A few weeks ago I gave some advice to Governor Pawlenty's poor handling of the budget negotiations. In about half an hour the deadline for a budget will pass, and we got no deal. Not only did he not get a deal, he didn't even get the conditionality he said he had to have.

On Thursday, Sviggum said he and Pawlenty had backed away from a demand for government reform legislation as part of a budget deal. He and Pawlenty also dropped calls for a new casino at Canterbury Park, although they didn't declare it off the table for good.

Oh, it's dead, Tim. Bring it out to the cart.

But, hey, the parks will stay open!

Mr. Pawlenty, do you understand the meaning of the word 'leverage'? How exactly do you expect anyone to make a deal with you when you draw more lines in the sand than a French diplomat? When 2/3 of state employees are going to keep working, and you won't even inflict the pain of a lost weekend in a state park to make people pay attention to the insistence of the bureaucracy, all the way to the courts, that Leviathan is getting hungrier?

Think you're better off now without the pledge? Do you really believe the Cities newspapers and the gasbag on (we don't c)AIR (4) AMERICA will lighten up on you at all because you made conciliatory gestures to demonstrate leadership? Watch, my friend. The best thing happening this weekend is everyone's gone and so the STrib will have fewer readers (though sales will be up as they leave 10,000 copies in front of your mansion and call it circulation.) You're about to reap the shitstorm, all because you got off message trying to be nice with people who play with knives.

Here's the message, one more time: IT'S THE SPENDING, STUPID!

Question to those who thought Pawlenty would get the message from the battle over the state Republican chair -- think he got it?

UPDATE: At least someone is maintaining his sense of humor.