Vikings stadium thaw or merely wishful thinking?

January 13, 2010 at 10:40PM
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., visited Afghanistan -- shown here with U.S. troops -- as well as Pakistan.
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., visited Afghanistan -- shown here with U.S. troops -- as well as Pakistan. (Dennis McGrath — Photo provided by American Embassy in Kabul/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Within hours of their comments on a new Minnesota Vikings stadium, the latest thoughts from House Majority Leader Tony Sertich and House Minority Leader Kurt Zellers were circulated recently to the news media by a Vikings official.

On the surface Sertich and Zellers -- who would play key roles in any legislative stadium push -- suggested at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast that support for a stadium is growing.

Sertich was quoted as saying that the stadium might be inevitable because "stadiums always get built." Zellers was quoted as saying that members of his House Republican caucus "are in support of getting something done."

In reality, Zellers says "there might be a few" members of his caucus interested in a stadium.

"The chance of us writing out a check -- something that looks like a financial contribution to a stadium -- is not going to happen," Zellers said.

Sertich said he, too, was taken out of context. "It was artfully done to parse my words," he said. "We should first decide if we're going to build a stadium or not. If we decide to build a stadium, it's cheaper to do it now." But, he said, many legislators "won't put a single cent" of public money into a stadium. The priority now, he said, is a balanced budget, then jobs.

So what happened?

Lester Bagley, the Vikings spokesperson who forwarded the comments to reporters, acknowledged he was not at the breakfast and that he circulated the quotes before he knew they were accurate. He said he received the quotes from the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce.

"I probably stirred something up I shouldn't have," Bagley said, "but that's the way it goes. I thought it was positive."

MIKE KASZUBA

'al-Franken' goes to Pakistan

The local press in Pakistan reported Tuesday that Sen. Al Franken is visiting the country with a delegation of officials that include Michigan Sen. Carl Levin and the U.S. ambassador to the region.

As is customary with congressional delegations to volatile regions, Franken's office could not confirm the report.

The Daily Times writes that the group met in Islamabad with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani who asked, among other things, that Pakistan be removed from the list of countries requiring extra airport screening.

The News International reports that "al-Franken" (Franken's Pakistani doppelganger?) was accompanied by his foreign policy legislative assistant, Jeff Lomonaco.

ERIC ROPER

Tea Party for invitees only

It looks like the revolution will not be televised, after all.

At least not the Tea Party's revolution.

Word from Nashville on Monday was that the First National Tea Party Convention next month will be closed to the news media, other than a limited number of "selected" journalists.

The restrictions apparently apply to the much-anticipated speeches by Sarah Palin and Minnesota's own Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Organizers say journalists without passes will be barred from the convention at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. (A Star Tribune request for a pass was denied, the paper's interest in covering its home-state congresswoman notwithstanding.)

Convention spokesman Judson Phillips informs us that most of the sessions are closed "at the request" of the presenters. "Given the media interest, I don't want the sessions disrupted and overrun with the media," Phillips said.

If the secrecy sounds a little, well, un-American, Phillips has this explanation: It's not a political convention, but a "working convention."

KEVIN DIAZ

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