To Do List

Item #1:  Build new 35W River Bridge.  Well, the job is underway, and supposedly under a year from completion.

Item #2:  Absorb the NTSB report, which reportedly blames design flaws in the collapse of the 35W River Bridge last August.  That’s “Design Flaws” – insufficiently-strong gusset plates.  Which were part of the original bridge construction, forty-odd years ago.  Back when there was, apparently, no shortage of tax money. 

Item #3: Await apology from Nick Coleman:  After all, before they’d even found all the submerged cars, the Non-Monkey had blamed Pawlenty, the GOP and the Taxpayers’ League, and the “failure” to raise the Gas Tax, for the disaster, all but accusing them of complicity in murder.

Item #4:  Await same from Alice Hausman: The famous truck was still engulfed in flames when Alice “The Phantom” Hausman, Tic from Saint Paul, Chairbeing of the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, and subject of an unseemly Lori Sturdevant girl crush, went on WCCO Radio and blamed the disaster on taxes.

Item #5:  Await More Of Same From Elwyn Tinklenberg: Elwin “E-Tink” Tinklenburg, Transportation Commissioner for DFL-Lite “Independence” Party governor Jesse “The Stealth Tic” Ventura, and perennial Tic candidate for higher office (he’s been pondering running against Michele Bachmann since before Rep. Bachmann was actually elected) did pretty much the same.

Item #6:  Congratulate Mike Mosedale The City Pages: The City Pages Mike Mosedale (Winner of the 2007 “At Least He’s Not Matt Snyders or G.R. Anderson” award) wrote ran a long article in the metro’s foremost freebie, speculatively blaming…:

  • The Governor
  • Carol Molnau
  • MNDoT
  • The Taxpayers League and David Strom
  • The repair work going one on the deck
  • The Feds
  • The Met Council
  • The state bureaucracy
  • Society’s addiction to new goodies (like trains and ballparks)

..and…

  • The original design of the bridge

In retrospect, the non-political parts of Mosedale’s the piece were remarkably balanced for a local lefty alt-media report.  Which is sort of like saying “except for the iceberg, the Titanic had a pretty good cruise”.

I’ll get working on them.

11 thoughts on “To Do List

  1. Along with the design flaw, the NTSB cited additional upgrades to the bridge which added weight to the bridge.

    So if the state didn’t have the funds to add bling to the bridge then maybe it would still be standing?

    Transportation funding clearly played a role in this catastrophe. We had too much!

  2. I think you’ll be awaiting for awhile, Mitch. Being DFL means never having to say you’re sorry.

  3. Remember that Amy Klobuchar (Moonbat-MN) said the bridge collapse was President Bush’s fault.

  4. One can only assume that the DFl’ers are idiots.
    Like any large civil engineering projects, bridges should be built with redundancy. If it’s designed properly and used anywhere close to its design specs, it should never simply “collapse”. A design problem (or a problem with later design modifications) should be the first place to look for the source of the problem.
    The DFL believes that every problem is a result of them not being allowed to spend other people’s money the way they want to. Jumping on the “Tax cuts killed people!” bandwagon was irresponsible.

  5. Wake me up when any pol or spinmeister apologizes for being wrong.

    Frankly, I’d be happy to see the knee-jerk finger pointing end.

  6. Mitch,

    You’re not a very close reader, are you?

    I had absolutely nothing to do with the City Pages story you reference. I haven’t written anything about the bridge collapse. In fact, I haven’t written a word for City Pages since June.

    When you first weighed in on the subject of the CP story in August, at least you got the authors’ names right–Anderson and Demko. But, in your quest for snark, you made another pretty sloppy mistake.

    You wrote: “City Pages did a long, meandering, utterly speculative assignment of blame to everyone from the Governor to David Strom. Absent from Anderson and Demko’s list: “The design of the bridge itself”.

    On the contrary, Demko and Anderson devoted an entire section of their story to the issue of bridge design. At the time, I sent you a personal email alerting you to that error but, for reasons unknown to me, you didn’t see fit to post a correction.

  7. Funny how you don’t see this quote in the Startribune

    “Rosenker said the NTSB investigation has found no evidence that cracking, corrosion or other wear “played any role>/b> in the collapse of the bridge.”

    Seems like a major major major point.

  8. You’re not a very close reader, are you?

    Of my own stuff? Not normally, no.

    I had absolutely nothing to do with the City Pages story you reference. I haven’t written anything about the bridge collapse. In fact, I haven’t written a word for City Pages since June.

    Duly noted.

    On the contrary, Demko and Anderson devoted an entire section of their story to the issue of bridge design. At the time, I sent you a personal email alerting you to that error but, for reasons unknown to me, you didn’t see fit to post a correction.

    Actually, I did.

    I’ve corrected today’s post – no expense spared for accuracy around here, baybee.

  9. In engineering, spectacular failures are usually related to design faults.

    In economics, spectacular failures are usually related to implementing lefty policy.

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