Rep. Nancy Pelosi plans to sideline colleagues who are hawkish on national security in the Democratic leadership in the House. . . . a key casualty would be Rep. Jane Harman, a six-term member of Congress who has cooperated with Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee.

"Nancy Pelosi wants total party discipline," a source in the Democratic Party leadership said. "If you played ball with the Republicans during this session, then you're not going to be given an important chair in the next session."

As the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Ms. Harman was expected to become chairman of the powerful committee. But Ms. Pelosi is expected to pass over Ms. Harman for either Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida or Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas, the second- and third-ranking Democrats on the intelligence panel. . . . The sources said the 61-year-old Ms. Harman, regarded as the best informed House Democrat on intelligence and technology issues, angered the liberal Ms. Pelosi by supporting the Bush administration’s policies on defense issues, particularly the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act. They said Ms. Pelosi has rebuffed lobbyists in the pro-Israel community and defense industry that sought a chairmanship for Ms. Harman.

But Pelosi's pro-Israel, right? As I said in my post-mortem:

The issue isn't whether both parties "support Israel." The issue is what they think is the best way to "support Israel." Appease terrorists, be naive about the UN, send "envoys" to "broker peace" with terrorists who will use that as an excuse to further their dreams of eradicating Israel? Or take the fight to the terrorists and refuse to buy into the international vilification of Israel? Confirm John Bolton? Appreciate the Christian support of Israel instead of sneering at it and misrepresenting it?

I'll try to keep the schadenfreude at a low simmer, but how long will it take for the "Jewish community" to be nervous about getting what it wished for?

Pelosi belongs in a Muriel Spark novel. (I was thinking of The Takeover, but Spark specialized in that kind of steely older woman undone by her own intransigence; there are Pelosis scattered throughout her oeuvre.)