“I think the take-away here is ‘screw ’em,’” half-joked a House Democratic aide…

One metaphor-mixing aide said Pelosi has become the “whipping horse for Obama, she’s taken all the punches on this, when [Republicans] aren’t going to vote with Obama in a million years.”

Another staffer, another mixed metaphor about Pelosi’s self-sacrifice: “She’s willing to take a bullet for [Obama]. … And the White House was perfectly willing to let her take all the hits.”