Minnesota is notorious for its clean politics. As notorious as our broad-shouldered neighbor to the southeast, Chicago, is for its political grime. Or at least it used to be that way. Somewhere along the line all of that changed while we weren’t paying attention.
We’ve got a political controversy brewing in the offices of the governor and auditor that involves the wife of a former gubernatorial candidate (who was forced to withdraw days before the election because of an alleged scandal that involved salacious behavior, teenage girls, and swimming pools).
The current controversy, as first reported by the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, and wrapped up nicely by Steve Perry in today’s City Pages cover story, involves Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty having served on the board of a telecommunications company that was known for slamming its customers. It’s a complicated story and Perry does a great job of unraveling the various threads of complexity. One of the meatier bits involves Pawlenty’s backhanded disclosure upon being linked to the dubious telecom:
“[During a two-hour press conference], Pawlenty offered an additional, oh by the way disclosure: He had also received large payments from his friend, political ally, and telecom associate Elam Baer during Pawlenty’s run for governor last year. These fees (or not) were said to total considerably more than he earned as a legislator, yet the arrangement was never publicly disclosed. Moreover, he conceded, he could not really account for any specific legal projects he had worked on.”
That something like this can happen in the land of sky blue waters and politicians traditionally so clean they squeak is one thing. That there’s no outrage from any of the local mainstream media outlets is nothing short of astonishing. That there’s no outrage from the state Democrats moves the whole issue well into the realm of science fiction.
Unless, of course, this is just political business as usual in the New Minnesota.
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