Speed Gibson

Accessory After The Fact

I dropped my lengthy subscription to the Minneapolis Star Tribune over four years ago for a number of reasons.  The legendary slant I could live with, but not the increasing amount of just flat out false information being published as news.  I counted ten when they repeatedly went after Rod Grams and excused a cop killer.  The unapologetic hit piece on candidate Alan Fine while giving Keith Ellison sainthood was the proverbial last straw.  That should have been the end of it.  But no, the Minneapolis Star Tribune found yet another line to cross.

Their coverage of the Minnesota budget shutdown goes beyond bias.  The stories share a willful disregard of the facts, falsely labelling the Legislature, Republicans in particular as those most responsible.  On both page one and in editorials, Governor Dayton is portrayed as the last defender of our Minnesota values.  Never mind that his signature is on the documents that laid off those 22,000 state workers.  And only his signature.

So far, this shutdown has cost the state about $100 million all told.  Whenever the Legislature reconvenes, it would do well to pull back a billion dollars in reserve untili 2012 when the total effect will be better quantified, and that, too, will have some negative effects on the State economy.  The solution seems obvious to the Star Tribune: a GOP surrender, which they have repeatedly argued for.

If this were just politics, well it would be politics as usual here in Minnesota.  But this time there is significant collateral damage in disrupted lives, and probably some failed businesses.  And while technically the blame rests squarely with the Governor, the role of the Star Tribune in enabling his irrational, unfounded, and unsympathetic position must also be taken into account.

The Star Tribune is an enabler, an accessory after the fact, helping keep Dayton's hopes of victory alive even as more and more Minnesotans suffer.  Were they to follow the St. Paul paper's lead, sticking to the facts, maybe the Governor would relent, much as LBJ did when he lost Walter Cronkite over Vietnam.

TMX - Too Many Explanations

Maybe I'm just a dumb engineer, dumb to think that logic should apply even in politics.  But it's as dumbfounding as it is maddening to try to follow the various media accounts of the Minnesota state government shutdown.

If I see water in a pan boiling atop a gas burner, I look for burning gas underneath.  When I see the flames, I stop right there.  I know why the water is boiling.  I don't need to check for stray microwaves from a neighbor's appliance.  I don't wonder if there is enough deuterium present in the water to fuel a "cold fusion" reaction.  Why?  Because I don't need any additional explanations.

This is what "Occam's razor" was about, that entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem, that explanations should not be multiplied beyond necessity.  And yet our media continue to do this regardling the shutdown.  Because the prime suspect is not a Republican, perhaps?

Mark Dayton vetoes 9 of 10 spending bills after the Legislature must adjourn by law, the Constitution in fact.  He  continues to reject temporary funding as political stunts.  Of late, his attempts to "tax the rich" as morality have dissolved into "it's about the money."  No Republican voted to shut down the government.  And yet the media keep inventing contrived indictments of them, complicated explanations where none are necessary.  One man, Governor Dayton, shut down the government.

If I want that pan of water to stop boiling, I can turn off the gas.  Works every time.  Once again, the shortest, most obvious path to ending the shutdown rests with one man, the only one who can recall the Legislature before next February, the one man whose personal views are in the way of a solution.  And once again, the media fantasizes about Legislators who are currently powerless somehow putting aside their months of work reviewing data and applying proven economic principles.  Perhaps the biggest fantasy of all is believing Mark Dayton at his word, that he would in fact honor a backroom deal once presented as a bill for his signature.

This isn't complicated.  These reporters would not accept this level of convenient contrivance from their teenage children about a crumpled fender.  Hey kids: just threaten to join the Republican Party!

They Like Me, They Really Like Me!

We've seen many cases where the politically left of center suddenly have their John Galt moments and become Republicans.  That would include Shot in the Dark's Mitch Berg and myself, but also Bill Bennett and Ronald Reagan.  Maybe even John Lennon we now hear?  There are some who go the other way, like Arianna Huffington and Ed Schultz, though apparently not for intellectual reasons to hear them talk.

But there's another transformation, which we might call "Carlsonoma."  You have success as a Republican, then retire from public life, and then drift left.  And why not?  You're not running for anything anymore.  The abuse you took from the left has taken its toll.  You may just decide your family at least deserves no more.  

So you let up a little and a liberal notices.  Suddenly you start getting invited to more events and parties.  You make some flattering small talk out of politeness and get more notice.  Now the newspapers actually want to quote you, even praise you at times.  Before long, various causes célèbres want you to serve on commissions or as honorary representatives.  You used to think the cause is what mattered, regardless of who got the credit.  Now you're having trouble remembering just why that cause was so important, but the credit you thought shouldn't matter sure feels good nonetheless. 

You have arrived.  You are now a member of The League of Inconsequential Gentlemen.  Life is good, at least until a former compatriot points out: you no longer matter.

 

Worst Case Scenario

What if Governor Dayton does not call a Special Session?  And what if as a result, some public schools cannot open this fall, or close shortly after opening for lack of state funding?  And weeks of prime time for road construction are lost forever?  And the buses stop running?  And libraries close?  And we lose millions in lost tourism business?  Businesses go bankrupt or move out of state before they do?  Medical clinics go cash and carry?  Our credit rating is damaged?  And of course, we incur the immense social costs of welfare disruption?

At what point do we start talking of impeachment, of the one and only person responsible, Governor Mark Dayton?

Per the Minnesota Constitution, a majority of the House is needed to impeach.  Two-thirds of the Senate are needed for removal, and that trial cannot begin for at least 20 days after impeachment.  Further, the Lt. Governor would be in charge after impeachment, until and unless the Governor were to be acquitted.  She could sign the budget bills and end this pointless exercise in vanity.

Problem is, only the Governor can convene the Legislature before February of next year.  And given what I've seen, I'm convinced that is a possibility barring an "intervention" by the DFL.  It seems to me that whoever is pulling Dayton's strings should understand that this will sooner or later have to be on the table.

Walking Update

As you may remember, I walk every street in cities as both hobby and exercise.  Today, I completed the biggest challenge of all, the City of Minneapolis.  That's over 58 square miles, divided into 11 communities and 87 neighborhoods.  Done largely on the weekends, it has taken me about 3 years.

This has been extra special because Minneapolis is such an interesting and beautiful city, including the best city park system in Minnesota.  I discovered many good establishments, the Cardinal Bar (38th St & 30th Ave right by LRT station) soon becoming a sort of field headquarters I visited many times.

I added my list of conquests on the right, 18 cities totaling about 240 square miles.  Number 19?  Coon Rapids, 23.3 sq. miles.  But I'm sizing up St. Paul for 2012.

 

Missed Opportunity

Former Governor Tim Pawlenty was blessed in his second term with the absurdly incompetent leadership of then Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller.  I think the new Republican Legislative majorities should be thankful that Governor Mark Dayton is no better, worse in fact.  He was too busy preening and posturing to realize the mess he created for himself, having unilaterally shut down the government with no competent let alone truthful justification as to why.  Worse, he now has no exit strategy, not even a retreat short of resigning.

A savvy Democrat would have done better, perhaps winning the war with an opening statement like this at a press conference earlier this week:

"I made two promises to you, the people of Minnesota during the campaign.  You put your trust in me to carry out those promises by electing me as your Governor.  One was not to shut down the government, the other to work with the Legislature on a responsible, balanced budget for biennium starting July 1st, now less than a week away.  I never thought these to be incompatible goals, just a continuation of the bi-partisan cooperation and agreement we’ve always been able to reach in the past, putting Minnesota first.

"And yet here we are, trying to work with intractable Republican majorities in the House and Senate.  They, too made promises, assurances to their wealthy supporters that the tax breaks they have enjoyed throughout the Pawlenty administration will continue, even if that means the working poor must make up the difference.  That’s their ideology and they’re sticking to it.

"I could press on as so many of you have urged, letting most of the State government shut down this Friday as the Republican leadership insists if they don’t get their way.  Trouble is, the lives of thousands State workers and the millions of residents they serve in so many ways will be significantly disrupted.  And for how long? And for what?

"Maybe the Republicans are fine with that, but I’m not.  I am therefore issuing the order to convene a Special Session with the understanding that the Legislature will indeed pass what we have negotiated to date, no more and no less.  I will sign these bills into law when they adjourn.

"I will have kept my promise to you not to shut down the government.  But my other promise must wait, to restore the fairness in our tax system lost over a decade ago.  We can take some comfort in that had the Republicans won the Governor’s office, we’d be looking at a much bigger shortfall than we are now.  In next year’s elections, we can send a similar message to the Legislature, that the people come first.  Only then can we fully fund our responsibilities and resume our long standing commitment to our quality of life here in Minnesota."