Quid Pro Appointum

In another joke on the citizens (you know, those people singled out in the Constitution as being the only ones who have the power to vote), the Pawlenty administration has made a mockery of the concept of government for the people, instead preferring government for the benefit of wealthy corporations. In this instance, he appointed Vicki Grunseth to chair the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), a woman who has virtually no qualifications for the job whatsoever other than being a party-line Republican who knows how to take marching orders from Pawlenty or Northwest Airlines, as they see fit. Virtually every adult I know is ten times more qualified than this sycophant. Of course, Northwest Airlines is very happy with the selection -- so happy one wants to know how much money they dumped into the Pawlenty campaign (of the $520,218 they donated in the 2001-2002 election cycle, ignoring, of course, the personal contributions of its executives). However, someone should coach Northwest CEO Richard Anderson on improving his spin, since the goals of government versus the goals of private enterprise are quite different. Anderson comments on Grunseth's position by saying, "the airport commission is going to run more like a business." -- as if this were a Good Thing. He's missing the fact that private enterprise strives to make profits for its owners, while government strives to provide representation for all citizens and to provide them with cost-effective services as they so require.

He's probably right that MAC will be run as if it were NWA's own business from now on, now that those pesky citizens are out of the way.