The Liberal Coalition

MnDOT feared cracking in bridge but opted against making the repairs

Structural deficiencies in the Interstate 35W bridge that collapsed Wednesday were so serious that the Minnesota Department of Transportation last winter considered bolting steel plates to its supports to prevent cracking in fatigued metal, according to documents and interviews with agency officials.

So, it would seem the decision making process of the Mn/DOT seems to have been woefully deficient.

Truth be told, there are so many damning graphs in the above story you have to read the whole damn thing. It's sickening. What it boils down to, the government saw there was a problem and chose a course of action that lead to the collapse of this bridge.

This happened on Pawlenty's watch. It resides firmly in his lap. Let's see if he follows in the footsteps of our president and assigns blame. Or maybe, just maybe, he accepts the responsibility of his position and acknowledges his culpability as leader of our state, and it's government.

Now, to his credit, he made a statement without partisan sniping or blaming.

“This is a catastrophe of historic proportions for Minnesota. We want to say to the families who are being impacted by this that our hearts and prayers are with you. But we also want to make sure that you know we are doing everything we can to make sure that we respond as quickly as we can to the needs of this emergency.”

It's a start. Let's see if he can keep it from becoming a partisan witch hunt. But the only way that can happen is for the Governor to take responsibility, acknowledge the government's actions prior to the collapse are a direct result of his leadership priorities and style, and to make a commitment to begin rectifying this systemic problem and to get our infrastructure in safe, working condition.

Now, if he chooses to not take responsibility, and instead uses this catastrophe as an excuse to point fingers, as Bryan over at Why Now? noted President Bush did, then he's initiated the partisan fighting. As far as I'm concerned, the political gloves come off at that point.

So, Governor Pawlenty, the choice is yours. Either step up and show your true leadership qualities, with some of your supposed Christian ethics, admit to your leadership failure in this event, and then get down to the business of fixing our roads and bridges, or show arrogance and stubbornness and lose any chance for the Vice Presidency.

Technorati Tags: Governor Pawlenty, I35W Bridge Collapse,

Cross posted at Rook's Rant

I wanted to comment on the ignorance that was the uselessness in the White House, but Bryan said it first.

Why Now? » Blog Archive » Clueless Twit
First off, the search and rescue operation ended last night, and they moved into recovery this morning at first light. I have no idea what purpose is served by the Secretary of Transportation or the Federal Highway Administrator being on the scene, other than possible photo ops. They both think that roads and bridges should be private toll operations, not free, public facilities. I didn’t hear anything about a disaster declaration, so they aren’t bringing any cash with them.

Honestly, couldn't have Barbra just let the damn sperm run down her thigh?

Okay, that was rhetorical. A gross image, but rhetorical.

Oh God, I think I'm going to have nightmares tonight.

Technorati Tags: Bush, Collapsed Bridge,

Cross-posted, as always, at Rook's Rant.

Well, I'd like to quick thank skippy for linking to my earlier post over at Rook's Rant about the I35W bridge being structurally deficient in 2005. But I am really not the blog to turn to for more information about the collapsed bridge. As he suggest, check out The American Street (somehow, in light of recent events, that name is eerily ironic) for links to other Minnesota blogs.

The best one of all the Minnesota blogs has been Minnesota Monitor. Many posts, plus many links to neighborhood people and their personal photos.


Technorati Tags: I35W, Collapsed Bridge,

Of course, this is cross-posted from Rook's Rant.

Testing, testing. One, two, three, testing. This is a test post from the latest ScribeFire blogging tool. If this had been a real post, it would have been as useless as a Bush in the White House.

Actually, that's not true. Nothing is as useless as a Bush in the White House.