Dump Pelosi?

Timothy Noah analyzes Nancy Pelosi's choice to back John Murtha for majority leader and wonders if Democrats shouldn't just cut their losses and kick her to the curb. What kind of judgment does it show that she's backing a someone with Abscam in their past, Noah asks. Says Noah:

As a preview of the sort of instincts Pelosi will display as House speaker, her steadfastness in supporting Murtha was discouraging on two levels. Most obviously, it suggested that Pelosi lacks a sincere interest in maintaining ethical standards. On a more Machiavellian level, it suggested that Pelosi harbors the crude and entirely false notion that in order to lead, she must demonstrate an ability to prevail even after she realizes, or ought to realize, that her initial judgment was faulty. This is the same infantile notion about power embraced by President Bush when he pretended, prior to the midterm elections, that he would keep Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense.

I guess the bloom is off the rose.