Opinion: Nancy Pelosi -- Clueless in San Francisco

(Nov. 12) -- You remember the movie "Sleepless in Seattle" with Meg Ryan in the female lead? Well, now there's a new one out in the same genre. This one is called "Clueless in San Francisco," currently playing in Washington, D.C., and starring Nancy Pelosi.

How clueless is Pelosi? Well, look at it this way: In the midterm elections, 50 incumbent Democratic members of Congress lost their seats, while only two incumbent House Republicans lost. Politico called it a "bloodbath of a night for Democrats." So what does the Democratic leader of the House do? She throws a party, what else?

The theme of the shebang was a celebration of the "accomplishments of the 111th Congress" while she was speaker. Yes, my friends, you read that right.

But, you may be wondering, just what accomplishments might they be? Well, there was health care reform, better known as ObamaCare, which a majority of Americans never wanted. According to a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, only 25 percent of Americans think their families will be better off under ObamaCare.

Strike one, Speaker Pelosi.

Then there was that stimulus legislation that Pelosi muscled through the House; the one that cost nearly a trillion dollar and was filled with lots and lots of liberal Democratic goodies, but didn't stimulate very much in the way of jobs. According to a CBS News exit poll, 65 percent of Americans think the "stimulus" either hurt the economy or made no difference.

Strike two.

How about cap and trade? Pelosi pushed that one through the House too. Most Americans don't want that either.

Strike three and you're out -- as speaker of the House.

Right after the election, Pelosi sat down with Diane Sawyer on ABC and demonstrated why she got the lead in "Clueless." She told Sawyer that "this election wasn't about me." Really? Then why did so many Republicans run on the "Fire Pelosi" plank -- and win?

And now she wants her fellow Democrats -- those who are still left, that is -- to confirm her as House minority leader when the Republicans take over. Every Republican I know hopes they do.

No, you can't blame the Election Night debacle entirely on Pelosi. But who are we kidding? Nancy Pelosi is one of the most polarizing politicians in America, if not the most. She is the Democrats' answer to Dick Cheney, without the charm.

But don't tell that to the gods on Olympus who write editorials at The New York Times. One of those post-election editorials praised Pelosi for being "an extremely effective speaker" and argued that her only problem was in not getting the message out about how great she was. "If Ms. Pelosi had been a more persuasive communicator," the Times reasoned, "she could have batted away the ludicrous caricature of her painted by Republicans across the country as some kind of fur-hatted commissar jamming her diktats down the public's throat."

What am I missing here? OK, maybe she didn't wear a fur hat on the floor of the House, but she did behave like a commissar jamming her diktats down the public's throat, didn't she?

Pelosi, like President Barack Obama, has become disconnected from a majority of the American people. They shove legislation down our throats and are shocked when we don't say, "Thank you, may I have more, please?" They think they know better.

In Pelosi's case, the disconnect stems from the fact that she represents a touchy-feely district in San Francisco that is so liberal they think Dennis Kucinich is a fascist. In Obama's case, it's because of his elitism. He's smarter than the rest of us, more sophisticated and knows better. And if you don't believe me, just ask him or the sycophants who surround him.

But at least the president had the good sense not to throw a party after the Democrats took a "shellacking." He may also be clueless, but he's not nearly as clueless as the soon-to-be former speaker of the House. When it comes to clueless, she's a real star.

Bernie Goldberg is a television news reporter and winner of 10 Emmy Awards. He is the author of five books on the media and American culture, including the No. 1 best-seller "Bias"; is a regular commentator on Fox News; and reports for the HBO program "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel." Find out more at BernardGoldberg.com.