Pelosi Rebukes Stark...Sort of

I guess San Fran Nan is starting to learn a little bit about public relations since she chose to express disapproving comments about Fortney "Pete" Stark "Raving Mad"'s insult of the president during the SCHIP debate:

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rebuked a fellow San Francisco Bay-area liberal Friday for what she said were "inappropriate" comments about Iraq during a congressional debate.

During a debate on children's health care Thursday, Rep. Pete Stark accused Republicans of sending troops to Iraq to "get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."

Condemnations rolled in from Republican politicians, right-leaning bloggers had a field day, and a White House spokesman declined to "dignify those remarks" with a response.

Pelosi issued a statement Friday evening rapping Stark, who is in his 18th term representing the liberal East Bay. He's California's longest-serving House members.

"While members of Congress are passionate about their views, what Congressman Stark said during the debate was inappropriate and distracted from the seriousness of the subject at hand—providing health care for America's children," Pelosi said.

This is a classic non-rebuke rebuke. Note she doesn't condemn his remarks, but instead said they were "inappropriate" at the time they were made. She never expressed any disagreement with what he said, and never will, since she probably agrees with him.