider.
...
Insisting on the star role on Capitol Hill could put Pelosi in competition for the spotlight with other leading women, like Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.)

Some Democratic insiders say the prime reason that Pelosi is refusing to allow fellow California Rep. Jane Harman to chair the House Intelligence Committee is that she's jealous because Harman has gotten so much TV time as a committee member.

Instead, Pelosi is said to be intent on installing ethics-challenged Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), who was impeached and kicked out of office as a federal judge.

Then again, maybe Nancy's simply trying to avoid this nightmare scenario, keenly outlined by the impeachable Mr. Hastings.