So farewell Nancy Pelosi

It's difficut to imagine the US House of Representatives without Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker. Obviously after the success of the Republicans in winning a small majority in the House in the midterm elections, Nancy was not going to remain as Speaker. She would have handed over to her political rival, Kevin McCarthy. But she could have stayed on as Minority Leader. Many hoped she would. But now she has announced she is stepping down, leaving the post she has so elegantly and eloquently filled for as long as one can remember - actually two terms, 2007-2011 and 2019-2022. She is 82 but age didn't seem to matter. She had the two key ingredients needed for holding sway in the House of Representatives: class and class. She was in every way a class act and stylish with it. She will still be around, serving the 12th district of California, but no longer in charge. It's a sgnificant moment in the life of the US Congress. Her decision was not unexpected after the appalling and brutal attack on her husband, Paul, at their home in San Francisco. She has been saying for some days that her decision about her future political career would be impacted by the attack on her husband. She said today that she thought it was the right time for her to hand over to someone younger but one cannot exclude the fact that a violent act played a part in her decision to step down which is intensely sad and a reflection of the violence that erupts so often in the United States. But bless her, she has been a stalwart and unflinching advocate for democracy and fairness and has shown a political astuteness which few in Congress can rival. Her visit to Taiwan in August demonstrated more than anything that she was prepared to act in the name of democracy irrespective of the bullying warnings made by Beijing who launched the biggest military exercise against Taiwan during and after her trip. One up to her I think. Nancy's leadership will be missed.