House GOP: "Boo-hoo, it's all Nancy Pelosi's fault"

Let me get this straight: House Republicans slowed the weekend meeting at the White House and prevented the $700bil banking credit relief plan on the table then from being approved.

They rightfully expressed their disagreement and engaged in their own bipartisan House discussions.

After days of work, both Dem and GOP House leaders thought the compromises were good enough to put the bill before the House for a vote.

But the House Republicans overwhelmingly voted the bill down.

The GOP claims that it's all Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's fault for poisoning the waters with a supposedly divisively partisan speech.

The thing is, going into the vote the GOP leadership thought they had come to a good compromise. And now that the House Republicans have refused the measure, it's Nancy Pelosi's fault?

The House GOP leadership approved the compromise; it's their job to pull their people together and sell it. Whatever Pelosi did or did not say, it didn't change the compromise bill that was to be voted on.

Their failure to convince their own party to sign off on the bill is embarrassing and sad. Hell, this is a softened version of the bill offered by their own party head, George W. Bush.

Think about that.

A Republican president's plan was modified to become reasonably acceptable to the majority party Democrat leadership. The biggest concern was getting Democrat buy-in. They got it (though certainly with a fair amount of Dem disapproval). But it's the GOP rank and file that can't get on board.

This is a failure of GOP leadership both in the House and from the very top. The House GOP are the ones playing partisan politics because it just looks too bad to admit that their own leadership failed to control the revolt of their own members.

And let's not even get into the fact that the McCain campaign cites this as an example of failed leadership on the part of Barack Obama. Say wha?!