Gary Larson--longtime friend of Fraters--becomes the latest to weigh in on the not-so-sudden collapse of decency in a piece at Intellectual Conservative:
Before the last of the survivors was rescued from the massive I-35W bridge collapse, practically before the dust had settled, local Democrats were up to the old blame game, grotesquely trying to capitalize on a grim event.
It was, and is sad, I tell you, sad--the event, and political reactions to it.
Tragedies bring out the best, and the worst in people. When the bridge came down, a bridge I traversed thousands of times, the tragic event drew out, from under the rocks, what I call the "hater class" into the all-out blame game. For them the bridge became a symbol, a reason for vilifying all within reach of their political fog-shrouded minds, particularly Republicans.
Oh it is political sport, all right: Out to make political hay out of human suffering and misery. Is there any lower class in our Republic?
I am not surprised at all this. I've lived in Minnesota most of my three-score-plus years, took my degrees here, worked and taught here. For 25 of those years, lobbying at the State Capitol was among my duties as executive director of trade associations. So I've seen close-up, often quite personal, the M.O. of the local Democrat Farmer-Labor Party here--garden-variety "Ds" to the world. How that party typically operates, with guile, often with total spin (just like the other major party, come to think!), personal vilification becomes a chief weapon. When your issues fail you, attack the person?
Within a day of the tragedy, a wacky local columnist named Nick Coleman, Jr., started the smear campaign against Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Without a shred of evidence, but with a boatload of hate, Coleman held the governor's tax-wise policies responsible for the collapse of the 40-year-old bridge I traversed so often. No nexus? Heck, no bother for Coleman. Facts don't count.
If a bridge falls in Minnesota and the Strib isn't around to politicize it, does the DFL still gain ground?
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