Tough Timmy

I’d rather have a boa for governor than a snake

When Jesse Ventura was governor, we cringed at his many postures, and often his costumes, which sometimes included a feather boa.

Someone once said to me on a day on which I was sporting a pink shirt, “You must be sure of your sexuality to wear that shirt.” That’s the way I felt about Jesse. He was an ass, but he was a real man’s ass.

Little Timmy Pawlenty, on the other hand, is going to spend the rest of his life trying to get back at the bullies that shoved him into his grade school locker–starting with undocumented immigrants.

Here’s the telling quote from today’s Strib story: “Pawlenty suggested Tuesday that polling by his campaign had confirmed what he said is obvious to anyone in Minnesota who isn’t “living under a rock” — that illegal immigration is a serious issue for much of the public.” Yup, polling is what’s driving Timmy. What’s right or effective? Forget it.

Just like Timmy was afraid to call a cigarette tax a tax instead of a fee for fear of how that would poll with his true constituency, he’s bravely stepped up and on the radio today equated the Mexicans who clean your restaurant dishes with Zacarias Moussaoui.

I’m as against terrorists washing my dishes and picking my fruit as the next guy, but doesn’t Timmy know that a lot of big time Republican contributors count on immigrant labor to make their businesses obscenely profitable so they can donate more? They’re going to be mad if they have to start employing Americans again at wages they can live on.

So, tread lightly Timmy. Your idiotic stance on an issue your polls tell you will solidify your nutball base could backfire and singe your tie.

Why not pressure Washington to come up with a sensible immigration policy? Oops, there’s that old politics thing again. The Republicans don’t want a sensible immigration policy because that would harm their true base. And, they couldn’t whip up the xenophobes at the same time.

Timmy, be a real man. Get a boa. While you are at it, get some real issues that actually affect Minnesotans, like education funding or mass transit.