The contrast between Josh Moniz's fine investigative feature in last Friday's Post Bulletin, Southeastern Minnesota counties face uphill battle with bridges, and the self-absorbed Lives of the Legislatures & Lobbyists narratives like Lobbyist sues Rep. McNamara for defamation could not be stronger.
We don't mean to criticize David Montgomery's reporting in the latter, but rather a political culture that puts interpersonal squabbles, family businesses and the dating games of legislative staff and lobbyists at center stage over the legislature and Congress providing for the basic functions of government.
Like funding transportation so that bridges aren't closed. Moniz reports:
Southeastern Minnesota faces an uphill struggle in keeping its troubled bridges in proper shape, due to insufficient state funding and the high number of bridges in the region, according to regional county engineers.
"We have so many bridges because this is bluff country," said Fillmore County Engineer Ron Gregg. "We needed the bridges to be able to grow and get around."
The problem is becoming more acute in recent years as many Minnesota bridges built before 1940 reach the end of their roughly 75-year lifespan.
Deficient bridges, which are classified as being in "poor" condition, are not inherently unsafe. But they are at the final stage before requiring weight restrictions or closure. . . .
Mower County, which has the second most deficient bridges in the state, and Fillmore County, which has the fourth most deficient bridges, are representative of the regional challenges. They have nearly as many deficient bridges as Hennepin County despite having only one-third as many bridges. . . .
Minnesota's bridges need fixing. Pets and children are dying from swimming in our lakes. We could go on, but think most of our readers have their own must-do lists for the legislature. In the light of pressing real needs, it's annoying to watch the continuation of the petulant squabbling triggered by Representative McNamara's yelling.
It's also simply vexing to read the Tales of Todd Hill Lobbyist Sarah Walker's All-Powerful Vagina, apparently strong enough to reduce Tom Emmer to a quivering bowl of progressive jelly by proxy since Walker's dating Emmer's chief-of-staff. Who knew that conservative manhood was so fragile or that influence only went in one direction? Who knew that we were supposed to reduce everything to interpersonal relationships?
It's the TMZ version of Minnesota politics and it's not fixing any bridges, cleaning up any lakes, educating any children or anything really. Can we have fewer tears and more policy? Truly, Bluestem doesn't ordinarily care who lawmakers and lobbyists are dating, regardless of how many people try to tell us. Get some work done--and try keeping the weeping and yelling to yourselves.
Photo: A scene from Denny McNamara's ethics hearing. Left to right: McNamara's lawyer, Rep. Alice Hausman, McNamara and Rep Dennis Smith. Via Session Daily.
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