Green Party candidate Ken Pentel actually had me rolling last night during the Minnesota gubernatorial debates sponsored by KSTP TV and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. His arguments are a stand up comedy routine. I enjoyed his little gun tale as much as my friend P did which he described below:
My favorite Ken moment was when he got a question on concealed carry, which empirical studies show reduces violent crime. Pentel responded with a story about one of his relatives who had a hunting rifle and a small child. He thought the safety was on and he thought the gun wasn't loaded. Yet still--blam! It turns out that no one was injured from the incident. Ken's story is so ridiculous on so many levels. 1) Hunting rifles aren't covered by concealed carry 2) Anecdotal evidence is worthless in the face of contradictory empirical evidence (although this type of argument is a favorite tactic of obfuscation by the left) 3) The anecdote doesn't even prove his point that guns kill innocent people.
It was so silly it brought laughter. A high school debater wouldn't have used such an irrelevant and easily disputed example. I think Pawlenty scored big on the concealed and carry portion when he cited that fact the 34 other states have passed it with no appreciable increase in gun violence. My personal favorite Ken Pentel moment was on transportation when he said we need local buses, regional buses, light rail, heavy rail, monorail ( the Simpson's song immediately popped into my head ), and any other rail you could think of. As to how he would pay for his everything for everyone transportation philosophy he said, "We'll talk about how we'll pay for it later." Again I was laughing out loud. While this is a pretty good summation of Democratic politics "promises now, high taxes later" at least they manage to couch it in terms that hide the real meaning. Pantel just gets up there and lets it rip believing that somehow people will respect his honesty despite the absolute absurdity of most of his positions. He cracks me up.
Tim Penny on the other hand bugs me. At least you know what you're getting with Roger Mo' Money. I actually used to respect Penny when he appeared to be a Democrat who understood the real world. Now he reminds me of AlGore. He's not really sure what he believes any more and you almost get the impression he has to consult the Independence Party platform before answering a question to make sure it jives with them. His response on the 24 hour waiting period before having an abortion was slow in coming and then incredibly wishy washy. Rather than just coming out and saying he unconditionally supported a woman's right to have an abortion as both Moe and Pentel did he tried to make it a equal rights issue by saying that he opposed making woman wait for a medical procedure and not men. Come on Tim. Even the most ardent pro-choicer would admit that having an abortion is not comparable to a guy going under the knife for a vasectomy. Instead of standing up and taking a clear stand he tried to dodge the crux of the issue and ended up looking weak and indecisive.
Those Minnesotans who missed out on all the fun last night have a chance to watch it again tonight on Channel 45 at 8:00pm. Ken's show will be closing in a few weeks so catch this joker while you can.
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