We are just over a week into the Democratic majority, and what do we find bubbling up? Some good old fashion spin against the Democrats in our reliable mainstream media. Who needs Fox News when NPR or the Associated Press can pin down the new majority party and make them wriggle?

See today's AP coverage of the House Majority Leader race, headlined "Pelosi Faces No-Win Outcome Over Murtha":

Pelosi passed over Steny Hoyer of Maryland, now the assistant minority leader, and endorsed longtime ally John Murtha of Pennsylvania to become majority leader, the powerful No. 2 party post in the House. Yet Murtha could prove to be a problematic candidate because of his penchant for trading votes for pork projects and his ties to the Abscam bribery sting in 1980, the only lawmaker involved who wasn't charged.

I mean, reading this garbage, you'd think Murtha was the second coming of Bob Ney, and that his brother Kit who worked for a lobbying firm was just like Curt Weldon's daughter. The fact is, Abscam didn't stick to Murtha, and the Feds had more than 25 years to get him on somethign else. More than that, the knives were unsheathed against Murtha last autumn when his voice became so strident against the war. And did we see a turnabout where the GOP, which was definitely hurt by his anti-war leadership, was able to make him shrink from public view by calling him "Porky Pig in Fatigues" (as Investor's Business Daily tried last November)?

The answer is no. Because no one has any solid indication that Murtha has done anything illegal, or anything solidly unethical.

More than that, the spin about how this is going to be bad for Pelosi no matter what is dripping from the news today. My NPR podcast this morning also painted this as a no-win situation for Pelosi. And here's your New York Times fluffing of the new minority party:

Downtrodden Republicans were enjoying the spectacle of the split between Representative Nancy Pelosi, the incoming speaker, who is publicly pushing Representative John P. Murtha, her longtime ally, and Democrats rallying behind Mr. Hoyer, who has served in the leadership slot beneath Ms. Pelosi for four years.

“I can’t believe they are self-destructing before they even get started,” said Representative Ray LaHood, Republican of Illinois. “Everyone on our side is giddy.”

Is Roy LaHood our new arbiter of how the Democrats are faring? A week and two days in, and "self-destructing?" C'mon. Why is this idea even true? If Hoyer wins, Pelosi loses, and doesn't get her man. If Murtha wins, Pelosi is victorious, and gets the House leadership team she's seeking. You can't presume Murtha's guilt. It's just not there. More than that, if Murtha is on the team, Pelosi will be deftly setting the tone for the 110th Congress, and conveying a clear message of the direction she wants to take this country.