Not even the Washington Post will defend House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s disgraceful trip to Syria, or her ludicrous statements about Syria’s readiness for “peace:” Pratfall in Damascus.

“We came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace,” Ms. Pelosi grandly declared.

Never mind that that statement is ludicrous: As any diplomat with knowledge of the region could have told Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Assad is a corrupt thug whose overriding priority at the moment is not peace with Israel but heading off U.N. charges that he orchestrated the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. The really striking development here is the attempt by a Democratic congressional leader to substitute her own foreign policy for that of a sitting Republican president. Two weeks ago Ms. Pelosi rammed legislation through the House of Representatives that would strip Mr. Bush of his authority as commander in chief to manage troop movements in Iraq. Now she is attempting to introduce a new Middle East policy that directly conflicts with that of the president. We have found much to criticize in Mr. Bush’s military strategy and regional diplomacy. But Ms. Pelosi’s attempt to establish a shadow presidency is not only counterproductive, it is foolish.

If you’re a Democrat, you know you’ve made a mistake when the Washington Post won’t cover for you. (Idiots like this, of course, will blindly defend anything the Democrats do.)

UPDATE at 4/5/07 8:33:43 am:

By the way, the Washington Post was not the first to make this “shadow presidency” accusation: The Democrats’ Shadow Government.

Of course, when I did it, I was immediately attacked by lefty blogs.