The Twin Cities media have largely been dutiful stenographers during the shutdown, carrying the DFL’s message pretty much verbatim while gundecking the GOP pretty consistently.
Let’s let all that slide for the moment. We’ll come back to it, naturally.
But let’s talk for a moment about the “Old” Twin Cities media’s moldiest meme; that there was once a time when the parties just got along, and agreed to do “what was best for Minnesota”.
It’s baked wind, of course; to the extent things ever worked that way, it’s because the MNGOP used to be both extremely moderate, in the Rockefeller/Stassen mold, and also very weak, especially after Watergate. So when the Twin Cities Old Media says “they just got along and did what was best for Minnesota”, what they mean was “they shut up and passed a “progresssive”, tax and spend agenda without a whole lot of muss and fuss”.
So let’s accept them at their word for a moment. Let’s say that they, the old-school, dead-tree media (I’m looking at you, Lori Sturdevant and Doug Grow and Rachel Stassen-Berger) really do believe in that myth, and really think it led to “good government”.
So how does the behavior of Senate Minority (aaah) leader Tom Bakk and House Minority leader Paul Thissen fit into that meme?
The GOP and Governor Dayton had reportedly reached an agreement on June 30 – the day before the shutdown. The shutdown that had the Twin Cities media wetting its collective pants was minutes away from being averted. Governor Dayton had agreed to drop tax increases – any of them – from the agreement.
Problem solved?
Until Bakk and Thissen entered the picture – as related by Gary Gross at LFR, with emphasis added?
[State GOP deputy chair Michael] Brodkorb said he could confirm that Sen. Bakk and Rep. Thissen were in the room when Speaker Zellers and Leader Koch returned to say that they’d accept Gov. Dayton’s offer. At that time, Gov. Dayton said that he’d changed his mind and that tax increases had to be part of the final solution.
It’s important to remember that Speaker Zellers and Sen. Koch returned only 45 minutes after Gov. Dayton’s initial offer. The only thing that’d changed was that Sen. Bakk and Rep. Thissen weren’t in the room when Gov. Dayton made his initial offer but they were there when he’d reversed himself.
Let’s make this perfectly clear; it appears that Bakk and Thissen, after spending the entire session lighting farts in their offices (*), coming out periodically to wag their fingers on Almanac and heckle the GOP’s various plans to their various stenographers the media, did exactly one substantive thing during the entire session; scupper a settlement two weeks ago.
It’s pretty clear that they believe they could play the shutdown for their political benefit in 2012, and get that benefit on the back of state employees, contractors, the service-using public, and those that depend on the state for whatever reason.
Brodkorb then said that “The only thing that Sen. Bakk and Rep. Thissen had done since the start of the session was cash paychecks. You can quote me on that.”
With pleasure.
When will the Minnesota Media raise its collective eyebrow over Bakk, Thissen and the DFL’s exploitation of this shutdown? The region’s conservative blogs have done everything but engrave the story on the back of a “Society of Professional Journalists” award and walk the story into the Strib’s office.
It’s clear at this point that if Thissen and Bakk could tie defective strollers to the GOP, they’d both roll prams full of infants down the Capitol steps, with cameras rolling and the Strib’s editorial staff pondering with mock sincerity “why don’t the Republicans just compromise and fight Big Stroller?”
(*) Figuratively and rhetorically speaking. I have no idea if anyone lit a single fart, and if they did, it’s none of my business. It’s a figure of speech implying sloth, negligence, and passive-aggressive idleness, and as such it’s richly, if disgustingly, appropriate.
Gee, I had no idea that Bakk and Thissen were Mythbusters fans. Recreating a lost/censored Mythbusters episode was probably the best possible use of their time, and the biggest service they’ve done the citizens of Minnesota since they were elected.
When will the Minnesota Media raise its collective eyebrow over Bakk, Thissen and the DFL’s exploitation of this shutdown?
When monkeys fly out of my butt.
Somewhere Don Shelby is sipping a sombucha with a satisfied look on his face.
Here, again, Mitch, the glaring weakness of the MNGOP communications and PR department are illustrated. The PiPress has been a little more critical of the Dims lately, so maybe they would be…crap! Never mind!
“The only thing that’d changed was that Sen. Bakk and Rep. Thissen weren’t in the room when Gov. Dayton made his initial offer but they were there when he’d reversed himself.”
After some 2 weeks Dayton knew he owned the shutdown and people were figuring it out, so he caved (with conditions). I still feel the GOP should have upped the ante after the Dimwits reneged on Daytons initial deal. At a minimum they should be demanding and holding back for voter ID. I really think the voters get that.
The Gov is Pinocchio the puppet and Bakk/Thissen are his puppet masters.
“Pinocchio is often a term used to describe an individual who is prone to telling lies, fabricating stories and exaggerating or creating tall tales for various reasons.”
I still feel the GOP should have upped the ante after the Dimwits reneged on Daytons initial deal
Stay tuned on that score.
The whole works is ending up being conducted behind closed doors. Makes for good he-said he-said political rhetoric but very bad governance. Frankly, I have a problem with that and will hold them all (dems and repubs) accountable for this mess.
Government is always like that, Leslie Hittner, at least, that is the way it works when the politicians get their way. For most people the goal of life is to avoid the consequences of their actions. When we use the word “powerful” to describe a person, we mean that they can avoid consequences the poor cannot.
A rich politician is a fearsome thing indeed.
Just to re-visit the points about the Good Ol’ Days of MN Politics, I think it is also worthwhile to mention that not only was the MNGOP more moderate, but so was the DFL/Democrat Party. For example, many of JFK’s actions would’ve been termed extreme right-wing by today’s DFL. Democrats like Henry (Scoop) Jackson from that time seem quite similar to Bush (both).
It wasn’t until the left took over the DFL in 1968 and the early 70s that the DFL dropped their moderation and took advantage of that traditional Republican moderation to push harder for the progressive paradise we now know and love. The formerly silent (or simply outmanned) GOP conservatives started pushing back and it’s been so ever since.
I still haven’t seen Hittner outright criticize Dayton.
.
Dayton’s lack of leadership and his inability to govern is the reason for this mess and all the closed door secrets… conspiring to take by force if necessary…
Les, you’ve been played, old boy.
jdm-
The same thing is true of the Democrats nationally. It is a sign of how well the left has corralled the US media that it refers to the current GOP as “radical” or “extreme right” when the GOP want to resurrect the ideas of Reagan. Obama is the furthest left president the US has ever had, there is no democrat president he can be compared to because is farther to left than any of them, yet he is depicted as the “reasonable” party in the current budget dispute.
Reagan is a moderate compaired to the current batch of Republicans – kind of a national version of Arnie, et al.
Reagan is a moderate compaired to the current batch of Republicans – kind of a national version of Arnie, et al
Sorry, Leslie, but that’s a lefty chanting point, one that Media Matters and the like are floating to try to put a wedge between conservatives and an epic wave of second-generation Reagan Democrats.
If you look at what Reagan espoused, there is no way to call it “moderate” – thank God.
Now, some of his policies ended up being more moderate in the end – because he had to run them through the worthless, but majority, O’Neill Congress. Some of it (his backing off pro-life legislation) was horse-trading and picking his battles. Some (his second-term tax hikes) were the results of Democratic perfidy, as we showed earlier. it’s just not true that he raised more taxes than he cut.
It’s a meme the Dems are spreading because they are desperately afraid.
Leslie:
At least Reagan was willing to lead. Obama hasn’t put out a plan (technically he did but his budget and debt increase with no limits were both voted on and voted no on) and all he does is attack. Reagan put out plans and some times was willing to let them lose because the principals for which he wanted he wouldn’t compromise.
So since Reagan is a moderate than you agree that Obama is a socialist. Thank You.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
A talking point, indeed. Anyone who believes that Reagan would endorse the idea of the Federal Government taking 25% of GDP is a fool.
K-Rod says, “I still haven’t seen Hittner outright criticize Dayton.”
I’ve been critical of Dayton since the Democrats selected him to run. They had MUCH better candidates. Dayton is included in my first post to this discussion. He does not get a pass on this ongoing process any more than the Republican legislative leadership.
“Government is always like that.” Terry, you’re probably right – but I don’t have to LIKE it – especially when it is so agregious.
Reagan is a moderate compaired to the current batch of Republicans
I’m OK with this characterization as long as the current batch of Democrats are characterized as the far left-wing extremists they are.
Notice that I didn’t say I agree with the original assertion, but in the interests of kumbaya bi-partisanship I’ll accept it (the “quid”) as long as “quo” is accepted as well.
Reagan was a moderate? The man who mocked the Equal Rights Amendment? The man who declared the idea of “comparable worth” was idiotic? The man who proclaimed the idea of “Mutual Assured Destruction” was “madness” and proceeded to dismantle a status quo that had been the paradigm for nearly forty years?
If that’s “moderate” we need a lot more.
Dang. I was really looking for an agreed to characterization of the current batch of Democrats as far left-wing extremist before shredding that “Reagan was moderate” view.
If you cherry-pick positions and policies and remove their context you can make just about any lie look as though it is true.
Obama engineered legislation that forces Americans to hand over thousands of dollars each year to for-profit corporations (health care reform). He has started wars without bothering to consult with congress (Libya). He has signed into law tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans (extended the Bush tax cuts). Therefore Obama is more liberal than Bush.
It’s nonsense to say that Obama is conservative, but talking points usually are nonsense.
“I’ve been critical of Dayton since the Democrats selected him to run.”
Nope, we still haven’t seen Hittner outright criticize Dayton.
Come on Les, show some guts and specifically criticize Dayton for once!