House Speaker in a Hole of Her Own Making

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pro-choice. Now, given how she answers questions about what she knew about waterboarding and when she knew it, we know that she can also be multiple choice.

First, the California Democrat, who has harshly criticized the interrogation technique in bashing the Bush administration, said she was never told that the CIA was engaging in water-boarding, only that it was an option on the table. Then, this week, after being contradicted by other House Democrats and members of her own staff, Pelosi reluctantly acknowledged that she was informed but insisted that the CIA only told her of the practice as a courtesy and actually misled her and other members of Congress.

When you're a lawmaker thinking of digging yourself out of a hole of your own making by declaring war on the CIA, the first piece of advice is: "Don't do it." The agency has a gift for saving itself, and it won't hesitate to leak whatever information it needs to in order to stay afloat.

CIA officials know exactly what they told Pelosi, and soon so will the rest of us.

But Pelosi's real enemies are closer to home. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, whose job Pelosi wanted to give to her ally John Murtha of Pennsylvania, covets the speaker's job. So it was no surprise when Hoyer endorsed the idea of an independent commission looking into the issue "not so much for what was done but to ensure that what we do going forward is legal, consistent with our values, consistent with our morals and consistent ... with protecting our nation and our people."

And if what is uncovered leaves Nancy Pelosi unprotected, then, as far as some fellow Democrats are concerned, all the better.

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