Gov. Tim Pawlenty is giving President Bush foreign policy advice. The governor spent the weekend in Iraq with a delegation led by Arizona Sen. John McCain. On a conference call with reporters Monday afternoon Pawlenty talked about a statement issued by the delegation which calls on the president to consider a summit meeting with Iraqi leaders to force them to form a unity government.

"If we don't get qet a unity government in place so the people who are perpetuating that violence can either feel like they have a seat at the table or others will have a seat at the table from their religious background and marginalize the rejectionists, then I think it's going to continue at this level or potentially get worse," Pawlenty said.

Bob Collins in Polinaut thinks Pawlenty's trip may have something to do with his national ambitions. Maybe. But the governor must also be concerned that with 2,600 Minnesota National Guard troops headed to Iraq and popular support for the war dropping, it could become an issue in this year's campaign. At the very least dissatisfaction with the president's Iraq policy has the potential to discourage some likely Republican voters from turning out. And at the same time opposition to the war could energize DFL voters. Before Pawlenty or any other Republican starts thinking about 2008 they've got to get past 2006.

Maybe you've tuned out the news from Iraq. Here's what's on the wire from the AP this morning:

A car bomb exploded Tuesday as police exchanged fire with two attackers outside a police station south of Baghdad, wounding at least a dozen people. The attack follows two days of violence in Iraq that left at least 151 dead, including 16 people killed Sunday in a military assault on what Iraqis claim was a mosque. Shiite politicians halted negotiations on a new government in response to the assault.

Back home Dean Johnson has apologized and everyone is satisfied. Oops. Looks like MPR's Laura McCallum found some people who aren't:

But Johnson's apology doesn't go far enough for a group calling on Johnson to resign. Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage has taken out newspaper ads and is collecting signatures calling for Johnson to step down from office. The group's president, Jeff Davis, says it's still unclear whether Johnson talked to judges about cases that could come before the court, or whether Johnson lied about the matter.

"In either situation, we think that Dean Johnson has apparently committed what we believe is a pretty serious offense here. Secret conversations between a sitting legislative leader with Supreme Court justices about a potential court case undermines the system of checks and balances inherent in our constitutional doctrine," Davis said.
"If it didn't occur, then he's repeatedly lied to constituents on this matter."

Well, he said he was sorry, didn't he? Before the apology the Senate managed to get some work done. They passed a bill that makes it harder for government to seize private property. MPR's Tim Pugmire has that story:

Most people were outraged by the Supreme Court decision that said government can take your home, or government can take your business and give it to another private owner," [Sen. Tom] Bakk said. "I think people feel pretty strongly that the constitution should protect them from that." Under Bakk's bill, local government would have little room left to use eminent domain for economic development. The bill also sets specific conditions that government entities must meet in order to take private land for public purposes. Public hearings would be required for all eminent domain actions. And property owners would receive adequate compensation for their land, as well any legal fees.

The University of Minnesota Regents have approved a plan to trade some university owned land near Rosemount to get more support at the Capitol for a new football stadium. The increased funding from the state would cut the amount of money students would have to put into the stadium.

And finally MPR's Bob Kelleher has the kicker for the day. St. Louis County taxpayers are saving money because their elected officials are shopping for bargains on eBay:

Turns out eBay was just the place to shop. They found barely used stuff - police radios, modems, and computer mounts - everything to turn an ordinary squad car into a high tech communicator.

If you think that's kind of silly, I hear MPR is shopping for parts on eBay to upgrade our computers at the Capitol bureau. I just wish UPS would hurry up and deliver that stuff.