If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

Take the election, for example. In the clear Democrat victory, a “mandate of the voters” in the Bushian sense of the phrase, the people sent a message that they wanted things done right. From stem cell research to gay marriage, the war in Iraq to the war on drugs, the people went to the polls and showed the 12-year-standing Republican majority to the door, charging the Dems to take care of their business.

And who will be leading this charge? Representative Nancy Pelosi, current House minority leader and Californian congresswoman, is poised to take the reins on Capitol Hill next year. Pelosi has been a House member since 1987 and has worked to make herself a prominent legislator while also gaining notoriety among Republicans as being the quintessential antithesis to everything they hold dear.

Pelosi has a long-standing record of supporting liberal causes. She has voted “Yes” on bills supporting expanded embryonic stem cell research and the establishment of net neutrality, while also voting “No” on such issues as the proposed Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and military recruitment on college campuses. She also cosponsored H.R.2592 in 2001, a bill known better as the “States’ Rights to Medical Marijuana Act,” allowing the legalized medicinal use of cannabis “in accordance with the laws of the various states.”

She holds several other views that go against Republican stances. She supports increases in the federal minimum wage, is pro-choice, and is a strong supporter of the separation of church and state. If you want to talk about three issues the Republicans have harped on over the last 12 years, it’s those, and her coming to office with a bastion of Democratic backing scares the hell out of the Republicans.

That’s probably why the Republicans worked so hard to villainize her during the election. Bush, Cheney, and others all publicly spoke against her. And why not? She has spoken poorly of the Republicans on countless occasions over the years, using terms as “incompetent,” “borderline criminal,” and “irresponsible” to describe the current administration.

But her words are nothing compared to her delivery. Just enter “Nancy Pelosi” into YouTube and take a gander for yourself at video from her public appearances. Her grating voice and offensive personality are readily apparent, and her laugh resembles a cross between a screeching bat and the Wicked Witch of the West’s cackle. I think both sides of the aisle ought to bring earplugs for at least the next two years.

So, appointing her as the new Speaker ought to set off some fireworks. Pelosi has promised to leave bipartisan bickering on the sidelines and work together with her Republican contemporaries. But with such a condescending attitude toward the Bush White House, can she really “play nice” with her Republican counterparts?

It’s assured that if Pelosi continues to be as outspoken a critic of President Bush, we can count on the once-used veto stamp being dusted off. This would undoubtedly become a vicious cycle; a bill gets passed through both houses of Congress, gets to Bush’s desk, is vetoed, and cannot be resurrected due to the lack of a two-thirds majority vote to override the nixing. Then we wouldn’t only have a lame duck president, we’d have a lame duck Congress. And that would be the lamest thing of all.

So play nice, Nancy. For all our sakes. You’ve got the opportunity to do something to right the wrongs of the Republicans, but only if you check your attitude. Don’t get me wrong, Bush is an incompetent, irresponsible, borderline criminal, but it’s time to get off the high horse you rode into power on, and get down to business in the mud you’re so quick to sling.