Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in Xbox-equipped Van "Stolen" from Everclear

Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in Xbox-equipped Van "Stolen" from Everclear

September 1, 2008

He may have lost out on the Republican party's vice presidential nod, but Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty recently had a memorable ride in an Xbox-equipped van inadvertently stolen from the band Everclear.

As GamePolitics has previously reported, Gov. Pawlenty signed Minnesota's 2006 "fine the buyer" video game law into effect. The measure was later deemed unconstitutional by a pair of federal courts.

As reported by TwinCities.com:

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty spent Sunday riding around Pennsylvania in a stolen van. The theft was inadvertent; his Keystone State driver was told to pick up the keys to the vehicle in which he was to shepherd the governor at the Holiday Inn in Allentown, Pa.

 

"He did exactly what he was told, except it was the wrong Holiday Inn and the wrong van," said Pawlenty... The van the driver picked up was a tricked-out touring vehicle, complete with an LCD video screen, an Xbox and video games and an iPod-ready, six-speaker stereo system.

The van retrieved by Pawlenty's driver was full of beer cans and had been used to to transport Everclear to their hotel. Ironically, the band was enroute to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

When the driver mistakenly showed up at Everclear's hotel, he was given the keys to the van by front desk personnel. Later, when the van turned up missing, owner Sharky Laguana reported it to local police as stolen. When the mystery was finally solved, Laguana said:

I've had a lot of crazy things happen in our vans. I don't know that this is even the craziest thing that's happened in our vans. ... This is the funnest thing...

GP: Actually, the funniest thing would have been for the police to spot the "stolen" van and perform a takedown on its occupants.

Comments

Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in

I will buy you a new Van

Perfect, shiny and new ;)

Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in

That is funny

Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in

 The scandal over any police action would have been sooo delicious! Yum!

Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in

The fact that the band was going to a democratic convention really makes this story funny.

Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in

 Isnt this actually GRAND THEFT AUTO?

Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in

I don't know which is more ironic, that Pawlenty was driven around in an Xbox-equipped van, or that Everclear themselves were going to use said van that Pawlenty was in to go to the DNC!  Rich, rich irony!

Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in

...holy crap...ummmm you sir win teh internets.

Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in

So what's going to be the legal fallout of all this? It happened because of a series of honest mistakes, after all.

Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in

My bet would be that the band wouldn't choose to press charges over an honest mistake, either because it was an honest mistake or because no band wants to look like douches over this.

 

If they DID press charges, I think it'd either be dismissed or they wouldn't get much. 

Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in
Diong Grand Theft Audo in real life is much more dangerous than playing Grand Theft Auto in a Videogame. IT just shows that some Politicians are just crazy when they themselves can't distinguish fantasy from reality. so funny.
Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in

"Actually, the funniest thing would have been for the police to spot the "stolen" van and perform a takedown on its occupants."

That would have been the most winningest win ever.  As it is, the Everclear-DNC thing is pretty hilarious.

Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in

Wow to see this makes me laugh, Im from Allentown and saw them perform at CrocRock just 2weeks ago and now to hear how this all happend just after I saw them...lol

Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in

I'm all for freedom of ttnet vitamin speech and allowing rent a car game makers to put whatever they want in games, but there's one thing about this app that has me scratching my head.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but from araç kiralama the previous article araba kiralama on this I gathered that players can use Google maps in-game to find the other (real-life?) dealers in their area.  If this is the case, has travesti anyone considered what's stopping someone from using this app to actually move drugs between hands for reals?

But majority araba kiralama of their outrage araç kiralama stems from what it could DO TO children, not the content itself.  Talk to one of these people and you'll find they don't think any books kiralık araba should be banned from children.  Mention American Psycho and they talk about kiralık araç the redeeming value of using imagination to construct a story.  Reading, no matter what the content, is largely viewed as a consequenceless activity for people of any age.  The reason why I mention American Psycho is because of the content itself.  Gaming never has and likely never will have any scenes where someone has sex with a severed head.  Not gonna happen.  Yet despite this, they'll fight tooth and nail to protect their children from two boys kissing in Bully but whatever they read is harmless... yeah.

The entire arguement is kiralık oto based upon a social normality inflicted by luddites who can't figure out the controls for Halo so it's frightening and terrifying and obviously the cause of youth violence on the rise even though, in reality, it's in decline (which is actually a HUGE suprise given minibüs kiralama the economies status).  In  a perfect world, we would have parents that actually parent.  The idea of sales restrictions on media on oto kiralama any form to accomidate parental unwillingness to get involved with their child's life is the real problem to me.  Here I am, 32 years old, and being held up at a self-scan rent a car needing to show ID before I can buy a $10 M rated game all because Soccer Momthra can't be bothered to look at the crap Billy Genericallystupidson does in his free time.  It's too hard for her, so I have to suffer?

Re: Game-Legislating Minnesota Guv Goes for Joyride in

Thanks good job;

Btw, I think Atari and Midway will drop out too, but mostly travesti because  these guys have done nothing travesti or little and need to start saving costs. and dizi izle

YES.

Now I don't have to get off my ass for the important shit anymore!

Whats next, ordering pizza from Xbox live?

Wait... I think that sounds like a good idea.

But I think voting should MAKE you get off your ass, and see outside or a second while you go vote. I mean, your picking the president of the United States of America for God's Sake... least you can do is drive down there and punch out a card.

GamePolitics ShoutBox

Posted 07/04/09 at 07:26pm
Erik: Jack if you are reading this you are a LIAR. There is no legal weight to the MPAA's ratings.
Posted 07/04/09 at 07:24pm
JDKJ: I still think my buddy the midget who rides a unicycle backwards while juggling four bowling pins would have been a much bigger hit with that crowd. And he can make up statistics and misinterpret studies, too.
Posted 07/04/09 at 06:33pm
Alyric: Of course, Mark falls into the common trap about Columbine, which had nothing to do with bullying, etc. See: http://slate.msn.com/id/2099203/?GT1=3256 for a more thorough explanation.
Posted 07/04/09 at 06:32pm
PHX Corp: Read this http://www.destructoid.com/sgc-09-liveblogging-the-jack-thompson-debate-138502.phtml#ext
Posted 07/04/09 at 05:54pm
PHX Corp: JT is afraid of such ban then advocates it That's what i call a total Hypocrite
Posted 07/04/09 at 05:50pm
PHX Corp: AE: JT is a -Bleeping- Jackass
Posted 07/04/09 at 05:07pm
Andrew Eisen: JT "knew it would be a good audience." Not what he said on Tuesday.
Posted 07/04/09 at 05:01pm
Andrew Eisen: VG cause violent behavior. VG companies influence behavior to get sales. Yeah, that makes sense. (To be fair, the Twitter feed makes deciphering JT's point pretty tough.)
Posted 07/04/09 at 04:52pm
Andrew Eisen: Yes, it's been proposed but as far as I know it has not been passed. Big difference.
Posted 07/04/09 at 04:50pm
Cheater87: http://www.gamezine.co.uk/news/formats/xbox360/all-violent-video-games-be-banned-in-germany-$1301757.htm
Posted 07/04/09 at 04:49pm
Andrew Eisen: Far as I know, Germany has not banned all violent video games.
Posted 07/04/09 at 04:44pm
Cheater87: Jack wants the US to follow Germany's total video game ban.
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Andrew Eisen: Note to JT, it is not illegal to sell kids a ticket to R-rated movies.
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Alareth: Jack is special, his mommy always told him so.
Posted 07/04/09 at 04:29pm
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