It has been three days since the disaster in Minneapolis. The impact of the I-35 bridge collapse was felt all over the country and the world, but not even close to how it hurts up in the Twin Cities. Much like New York City after September 11th, everyone feels pain for the victims. Yet when you lose a family member, a friend, a co-worker or anyone that you know personally due to the negligence of your government, sadness is going to be compounded by anger and a demand for accountability. Already, the anger levels are going up and according to Nick Coleman at the Star Tribune, its not a partisan issue.
From The Star-Tribune:
Both political parties have tried to govern on the cheap, and both have dithered and dallied and spent public wealth on stadiums while scrimping on the basics.
How ironic is it that tonight's scheduled groundbreaking for a new Twins ballpark has been postponed? Even the stadium barkers realize it is in poor taste to celebrate the spending of half a billion on ballparks when your bridges are falling down. Perhaps this is a sign of shame. If so, it is welcome. Shame is overdue.
At the federal level, the parsimony is worse, and so is the negligence. A trillion spent in Iraq, while schools crumble, there aren't enough cops on the street and bridges decay while our leaders cross their fingers and ignore the rising chances of disaster.
And now, one has fallen, to our great sorrow, and people died losing a gamble they didn't even know they had taken. They believed someone was guarding the bridge.
What a terrible tragedy that could have been avoided. Our government has been neglecting the essentials that keep our society going. It makes you think about the times of the Roman Empire, when Romans were given games instead. Well that empire fell, and the structure that fell and killed several people this week is tragically symbolic.
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