Almanac: At the Capitol

In reviewing Gov. Pawlenty's press conference on the NTSB findings that fault original bridge design for the 35W bridge collapse, I was a bit surprised by his tone. It's fair to say he was angry and annoyed with the media and political opponents. The governor is usually smooth and smart about not blaming the media. He said the media had been "reckless" in making some erroneous conclusions about the bridge collapse. We do know there are no definitive answers yet about why the bridge collapsed, but Pawlenty and the NTSB did make a point of saying bridge inspection was not to blame, which means Pawlenty wants any blame off of him and Carol Molnau. After being pressed by the now-also-annoyed press, the governor softened his tone a bit to say he was "sad to see the political bickering and exploitation" that has occurred since August 1. Pawlenty took direct aim at lawmakers, saying one "prominent legislator" called his office within an hour of the bridge collapse while they were still rescuing people to "threaten political retribution." Some of his final words to his DFL political opponents in the half-hour briefing were "quit exploiting the bridge tragedy to advance their political agenda."