A dedicated reader of MN Publius found this at the fair.
Post Tools: 
PrintThis
Related Posts: Reaction to Maliki’s Call For Withdrawal, Coleman Plans to Block State Action on Global Warming, Brian McClung is Smiling, Iowa JJ Dinner: Obama Owns the Night #2, More Pawlenty Vice Presidential Chatter : Guess the Anonymous Conservative,
PrintThis
Related Posts: Reaction to Maliki’s Call For Withdrawal, Coleman Plans to Block State Action on Global Warming, Brian McClung is Smiling, Iowa JJ Dinner: Obama Owns the Night #2, More Pawlenty Vice Presidential Chatter : Guess the Anonymous Conservative,
24 Responses to “I’m Not Sure Everyone Agrees”
Comments are currently closed.
Loading ...
YAAAAAY!!!
GREAT JOB!!
Can we call her Brownie?
What exactly is she doing a good job at? Arm wrestling? Being stubborn and lacking vision?
She is doing an excellent job at doing nothing of import. The fan captures her perfectly.
Are you guys serious? As Commissioner, Molnau has presided over the three largest highway and bridge construction years in Minnesota history. If that’s not vision, I don’t know what is.
Here is the new fan to apply to current standards: http://www.mncampaignreport.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=703
SHE WAS AT THE HELM FOR THE WORST HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT DISASTER IN STATE HISTORY!!
Heads should roll, if she had any class at all she would fall on her sword like the health commissioner. Even Brownie knew when it was time to go. She can remain Lt Governor, the only job she’s qualified for, waiting for Pawlenty to die.
She didn’t fight for her department, didn’t try to bring to the attention of the legislature and the Governor the seriousness of the I35W bridge because it didn’t fit with the self imposed budget constraints of their political philosophy.
It was a mistake to put her there, it was a mistake to keep her there. She may have been well intentioned but the proof of her failure is in the Mississippi. Actions, or lack thereof have consequences.
Republicans always want to point to the business model, what would a business do with a manager who failed so spectacularly? We know that in the Bush administration if you really, really fuck up you get the Medal of Freedom. Do we have a Minnesota equivalent? Maybe we can name the new bridge after her!
Rick,
Are you serious? Molnau has presided over the largest investment in roads in bridges in state history. We still don’t know what caused the bridge to collapse and you’re asking for her to resign? If that’s your standard, then let’s get rid of Jim Oberstar. As chariman of the House Transportation Committee, Oberstar inserted more than 60 pork barrel projects into the highway bill and not one was for bridges. If Molnau should resign, let’s get rid of Oberstar too - afterall the federal government was responsible for building the Interstate 35W bridge.
Chris,at least the captain of the Titanic had the good sense to go down with his ship. She is the head of the DOT, not Jim Oberstar.
What would a CEO do with a division manager who presided over such a public relations disaster for his company?
Rick,
It’s only a public relations disaster if people like you get away with blaming Pawlenty for the collapse. We don’t know what caused the collapse. But we do know this: (1) Pawlenty has presided over the three largest road and bridge construction years in state history (2) the Senate DFL killed the bill which would have built $1.7 billion in roads and bridges last year and (3) Jim Oberstar had more than 60 pork barrel projects in the House transportation bill - not one appropriating money for bridges.
Who was in command of the ship? Who was the Commissioner? Where exactly should the buck stop. Who made the call to inspect only?
In the Navy if you’re the Captain and a junior officer runs the ship aground while your asleep, or at dinner or whatever, who’s responsible? The captain! They lose their command. It doesn’t matter if it was their fault directly, They are responsible for all aspects of running that ship. If you are a commissioner of a department like DOT and there is a such a massive failure that could have been prevented, you should bear the responsibility. It is the right and moral thing to do.
Rick,
You analogy would only work if state government were, like the military, a virtual dictatorship. If the Pawlenty administration had the same level of power as a captain on a boat they could have taken all funding from public transportation and put it into roads or bonded to pay for extra costs. This is of course not the case. Nobody in government gets to do what they want which makes nobody accountable, Democrats or Republicans.
p.s. If people really cared about the loss of life on our roads they would advocate for making motorcycles and cars older than 1995 illegal. Many more people die via these methods than collapsing bridges. Since they do not I have to assume they are using the collapse as political theater in the course of promoting their own agenda.
As the owner of a ‘71 Triumph Bonneville with matching motor and frame VIN, I take exteme exception to KH’s virulent attack on classic British iron. That being said, you’re wrong about Rick’s analogy. It’s just in the last few years that accountability has gone by the wayside. The current crop of GOP’ers (Grab Our Penis) has a real problem with accepting responsibility for anything gone awry. They’ll take credit for successes they had nothing to do with but when it comes to problems, they are no where to be found.
My analogy works in that people should be held accountable for their failures, or the failures in their departments.
While we still don’t know the cause of the bridge collapse, I think it is apparent that the inspection program failed to predict the ultimate failure. The fact that only 13 people were killed is a miracle. Is she directly at fault, probably not. I doubt there is a “smoking gun” where there is memo that says “This bridge is going to collapse” and her saying don’t fix it or close it. The bottom line for me is it happened on her watch, decisions were made that cost innocent people their lives. There was no malice, no explicit negligence, but here we are with a bridge in the river.
This is not “political theater”. This is about responsibility. This is about philosophy of government. This is about decisions made, decisions not made, funding and lack thereof. If I’m not mistaken, their’s is the party of Personal Responsibility. Funny how it only applies to others. “Doing a Good Job”? Hardly.
(The navy analogy also fits with her jaunty nautical attire she wore at a press conference when she got back from China) (what the hell was she doing in China anyway, doesn’t she have a department to run?)
Rick,
My primary problem with all government is accountability so I really don’t mean to defend the Pawlenty administration too far but just to make sure the same standards are applied evenly across party lines. I guess the question that can be asked is this. Do you really think anything different would have happened if somebody else held the post? I think it is hard to say yes to that question with the level of conviction someone would need to honestly pillory any one person or party. The dramatization of your opponent’s groups responsibility while masking that of your favored group is what makes it political theater. Your analogy still does not work, well except maybe for the outfit, because unlike a captain the person you are assigning blame to does not have command authority over every part of this “ship”.
Richard,
I didn’t mean to offend. Being and old bike person myself I would never advocate for making them illegal. My wife might have a different opinion though.
If this had happened under a Democratic Governor, I would have the same reaction, the Commissioner should go. Would the Party in charge have prevented the bridge from collapsing, no. It was destined to fail at some point. All things made by man will fail.
I am certain that when the final report is written it will be a perfect storm of circumstances, design flaws, cracks, construction weight and work,corrosion and pigeon poo, that caused the final catastrophic failure. The failure was one of the ability to determine how serious things were and just how much that bridge was hanging by the proverbial thread. Obviously the inspection process did not work.
Perhaps Pawlenty is waiting for things to cool down locally, if he is, it will be a long wait. This story may have left the national radar, but it still has legs in MN.
The sooner she resigns, the better it will be for the Republicans and Pawlenty. She could still be the LT GUV, someone has to do the ceremonial crap the Guv can’t get to. Like Gonzo as AG, Molnau simply has no credibility left as Transportation Commissioner.
So you are saying the resignation is ceremonial of a sort? If so isn’t it really only the illusion of accountability? And if that is the case why your wording of “Heads should roll” or “proof of her failure is in the Mississippi”? That is the definition of politicizing the deaths of others to promote a certain belief structure.
Molnau’s resignation would in no way be ceremonial but it would be a testament to her years of ineffective and negligent leadership.
So you would be asking for her resignation even if the bridge had not come down? Either you have to be able to show that she specifically was responsible for the bridge collapse (what Rick and I were talking about) or that you would be calling for her resignation regardless. Since that has not yet been done by anybody the call for her resignation is ceremonial.
Talk to any of the guys that drive snowplows for 15 minutes and you’ll call for her resignation.
Richard,
If true let’s hear what they have to say. I really don’t have a problem getting ride of ineffective bureaucrats but would rather do it for just cause than political ideology. If she has done something to endanger the safety of the public or waste tax dollars you would have my support calling for her ouster.
http://www.mnchamber.com/priorities/transportation_bkgd.pdf
http://www.newsline.dot.state.mn.us/archive/05/feb/2.html
Staff on the plow crews and in the garages has been cut to bare minimums for budgetary reasons. Under the best of circumstances, MNDOT cannot put enough drivers on the roads to keep the roads clear in a winter storm. For that reason, last season you saw 2 inches of snow shut the metro down. I drove in that and I have never seen such a little bit of snow crash the system so hard. Thanks Carol.