Pawlenty kills plasma television use for sex offenders

WCCO reported Tuesday after the governor got wind of two dozen new 50 inch plasma televisions were being set up at a sex offender treatment facility, he demanded they be taken down and sold.

But I can't decide whether the governor's mandate for the TVs which individually cost $2,282 or his use of the term "bonehead" has been more widely reported.

Every major news outlet, including some national outlets (including the Associated Press) have caught wind of the word and included the governor's direct quote in their reporting.

The Star Tribune contributed Pawlenty's quote, and some major facts about the value of the big screens: ""We don't micromanage our agencies at the level of every little item that they purchase or use, but in this case we are going to micromanage it," Pawlenty said, outside the governor's mansion in St. Paul this morning. "I think it was a boneheaded decision for them to buy these flat-screen TVs at the Moose Lake facility. I'm asking my administration today to remove the televisions and to sell them. "If they need to have televisions in common areas they can have smaller, simpler, fewer or cheaper ones. They don't need 50-inch flat-screen plasma televisions for sex offenders. So, clearly somebody just made a boneheaded decision and I'm going to reverse it."

While applause is centered on the governor's decision, already his name calling is being mocked in outlets including the blogs at the Kansas City Star.

While the governor's decision was sound, perhaps his choice in rhetoric needs some fine tuning.