"Don't fear the terrorists. They're mothers and fathers."

-- Rosie O'Donnell

And I was absolutely delighted to see that yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer featured guest editorials from Claudia Rosett and James Lileks. The latter wrote about a chocolate Jesus (and a modern artist who seems willing to do anything for attention, but hey, at least he stopped short of crucifying the Easter Bunny), while the latter wrote about the Pelosi trip to Syria. Linking the Rosett piece, Glenn Reynolds said simply, "Nuts in Damascus."

It certainly looks that way:

Having done her shopping, Pelosi went on, against the express wishes of the White House, to talk with President Bashar Assad. Perched on pillowed armchairs, chatting away, they provided yet another photo-op - a tableau implying that Assad is no monster, but in many ways a reasonable fellow, just like the rest of us.

Pelosi emerged to announce that she had expressed her concerns on various fronts and that Assad is now willing to hold peace talks with Israel.

This is not just nutty politics; it is dangerous. For Pelosi, this may count as interaction. But for Assad's regime in Syria, this amounts to chumps on pilgrimage. Damascus is infested by a dynastic tyranny in which "dialogue" serves chiefly as cover for duplicity and terror. These traits are not simply regrettable habits that Assad might be charmed out of. They are big business and prime instruments of power.

I think Pelosi and company are being played for suckers, and I'm glad to see such a ringing indictment appearing in the Inquirer. What I think is going on with the terrorists (a name Pelosi and the Dems don't seem to want the government to use, BTW) is that one group does the suicide bombing, while the other gently nags and whines, almost seeming to apologize, knowing all the while that the bad cop lurks in the background with his suicide bomb. The bad cop can't do it alone.

The idea being, if you understand the strategy, don't fall for the good cop routine!

You'd think the leaders of both parties would have learned this simple lesson by now.

I'm so cynical though, that I think the main reason for the Pelosi trip was to underscore the impotence of the lame-duck Bush administration by demonstrating contempt, and dropping a not-so-subtle hint as to who might be in charge (in the near future, of course).

I'd feel a bit more comfortable if I thought they understood what strikes me as basic human psychology.

UPDATE: According to this analysis in today's Wall Street Journal, Pelosi may well have committed a felony under the Logan Act, which

provides for a prison sentence of up to three years for any American, "without authority of the United States," to communicate with a foreign government in an effort to influence that government's behavior on any "disputes or controversies with the United States."

Ahem.

This calls for a famous line from Fred Thompson.

What did they know and when did they know it?

MORE: Glenn Reynolds comments on the Pelosi trip:

I think that the more Pelosi acts like a wannabe President, the worse it is for Hillary. And I think that Pelosi knows that.

This would seem to confirm what Real Clear Politics said in December:

Hillary Clinton has a problem. Its name is Nancy Pelosi. Clinton's run for the White House is being built - as was her husband's - on the idea of a "new democrat" who accurately triangulated between liberal and conservative well enough to shroud liberal policy with a cloak of moderation. The cloak was so tightly-woven and the media so compliant that no matter what Clinton did - from his first presidential act ("don't ask, don't tell") to the "wag the dog" episode in the impeachment days - he escaped scrutiny. But no matter how hard Mrs. Clinton clings to the Clinton Cloak, Speaker-to-be Pelosi's Animal House will be sticking its head out from every fold.

It was just a few years ago that Hillary Clinton seemed destined to possibly become the most powerful woman in the history of American politics. Yesterday, that honor was bestowed upon Nancy Pelosi, becoming the first female House Speaker ever.

Pelosi is now officially the most powerful woman in US politics.

But what the hell. They could be following this script.