Obama and Pelosi

Count me as one who does not buy the idea that Obama is a tool of Pelosi. Ia m also one who is a bit less impressed with the Speaker, but E.J. Dionne gives sone perspective that makes her much more interesting in his Nancy Pelosi's Balancing Act

During the interview last week, Pelosi called attention to a small statue of a coal miner that she has always kept in her office. It was a gift to her father from the late Jennings Randolph, who represented West Virginia in the House and Senate.

She said she points to the statue when she discusses energy and environmental questions with her mining-state colleagues. "They need not fear what I would write as a bill, [that I would] say, 'Let's write a bill without coal,' " she said. "You can't."

Those are not the words of an ideologue. In fact, that's the one thing Nancy Pelosi isn't