Some days, it's simply hard to honor a time-tested partisan talking point. Such was the fate of Dellwood Republican Matt Dean at Central Lakes College in Brainerd on Wednesday.
In the 2014 election, those of us in swing districts like MN17A were blitzed with negative radio ads and direct mail pieces attacking our state representatives for voting for the Bakk Mahal, aka, the new senate office building now under construction.
Those who defended the new construction noted that things were getting a bit cramped in Cass Gilbert's house of pleasure.
That was then, this is now: Zach Kayser reports in Paint over historical murals? Lawmakers talk state Capitol project at CLC forum:
[Dean] Urdahl [R-Grove City] described friction between the Minnesota House of Representatives - which he belongs to - and the Senate, which Urdahl said was gradually taking over the Capitol for office space.
"Over time, it became more and more problematic," he said. "When we tried to find ways to restore the Capitol, the differences between space in the House and Senate became very contentious. In fact, in some ways, they still are."
Dean also talked about the Senate allegedly encroaching on the space, calling senators an "invasive species" in the Capitol.
What's a power broker like Bakk to do? Damned if he builds a new edifice, damned if he man spreads on the House's turf in the state capitol.
Given the haste with which the newly-minted House Republican majority raised objections in January to aquatic invasive species regulations that many of those still standing had actually voted for in an earlier session.
Dean is famous for his insults, from dissing the North Dakota state capitol building to calling author Neil Gaiman a "pencil-necked weasel."
We're a bit surprised he'd take the Dean insult comedy show on the road to a college, though, since we know what the Atlantic says about that scene.
Photo: Silver carp, an invasive species. Readers should note, that like our state senators, none of the carp are making eye contact with each other. Dean may be on to something.
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