Almanac: At the Capitol

Last January, I was asked to make a wish list for the coming legislative session which has now (maybe?) come to a close. While I had a number of specific policy initiatives I wanted to see lawmakers act upon, I had one overriding piece of advice: Think big.
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The ongoing showdown between Tim Pawlenty and the DFL majorities in the House and Senate puts me in mind of "Quienes Mas Macho?," the old Saturday Night Live skit in which contestants on a Latin game show had to choose which of two prominent figures is "more macho." Bruce Willis or Kim Il Jung? Donald The Trump or Rosie O'Donnell? Quienes Mas Macho? You decide!
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In 1978, Minnesota foreshadowed the coming Reagan Revolution — that two-plus decade of political reaction at home and unilateral military adventurism abroad — with the election of old-time conservative Al Quie as Governor and right-of-center Rudy Boschwitz to U.S. Senate.
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Although questions about her experience, management style, and objectivity only surfaced publicly the first week of April, any sharp-eyed news consumer could have foreseen trouble brewing for Rachel Paulose, the new U.S. Attorney for Minnesota.
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Here's a prediction: By the time the Crosstown Commons project is completed three, four, maybe five years down the road, today's $285 million price tag for construction will have swelled to something more like half-a-billion, the result of inevitable delays, hang-ups, and rising labor, equipment, and material costs.
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A shooting incident on one bus; a physical altercation on another that leads to the death of a passenger. Violent crime on the rise across the Metro area. What's going on? Is this just a local phenomenon, or part of a larger pattern?
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There are many leadership models, but the one I like best can be defined this way: Create a vision of the future to which other people want to subscribe, then help clear away the barriers to achieving that vision.
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In "Spring Pools," Robert Frost wrote: "The trees that have it in their pent-up buds, To darken nature and be summer woods, Let them think twice before they use their powers..."
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I've never been a big fan of Al Franken. He's always struck me as smug, thinking himself a lot funnier than he really is and routinely confusing drollery for comedy.
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Tim Pawlenty, unfortunately, has many of the same bad habits as the Bush White House. For instance, while pretending to respond to public pressure for change, he just doesn't seem to be able to keep from playing it cute.
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