Nancy Pelosi shoves a little girl

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the Speaker of the House, once again made the news. She’s had her own Archbishop deny her the sacrament of communion. On another occasion, she claimed a special privilege she would deny to others. Each time, she finessed the “bad optics” of what she did, or the sanction she got. Not this time. This time she has gone beyond the pale, and no reasonable person can defend her actions. What did she do that was so horrible? She shoved a little girl. And she did it on national television.

How did Nancy Pelosi come to do this?

The little girl in question is the older daughter of new Representative Mayra Flores (R-Texas). Recall that she won a special election to the House, after the incumbent in her district resigned to take a K Street job. So on Tuesday a week ago (June 21), she showed up at the Capitol for the Speaker to swear her in.

Well, evidently Nancy Pelosi did not appreciate this duty. She said all the right things, but must not have meant a word of them. Then, as everyone was posing for pictures, you can see it. These embeds clearly show Nancy Pelosi moving her right arm into the little girl’s back, and giving a shove.

Some accounts have said she “elbowed” the little girl. That’s an exaggeration. “To elbow” means “to strike with the elbow.” Nancy Pelosi at least had enough sense not to do that. Nevertheless, it was a tasteless thing to do, and displayed total indifference to the rules of etiquette. To say nothing of the rules of the House!

In any event, the little girl recovered so quickly that few noticed. That might partly explain why we started seeing those videos on last Sunday. Rep. Flores herself had this to say:

I am so proud of my strong, beautiful daughter for not allowing this to faze her. She continued to smile and pose for the picture like a Queen.

She finished by saying the obvious: you do not do that to a child.

What does this show?

This sad episode marred what was otherwise a celebration of a great personal achievement by Flores. But what does it mean, other than that Nancy Pelosi can be incredibly boorish at times? We knew that, when she appeared on late-night television showing off her expensive refrigerator-freezers and her equally expensive ice cream. But what else do we know from this incident that we didn’t know before?

Do we know that she cares nothing for the non-Anglo people that are one of her Party’s constituent groups? Again, we knew that already. She doesn’t care about such constituent group members; she cares only about how they vote. And not only will Mayra Flores vote against her most of the time in the House, but she won election precisely by pledging to vote that way.

The strain begins to show

But we do know one thing we didn’t know before. The strain of defending the indefensible, and the prospect of losing her majority and power, is beginning to show. Mayra Flores winning that special election represented more than one vote for turning into a vote against. It represented a direct repudiation of principles of politics by which she has lived for decades. Indeed it represented a repudiation of her personally as well as of her allies.

That’s how she could so forget herself. Whatever else Nancy Pelosi is, she’s smarter than this. At least she’s smarter than this, most of the time. Last week, in a critical moment, she forgot her manners and indeed a key political principle. Which is: at least pretend to care, even when you don’t!

Expect to see that footage show up in campaigns, not only in California’s San Francisco district, but nationwide. As Speaker of the House, she is the “speaker” for the Democratic Party. (Joe Biden would be, but, aside from this being Midterms, he’s in little shape to speak to or for anyone.) By that disgraceful act, Nancy Pelosi has spoken contempt for the people. And the people should Remember in November.