Posted: 05/01/08 20:43
by Dave Mindeman
Maybe Govnernor Pawlenty's mysterious scheduling has involved some secret trips to the Fred Astaire or Arthur Murray dance studios... because he has been doing a heckuva job with the Tennessee Two Step. Of course, when you have a close affiliation with John McCain, dancing around the issues becomes second nature. This time, its the I-35 Bridge in the Pioneer Press:
Pawlenty Dances Around McCain Bridge Collapse Remarks
I'm not sure McCain can be criticized for "politicizing" the Bridge Collapse with these remarks, because they don't make any sense:
McCain said Wednesday the Minneapolis bridge collapsed "because so much money was spent on wasteful unnecessary pork-barrel projects."
If memory serves, the I-35 Bridge wasn't on anyone's list for early repairs, and certainly not on any Federal request.... and it is even harder to fathom what list it would have been bumped off of, by any other Federal request. To summarize, there is no indication that the Bridge was competing for Federal money, so how could "pork barrel" projects be any kind of factor?
Today, McCain recalibrated:
McCain told reporters in Cleveland, "No, I said it would have received a higher priority, which it deserved."
I still don't get it. Was it on a list for Federal help? And if it was, isn't that an earmark request? And if it would have had a higher priority does that mean that somebody had made an urgent request for the bridge? There was no early plan to fix the bridge.
It is hard to categorize where this conversation falls in the realm of political pandering. Is McCain trying to cover for Governor Pawlenty on transportation? Or is McCain trying to draw attention to Minnesota to pave the way for national attention on Pawlenty?
And is this the way for Pawlenty to "dance" his way through:
Pawlenty, a potential McCain running mate, said he thinks the NTSB's findings and the senator's statements can be reconciled. "I don't think they're in conflict,"
Ummm, sorry, incorrect. They are in direct conflict. The NTSB is doing their best to stay away from maintenance issues -- It would seem McCain is headed right to repairs. That would be a conflict.
Oops, Pawlenty stepped on somebody's toes.....
And then we shuffle off to this:
Pawlenty: "He may not be aware of all the details of all the NTSB's work, and I think once he learns of that, I'm sure he'll incorporate that in his thinking."
I guess that would mean that Senator McCain would be talking about an issue without checking all the information.
Oops, Pawlenty stepped on another toe.....
As McCain limps around the dance floor, he leaves us with this:
"All I can do to respond to those critics is, my job is to make America as safe as possible," he told reporters.
Maybe we need to be protected from clumsy dancers.....
