Esme's Blog

It was more than surprising that the New York Times, in its initial internet story on Governor Sarah Palin's resignation, lumped her with Governor Tim Pawlenty as another presidential hopeful who would not be running again in 2010.

To say the two Governors' circumstances are parallel is more than a stretch. Governors Palin and Pawlenty both were elected in 2006. Both had terms that expire in 2010. Both clearly have presidential ambitions, although Palin, until now, has been viewed as a potential front runner.

I would argue it is far different to announce that you are not running for a third term than to announce you are quitting in the middle of your first term. Perhaps most stunning, this will give Governor Palin's opponents ammunition for the argument that she lacks experience.

It was a recurring refrain of the 2008 political campaign. How could Governor Palin be a heartbeat away from the Presidency if her political experience was limited to being Mayor of Wasila and Governor of Alaska for less than two years?

And then there is the issue of quitting before your term is over. What about her duty to the people of Alaska? Governor Pawlenty, in his announcement that he would not run again, stressed his responsibility to the people of Minnesota as he served out his term. What about the people of Alaska?

Governor Pawlenty, when questioned before the Minnesota Supreme Court decision in the contested Senate race, stressed that if the court ordered him to sign the election certificate it would be a "dereliction of duty" not to sign it.

Somehow "dereliction of duty" comes to mind in light of Governor Palin's decision. Mid-term resignations are common in the midst of scandal, not in the midst of searing ambition for higher office. (If that was the norm, think of how many vacant political offices there would be).

Finally, I can't help but think Governor Tim Pawlenty's political stock has soared in the past two weeks because he has done what people expect him to do. He is a man who seems clearly devoted to his attractive and successful wife Mary and their two teenage daughters.

In the past two weeks the lack of devotion to one's spouse has KO'd the presidential ambitions of Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada and Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina. And now Governor Palin is stepping aside before her term is done. Governor Pawlenty, by just doing his job, suddenly finds himself near the front of the pack of Republican presidential hopefuls.

Palin Image Credit: William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

After all the bitterness, the anger, the brutality of the 2008 Minnesota Senate race and ensuing recount, it all ended with dignity, class and -- perhaps most surprising -- a strong dose of humility from both Al Franken and Norm Coleman. Coleman, whose bitterness over the final days of the campaign spilled into his few interviews during the recount, was more than gracious. It was a classy, dignified even statesman-like concession. And Franken, so often accused of brashness at best, was thoughtful and circumspect, repeatedly referring to the humility of the moment.

Where was this behavior in the campaign? Had they acted this way, how different might the outcome have been? For all that people bash politicians, (and politicians and their egos are more than fair game), there is a basic decency to those who choose public service. Much has been made of Norm Coleman’s strained financial circumstances. Yesterday’s speech was a reminder that this is a guy who could have been making an awful lot of money in the private sector. Instead he has chosen all his life to work for the people of Minnesota. And more than a few bets are being placed that he will continue his public service by running for governor. As for Franken, the at-times prickly exterior was nowhere to be seen yesterday. There was no gloating, only a senatorial demeanor and a pledge to work for all Minnesotans. While at times during the campaign and recount these two seemed like poster boys for bad political behavior, yesterday they were the epitome of what we all hope for from our public servants.

It has been 176 days since the U.S. Senate was sworn in on Jan. 6 -- 176 days since Minnesota has been down a Senator. During those 176 days Minnesotans have been continued to be taxed as if we had two Senators, running a Senate office costs, according to my calculations from Senate documents $8,000 a day. That means we have been taxed more than $1.4 million without the commensurate representation in Washington.

As we get ready to celebrate the 4th of July, and honor those Americans who founded our country, it is significant to remember that theirs was a revolution founded on outrage over taxation without representation. Thanks in part to the legal and political systems crafted by our founding fathers, the dispute over the Minnesota Senate race, while bitter, has been a peaceful one. And finally now it is over. We can, this 4th of July week, be proud that our electoral system, while far from perfect, has provided a voice for both parties and a transparency that has allowed the press and therefore the public access to every step.

Senator-elect Franken will be sworn in a few days after the the 4th of July, a fitting week for Minnesota to get back its second voice in the U.S. Senate.

Yes, he changed popular music. Yes, his dancing seemed to defy the laws of how a body could move. But with all the tributes and remembrances of Michael Jackson these days there are few mentions of that other Jackson legacy.

Jackson was acquitted in 2005 case of all counts of child molestation. In 1993, he settled another child molestation case out of court for a reported $22 million. But the stories of the sleepovers this grown man had with young boys are not easy to forget.

The questions remain had he not been a superstar and such a wealthy man would the cases have turned out differently?

Jackson helped shape our national culture and obsession with celebrity. The more famous and successful he was, the more bizarre his looks and at times behavior became. (Who can forget the image of him dangling his infant son out a hotel window for the benefit of the paparazzi?)

There is much to celebrate in Michael Jackson's life. But there is also much to be wary and even frightened of. Jackson's legacy is a cautionary tale of a childhood star launched on a permanent path of bizarre self destruction.

And it is a reminder that ours is a culture that accepts celebrity excesses even when that acceptance enables and perhaps accelerates the destructive behavior that in the end stole Michael Jackson from all of us, including himself.

The list of men brought down by the original sin is a long one; now add Mark Sanford to the list. What is even more remarkable is that Sanford forgot what is far worse, the cover up.

He not only misled his staff, but an entire state. His presidential ambitions now burnt toast, Sanford has only himself to blame.

He had been mentioned in the same breath as Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in that second tier of Republican contenders for the 2012 GOP presidential nod. (Most observers put Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal in the first tier.)

Looks like TPaw now has that second tier all to himself.

Father Tim Vakoc, who suffered devastating injuries in a 2004 roadside bombing in Iraq, died this past weekend. I met him three times and three times I left his room feeling I had been in the presence of someone whose very being transcended life as we know it. Lapsed Catholic and skeptic that I am, I can only say that this man of God had an aura about him that was other worldly.  Even though he was gravely wounded in war, he radiated peace. Even though his brain was badly shattered, he inexplicably began to speak in 2006. I saw him communicate not just with loved ones, but with strangers including me.

A doctor told me there was no medical explanation of how this could have happened. It defied medicine. It defied logic.

When Father Tim looked at you it was as if he were looking beyond you, seeing far more than what was in that room. For me, Father Tim had already made the journey beyond this life. However, he stayed here five more years. Those that got the chance to be with him, even for a few minutes, were truly blessed.

As we creep into summer with an entire metro area blurred by the dust of construction, it seems a hazy memory that just 12 months ago two guys called Tom Petters and Denny Hecker were still flying high.

For Petters, plans were well under way for the lavish benefit gala in early August 2008 to raise money for scholarships to honor his late son. There were meetings to go to, businesses to acquire and deals to be made.

Hecker was still a larger-than-life presence, traveling via his own jet, the owner of 26 car dealerships. If anyone, anyone had said a year ago Tom Petters would soon be in jail awaiting trial for orchestrating a $2-billion Ponzi scheme and Denny Hecker would be bankrupt and under investigation for the improper sale of cars, no one would have believed it. So improbable would their falls be that it would border on the impossible.

The Petters and Hecker situations are far from identical, but their stories are a reminder that sometimes even great wealth, power and prestige are not all that they seem to be.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is demanding an apology from David Letterman over a joke that a Palin daughter "was knocked up"  up by New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez. Most people listening probably thought the joke was aimed at Bristol Palin, Palin's 18-year-old daughter, who infamously got pregnant, had her child, broke up with her boyfriend and has most recently been on a media tour promoting teen abstinence. The trouble was the Palin daughter at the Yankee game was not Bristol, but 14-year-old Willow.

Whoops. Letterman has admitted the joke was in bad taste and even invited Sarah Palin on the show to talk about the gaffe. But he didn't apologize. While Bristol, especially in light of her national media tour -- loved that pose on the cover of People in cap and gown holding baby -- seems fair game, Willow is obviously not. It’s hard enough being a 14-year-old girl without cracks about your sexuality coming from a comedian on national television.

For Sarah Palin the incident highlights the difficulty in being a mother and a public figure. There are those who will always wonder and criticize Palin for her mothering skills, especially in light of Bristol’s pregnancy. Those same criticisms would almost certainly not be directed at a male politician. Yet by pushing for an apology, Palin is keeping the issue alive, creating more publicity for Letterman at a time when his show has just surged to number one in the late night ratings. The publicity continues to put the spotlight on Willow, who if she is aware of it, must surely be mortified in a way that only young teenage girls can be.

Should Letterman apologize? If it were my daughter I would want an apology. But if it were my daughter I would want to march away from any issue that provides continuing scrutiny on my child -- particularly when the ensuing publicity is only helping the very person who delivered the tasteless joke in the first place.

Yesterday, as I spoke to relieved employees at Walser Buick in Bloomington, Minn., an executive told me "this never would have happened without Sen. Klobuchar."

The dealership had just gotten the news that they had been given a reprieve by GM and would be allowed to stay open. Walser's Doug Sprinthall gives the credit for saving the dealership and its 80 jobs to Minnesota's one and only Senator.  Klobuchar brought Walser and other Minnesota dealers to Washington to make their case directly to top executives. Sprinthall told me "we didn't have the clout do that ourselves."

Sen. Klobuchar seems to be everywhere these days, chatting with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, introducing food safety, toy safety , pool safety legislation -- (she's clearly  locking up those controversial safety issues), traveling with John McCain to Asia, standing on the frontlines of the floods in Moorhead, handling the constituent needs of an entire state from her office. The Minnesota Senate recount is the longest undecided election contest in U.S. history. No other Senator has ever had to single-handedly represent a state for as long as she has -- 2012 is still a few years off. But when it comes and she is up for reelection, it won’t be hard for Klobuchar to find IOUs to collect.

Maybe it's because the national unemployment rate is at a 25-year high at 9.4 percent. Maybe it's because Minnesota's is not far behind at 8.2 percent. Maybe it's because as a veteran player the minimum Bret Favre could make is $850,000 with the Vikings. Maybe it's because last year with the Jets he made $12 million. That's compared with an athlete worth the big bucks, Joe Mauer, who got $10.5 million this year.

Whatever the reason, the Favre pandering both at Winter Park and in the news media continues to spiral. Let's just hope the ESPN report is true and the Vikings did issue a deadline of this week for Favre to make up his mind. Then at least the hype will be over and, if he does indeed decide to play, Favre will need to prove that he is worth getting frenzied about.