"The Walz administration and Minnesota’s attorney general Keith Ellison have demonstrated a studied lack of concern about Glencore/PolyMet and the obvious regulatory corruption that occurred, which is discouraging."

The headline is an early paragraph in Steve Timmer's latest post at left.mn - which all should read.

In that headline text, corruption is called out for what it is, and not called less by euphemism. An adage on intention as an element to prove in any context where wrongful intent is required, is that of Justice Holmes, "Even a dog knows whether it is kicked or stumbled over." This situation is not by any measure "neglegence" by regulators and politicians. It is intentional, in every detail.

Don't blame me. I supported the double Erin ticket for Governor; expecting the best. Yet I voted Walz once he'd been made my only choice. He's due to do something impressive. In a good sense. We await that, since his oversight of the Polymet/Glencore mischief is hand in glove with Republicans Stauber and Emmer, and with the disappointing Senator Smith. No acolades to Master Sgt. Walz on mining courage. We've another Mark Dayton who willingly gave up "Tax the Rich" at the drop of a hat [a/k/a the Zeller government shutdown]. In the present case the Dayton/Smith immediate successor is willingly giving up, "Respect our waters." With zero pressure from the other party, and that's a worse give-it-away than Dayton's.

Sad. Lean on the guy. Lean really hard. This is a sell out of the earth, over Iron Range political navel gazing. And as Timmer noted, letting nobody off the hook; Ellison being totally MIA on the issue is also saddening. Ellison is a Boundary Waters user. Who took a hike.

Big question, (besides will this showing of corruption in the administrative agency ranks be mooted by the cramdown being redone with a blt less ham-handedness); is the question of will heads roll over the issue? Where it looks like the admin "watchdogs" followed orders to stand down, "No bark! Sit! Stay!"

It is bad politics by people who know better. The last Minnesota CD8 election risks for the DFL fails to justify compromising the waters of the State for a handful of jobs - and Radinovich, the inner party Chosen One, lost big anyway! For now it looks like a lesson, but no learning curve.