Chicago Tribune Reporter Bashes Pelosi's Oil Pretzel Logic

The bad reviews for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's abysmal performance on Sunday's "This Week" continue to pour in.

Jumping on the "Is She Really This Divorced From Reality" bandwagon was the Chicago Tribune's Frank James.

Writing at the Trib's "Swamp" blog, James lambasted Pelosi early and often (emphasis added):

It was hard to not get twisted up in pretzel knots listening to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose explanation on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" about why she hasn't allowed a vote on Republican energy legislation that would ease restrictions on offshore drilling was, to be polite, confusing.

It may have left some in the audience feeling bewildered as a seabird fouled by an oil spill.

Pelosi, a California Democrat, accused Republicans of being monomaniacal on the drilling issue and of suggesting to voters that drilling would immediately lower gas prices. She wasn't going to play along with something that would mislead voters, she asserted.

Here's the problem with that. Anyone who has listened to the debate has heard House Republicans say they are willing to consider a range of options from the use of renewable energy sources to new alternative fuels to conservation so long as they can get a vote on off-shore drilling. [...]

But then, she seemed to later suggest that she would indeed be a party to that, if only House Republicans are smart enough to push the right parliamentary buttons. [...]

So she will allow the American people to be misled, in her view, by Republican legislation that she says only offers the illusion of addressing high gas prices, so long as Republicans are smart enough to figure out how to get their legislation to the floor? That doesn't make a lot of sense, but that's what she appeared to say.

Imagine that. Is it possible that this energy issue is so strong that it's forcing folks in the media to recognize just how separated from reality the Democrats and their leadership are on this matter?

And, if that's the case, why? Is it because they themselves are angered by the rising prices at the pump, or that they recognize this issue is gaining so much traction that it could have a huge impact on the upcoming elections?

After all, the media have been working tirelessly since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans almost three years ago to create the perfect storm for Democrats to take over Congress and the White House. Is it possible they see the left-wing intransigence concerning drilling -- with energy prices at current levels as well as the public's overwhelming support for additional drilling -- as undermining all their efforts the past 36 months to take over the legislative and executive branches of our government?

If so, how will this play out with Election Day now exactly three months away?

Stay tuned.