More on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

No one person can turn this country around after six years of incompetence and of course Bush still has his veto power, but Nancy Pelosi is definitely a step in the right direction. Since there's nothing like the in-depth coverage of a home town newspaper, here's Edward Epstein of the San Francisco Chronicle with the story on Nancy Pelosi:

Pelosi, upon her election about this morning, became the first Californian and the first San Franciscan to head the 435-member lower house of Congress.

Quoting St. Francis of Assisi, San Francisco's patron saint, Pelosi said, "Lord, make me a channel of thy peace; where there is darkness may we bring light, where there is hatred, may we bring love, and where there is despair, may we bring hope."

Pelosi, 66, married for 43 years with five grown children and six grandchildren, thanked her family for giving her "the confidence they gave me to go from the kitchen to the Congress."

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"I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship," a beaming Pelosi told her colleagues. "In this House, we may belong to different parties, but we serve one country."

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Singer and fellow Italian American Tony Bennett, who once left his heart in San Francisco, joined the opening of Congress in the visitor's gallery...

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"People have lost their career underestimating Nancy Pelosi,'' said Michael Yaki, a former Pelosi aide and San Francisco supervisor. "They mistake her patience for complacency, kindness for competitive instinct and a willingness to share credit with not holding the reins tightly."

Pelosi grew up in politics. Her father was a first-term member of the House, and a dedicated New Deal Democrat, when she was born on March 26, 1940, in Baltimore. When she was 7, her father, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., won the first of three terms as mayor of Baltimore.

Let's hope Nancy Pelosi does well. After the do-nothing years of Dennis Hastert, she's sure to be an improvement as Speaker of the House.