What to say?

It sure seems it would be proper and even Minnesota nice after writing many editorials and receiving many letters about the woes of the state shutdown that something today should be written to congratulate and thank the state’s leaders for getting their job of passing a budget completed and getting the state government open again.

But no.

They all had plenty of opportunity to get a budget passed by May 23. Minnesotans could even tolerate state leaders pushing out a budget sometime in June, considering the deeply contentious nature of U.S. politics these days.

However, once July 1 came and went and the shutdown occurred, our own state became embarrassing. This is the land of the pragmatists, the state with a strong sense of community, the place where we do things right. How could our leaders be doing things so wrong? How could they not collaborate and compromise for such a long time? How could our own state government close shop?

Indeed, no congratulations are in order here. Not at all, because there is only one word that aptly describes the 2011 legislative session: failure.