Nancy Pelosi is a woman on a mission. We may not know exactly what that mission is or where these train tracks end, but she’s on a path. America, having had more than sufficient time to observe her leadership as our first female Speaker of the House, has registered a rather overwhelmingly negative view of her performance to date, but would a little thing like that bother Pelosi? No way, Jose’.

Nancy Pelosi on being unpopular: ‘I don’t care’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is one of the most despised political figures in the country.

And, frankly, she doesn’t give a damn.

“No, I don’t care,” Pelosi told POLITICO last Thursday, laughing heartily as she walked beneath the Capitol dome and plunged into a crowd of tourists.

Last week’s Public Strategies Inc./POLITICO poll brought grim news for Pelosi, revealing that only a quarter of Americans trust the San Francisco Democrat — putting her in the basement with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Her unfavorability rating is right on par with Dick Cheney right now, and a couple of points above the lesser known John Boehner. What to make of this?

Madam Speaker, we gave you the keys to the car with a full tank of gas and you’re driving us off a cliff.

John Boehner, we don’t care if you’re in the minority and can’t get anything out of committee. You’re not putting forth fully developed legislative solutions of your own to counter what the Democrats are doing. We’d at least like to see it, even if it won’t pass. That way we can make a better informed judgment next fall.

I suppose I’m glad that the Speaker isn’t losing any sleep over how badly she is viewed across the nation. I’d hate to see her have to handle that gavel with bags under her eyes.