political intrigue in the occupied capital...

Lest anybody tell you differently, lefty bloggers are not lemmings. All ye need show one casting the aspersion is the disparity in certitude as it involves the current battle for House Majority Leader.

Armstrong at MyDD says it's gonna be Murtha:

I've heard from a couple of different Hill sources that Murtha is ahead; that newly elected Democrats favor Hoyer by a 2:1 margin, but that Murtha is ahead by about 25 votes overall, which has come about from the standing members after Nancy Pelosi's letter. The vote is Thursday. Let's hope that sticks and Murtha becomes the Majority Leader.

while Kurtz at TPM says it'll be Hoyer:

With the dynamics of the race suddenly shifted from simply Hoyer v. Murtha to a larger question of Pelosi's political strength and capabilities, she shifted her support for Murtha into overdrive, starting to make phone calls and twist arms. The problem is that it was probably too little, too late. (Actually, there are indications, as the Observer article suggests, that Murtha's candidacy had been a lost cause from the very beginning.)

Did Pelosi make a misjudgment?

I reckon we'll find out tomorrow. Meanwhile, viva la difference of opinions. And when have you ever heard the rightists say that?

This page endorses Murtha as he pretty much became the sole, legitimate voice of opposition to the boy king and his castle guard, without which the Corporate/Repo facist movement would well have metastasized. Now, with the Dems looking to rein in the captains of industry run-amok, one has reason to dare hope again.

Steny Hoyer? He wants to establish another K-Street Project. Even if it's for the Dems, it still stinks of Tom Delay. It's corrupt, and I don't want to be like them. At best Hoyer's proven he doesn't play nice with Nancy Pelosi, and since she'll be getting a disproportionate share of flak & resistance from the Repos and the stooge-M$M, she ought to be able to choose her allies. She's taking a chance in endorsing Murtha, he with his own apparent ethical sidebars. It is encouraging nonetheless, Pelosi going the extra mile; not so much her wanting Murtha, but the mere fact she's not adverse to taking chances.

Nancy Pelosi is showing she has guts, something that's been in short supply 'round here and for some time.