[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: You talkin' to me?

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
You talkin' to me?
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1227571939.shtml


   You talkin' to me?
   Maybe I'm being overly vain or paranoid as a second or third tier
   blogger about town, but I think it's just possible that I was among
   those that Mitch Berg was calling out on his 11/22 NARN broadcast.

     I get mildly irritated at some of the criticism that [Governor] Tim
     Pawlenty gets from the right here in the Twin Cities, especially
     from some [in] the local blogosphere. Thereâs a couple of local
     bloggers whoâve taken to calling Pawlenty and [U.S. Senator] Norm
     Coleman as good as Democrats. They call them both RINOâs. I shake
     my head and say âGood Lord, do you have any idea what the
     alternative is?â And better yet, can you get an alternative
     anywhere near get elected Governor in this, letâs face it, very,
     very, very purple state? What else do you bring to the table here?
     I just want to smack some of these people.

   Now I get Coleman, even if Minneapolis Star Tribune endorsed him, on
   national security alone. I voted for him. I could be happier, but
   there was never a doubt.
   But as for Prime Minister Pawlenty (there I go again!), yes I voted
   for someone else in 2006, largely on the basis of how he was so easily
   outflanked by former Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson the last two
   years, and of course, his infamous mega-honking flip-flop on the Twins
   Stadium.
   I wasn't aware we had litmus tests in the Republican Party. We might
   be envious of the solidarity of the Democratic Party where breaking
   ranks is punished quickly, but that's no reason to demand blind
   loyalty via smack talk.
   MDE's Michael Brodkorb tried this earlier, chiding some good
   Republicans for not honoring what he thought was an obvious state-wide
   GOP obligation to work on a special Legislative election. I didn't
   follow that line of reasoning, either.
   Mitch, you mean well, but even metaphorically, talk of smacking people
   with whom you disagree only concedes the argument.