Not only is it good strategy, it’s a matter of feminist pride. All kidding aside, I wonder if gender politics aren’t helping to keep the vultures at bay for her. If she’s pressured to quit, Steny Hoyer would likely replace her, and having the first woman Speaker muscled out in favor of a man wouldn’t be very progressive at all. Then again, The One’s almost certain to name a woman to the Supreme Court so he’ll get plenty of cover from that. Fire photon torpedoes!

You’ll be pleased to know that the Speaker of the House’s charge that America’s intelligence bureau is serially corrupt made it all the way to page A-18 of the New York Times today, so if there are any Times readers stumbling across this post, you might want to check our archives to get caught up before listening. Exit question: How bizarre is it for conservatives to be demanding her resignation for prevaricating about a policy they support full-throatedly? I know, I know — “it’s not that she condoned waterboarding, it’s that she lied” — but if the left forces her out, it won’t be because she’s a weasel. It’ll be because she didn’t have the moral acuity to throw caution to the wind after 9/11 and shrug off the odds of more attacks all so that Khaled Sheikh Mohammed wouldn’t be pretend-drowned. Click the image to listen.