Here's exactly why I don't want Tim Pawlenty to be president. Ever.

The Minnesota state GOP convention is happening this weekend. Like everywhere else and every other party, they will be nominating their candidate to run to replace Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Like most parties in power, they were addressed this morning by our departing governor, a Republican who appears to be giving serious consideration to running for president in 2012.

When Governor Pawlenty gives speeches he likes to throw out what he considers to be political zingers. I have no problem with that, I expect that from politicians of all stripes.

Today, one of his zingers was the following:

"More people died from the Hiawatha Light Rail line than from conceal and carry in Minnesota."

All I could think was that I sure hope none of the friends and loved ones of the people who died as a result of those accidents with the light rail trains here were sitting in the audience as delegates.

Time and time again,(Remember, he's the guy that said “We should take a page out of her playbook and take a 9-iron and smash the window out of big government in this country” referencing Tiger Woods wife on the day after a man flew his plane into a government building) Tim Pawlenty has shown that he is one of the least compassionate, most thoughtless politicians ever.

Does America really need a president who views people as a nothing more than part of a punchline?

We Should All Have A Boss Like This

Yesterday, AFSCME in Minnesota endorsed Mark Dayton in the race for governor here in Minnesota.

Now putting aside my feelings for how early it is to be endorsing anyone, especially considering a few weeks ago the biggest Teamsters local here endorsed someone who hasn't even declared his candidacy yet, I have to make a comment about Mark Dayton.

Mark Dayton is someone I don't agree with all the time. Sometimes, he just seems a wee bit to out there for my taste. I've been lucky enough to meet him on several occasions, and he genuinely believes what he believes. I like that in politicians. You know,a person who actually states their beliefs and values and then stands by them, consistently? Not enough politicians like that in my opinion, but I digress.

In reading some of the various commentaries in the comment section of the articles about his AFSCME endorsement, I noticed that several folks made comment of how cowardly Mark Dayton had been when he closed his Senate office after 911.

At the time it happened, I think I developed the mentality of the crowd and agreed with this knee jerk assessment.

But then in April of this year, I read an interview with Mark Dayton, where he stated:

"I acted to protect my staff," said Dayton. "The intelligence I saw made 9/11 pale in comparison. The likelihood of an attack against Washington was heightened. I didn't communicate my decision as well as I should have, but we senators were leaving for the recess anyway and it would have been immoral and unethical to leave the staff members there unaware of the threat."

and

"Everyone else played Russian Roulette with the lives of their staff members," said Dayton. "I'm willing to stand alone in a decision and accept criticism later."

*the rest of the interview is here: http://www.minnesotabrown.com/2009/04/mark-dayton-minnesotabrown-interview.html

I owe this man a public apology and now that I have started this blog, here it is:

Mr. Dayton, I am truly sorry. You did not deserve the anonymous venomous wrath that I and others brought your way in our 'we don't care what the facts might be' frenzy.

I wish that I could convince myself that my reaction was due to the terror of those days but while that might be a reasonable excuse, it is still nothing more than an excuse.

Thank you for what you did. We should all have bosses who care about people as much as you do.