Nancy Pelosi should step aside and let someone else have a turn

Last week, Congresswoman Kathleen Rice did a politically unthinkable but fantastically brave thing. She said out loud what Dem voters have been saying out loud to each other since before the election: It’s time for Nancy Pelosi to go. Way past time.

As long as the Botox-challenged, old-fashioned leader remains too long at the helm, the Democrats are doomed.

No — it’s not because of Pelosi’s age. The GOPers in control of well, everything, are so old they look like the founding fathers without the wigs.

Well, let me amend that. Some of them have rugs and combovers of such tremendous size they could pass for powdered wigs.

So what possessed a pol of ambition to risk it all by doing something that hasn’t been done in D.C. in recent memory — tell the truth?

For one thing, Rice’s ambition is not to remain in D.C. until they carry her out in a box, and for another, she’s just disgusted.

“There comes a time in every leader’s life when they should know it’s time to step aside. Pelosi needs to step aside,” she told me. “Hillary was not in touch, her message was off, she lost.

Beat the Summer Heat With 10 Ways to Cool Off in New Jersey

“It’s not because Nancy didn’t offer me any support. I really didn’t need it because I had my own financial base of supporters and I don’t have (congressional) committee baggage.

“People here are so entrenched in the status quo. Leadership has all the power for committee (appointments) and they dole it out to those who show their loyalty.”

It sounds like the Mafia with bad suits.

On a roll, she continued, “I didn’t come here just to get on committees but to make change. To do that we’ve got to start winning — which we aren’t doing — and to do THAT we’ve got to change the leadership.

“I was a prosecutor and a D.A. I can get a job in private industry, so I’m not one of those people who intend to be here for 30 years. I’m not afraid to speak out.

“Both parties have to get back to working for the American people, not for themselves. The days of leaders deciding who gets what should be over.

“Nancy Pelosi said, ‘I’m worth the trouble’ (after Rice called her out to get out).

“Really? What trouble are you talking about? It’s up to us in the caucus to decide if you’re worth the trouble — not you!

“I get it that people don’t want to speak out against Nancy. I’m not about shaming people who support her. But we have to be more independent instead of just doing what is most expedient.

“As it stands though, we don’t even have the ability to nurture our future leaders. Why? Because that would create a way to challenge current leadership.

“Plus, let’s be honest. The Democrats have no economic message. We’re still the party of the people and we’re not talking to people. Meantime, Trump is talking to them about manufacturing jobs that don’t even exist anymore.”

And getting away with it.

“We can’t afford to be fearful. We can’t. And it’s not personal.”

No. It’s strictly business.

BLACK IS THE NEW WHITE

First there was the formerly white woman turned black nutty professor, Rachel Dolezal .

Then, this month came body dysmorphic white German internet star Martina Big. She found a doctor who gave her giant implants — roughly the size of Hummers. Then she appeared on the Brit TV show “This Morning” to say she found one who gave her “tanning injections” which turned her black.

Not to be outdone, Kim Kardashian, who is also known for her out-sized boobs, has also turned black. Or at least she’s been posing in blackface, which she says was merely a result of being tan.

Clue: If you turn another race from sitting in the sun, chances are 100% that you need a sun hat. Or maybe you can just cover up with that piece of wool you’ve been pulling over everyone’s eyes.

I, GAY ICON

Who knew I’d be a gay icon? But I will be riding in the lead car — the Stonewall Veterans ’69 Caddy — in Sunday’s Pride NYC March. I’m seriously grateful that I’m riding, not marching, because seriously, this gay icon wouldn’t be caught dead in anything lower than five inch heels outside of the gym or climbing a mountain. My giant hot pink beaded platforms aren’t exactly marching-friendly, just LGBT-friendly. Watch us kick off at noon on WABC and WPIX.