Murtha of God, will wonders never cease?

As soon as the Democrats captured both the House and the Senate I've been harping about how they absolutely have to keep their noses clean for the next two years -- difficult for most politicians to do I suppose. Nancy Pelosi's choice of John Murtha for majority leader had me feeling rather dirty and in need of a hot shower (quite true, regardless). Yet, common sense seems to have prevailed as the House today voted 149-86 in favor of Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

This makes me wonder if it's not Pelosi we should be monitoring very closely.

Murtha, 74, was a problematic candidate because of his penchant for trading votes for pork projects and his ties to the Abscam bribery sting in 1980, the only lawmaker involved who wasn't charged.

This is exactly the kind of thing we need to avoid leading up to 2008. Also, this is interesting:

Democrats also selected James Clyburn of South Carolina as majority whip, their No. 3 post. Clyburn, who is black, would become the highest-ever ranking member of his race in Congress.

For those who put stock in such things, Clyburn doesn't have a very impressive score on the HRC Scorecard, but none of them have perfect scores of 100. Clyburn scored a 50 in the 109th Congress. Hoyer is at 88.