Mark Z. Barabak: The essence of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi comes through in her not-farewell address

The not-farewell address Nancy Pelosi delivered Thursday captured the quintessence of her history-making career.

The departing House speaker was, as ever, immaculately turned out. She wore white, the color of the suffragette movement, of which Pelosi was a legatee and enormous champion.

She read, dutifully, from prepared remarks that were filled with the typical exhortations and platitudes — a reference to the "Star Spangled Banner," a paean to the Capitol and its