In the House, Suddenly Righteous Republicans

"We are disappointed," protested Putnam, whose fair skin was covered with a layer of makeup.

"We're clearly disappointed," seconded Roy Blunt (Mo.).

"I'm disappointed, as are some others," added Kay Granger (Tex.).

"I am very disappointed," concurred David Dreier (Calif.).

It fell to CNN's Dana Bash to point out the awkward truth. "You can play back, almost verbatim, Democrats . . . saying almost exactly what you all just said," she said. "So is there a little bit of hypocrisy in you saying that you want minority rights?"

"This is a missed opportunity to really change the way that the House does business," Putnam offered, citing Democrats' campaign promises for "a new way of doing business."

"What stopped you from taking that opportunity when you were still in the majority?" inquired Rick Klein of the Boston Globe.

"Well, I'll let Chairman Dreier speak to that," Putnam ventured.

Republicans must have known they'd have some explaining to do, because they scheduled back-to-back news conferences on their minority rights. As soon as Putnam's session ended, Granger took the elevator up three flights and joined McHenry and his cohort in the TV gallery.

Granger had not updated her talking points. "It's very disappointing," she said.

Further disappointment came when the first questioner elicited the confession that none of the lawmakers had previously sympathized with Pelosi's plea for minority rights. McHenry unfurled excuses: "We were not in Congress. . . . I didn't have the opportunity. . . . She did not put it in legislative form."

It had all the makings of a PR debacle. Fortunately for McHenry, the Democrats were otherwise engaged. An hour after fleeing the microphone because of Sheehan's heckling, Emanuel and other Democratic leaders returned for another attempt to talk about ethics and the minimum wage.

"Rahm, would you answer Cindy Sheehan, though?"

"An hour or so ago you had to stop your remarks because [of] Cindy Sheehan."

"What are Democrats going to do about the war in Iraq?"

For the new majority, it must have been, well, disappointing.