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Photo: MN North Star
If Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s office still uses those “While You Were Out” notes, his Monday-morning stack would make interesting reading. During his weekend trip to Iraq, Pawlenty was called a GOP “star” like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and his name came up in speculation about which unnamed governor was reportedly also serviced by one of former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer’s sex providers.
A hooker identified only as “Annie” told the New York Daily News that besides Spitzer (and Bernie Madoff) she counted another, unnamed governor among her customers. That led Gawker to speculate that it could be Pawlenty.
City Pages insists one detail — a “prominent” wife — nixes T-Paw from the list of possible candidates. But hey, Mary Pawlenty used to be a judge (before a brief stint at an arbitration outfit that Attorney General Lori Swanson just forced out of the arbitration business). Gov. Pawlenty also frequently deems his wife “hot,” although he once said he’d have it made “if I could only get her to have sex with me.”
Photo: US Army
More flattering was the pronouncement by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, himself a 2012 presidential prospect, that the Republican Party’s future lies with “stars” like Pawlenty and Jindal (not to mention Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who Barbour called “a bona fide energy expert”).
Pawlenty and Jindal haven’t been mentioned in the same breath as often since Jindal’s lackluster GOP response to President Obama’s State of the Union address. But Jindal is fixing to make his star rise again this week by blitzing op-ed pages and the cable-news talk show circuit.
Barbour made the comment at the annual meeting of the National Governors Association, which Pawlenty used to chair. This year, Pawlenty skipped the guvconfab (as well as his Friday radio show) for a trip to Iraq with three other governors.
It was planned as a morale-booster for the troops but turned solemn due to the deaths of three Minnesota National Guard military policemen – Spc. Daniel Paul Drevnick, 22, of Woodbury, Spc. David Wertish, 20, of Olivia, and Spc. Carlos E. Wilcox, 27, of Cottage Grove — just days before.
According to the Red Bull Report:
“Normally, at these town hall meetings, we talk about a lot of stuff,” said Pawlenty, “from the GI Bill to the Minnesota Vikings. But I want to limit my comments today to letting you know that I’m just so very sorry.”
When the time came for the MPs to ask questions of the governor, the room was silent for a moment. One Soldier stood up, who would ask the one and only question from the entire company. The Soldier was Staff Sgt. Blake Hayden from Woodbury, Minn., squad leader for the Military Police Company’s Quick Reaction Force and the direct supervisor of Drevnick, Wertish and Wilcox.
“Sir, are you going to be able to be at the funerals?”
The governor did not mince words with his response.
“Yes.”
Pawlenty has almost promised to travel to Puerto Rico next month as a special guest at a fundraiser for the Republican Governors Association. That’s an organization his fan Barbour now heads, after South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford resigned the post following his own sex scandal.
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Pingback posted July 20, 2009 @ 12:28 pm
[...] Tim Pawlenty by Matthew Wright Pretty good piece on the governor of Minnesota Tim Pawlenty here. The governor seems to have the right temperament, smarts and Midwestern charm to serve him well in [...]
Comment posted July 20, 2009 @ 1:50 pm
Pawlenty should have been doing his duty as a Governor and bring the National Guard home right now, instead of using the visit to bolster his campaign for Prez.
It is against the constitution that the Guard is being used in Iraq. The blood of those soldiers and the upcoming deaths are on the Governor’s hands as wells as the State Representatives who refused to author and sign a bill demanding our MN National Guard to come home and stay home.
We had a protest in Jan to keep the troops home.
Here is a letter from that protest.
Below is the letter the group sent to Governor Pawlenty:
Dear Governor Pawlenty,
It recently came to our attention that on February 13, more than one
thousand Minnesota National Guard troops will be mobilized to go to
Iraq. This deployment occurs even as there are plans for the U.S.
military to start drawing down the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.
We are very concerned about the deployment of these troops. The
people of Minnesota, the people of the U.S. and the people of Iraq
want an end to the U.S. war and occupation, not an endless
continuation of U.S. military involvement. These National Guard
deployments will prolong an unpopular war and occupation, cost
millions of dollars, and cause great hardships to the Minnesota
families and communities involved.
The President may only call the Guard into National Service after
Congress has granted him/her that authority; otherwise the Guard
remains under the command of state officials. The October 2002
Authorization to Use Military Force in Iraq (2002 AUMF) was the act
of Congress under which National Guard call ups for deployment to
Iraq have occurred. It states that the President is authorized to
use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be
necessary and appropriate in order to 1) defend the national security
of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq and
2) enforce all relevant UN Security Council resolutions regarding
Iraq. Iraq does not pose a threat to the security of the United
States or the region and the UN Security Council Resolutions on which
the 2002 AUMF are based are no longer relevant. In the absence of
any authority to keep the State Guard in Federal service, the
authority over them should revert back to the State.
Therefore, the coalition is calling on you as the Governor of the
state of Minnesota to 1) immediately pursue and exhaust every avenue
to stop future deployment of Minnesota National Guard troops to Iraq,
and 2) pursue and exhaust every avenue to bring Minnesota National
Guard troops currently in Iraq home without delay.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Sincerely,
Wes Davey, Iraq Veterans Against the War; Larry Johnson, Veterans for
Peace; Mike Perkins, Military Families Speak Out; Mary Beaudoin,
Women Against Military Madness; Meredith Aby, Anti-War Committee;
Marie Braun, Twin Cities Peace Campaign-Focus on Iraq
***************************
Here is a link to that protest.
http://the-uptake.groups.theuptake.org/en/videogalleryView/id/1709
Comment posted July 21, 2009 @ 7:04 pm
I know that Minnesota Independent does not like Pawlenty much. I don’t either.
But there were 49 other governors beside Spitzer. Even if we rule out the women [and who says we can?] there are others whom the woman mentioned thought were governors [and even may have been or have once been].
If that is all you have upon which to base the speculation, why broadcast the speculation?
Wait until [if it ever happens] you have something more to go on.
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