To Vikings columnist, I’m a “simple-minded” stadium opponent
On Wednesday, Star Tribune sports columnist Jim Souhan wrote an entire column based on a question Rep. Dean Urdahl asked in House Government Operations and Elections Committee testimony:
“Why should the state of Minnesota contribute to a stadium for a billionaire owner?”
Souhan then attacks the question saying that it’s “as old as Jamie Moyer” and that those who ask such questions “shamelessly pander” to “simple-minded people” and “should not be taken seriously”.
Are you against corporate welfare? According to Jim Souhan, you’re a moron who should keep your opinions to yourself.
The funniest part of Souhan’s screed? He never mentioned that Urdahl voted for the stadium in committee!
Rep. Urdahl defended himself today by submitting an op-ed to the Strib, saying:
It appears that Souhan neither attended the meeting about which he wrote, nor listened to the audio from it, nor reviewed the transcript before penning his column. He also did not contact me before taking great leaps in asserting what my thought process was.
But that’s alright. Justifying corporate welfare is too important of an issue to bother with silly things like research.
With journalism this bad, how can I trust Jim with NFL Draft coverage?
The Strib later appended Souhan’s column with the following clarification:
This column did not mention that Rep. Dean Urdahl voted in favor of the stadium Monday night as a member of the House Government Operations and Elections Committee.
If you get a key piece of information like that so badly wrong, you shouldn’t clarify the column, you should redact it.
I’m a Vikings fan, but I want Zygi Wilf to pay for his stadium. It’s not because I don’t care if the team moves, but because I hate corporate welfare more than I hate the Packers.
It was wrong for Best Buy to build their headquarters on eminent domain land. It was wrong for the U.S. Government to buy General Motors. It would be just as wrong to have taxpayers build a shrine to the most profitable sport in American history.
And I couldn’t care less about what benefits would result in a gleaming new gridiron park. The ends should never justify the means.
The risk of losing the Vikings to stand up for my principles is really hard to face. I love this club and I don’t want to lose them. I’m just tired of teams owners using our love of a game to extort money into their wallets.
But don’t listen to me; I’m simple-minded.
