Photo o' the Day

Even The Washington Post was wondering why ex-Speaker Pelosi couldn't stop smiling. Dana Milbank put it bluntly:

It was the same joyless perma-grin - really, a grimace with upturned corners of the mouth - that came to define Pelosi during her four years in charge of the House: an expression meant to connote her warmth and sincerity that too often conveyed the opposite...

...As speaker, her record was mixed. She had many major legislative achievements, particularly in the past two years, but she also led her caucus off an electoral cliff, in part because she forced members to take damaging votes on policies that didn't have a chance of passing the Senate.

In her four years as minority leader, by contrast, Pelosi's effectiveness was seldom questioned as she tripped up the majority with her relentless opposition. "If people are ripping your face off," she said before winning the majority in 2006, "you have to rip their face off."

Curious choice of metaphors.

With all the work that's been done over the years, that perma-grin may be cemented on for life.