Tag: gavel

Outgoing Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi took to the dais Wednesday and passed the gavel to Republican Speaker John Boehner. The 112th Congress begins. Riveted twitterati guessed at the minute the emotional new Speaker would weep. He did seem to mist up briefly during Pelosi's introduction. Then he did something noble and brave: He kissed and hugged the former Speaker, like a man unaware that at least one Republican politician in this country lost an election in part because digital evidence betrayed the fact that he once hugged President Obama. No kissing even! Maybe a new era truly has begun.