A kind word for Pelosi

Pelosi opposed the funding bill, but still brought it to the floor for a vote. I don't oten go out of my way to compliment Nancy Pelosi, but since I've made fun of her election promise to change how the House was run under Denny Hastert (see posts and comments passim), it seems only fair to say that I think it was a commendable move of her to decline to use her not inconsiderable procedural powers as Speaker to block a bill that she disagreed with, but which could command a majority in the House.

The way I look at it is that a lot of folks in the leftosphere criticized Senate Democrats like Joe Lieberman, who voted for cloture on the Alito nomination even if they subsequently voted against the measure. But setting aside procedural tricks, and thereby allowing the legislature to conduct its business is, in a way, rather admirable. Pelosi will, one assumes, catch hell from the nutsroots for this (if she doesn't, it will once again display how totally craven and opportunistic that group is), and perhaps deserves a kind word for her willingness to take a step back from the scorched earth strategy urged by her supporters.