Speaker Buffoon

The Washington Post this morning gave us all a chilling preview of the Democratic Party's stewardship of foreign policy if we are foolish enough to elect a Democrat president.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tried to play president twice recently—engineering a cut-and-run vote in Congress in Iraq and shuttling to Syria for some unauthorized "diplomacy."

Because she is either a buffoon or so consumed with Bush Derangement Syndrome that she was trying to stretch the truth and show up the president, Pelosi came back with some cheery—and dead wrong—statements about the state of affairs between Syria and Israel. She actually believed she had brokered peace instead of being snookered by Syria. A Post editorial this morning set her straight.

Only one problem: The Israeli prime minister entrusted Ms. Pelosi with no such message. "What was communicated to the U.S. House Speaker does not contain any change in the policies of Israel," said a statement quickly issued by the prime minister's office. In fact, Mr. Olmert told Ms. Pelosi that "a number of Senate and House members who recently visited Damascus received the impression that despite the declarations of Bashar Assad, there is no change in the position of his country regarding a possible peace process with Israel." In other words, Ms. Pelosi not only misrepresented Israel's position but was virtually alone in failing to discern that Mr. Assad's words were mere propaganda.

The Post described the trip as a disaster.

The really striking development here is the attempt by a Democratic congressional leader to substitute her own foreign policy for that of a sitting Republican president. Two weeks ago Ms. Pelosi rammed legislation through the House of Representatives that would strip Mr. Bush of his authority as commander in chief to manage troop movements in Iraq. Now she is attempting to introduce a new Middle East policy that directly conflicts with that of the president. We have found much to criticize in Mr. Bush's military strategy and regional diplomacy. But Ms. Pelosi's attempt to establish a shadow presidency is not only counterproductive, it is foolish.

This is the woman who is lecturing President Bush on foreign policy.

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