(See, this is what can happen to YOUR diary if we think it's a good one! It gets slapped up in the main column, where everyone can see it. Nothstine is a good friend of ours and one of the managers of Portland Drinking Liberally, and he's got a good thought exercise for everyone... - promoted by torridjoe)
(First of what I hope to be a series.)
Back in the spring, The Nation magazine reached out to Drinking Liberally members coast-to-coast to contribute suggestions for a forthcoming book to be called The Nation's Guide to the Nation.
Our task: identify "the liberal history or hotspot in your town that nobody outside of your town would know about."
I put the question to the collective firepower of the Portland DL chapter, who soon had swamped me with suggestions for uniquely Portland bits of liberal history--and it quickly began to sprawl outward, including not only liberal, but progressive, radical, alternative, and sometimes just plain weird in that way that Portland does so well. "Portland-only" quickly embraced the rest of Oregon, too. Some of them were pretty obscure to anyone but long-time Rose Citizens, others less so.
I passed the lengthy list on to The Nation via DL headquarters, and have no idea which if any suggestions will make it into the book.
But I'm not waiting. I've been sitting on this big honking list of All Things Lefty about Portland and Oregon for weeks, so I'm going to start dealing them out, for your Sunday enjoyment.
Two interesting and unrelated stories over at BikePortland this afternoon. First off, some rather eye-popping news about the extent to which Portland continues to burnish its credentials as Bike City USA: a one-year jump of more than 50% in the share of residents who commute by bicycle, to a whopping 6.4%--up from 4.2% in 2008.
Maybe that doesn't sound like a lot, but these are people who use bikes as their primary method for getting to work, and in that context 6 out of every 100 Portland employees is a high number, especially considering most cities are lucky to break 1-2%. It also doesn't account for non-commuting bike use, so of course the actual proportion of bike riders for all trips is even higher.
Mayor Sam Adams gushed about the results in a press release from the Bureau of Transportation, essentially taking credit for the increase due to the encouraging culture and cycling aids provided by the City for its bike riders. I think, as with the big jump in mass transit use last year, a sizeable reason for the increase is actually the recession--it's cheaper to ride. On the other hand, it's the continuance of a trend that has been ongoing since at least the turn of the century (see graph below), and even a Great Depression isn't going to put assess in the saddles unless the facilities and environment make bike-commuting possible, safe and convenient. For that, the City and Adams certainly do deserve the credit.
Yes, that's a near tripling in bike mode split! It's been so dramatic that it renders close analysis of the other modes almost useless--the space between 0 and 25% change is simply too small to show the normal parameters of split changes over time.
And in other, more trivial but exciting news if you're a Flaming Lips fan, the Lips are in town today, filming their new music video on Mt. Tabor. Why come to Portland, you ask? Because part of the video apparently requires a phalanx of naked bike riders. We got the bikes, we got the strong First Amendment that very nearly lets you get down with your partner in line at the bank or the florist--where ELSE would the Lips go?
Oh, and of course given their reputation for arch weirdness (if you've ever been to one of their shows, replete with dancers in animal suits, fish-eye mic cams and confetti, confetti, confetti, you know what I'm talking about), we've got the attitude necessary as well. BP has the scoop and even a livestream link to the shoot, although I'm not sure it will still be active when you read this. But I can't wait for the vid...
Beautifully constructed and edited, although while Hood gets her own little featurette, they show Mt. St. Helens--in Washington, let's recall--about four times as much. It's a quibble; the rest is ample explication about the best city in America:
When I try to describe these events to friends or family members who don't live here, they invariably stare uncomprehendingly at me as if I had lapsed into a discourse in the Klingon tongue. But in fairness, back in the day when Portlandia herself lived 2700 miles east and southeast of here, she would never have imagined that she could be roped into participating in such an event, much less that she would eagerly look forward to it year after year. There is definitely something special going on.
Hood to Coast (H2C) is the world's largest relay, 197 miles in total. Teams of 12 runners follow a somewhat indirect route from Timberline Lodge to the beach at Seaside. Portland to Coast (P2C) is a walking relay, for teams of 8 or 12, that joins the H2C route in downtown Portland and shares the last 127 miles along the course to the Seaside finish line.
Running culture is strong in Oregon for sure. The legendary U of O track coach Bill Bowerman was a co-founder of Nike and the inventor of (or at least coiner of the term) "jogging." Portland is the athletic footwear capital of the United States. The Portland Marathon is recognized nationally as one of the best organized in the country. Running clubs are everywhere. H2C is one singular but not surprising element of this culture.
But what of P2C? WALKING?! What could possess thousands of walkers to spend 30+ hours on the course every year? Why will even an overweight, indolent middle-aged woman like Portlandia, and her eleven not-spectacularly-athletic female teammates on Team "Put A Cork In It!", pack up and board vans early Friday morning and head out to challenge ourselves again, facing a forecast showing a continuous chance of rain?
Not much to add to this--go to the rally! But it may be a pretty strong incentive to hear Wendell Potter speak as the featured vox at the rally, along with several others from the local area. You may remember Potter from the recent interview he did with Bill Moyers on his PBS show, and the answers he gave about how the insurance industry works, were stark and often harrowing.
It would be sooper-dee-dooper for you to be there, but if you can't make it, you can still help: tell friends, and post this flyer at your office or around your hood. Spread the word!
HEALTH CARE RALLY Saturday, August 29, 2009 at 10 AM Terry Schrunk Plaza SW 3rd & SW Madison Downtown Portland
From KGW this morning, an update on the progress of the Recall Sam Adams effort, for which organizers have set a goal of 50,000 signatures in the 90 days since formally beginning the campaign in early July. The recall work is now roughly at the one-third pole, and KGW reports that the current tally is around 4,000 signatures.
While a new, in-kind gift of office space may help them spread out their battle plans on the table of political reform, the mountain doesn't appear to be coming to Mohammed in this case. Giving the recallers the benefit of an extra 1,000 signatures somewhere in the pipeline between collection and receipt, that would be 5,000 in a month, or 10% of the way there. Putting aside the practical likelihood that the biggest surge in signatures comes with the enthusiasm of a freshly begun campaign, and then tends to dwindle rather than pick up speed absent a game changing event, the recallers are on track to get the signatures they're looking for in another 9 months--May, 2010.
Problem is, the deadline is October. And the referendum would be scheduled for the ballot in November. Of this year. You can talk all you want about the need for solid funding to get an initiative onto the ballot, but the bottom line is that if truly angry Portlanders were legion in their desire to see the Mayor replaced, you'd think they'd be Hancocking at a faster rate than about 130 per day.
Charges of fear and intimidation are now being used as excuses for the poor showing, but so far not a single case of actual pressure has been alleged. Do some City employees and persons with a need to get along with the Mayor fear what might happen if their names got out? Undoubtedly. Is it necessarily rational? No evidence has yet been presented to support such a contention. And in any case, not signing and staying quiet about it is hardly a bold and courageous stand to take--kind of like standing BEHIND a Chinese tank instead of in front--if you really think that's true. There ARE laws against that kind of thing, and we know the police union membership would be happy to investigate if necessary. Otherwise, it looks like what I called it--an excuse for poor results.
A bit delayed, given that the rally was Friday, but I did go down and cover the event in front of Senator Wyden's Portland office, snapped a couple of photos, and talked with Lisa Caballero, the volunteer organizer while getting a copy of her statement and testimonials from ordinary Oregonians about their strong desire for a public option.
See, that was the reason for the rally, to try and push Wyden towards a full and robust public option (FRPO). Here's a picture of them doing that!
The shot I have here is cropped a bit; the strength of the rally was a definite 50+ and closer to 75 by my headcount. (That's easily double or triple the group who came out for single payer, although I did recognize some overlap). They spoke, chanted and got honks for about 20 minutes before dispersing, but they did deliver their petition (more on that below), raise some awareness and earn media attention (WWeek and the Merc).
Here's the transcription of the audio I got talking to Caballero after the rally, which wasn't really conducted as a formal interview--but she does make some good points which echoed her speech:
People don't quite understand the politics of what's happening. Wyden keeps making these statements that are quite confusing to someone that's not bothering to dig and be informed. I have had people just from this event say, "why are you out here? Wyden is supporting a public option." Well actually he's not; if you listen to what he's saying, he's saying he supports a public option if it's "sustainably financed." And then he doesn't describe what that is.
I would be happier if he just said, "I disagree with you; we don't see eye to eye on this and this is what I'm supporting, can I convince you?" But instead, he's deliberately not being straightforward to people that aren't up to their neck in this issue It's confusing to people. So I think we're really getting down to the point where he needs to come out and make a statement. This week Sen. Kennedy's committee has come out with a bill. There's something on the table. It's been vetted by the Congressional Budget Office, and so they've got a number on it. My question to Sen. Wyden is, does he consider the finances of that bill to be sustainably financed?
The problem that starts happening with someone like me is I'm not a professional. I'm not an economist, I'm not a policy wonk, I just read the newspaper. So I can't argue policy with complicated answers like that about Senate procedures. But I just get the feeling that I'm not being dealt with straightforwardly.
One of the primary assumptions of the so-called "Smart Growth" movement has long been that smart growth, combined with expenditures on mass transit (especially transit such as light rail or streetcar that encourage "choice" riders who might otherwise drive) save everyone time and money and protect the environment. The latest statistics from the Texas Transportation Institute show this to be the case. This diary will briefly describe Oregon's land use system as it applies to Smart Growth and our investments in public transportation, along with their impacts.
In one of the more ironic denouements of the whole mayoral sex scandal, it would appear from Attorney General John Kroger's investigative report (now available in pdf with a h/t to Willy Week for hosting it) that Portland Mayor Sam Adams has escaped criminal prosecution by having laid down with dogs.
In the 17-page report, the DoJ addresses the two most serious charges--sexual intercourse with a minor and lesser sexual contact (ie, "The Kiss")--and finds no evidence at all to support the former. On the latter, the evidence boils down to a he said/he said, where Adams denies inappropriate contact and Breedlove says it occurred. However, because of Breedlove's past as, well...a liar, Kroger's office finds him insufficiently credible to be used as the sole substantiation of the claim. The report notes:
The only proof DOJ has obtained that Adams may have engaged in illegal sexual contact with a minor comes from Breedlove. Breedlove's account of the two alleged incidents of kissing before his 18th birthday is called into question by the lack of corroborative witnesses or corroborative evidence. In addition, Breedlove's prior inconsistent statements, financial gain, and prior felony conviction for a crime involving deception has compromised his credibility as a witness. For these reasons, we conclude there is not sufficient credible evidence to justify criminal prosecution. [emph mine]
This doesn't really qualify as a technicality, where there might be otherwise provable evidence but some process mistake or violation of rights causes the whole thing to be thrown out. Let me be clear that Adams is fully within his rights to trumpet this report and say that the DoJ found no credible evidence he committed any legal wrongdoing with Breedlove.
But is there any doubt that Adams hit the ass-saving jackpot by choosing as his underage paramour, someone who conveniently happened to have a criminal record as a liar? If he'd dated anyone else, generally speaking, Kroger might well have seen fit to accept their account over Adams', seeing only Sam's interest in lying. But because the other potentially corroborating evidence (friends, City Hall security and staff) was itself contradictory and unclear, the crucial question in the case could not satisfactorily be answered--because their only witnesses are both known liars. How sweet and balls-out LUCKY is that for Sam? The man is SO charmed.
The Mercury is also updating their story page pretty rapidly, and has reax from Commissioner Fritz (has the report on her desk, knows the conclusion, doesn't care beyond that), Jason Wurster (plans to move forward with recall despite what most analysts likely consider a crushing blow), BikePortland guru Jonathan Maus (good news, while damage has been done to Adams the bike community found out he's not the only supporter in town), Thomas Lauderdale (Yay! and Fuck off, Jason Wurster) and police union spokesman Scott Westerman (so what; he's still lying scum).
In the WWeek version of the reax, Westerman compares him to a cop lying in the course of his or her public duties, which seems odd given that Kroger cleared Adams of misconduct in his public duties. And I have to ask--what's the big boner the cops' union has for busting Adams' chops on this, anyway? Westerman has repeatedly made time to throw public statements on the fire regarding this case, and it's starting to look like a vendetta--particularly today, when just MAYBE a little fence-mending with the Mayor would not only be appropriate but prudent. Read the tea leaves on this one, Scott.
Of course more chatter will ensue, but it seems significantly more unlikely today that any recall effort against Adams will succeed--and in fact the effort to even get a recall on the ballot may now fall flat as well.
Kroger has planned a news conference for noon today, and Adams has indicated his interest in speaking to the media (duhhh....). Considering I've been unwavering in my support of his mayoralty if not his conduct, I'm hoping I might be able to get a couple minutes with him. We'll see.
Update-- Just out from Just Out, a nod to the "organizers" of the event, who even JO doesn't appear to know. So I stand corrected about BRO's involvement; it would appear that they--like everyone else--just showed up.
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Courtesy of the blog from Just Out, the national gay-issues magazine based in Portland, a quick review of yesterday evening's highly impromptu and decentrally organized rally/march against the California Supreme Court's decision to uphold Proposition 8. Using just the word-of-mouth power behind blog entries, Facebook links and Twitter tweets, a group reportedly sized around 200 assembled to express their frustration.
I say frustration, because from my perspective (and with some help from a knowledgable California lawyer) I can't argue very strenuously with the bare mechanics of the Court's decision. Quite obviously the impact of the ruling is a big negative and highly unfortunate, but my understanding is that the arguments chosen by plaintiffs--and in fact the longer term strategy for securing same sex marriage rights in California--were badly botched. So if the ire of the protestors was directed at the CSC, maybe the No on 8 proponents deserved a few rankled shouts as well.
That detail aside, it's fascinating to see how quickly a spur, location and time were proposed and settled upon, and then transmitted around the Internets in order to gin up participants. Surely Basic Rights Oregon and other local advocacy groups were behind or at least visibly supportive of the idea, given BRO exec Jeana Frazzini's appearance and speech at the rally. But it was not "organized" per se by anyone, really--the interest and details appear to have developed organically, immediately after the announcement.
I call it a PseudoFlashMob for a couple of reasons, not least of which is the Double-Reverse-Switcharoo Alliteration Feint that uses the letter P like most of the other words in the headline, but uses it in a way that is NOT alliterative! (Unless you pronounce it "puh-soodo," I guess.) The decentralized "pass-it-on" flavor of the event is the most obvious, but also key is the lack of a specific agenda or action plan moving forward.
There are pros and cons to that style of advocacy, of course--will anyone who attended be inspired to work actively for repeal of Measure 36, or in service of other gay rights causes, without a call to action? And with a full weekend to plan--albeit saddled with the Memorial Day holiday--was an almost entirely impromptu gathering all that could be managed, as opposed to something with a couple of days of planning to flesh out speakers and activities? A flash mob's main appeal is spontaneity; the reality is that the decision time had been known since Friday.
Finally, from the comments at Just Out, a little YouTube love from the event:
You can't change your spots as the old saying goes, although apparently for George Will they can slip off others such as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood--JUST like that. And by "that," I mean leaving his Republican Congressional District in Illinois, and working with the President as the head of a suddenly very forward looking agency. To Will's thinking, he's basically been infected, or else the Obama brain squad have come and sucked all the "no we can't" ideology from his head.
I wish I was kidding; Will speaks lovingly of a mindset rooted like Excalibur into the stone of time--enduring, constant, traditional...static. And now these liberals idiots have come with their...their IDEAS, and it's all so very shocking. And so Will's Newsweek headline online is "Why Ray LaHood is Wrong (A: The Pod People Got Him)."*:
Ray LaHood, was until January a Republican congressman practicing militant middle-of-the-roadism. He knows what plays in Peoria, and not just figuratively: He is from there. Peoria is a meatloaf, macaroni-and-cheese, down-to-earth place, home of Caterpillar, the maker of earthmoving machines for building roads, runways, dams and things.
LaHood, however, has been transformed. Indeed, about three bites into lunch, the T word lands with a thump: He says he has joined a "transformational" administration: "I think we can change people's behavior." Government "promoted driving" by building the Interstate Highway System—"you talk about changing behavior." He says, "People are getting out of their cars, they are biking to work." High-speed intercity rail, such as the proposed bullet train connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco, is "the wave of the future." And then, predictably, comes the P word: Look, he says, at Portland, Ore.
Riding the aforementioned wave to Portland, which liberals hope is a harbinger of America's future, has long been their aerobic activity of choice. But LaHood is a Republican, for Pete's sake, the party (before it lost its bearings) of "No, we can't" and "Actually, we shouldn't" and "Not so fast" and "Let's think this through." Now he is in full "Yes we can!" mode. Et tu, Ray?
Did you catch Will celebrating Republican obfuscation and the negative approach to legislating? Kinda hard to miss, I guess. It's basically the only play they GOP has left in the book. But hey--what was that crap about Portland, now? {them's fightin' words, below}
Oregon, and Portland in particular, always seems to be a favorite topic or frequent example in articles about travel, innovation or components of a "green" society. And for the most part, the reviews are always glowing, perhaps leaving the unremitting negativity and curmudgeonism to the locals. Two more such pieces have crossed the LO editorial desk in the last couple of days...
The first is one of those "where does your city rate on X" deals, this time concerning the quest for the "least wasteful" big city in America. Nalgene, the water-bottle maker who could probably slipcover Portland with the plastic from all the bottles they've sold here, conducted a survey of the 25 biggest cities in order to rank them on their wastefulness. Methodology? But of course:
The water bottle company questioned 3,750 people in America's 25 largest cities about their transportation use, waste, sustainability efforts, shopping habits, and reuse of items. Nalgene weighted the results to give preference to behaviors with an immediate and significant impact like driving less, recycling more, and reducing trash. The survey's index is based on a scoring system with a potential individual high score of 1930 and a low individual score of 193.
The top city turned out to be San Francisco, which came out solidly in front by their particular estimation. Second was New York, perhaps surprisingly--but the dirty secret about NYC is that dense living is more sustainable living, so for things like walkability and use of private transportation, the Big Apple does well.
Number three was the Rose City, forming a mini-tier with NYC and beating out Seattle by a strong margin. That's really the only goal for most Portlanders, beating the Emeralds, so even if we'd finished 24th that'd be OK, as long as #25 was Seattle. (The worst of the group was actually Atlanta, one of those classic suburban-sprawl, weak-transit cities).
A more regular endorsement has also come from the New York Times, which in addition to columnist Nicholas Kristof's hometown references also features the city every once in a while via their Travel section. This time it's the Frugal Traveler column, providing three pages of suggestions for Stumptown on the cheap. The reporter takes you to the Ace Hotel, Widmer, some cool Southeast eateries, the food carts downtown, the vacuum cleaner museum at Stark's, Pok Pok, Powell's of course--even the Acropolis strip joint that serves the cheap and tasty steak! (When was the last time you read a travel review with a strip club featured as a good thing?) A flavor:
Weirdly enough, these busy nights would end early, and I'd be in bed shortly after midnight. In retrospect, this made perfect sense. Good living takes its toll on the body if not on the wallet, and we all need energy to face the next day's agenda of food, friends and frugality. And every evening, as I drifted off in my soft Ace Hotel bed, under the reassuring weight of that wool blanket, I would try to figure out how to answer a question I heard almost daily, from strangers and from old pals who saw how smoothly I'd settled into my Portland routine. "So," they'd ask, "when are you moving here?"
I still don't know what to tell them.
I do: tell them you won't be coming until you already have a job!
I've been meaning to write about this captivating story for a while now, and this piece in The O is as good a point to jump into the process as it moves towards reality as any. I was unfamiliar with the Living Building Challenge before hearing of the Oregon Sustainability Center project, but it's a fascinating concept that is tailor-made to play to Oregon's green strengths and building commitment to being a world leader in sustainability development. Here's how the sponsors of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council describe it:
When LEED® emerged in the late 1990’s, it filled a huge void in the building industry: designers all over the country were trying to understand how to effectively define ‘green building’ and measure it in a consistent way. With a focused goal on market transformation, LEED® has done more for the national green building movement than anything previously conceived.
When the Platinum certification level was defined, it was widely accepted as the highest rank of environmental performance possible for buildings, and indeed it is significant. Yet, completing the requirements for LEED® Platinum certification does not fulfill the ultimate obligations of the building industry towards the pursuit for sustainability. Rather, it was defined by the changes that seemed possible at the inception of the LEED® program for the majority of projects.
The main focus of LEED® is to make green building mainstream and to move the bulk of buildings being built towards higher standards. The Living Building Challenge’s aim is to push projects even further to provide models for the industry to follow.
Both the governor and the mayor of Portland have committed to supporting the coalition of private and public groups that will be necessary to execute such an ambitious task, on the theory that a successful example of a zero-output large building will be a large beacon signalling the world's green technicians to sally forth to Portland and join the community where things are hottest. Here's what The O piece has to say about their commitment, and how it would all come together:
Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Portland Mayor Sam Adams are pushing for the center and consider it part of their economic development strategies. Kulongoski included $80 million in the budget in higher education revenue bonds -- to be paid back by the businesses and nonprofits that occupy the building.
"I think this is the future," Kulongoski said last week. "More and more, as people learn about the issue of climate change, they'll realize that Portland is the center of sustainability."
More than a dozen businesses, nonprofits and universities are working with the Oregon University System to create the Oregon Sustainability Center, a high-rise office building near Portland State University that would showcase the region's expertise in developing and designing earth-friendly buildings.
"This is like building a green stake in the ground in Portland," said Jay Kenton, vice chancellor of the Oregon University System. "We're going to do something no one else has done. It's going to brand us as a leader in many ways in doing that."
I'm crossing lines with Commissioner Randy Leonard the last couple of days, getting his messages to late to respond to them, missing him by phone. I promise you I'll nail him down some time this week to answer questions on the MLS deal, particularly looking forward as the PGE Park Urban Renewal Area question looms, or in its place the search for alternate financing and how this affects Merritt Paulson's bid before MLS, or even Paulson's own desire to push forward with the gap unaddressed.
All of which is I suppose an ironic prelude to the point of this piece, which was to highlight how well Leonard is culling the reportage and opinion on the Council's approval of the agreement in principle last week, at his new website, http://www.commissionerleonard.typepad.com/..
Hey, that's off the venerated PortlandOnline gulag...er, centralized portal! Commissioner Randy doesn't mean to be impolite about his "employer supplied" website, but no sooner is "Welcome!" out of his virtual lips than you're urged not to hang out too long--look, Randy's got a new website, off the grid as it were! And while it's no marvel of flash animation and Randy-themed games or downloadable Randy Ringtone quotes (use that, Commissioner, and this is my record of the claim for 50%), it's pretty informative and transparent, even of reportage that's not necessarily flattering.
The most important document at the moment is undoubtedly the description of the terms of the agreement reached with Paulson, which you can read in detail here. For more of the info on the way the numbers were compiled, in that piece there's the link to the Task Force analysis as well.
But be sure to read through the links he provides; he captures a lot of the discussion from the big three papers plus the Business Journal, some of the TV coverage, etc. But you can get the gamut just from one source...The O. There's the laudatory (back page lead editorial), the critical (news analysis), the neutral but visceral (City Hall blog), and the sidebars, like Canzano's WTF about the sudden Blazers flip on the idea of a baseball park in the Quarter.
One thing that's original is a set of responses to some additional questioning from commenters at the site, written by Chief of Staff Ty Kovatch. And when I can stop Leonard's motor for 20-30 minutes and get him to answer even more questions (take a mile!), I'll report back. The FAQ-plus for the MLS deal is below the fold.
I happened upon this via Facebook I think--a useful reminder about what's possible and what our choices look like as we ponder both a devastating recession and the opportunity to reinvest in our communities in a number of beneficial ways.
The site is run by something called "The Preservation Institute" out of California, and is part of a series called "Destroying Freeways, Restoring Cities," about the way that removing the artifacts of the car culture in America's downtowns during the 60s and early 70s caused significant positive change in those areas.
Harbor Drive used to run alongside the west bank of the Willamette River, breaking one of the signature commandments of urban planning: don't separate the citzenry from their water. The narrative is interesting to read and I'll quote some, but the pictures speak for themselves:
That's a view looking north along Harbor Drive in 1964 (Photo credit unknown, from nonextant site pdxplan.org). Note that big four lane limited-access freeway running alongside the river. How are you supposed to use a key amenity like that, when you can't cross the freeway--much less try to relax and enjoy a little commerce?
The below picture, credit Bruce Forster, shows what happens when you open up land--public and private--along water:
That's the Riverview end--a great little commercial section of independent hotels, restaurants and shops (not McCormick's and Schmicks or Starbucks I guess, although employee-owned Full Sail is in the M&S)--and of course further north is the multiblock McCall Waterfront, a perennial grounds for festivals ethnic, midway and drunken.
It's an interesting look back at how all that got done, which we'll do below--but there's also a larger point to make about how such things seem so much harder to accomplish now. Why?
{Something I'm sure will be a brilliant answer, below}
An interesting 24 hrs. You've hit a big story when you can knock an historic Inauguration off the lede of the TV news Wednesday morning--and there was Sam heading the update on KATU today, with coverage of his press conference from yesterday.
I really don't have a whole lot of stomach to discuss the gory details of the incident, but maybe we can put it into a few bullets:
The relationship, according to both parties, was consensual and physically speaking took place after Breedlove was of majority age. To me that takes legality out of the question until someone provides evidence of a prior relationship (which would be awfully hard to prove other than circumstantially). I don't think the Leonard and Fish calls for an investigation are appropriate; either there's a complaint or there's not, no digging on taxpayer dime. Please.
However legal it may have been, the premise of a mentor-mentee relationship with that big of an age difference suggests the likelihood of a pretty strong power imbalance favoring Adams.
It's hard for me to know whether Adams lied because he feared allegations as he's having now, that Breedlove could have been 17, or because he realized even as a legal relationship it looked sketchy and uncool.
In any case, the primary offense here is to the voters, who had the right to decide what information and allegations were important in the race, and who had that right taken away from them because Adams feared an adverse effect on his campaign. I'm reminded here of the "I don't know what's right; I just want to win" line attributed to Jeff Merkley. It's the same craven desire for the validation of office, suggesting ego seeping in on what should be public service terrain.
Since the story broke there has certainly been a vocal segment of the internet commentariat who stridently seek his resignation. The PPA and its 900 cops under Adams supervision were the first to call him out to step down, which I thought was awfully eager. I see frostiness in that relationship already (but in my view the fault usually lies more with Police than the Mayor they're dogging).
If you'd asked me about 24 hours ago if I thought Sam should resign, I might well have leaned yes. I was unmoved by his statement of apology and explanation. It seemed hollow and rather tone-deaf about his actions. He called it a "mistake," which certainly was accurate but seemed to liken it to not carrying the one on a math test.
After the press conference yesterday however, I think Sam has turned a corner and more fully embraced his transgression. And while I think Amanda Fritz's reaction was a bit mother hen and diverting (OK, the media were covering this instead of Obama, but ultimately that's Sam's fault too, isn't it?), in essence she made the challenge that should determine his fate: How far do you go in judging the way a public figure handles his unrelated private affairs? What are you looking for in an act of contrition? What's the practical cost of moral righteousness?
Everybody's got Blazer Fever in Portland these days, including the folks at Willamette Week. The Christmas Eve edition features a cover story on a present sent from New York, that everyone involved seems to agree will likely soon be returned sometime after the holidays. On merit and the long term needs and future of the franchise it makes sense, but based on the mutual love affair between 6'11" forward Channing Frye and his adoptive new city, it will be a damn shame if and when he packs his duffel for the last time and takes a paycheck somewhere else:
When the Portland Trail Blazers traded for Frye last year, it was a finishing nail in the coffin of the old “Jail Blazers” image. Gone were all the bad-character guys who had soured the small-town love between the franchise and the biggest city in America with just one major-league sports team.
And now, 18 months later, the Blazers are winning with a roster packed with good-character players. Yet Frye, just three years removed from being a promising, 6-foot-11 rookie standout, has hardly played this season.
None of which is particularly unusual in a league where players come and go faster than Allen Iverson can break your ankles with a crossover. But Frye, through his offbeat sense of humor and evangelistic love for his new home city, has quickly become a part of Portland’s fabric in a way very few pro athletes ever accomplish.
He is, for fans more concerned with local art and cuisine than with Brandon Roy dropping 52 on Phoenix last week, the face of the Blazers. He’s the guy they see regularly cracking jokes in the Portland press, eating with his bulldogs Milton (also known as “Fat Boy”) and Lily at the Tin Shed on Northeast Alberta Street, or hanging out in the Pearl on First Thursday.
And the love is mutual. “This is where I want to spend the rest of my life,” Frye says. “But, at the same time, if you ask me the question, ‘Do I think this is the place for me in the next five or six years?’ I’m saying definitely not.”
I'm not sure how many of you know what cyclocross is, but the nation's top pros are about to storm into Portland Saturday and Sunday for the finale weekend of the six-race Crank Brothers US Gran Prix.
The century-old bicycle racing discipline is gaining new popularity, and Portland is a hotbead.The eight-race Cross Crusade series drew more than 1,000 competitors per race this year, filling the age and skill categories that raced throughout the day.
Cyclocross uses bikes that at first glance look like the standard road bikes you see in the Tour de France. But a closer inspection reveals larger, knobby tires and more-powerful cantilever brakes. Courses are relatively short circuits (generally between one or two miles) that competitors cover multiple times during a race. Steep sections, called "run-ups," and wooden barriers placed in the course often require riders to "shoulder" their bikes and run.
Cyclocross is a winter sport that started in Belgium around the turn of the century. Seeking a way to train at a high level during the cold winter months, cyclists developed a sport that required dismounting and running, which helped circulate blood through the feet and keep them warm. When the riders participating in the small-but-growing cyclocross circuit started winning the spring and summer road races, the new winter discipline quickly became more popular, and a legitimate sport was born.
There's some great VIDEO HERE that should give you a pretty good idea. You may remember that last year at this time Portland was undergoing a 100-year-storm that brought snow, flooding and hurricane-force winds.
This year's event takes place Saturday and Sunday at Portland International Raceway. Amateur racing kicks off at 8 a.m. both days. The pro women begin at 1:45 p.m. The pro men start at 3 p.m.
Here's a sneak peek at a preview I'm working on:
Brad Ross, the Cross Crusade promoter who is the local organizer for the USGP, said he expects the "usual suspects" from Portland's thriving 'cross fan base to show up in force.
"It's going to be more typical cross weather, maybe a little rain," he said. "That doesn't scare people away. What scares people away is when it's like it was last year -- hurricane! It's going to be a good party. The beer will be flowing."
And the riders seem to be looking forward to racing in front of Portland's "usual suspects."
Reigning national champion Tim Johnson, a Massachusetts pro who rides for Cyclocrossworld.com/Cannondale, first competed in Portland in 1997. Johnson said he always enjoys the loud, creative Portland crowds.
"The bigger the better," he said before recalling a race he won several years ago at venue in Hillsboro.
"The course was just sick," he said. "It was really nasty. There was one especially tough climb, and at the top of that climb there were people sitting in a hot tub watching. That was great."
"They're out there racing all day in their own categories," he said. "And then they hang around to support us. It makes you want to perform."
"'The right has radio; the left has the internet' ... is becoming a truism because it's ...true ... the GOP is doing its darndest to try to replicate even the Howard Dean beta version of the magic ..." according to a post from LoadedOrygun's own torridjoe.
Torridjoe noted how Blogpublisher Darrelplant had an interesting tech/politics piece on Daily Kos. One of the many ways in which the Obama campaign innovated not only beyond John McCain's capacity to match him, but beyond what any other major presidential campaign had even tried, much less succeeded with, was the IPhone applet that provided a virtual Obama desktop literally at your fingertip.
"Obama's advantage is much more about creative spirit and understanding of the medium's limitless capacity, than it is about money or products that will allow the Republicans to 'catch up' to the left when it comes to online politics ..." torridjoe wrote.
"In yesterday's midday open thread, Kos linked to a Washington Post story about how conservatives are going to try to move more forcefully onto the internet in the future (despite the current countervailing meme that the netroots has been repudiated by post election events like the Senate letting Joe Lieberman hold onto his chairmanship)," darrelplant said on Wednesday. "Earlier this week, as a part of my own studies into iPhone programming, I ran into a similar story on Politico, about a discussion group about the use of technology in the 2008 presidential campaign that included staff from both the Obama and McCain camps."
An argument has been floated that conservatives simply did not have the resources. But this line of thought was debunked:
Some other western bloggers hammered this hit home:
"So here's to you Mountain Goat. Semper fi marine cause without your dogged research and crisp analysis on (Idaho Congressman Bill) Sali, his folksy facade may yet again have duped a complacent electorate," ... are words fit to reiterate ... from Sisyphus's blog. "And to you Chris. So happy the Unequivocal Notion was able to convince some of the sheeple with whom you coexist that their congressional leadership was dumber than a box of rocks."
"Congratulations Colonel on your promotion which was richly deserved and for providing Idablue leadership for many of us in the blogosphere. And lastly to Joel Kennedy and his nom de plume, Bubblehead, originating from his time in the the other tube, a submarine. Your criticism isn't fettered by ideology and serves us well by keeping us on our toes. If your political tenacity is any indicator I almost pity the cancer."
Sisyphus added: "It was not my intent to be partisan in my accolades but I'm unaware of any Idaho Republican bloggers who have served their country."
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