http://www.startribune.com/357/story/1343575.html
Nick Coleman: Only Pollyannas can't see politics is a part of
everything
President Bush will visit the Twin Cities today. And he actually is
going to get out of the plane.
By Nick Coleman, Star Tribune
Last update: August 03, 2007 - 10:11 PM
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President Bush will visit the Twin Cities today. And he actually is
going to get out of the plane.
But don't expect to hear him say, "Heck of a job, Pawlenty."
According to the pundits, the president's response to the disaster at
our end of the Mississippi is an effort to be seen as more
compassionate than he appeared in 2005, when he just looked out the
window of Air Force One after the levees broke in New Orleans.
Minnesotans will welcome the president. We need presidents to be
comforters, and leaders, at times such as this.
Lyndon Johnson came during the Mississippi River flooding of 1965.
Bill Clinton paid a visit to Grand Forks during the Red River flood of
1997. So it is good that the president (whose wife, Laura, visited
Friday) will make a personal appearance.
But let's not pretend his visit isn't all about politics, too.
Everything about this disaster -- except the heroic efforts to rescue
and recover the victims -- has been steeped in politics. And the most
calculated political effort has been the posturing and spinning by
public officials trying to act commanding while making sure they don't
get pinned with responsibility for the collapse.
Now, a president who doesn't believe that government can solve
problems is coming because we have a big fat problem that is hard to
ignore.
I'm sure he'll be received politely and thanked for his support. But
after he leaves, we can get back to the work of finding out what
happened and why.
Friday, the carillon atop City Hall was playing "Bridge Over Troubled
Waters." Cringe-inducing, but apt. A bridge is down, and we are
troubled.
If you think everyone should play nice about it, you are living in
Pollyanna Land. We are in a bare-knuckled political brawl in this
country, and the government is in the hands of government haters who
want to starve it or, in the alleged belief of presidential ally
Grover Norquist, want to "drown it."
You can't drown government. It is people who drown.
Friday, the Taxpayers League -- the heart of the No New Taxes beast --
called on us not to point fingers. They probably disconnected their
phone and took down their sign, too.
No New Taxes is not a slogan that works anymore. Remember Michael
Bilandic? He was the Democratic mayor of Chicago until he forgot to
plow the streets.
Bye-bye, Bilandic.
Not point fingers?
That means don't blame the people in charge for letting 140,000
vehicles a day -- 1.7 every second --cross a bridge that wasn't fit
for traffic.
No one knew it might fall? Give us a break. What do you need? They
were talking about bolting plates on it to keep it up. Maybe duct tape
was next.
Bottom line: It fell.
Is it political to be angry about that? So be it. Everything is
politics. Politics is not a dirty word by itself. Politics builds
bridges and schools and hospitals. And politics can make them fall
down. Bad politics.
After Tim Pawlenty was elected governor in 2002, he made his running
mate, Carol Molnau, commissioner of transportation. Tell me a better
way to politicize transportation and control the spin on everything
involving roads or bridges.
When Pawlenty vetoed the transportation bill in May, "Commissioner"
Molnau was beside him, smiling. Dear, Minnesota. A transportation
commissioner who grins while her department is being knifed is not a
transportation commissioner.
Now, a bridge has fallen and people are dead. The buck has to stop
somewhere. Molnau was in China when it happened. She probably kissed
the Minnesota turf when she got back. Because a Chinese transportation
commissioner whose bridge collapsed might lose her head.
We are lenient in Minnesota. Molnau can keep her head. She should lose
her job.
So. Welcome, Mr. President. We are really hurting here. It's great you
could come.
Nick Coleman =B7
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