Good for Sam!

I wish him luck in his term of office. He's got nowhere to go but up, now.

Portland is in deep trouble if Sammy doesn't resign. Right now we're in the calm before the storm. I believe most people are not publically expressing their outrage because they believe the coward chicken hawk Adams will do the right thing and resign. If he stays, anti-Adams protests will ramp up. I've already made my plans to do so. Adams is an embarassment to Portland and the gay community. Do you wish this to continue?

thus ensuring a costly recall. I say he's adding injury to injury. Kudos to Kari for picking "the election of Portland's first openly gay mayor" as being one of the top 10 stories of the year. Unfortunately it's maybe the only one on the list that's set to move up a few notches this year.

Funny how there was semantic debate over "openly gay". That sure turned out to be the nut of it, though I still can't understand why. Another of the very polarizing effects this debate is having is that anyone that doesn't care/notice sexual orientation, is being told by both sides that they're out of touch with the real world. Congrats. Just the people you want to marginalize. Why do so many progressives that post here treat the label "liberal" delicately? I think it's the commonly experienced situation where you get involved in a cause, and look at the people around you, and say, "if this is what 'the community' is like, I guess I'm not a part of it".

No doubt even the sun bleached bones of this horse will be pummeled for months to come, but there's one thing I would like to see in those future posts, from his defenders. Let us know when he does something that makes you think, "glad we elected him", and, more importantly, when you think his actual, achieved positives overcome all this negativity. Perhaps his defenders are to the point now where you want to blame some of this circus on us? Speak up now, or it's all on his tab, and I do want to hear when his most ardent supporters believe he has paid up.

The funny thing is, if this were Ft. Worth, Texas, I would argue with his supporters. I guess a lot comes down to how you see Portland. Jack Bogg is asking the question I've been asking myself since about 2000, "is Portland rotten to the core"? I think a lot of his supporters think the world is rotten to the core and has to be. I only agree with half of that.

"Portland keeps a capable and experienced leader to run the city. "

You must be kidding - How did you get the idea Adams knows what he is doing? Just because he has a pooly thought out plan. Most of his plans are cover stories to keep developers like Russell and Ashforth in business. Schools are getting as bad as potholes in the roads and CoP indebteedness is reaching record levels (like $10K per resident).

I have no idea why people have faith someone without a college degree who declared bankruptcy and has no problem lying about things that make him uncomfortable is even remotely qualified.

About the only thing I can say is he is more qualified than Fritz and Saltzman who seem to be afraid of going to the bathroom without Sam's permission.

Is this what being progressive is getting us for leaders?

You people should be ashamed.

Blue Oregon has shown itself to be morally ambivalent and only there to cheer lead. You are worse than AM radio.

This man would be unworthy to practice law or file your taxes. Yet you will trust him to administer your very livelihood if you live in Portland.

He is a bad man. He is not worth your admiration. That fact that you still respect him (regardless of your personal feelings of affection which transcend leadership) shows your own moral short comings.

Willamette Week reported this at 9:25 am Sunday; look at the WW website.

I have a feeling this is going to be even more "fun" for Blue Oregonians than the Novick vs. Merkley primary battle.

As for me, I'll be waiting for the first opportunity to sign a recall petition, all the while thinking of all the potholes that could get fixed with the hundreds of thousands of dollars of public money that will get siphoned off by the recall and subsequent special election to replace Adams.

Zarathustra sez: "Another of the very polarizing effects this debate is having is that anyone that doesn't care/notice sexual orientation, is being told by both sides that they're out of touch with the real world. Congrats."

Too true.

The GLBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Oregon has released a statement encouraging Sam Adams to remain in office.

http://stonewalloregon.org/?p=328

The GLBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Oregon has released a statement encouraging Sam Adams to remain in office.

Would that be the full GLBT Caucus, or just the left-handed Jewish African-American subcaucus?

I soooooo love identity politics.

As I've said elsewhere, I'm still willing to forgive Sam.

However, I am also copyrighting the phrase, "A career ended with a kiss." All users of the phrase will owe me a royalty.

You know, looking at that picture- he's 40 what?- I think his detractors have missed a trick. You need a few trusted staff to go up to him all concerned and say, "Sam, I think this is aging you. I mean, you're starting to look really old".

I only see the tele when I'm on the road in Europe, which is about 1/2 the time. Does the US have those men's skin conditioner advertisements yet, like the one with Piers Brosnan? If Sam hangs on, he could pick up some on the side with a sponsorship deal.

OMG. What I just said. Their tagline is "because you're worth it". I can really see it now, Sam, a bottle of skin conditioner, and the line, "because I'm worth it". Wonder how this is affecting beer marketing? Could be helping. I could see one of mp's Schlitz drinkers bellying up to the bar with the line, "I wanna suck on a Sam Adams". That's still not as good as Bishop's Finger Ale. One never gets tired of asking if someone would like a Bishop's Finger down their throat!

Anyone remember if the GLBT Caucus took a position on Senator Larry Craigs attempt at a little restroom romance. Interesting that he told the truth in an attempt to cover up his inappropriate behavior while Mayor Adams lied for the same reason.

Posted by: Ben D | Jan 25, 2009 12:17:51 PM

Portland and its people are good. To the core. Please don't forget that or believe otherwise in light of this episode's theatrics.

Thanks for explaining the sense of entitlement one sees. Why not just say, "We've been saved from the right". Comes across with the same sense of justification as evangelicals that "just know". "Just ignore the bad man, kiddies. He isn't saved". "If you were down with Portland, you wouldn't ask that".

Sam Adams was making out in the City Hall bathroom with a 17 year old? Disgusting!

Beau's own admission that the mayor was making sexual advances towards him at 17, and then arranging for train tickets for weekend trysts once he turned 18, is sickening.

r"you obviously haven't been reading the blog--some of the sharpest criticism was leveled here, "

Sure, your publisher (o whatever you call your blog master) does paid work for Mark Wiener and Sam Adams. Of course the last time we every heard any good thing about a non-pregressive was when the crust of the earth cooled.

Meg, do you feel the same way about military recruiters, who ask our brave young citizens to enlist for dangerous, potentially-deadly activity? If young people are already free to make that kind of life-altering decision, I'm wondering if there isn't a double-standard at work here when it comes to casual flirtation. Not that this necessarily excuses Sam's behavior, but it seem to me that the intensity of distaste that some people are expressing is inconsistent with other societal norms regarding young people.

A hypothetical example to try and illustrate the point:

Beau's own admission that the military recruiter was making recruiting promotions towards him at 17, and then arranging for bus tickets for basic training once he turned 18, is sickening.

Fed up with the editorials saying Sam Adams should resign? Sign this letter!

The phrase "GLBT caucus" always sounds to be like something that belongs on the menu of a diner. Make mine with whole wheat and no mayo, thanks.

Thank you Sam for keeping this city moving forward today and not letting Portland fall back into a terrible, bigoted place where we wouldn't want to live. You will and we will all get past this!

What few right wingers are left in Portland must be very pleased today. They could not have asked for a better scenario to prove how progressives will ultimately fail when left to their own devices.

42 year old city councilman Sam Adams kissed a 17 year old for 60 seconds in a city hall restroom. NICE!

I live in Salem and don't have a direct interest in the outcome of this new development. However, as an interested bystander, I was looking forward to seeing Sam "hit the ground running" in his new job as Mayor and creating lots of good for both Portland and the surrounding region.

Following this latest scandal, it appears that Adams has "broken both legs" in landing. He can get up and start running, but it is unlikely that he will accomplish much in doing so.

Politics is not very forgiving to those who fall in the public arena. I wish Adams well in his efforts to redemm himself, but I think the outlook for what he can accomplish as a mortally wounded Mayor (in a politial sense) is not good.

Speaking of WW, they have been unfairly characterized here by some posters that are saying that they are out to ruin a good mayor just to flex their muscles. Do you really expect support from WW? They paid two reporters to work on this story for months, rather than topics more relevant to moving forward. The reporters didn't splash their guesses all over the front page, they met with Sam Adams for 40 minutes discussing their evidence. He continued to lie the entire time. That makes it kind of personal. 36 hours later, he called a press conference and told the truth. The reporters have not been publicly thanked for actually doing good investigative journalism.

Admit it. Those PO'd at WW are upset that they broke the story in the first place. It's their fault. Right? His supporters are starting to sound like the fascists in some banana republic who's troubles would all go away if they could just silence those bloody reporters. Think I exaggerate? Let's see how long it is before we see it in print that WW is "anti-gay". We already hear the mind-boggling "Bob Ball is a bigot" for asking if there had been an illegal sexual relationship. Is the AG a bigot? He's looking into that. It's pretty bad PR to call a gay man bigoted against gays because he questions your candidate. Of course that's an overstatement. We know what the real problem with Bob Ball is.

I'll give Sam a bye on being "openly gay". One does wonder how open is it if your family and friends are deliberately kept in the dark about your current relationship. (Sam's words, not mine). A lot of our speculating would be ended if Sam answered the question, "did you lie because of the hassle factor or because you were ashamed?". "If hassle, why is it a hassle to be honest with family and friends. If ashamed, why aren't you now? To call those trying to shame you bigoted, you must not be ashamed yourself". What am I missing? Surely someone has asked this. Why no answer?

I say it's more insensitivity to the situation; let people that would normally be allies go at it hammer and tongs. "Let's get one thing straight. I've got a 6 figure salary and I'm keeping it. The GLBT community has a major city Mayor and they're keeping it. Quit trying to deny us our long overdue successes". That would be telling the truth, though. I'm willing to forgive if Sam pays for the recall vote and he wins it. All forgotten, just like I'm sure his leaving office will not ever be, by his supporters.

One final- I promise- question. Surely no one thinks he could win a recall vote, if held today, right? Surely, he must calculate that one is coming. Doesn't this put to death all those notions that he has possibly learned something? What strategy could he possibly have, given the foregoing, other than, "I can finagle this". What other hope do his supporters have? Doesn't his decision announce that he will continue to do business this way? I'm not so sure this is 100% involuntary. Now he knows exactly how far he can go and how many "no matter what" votes he has. No, that is crazy. That would assume he has big plans. I'm afraid his only big plans are for a new mortgage.

Please prove me wrong Sam. Take your core supporters and go on a commie/progressive tear! You've told everyone else to bugger off and survived (maybe). You want to talk about political piggybanks? That one is stuffed to the gills. Please use it. Hell, at the rate you're going, you might even get Randy Leonard to resign in a fit of disgust! Of course, none of this will happen. We will hash this out over and over, have an expensive recall vote, he will finagle the results and then get back to great rhetoric with very little to show for it. But it's OK. Portlanders are good people.

lestatdelc - everyone in the f*cking world thought Saddam had WMD's at the time of that invasion, and not just because the administration said so.

And yes it is VERY nice that America helped create some semblance of a democracy (and friend) on the 3rd largest proven oil reserves on the planet. This will proven extremely helpful as we move from a petrol to green energy based economy.

lestatdelc - everyone in the f*cking world thought Saddam had WMD's at the time of that invasion,

I didn't. Most of the people I know didn't.

In the big protest march before the war, the sign I carried said "Where's the proof?"

You had to look past the front page and the talking heads to find out about it at the time, but there were plenty of reports from a variety of reputable sources disputing the assertion of WMDs. Not to mention the fact that we had inspectors on the ground (remember that?) who also found nothing, and were continuing to inspect, BEFORE the invasion.

Say what you want about Sam Adams, but you can't rewrite the history of the last 8 years.

The longer he stays in office, the more likely he is to become the national poster boy for politicians who can't keep their dick in the pants.

It warms my heart to know he is going to twist in the wind during the A.G.'s investigation. Should be good for newspaper sales and bad for bike bridges.

Leo Shuman wrote: We have police, public investigators, and prosecutors. If any public official engages in criminal activity, those are the people who should be asking the questions. Not editors and reporters in search of circulation bumps. And if no criminal activity has occurred, then it is nobody's business how adults choose to live their private lives

That's a nice theory but it's neither realistic or desirable and ignores the traditional role of newspapers and other media. God save us all if public officials are allowed to hide themselves from media attention by hiding behind a privacy shield of their own making. I understand many private activities could remain private with no loss to the public's need to know, but, as Mayor Adams has shown, that decision cannot be left to the official under scrutiny. There are just too many aspects of private life that may affect an individuals ability to perform in public which might be legal, but can negatively impact the individuals job performance.

"42 year old president George W. Bush sent thousands of 17 year olds for 6+ years to kill people overseas. NICE!" lestatdelc, what on earth does the war criminal George Bush have to do with the sick, lying election-thief Sam Adams? I've asked you repeatedly to support Adams with facts. You obviously can't do it. Are you a heterophobe?

not fooled sez: everyone in the f*cking world thought Saddam had WMD's at the time of that invasion, and not just because the administration said so.

And yes it is VERY nice that America helped create some semblance of a democracy (and friend) on the 3rd largest proven oil reserves on the planet. This will proven extremely helpful as we move from a petrol to green energy based economy.

Good lord, what do we have here, Lars Larson with a new pen name? Out-of-work BushCo folks?

I'm quite sure the Iraqi refugees I've been helping would really appreciate your kind words, "not fooled"--especially the ones walking around with bits of shrapnel in their bodies. WTF, COLLATERAL DAMAGE, RIGHT?

42 year old president George W. Bush sent thousands of 17 year olds for 6+ years to kill people overseas. NICE!

Really? How many? Like ZERO!

What a dumbass comment.

Torridjoe, you wondered why I would sign a recall petition knowing that a recall would be an expensive affair. It's because I think Adams is unfit to be mayor. Frankly, I thought EVERY candidate in our last mayoral election was unfit for the job.

I'm allowed to call myself a political progressive and simultaneously be both unimpressed by Sam Adams and appalled by identity politics.

Sex Crimes which Require Registration as a Sex Offender in Oregon

1.Rape in any degree 2.Sodomy in any degree 3.Unlawful sexual penetration in any degree 4.Sexual abuse in any degree 5.Incest with a child victim 6.Using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct 7.Encouraging child sexual abuse in any degree 8.Transporting child pornography into the state 9.Paying for viewing a child's sexually explicit conduct 10.Compelling prostitution 11.Promoting prostitution 12.Kidnapping in the first degree if the victim was under 18 years of age 13.Contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor 14.Sexual misconduct is the offender is at least 18 years of age 15.Possession of materials depicting sexually explicit conduct of a child in the first degree 16.Kidnapping in the second degree if the victim was under 18 years of age, except by a parent or by a person found to be within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court 17.Any attempt to commit any of the crimes set forth in paragraphs (a) to (p) of this section 18.Burglary (in the first degree for juvenile court), when committed with intent to commit any of the offenses listed in paragraphs (a) to (p) or (s) of this section 19. * Public indecency or private indecency, if the person has a prior conviction for a crime listed in this section

http://www.oregonsatf.org/sexoffenders/orsexcrimes.html

At a minimum, Sam Adams is going to be a registered sex offender just like Former Jail Blazer Ruben Patterson.

However, if Breedlove's parents did not know Breedlove was going to Portland when Breedlove met Adams in Portland, the DA could be a hardass and throw kidnapping in the 2nd degree charges at Adams.

I'm glad that Sam is staying.

This is really quite simple. The people overwhelmingly elected him. The city has the recall in place, and citizens can avail themselves of that if they wish SIX MONTHS FROM WHEN HE TOOK OFFICE.

My wild-ass guess is that any recall election six months from now will fail. Once people examine the alternatives, and have had an opportunity to see who is attacking Adams (not the same as those who are disappointed in him making an idiotic mistake) and why, they will choose to retain Adams over the alternatives. Then, down the road, he can be re-elected or not on his merits, as he should be.

I voted for Adams' public policy agenda. I want to see it go forward. After this week, I really want to see the Council ruthlessly bulldoze over the shortsighted anti-green, anti-transit opposition and, hey, by the way, let's treat ourselves to a heaping helping of infrastructure. Let's make the coming recall a referendum on policy, not on what Sam should have kept in his pants.

darrelplant, your argument is that we can't trust Sam Adams after this screw up.

I would argue two points in rebuttal:

1) Adams lied about sex in a particularly narrow situation (the other person was eighteen at the time, but he didn't believe that the public would accept that without reservations or without reinforcing stereotypes about gays). This situation was not (in my opinion) in the domain of public information. We don't have a "right to know." Yes, he volunteered the lie, that was wrong. But the domain of the lie puts this in a specific category that is not the same as, for example, weapons of mass destruction, or bids on a light rail right-of-way.

2) I think we can safely say that in the near future any situation where there is a doubt as to whether Sam Adams is telling the truth or not will be heavily scrutinized by all parties and by the media. I think Adams knows this. Thus I think that Adams will be strongly motivated to be quite transparent for quite a while.

I think that Sam Adams could rehabilitate himself and do a lot for the City of Portland, but a necessary first step for that to happen is for him to resign.

Part of the trouble here is that when he ran for City Council Sam cultivated a warm and fuzzy image to counter his reputation for playing hard ball when he was Vera Katz's Chief of Staff.

His smearing of Bob Ball suggests the warm and fuzzy image is a scam, and says that Sam will use dirty tactics in order to protect himself.

Carla, I hate to tell you, but TJ is right, you're misusing the word "literally". That's okay, it's one of the most misused words in English. It isn't really an intensifier.

How does "literally had the scoop" say more than "had the scoop"?

Could we be real? I mean the people that are saying let's get back to work. Already, on the Oregonian, we see:

Posted by RecallAdams on 01/25/09 at 11:47AM

At RecallSamAdams.com we view the 6 month wait as an opportunity for volunteers to organize and and educate voters until the warm summer days to gather signatures.

6 months? Longer if it succeeds? This is soooo sad. I can now see that these people do not care for the interests of Portland. I have no doubt that we're to the point that they believe that their hanging on to their ill-gotten gain is the best thing for Portland. The sybolism is more important than the facts. You see it in most the posts. "Look at the alternatives". Got it. It's relative; no absolute criteria. Got it. Count me out of politics. Count me out of Portland. Count me out of giving a ggd about anything. Nebraska may be full of "ignorant hicks" but they aren't superficial West coast self-rightous PC correct expensive anti-intellectual self-satisfied aware hypocrites!

I should stop. I'm going to start swearing if I read that self-serving, self-important blather one more time. Boy people are dumb. They really buy that you care. Maybe they've never experienced the real thing. Name one reason, name one reason...

Contributing requires intercourse with someone under 18, which has not been alleged by either party. ORS 163.435.

Posted by: lestatdelc | Jan 25, 2009 2:35:44 PM

commie/progressive tear

What century are you in?:

I think that wasn't sarcasm. I think he wants him to do that, if he survives. Use the opportunity for something positive. Hard to sort it out from the more cynical bits, but that seems totally serious. Characterizing the progressive agenda the way the very people he's leaving behind would. Great. Get on with it, then. I think it's a valid point.

The truth may set you free, but a big fat lie can be a quick windfall! He's just doing what every athlete and pol and exec does; fraud and butt poking. "What would JC do"? Bang away and bang away! As George Carlin would have said, "he's servicing his constituency".

Posted by: darrelplant | Jan 25, 2009 3:59:50 PM

Let's make the coming recall a referendum on policy, not on what Sam should have kept in his pants.

Grammar mavens will note (Carla look away) that this is an opportunity to add "literally", at the end.

Kevin,

It's unclear at this point that the allegations "were nobody's business", and I don't think Adams is getting an extra hit here because he's gay. I think if he were straight and this situation was involving a young woman who was 17/18 at the time that people would be having similar strong reactions.

Again, it's telling that Adams didn't react by saying "it's nobody's business", he reacted by calling the accuser a liar.

From the story today, it appears that, though it may not meet the legal definition of "sexual contact", that Adams had, in fact, sexual contact (c'mon, kissing for a minute is sexual contact) when Beau Breedlove was 17.

I don't see how Adams can be an effective Mayor, especially given Portland's weak-Mayor system, where much of a Mayor's ability to be effective lies in the bully-pulpit to rally public opinion. He's likely lost that.

@ Frank, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you're not a prosecutor or defense attorney - or informed about criminal law at all.

If "my parents didn't know where I was" counts as kidnapping in Oregon, DAs have been falling down on the job. There was no force or threat that anyone has alleged here. The definitions are available online, you might consider checking them out since you were oh-so-smart to pull the sex offender registration list.

Finally "at a minimum" Sam Adams doesn't have to do anything. If he's convicted, he'll have to register. Last time I checked, he's innocent until proven guilty - here, he hasn't even been CHARGED with a crime.

He's admitted to lying about sex. He's admitted to asking someone else to lie about sex. You're well within your rights to find him incompetent as a politician because of that, but those are not criminal acts.

If you read Breedlove's account, it is clear that Adam's actions the night they necked in the City Hall bathroom constitutes Sex Abuse III.

The subsequent coverup includes coersion, and a boatload of election law violations for misrepresenting a material fact (the nature of their relationship) during an election in numerous public statements, and inducing other to lie to further the coverup.

Note to self: If members of the AG's Criminal Investigations Division are steaming towards your coordinates with polygraghs warmed up and a fistfull of subpoenas, your time as an effective leader for your city are over.

Sam said he would resign if it came time he couldn't be an effective Mayor for Portland. That time has come (and passed).

As for his agenda, how many parents do you honestly want this guy in their schools, or anywhere around children? That fact alone renders him useless.

Time to go Sam, before the indictment.

mlw: that's incorrect

163.415 Sexual abuse in the third degree. (1) A person commits the crime of sexual abuse in the third degree if the person subjects another person to sexual contact and:

  (a) The victim does not consent to the sexual contact; or

  (b) The victim is incapable of consent by reason of being under 18 years of age.

  (2) Sexual abuse in the third degree is a Class A misdemeanor. [1971 c.743 §115; 1979 c.489 §1; 1991 c.830 §1; 1995 c.657 §11; 1995 c.671 §9]

I love a blog where the same thread can contain people arguing about the legal definition (with citations) of sexual abuse AND whether or not a particular word is properly being used as an intensifier (and pretty soon these folks will be citing grammar rules).

JG: 163.305 Definitions. As used in chapter 743, Oregon Laws 1971, unless the context requires otherwise:

  (1) “Deviate sexual intercourse” means sexual conduct between persons consisting of contact between the sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another.

  (2) “Forcible compulsion” means to compel by:

  (a) Physical force; or

  (b) A threat, express or implied, that places a person in fear of immediate or future death or physical injury to self or another person, or in fear that the person or another person will immediately or in the future be kidnapped.

  (3) “Mentally defective” means that a person suffers from a mental disease or defect that renders the person incapable of appraising the nature of the conduct of the person.

  (4) “Mentally incapacitated” means that a person is rendered incapable of appraising or controlling the conduct of the person at the time of the alleged offense because of the influence of a controlled or other intoxicating substance administered to the person without the consent of the person or because of any other act committed upon the person without the consent of the person.

  (5) “Physically helpless” means that a person is unconscious or for any other reason is physically unable to communicate unwillingness to an act.

  <b>(6) “Sexual contact” means any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person or causing such person to touch the sexual or other intimate parts of the actor for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of either party.</b>

  (7) “Sexual intercourse” has its ordinary meaning and occurs upon any penetration, however slight; emission is not required. [1971 c.743 §104; 1975 c.461 §1; 1977 c.844 §1; 1979 c.744 §7; 1983 c.500 §1; 1999 c.949 §1]

I'm not the least bit surprised he's staying on. He should. However, I am rather disappointed by the revelations and much of the reaction from both sides. The rabid, knee-jerk, off with his head from one side of the spectrum and the mindless defend him at all costs from the other. A 40 something trolling for teens or barely legal action aint cool, especially when you're a public figure. We'll find out just how damaging this little lapse in judgment is to his effectiveness, his legacy and the reputation of Portland.

Steve wrote: (Adams) doesn't have a college degree.

He filed claiming a BA in Poly Sci from UO. If he really doesn't have a formal degree conferred, then it would be pretty easy to take Adams out, because he would be subject to a $100K fine and/or up to 5 years in prison.

I attended the city council meeting at which Petersens' convenience store was given a second chance. Sam Adams abruptly announced, "I've got to go potty." Several people laughed. I thought it was crass. What I now realize is that Adams was using code for, "Meet me in the restroom."

ATTENTION TOURISTS: Don't forget to visit city hall's 2nd floor restroom in which our mayor gave a 17 year old kid a 60 second kiss.

t.a. barnhart, thus:

"there is always much for a citizen to do besides bleat about who's fucking who."

Whom. Who's fucking whom.

Sorry, I just thought it was time for the grammar police to surface again. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

Other than that small point, your thoughts are wise and gently spoken, sir.

Posted by: 240NEMLK | Jan 25, 2009 6:56:18 PM

ATTENTION TOURISTS: Don't forget to visit city hall's 2nd floor restroom in which our mayor gave a 17 year old kid a 60 second kiss.

Fer sure. There's a whole tour developing along with the Tonya Harding dumpster and the jailblazer's house where all the bags of weed were found and the office where the Enron scam was conceived and the hill the cars slid down. The bike paths are suffering in all this.

Posted by: Ms Mel Harmon | Jan 25, 2009 6:23:40 PM

I love a blog where the same thread can contain people arguing about the legal definition (with citations) of sexual abuse AND whether or not a particular word is properly being used as an intensifier (and pretty soon these folks will be citing grammar rules).

It's great. It's real. And Jeff had a great linguistic point. Definitely worth the price of admission, imho.

What a piece of shit.

What a loser.

This guy lies, lies, and lies some more (he FORGOT that he made out with some kid for 1 minute+ in the men's bathroom?)

This guy is a born loser.

But he is also a born politician. He lied and lied some more to get elected. So why should we expect he will do the decent thing and resign? Of course not. He is a lying SOB only looking out for Number One.

this is sad for portland and sad for progressives. i'm still waiting for an argument that will make me feel good about sam staying in office.

i left tuesday's inauguration with a sense of hope and direction about what tomorrow would bring.

sam is not making me feel like a very proud portlander and not making tomorrow what it could be for this city and our legacy.

My wife just went to see Harvey Milk with her mom. She said it was a great movie and thinks Josh Brolin deserves an Academy Award.

I wonder if any of the Portland Haters have seen it?

Joe Hill:

I voted for Adams' public policy agenda.

Bob T:

Like corporate welfare in the form of subsidizing millionaire Mr. Paulson so he can renovate a stadium he doesn't own so he can bring a major league soccer team here, and so he can build a new park for the baseball team.

Not to mention spending many, many millions to build a government-owned hotel close to the convention center.

One would think that in (so-called) progressive Portland, at least the first item will get nowhere. But everyone's looking the other way. Again.

Bob Tiernan Un-affiliated voter in Portland

Posted by: Just Giggity | Jan 25, 2009 10:35:52 PM

I wonder if any of the Portland Haters have seen it?

Am I just totally out of it? I don't get the "referendum on bigotry" angle. In our form of city gov, I look at the mayor as an umpire. I'm a cricketer. The umpire's decision is final. It isn't always right, but he's the umpire and it's final. What I do expect and require is good judgment. That's why you have an umpire, so that when everyone else looses their heads, there's one bloke with good judgment that can make a call. At this point a lot would just as soon put it all behind, but the residual questions revolve around his judgment.

At a minimum, at least account for having to continually reverse statements made about the affair. Those can only speak to the issue of credibility and not to the pressures society exerted on him at the time of the original issue. How long will it be before we have one story that doesn't change for a week? That would go a long ways towards restoring credibility.

RE: "smearing of Bob Ball"

People keep saying this. Please explain.

Fact: Bob Ball leveled a charge that was false.

Fact: Bob Ball had zero proof of the charge.

Fact: If he had any proof, he was obligated to notify authorities. - as he us a reserve police officer.

Fact: Sam said Bob leveled a false charge. Sam was right.

Where's the smear?

No matter what happens, the Mayor Adams needs to zip up his pants and get back to work. He's already had a week off now it's time to either work or quit.

I don't care which one just make a decision.

I'm convinced that Zarathustra did in fact mean "loose their heads". "Lose their heads" would be sort of like "misplace their heads", only with a bit more finality. And "loose their heads", in darrelplant's sense of allowing heads to roam freely, certainly captures some of the surreality of the claim that a guy who won close to 60% of the vote is, after all, a victim of gay-haters. This brand of logic is most definitely not captured by a mundane turn of phrase like "lose their heads".

"The people overwhelmingly elected him. "

Mostly because he decided to publicly lie about his involvement and take out a competitor all without any need to.

For gosh sakes, if he had a brain at all, he could have said none of anyone's business and it would have dropped. Instead he let his ego/narcisstic tendencies take over and push him into more bad judgment. Is this the type of leader you want?

Kids gunned down in front of a nightclub over the weekend and where is our mayor? Busy retaining legal counsel.

This man will be spending many hours fighting lawsuits over this matter when there is much to be done in this city. He's unfit to serve. What is wrong with Portlanders? We deserve better than this!

I would like to see one of the threads restarted, with the caveat, "don't mention sex". I would bet my last thin dime that it is mentioned first by his supporters.

Let me try again even simpler. If you don't mention sex, most his detractors- on this blog- will never say the word. The only people that are constantly bringing up sex (we ignore the evangelicals as inferiors) are the ones that want to then make the point that we have no business in his sex life.

Prove me wrong. If you don't mention sex, you will not hear it from those calling for resignation. If you do, so what? A huge section of those calling for his resignation simply laugh at them. This identity politics is dignifying the real bigots with a kind of legitimacy. That only lowers the public's estimate of your identity group. It also makes them pretty unlikely to be sympathetic to a group they see as exacerbating its own problems.

t is somewhat dubious to be receiving grammatical critique from someone who used the phrase "road to hoe" on the radio this morning. But then I'm generally not finding the need to get into the minutia of the wording when the meaning is very obvious.

Grotesque. And I thought hearing that someone "had oxes to grind" the other day was bad enough.

What Sam did, ingratiating himself to a teenage boy in order to gain sexual favors when the boy turned 18 (if Sam can be believed about the sequence of events,) is typical of insecure older men who cannot maintain relationships with those their own age. It is commonly know as "grooming".

Teens with no male role models often fall prey to these individuals who first gain their trust and then exploit them. These adult males are commonly know as "ChickenHawks"

So, let´s see. Sam lied repeatedly, coerced another to lie, smeared an honest man, and handed a government job to a reporter in order to squelch the story.

Have I got any of that wrong?

joel dan walls: "Frankly, I thought EVERY candidate in our last mayoral election was unfit for the job."

A massive majority of Portlanders disagreed with you in November. But anyway, you acknowledge the alternatives to Sam Adams were crappy. In the last election, prospective candidates had more than a year to decide whether to run. And yet you support a recall, because you think that in the space a few months better choices for mayor will magically appear?

It sounds like you are arguing that we spend thousands of dollars on a recall election so that we can replace our current mayor with someone who you admit is unfit for the job. How exactly would that help?

Buckman Res: "Have I got anything wrong?"

Quite a bit, actually:

1. Multiple news stories have pointed out that Breedlove has a thing for older men, having had relationships with older men before and since his relationship with Adams. The fact that some people have a thing for older people is not unusual. Most witnesses have stated that Beau was the one who made advances toward Sam. What evidence do you have that things worked the other way? None? I thought so.

2. Even the Oregonian has pointed out how fabulously unlikely it is that Amy Ruiz was hired by Sam to shut her up. For one thing, many other journalists in town, especially WW journalists would have been more likely choices if Sam was hiring people to shut them up. Also, Ruiz would be giving up her integrity for a few extra thousand per year, plus others at her paper would likely have picked up the story. While this allegation appears to be reasonable at first, it becomes pretty obviously ridiculous when subjected to any scrutiny.

3. Regardless of how "honest" Mr. Ball may or may not be (he has a reputation for spreading dubious rumors), he did inject the issue of Sam's sex life into the mayor's race purely for his own political gain. Mr. Ball may be honest, but he did wage a smear campaign against Sam and that is inexcusable. Ball deserved withering criticism and the fact that any shred of the story he was selling turned out to be true does not change the fact that his actions were morally reprehensible.

4. No one has suggested that Breedlove was "coerced" into lying. What appears to be the fact of the matter is that Sam asked Breedlove to lie, and Breedlove did so to protect his friend's career. Furthermore, the idea that Breedlove was surprised by being asked to lie is utterly naive. Breedlove was an adult interested in politics, and if he really didn't have a clue that he might be expected to keep this a secret, he surely should have known better.

Buckman Res: "Have I got anything wrong?"

Quite a bit, actually:

1. Multiple news stories have pointed out that Breedlove has a thing for older men, having had relationships with older men before and since his relationship with Adams. The fact that some people have a thing for older people is not unusual. Most witnesses have stated that Beau was the one who made advances toward Sam. What evidence do you have that things worked the other way? None? I thought so.

2. Even the Oregonian has pointed out how fabulously unlikely it is that Amy Ruiz was hired by Sam to shut her up. For one thing, many other journalists in town, especially WW journalists would have been more likely choices if Sam was hiring people to shut them up. Also, Ruiz would be giving up her integrity for a few extra thousand per year, plus others at her paper would likely have picked up the story. While this allegation appears to be reasonable at first, it becomes pretty obviously ridiculous when subjected to any scrutiny.

3. Regardless of how "honest" Mr. Ball may or may not be (he has a reputation for spreading dubious rumors), he did inject the issue of Sam's sex life into the mayor's race purely for his own political gain. Mr. Ball may be honest, but he did wage a smear campaign against Sam and that is inexcusable. Ball deserved withering criticism and the fact that any shred of the story he was selling turned out to be true does not change the fact that his actions were morally reprehensible.

4. No one has suggested that Breedlove was "coerced" into lying. What appears to be the fact of the matter is that Sam asked Breedlove to lie, and Breedlove did so to protect his friend's career. Furthermore, the idea that Breedlove was surprised by being asked to lie is utterly naive. Breedlove was an adult interested in politics, and if he really didn't have a clue that he might be expected to keep this a secret, he surely should have known better.

Yeah, you don't want to make this about sex, because a lot of us that say it's about the lies and judgment would be sympathetic on that note. By most accounts Michael B has it right. I'm not so sure about #2, though, as it's different with someone that is already an insider.

At the end, the cream surfaces.

Correct, JDW and thanks. Just to show it happens to the best, from today's major Pakistani newspaper:

No matter which way you spin it, one thing is clear: Pakistan is no walk in the part. Just because Pakistan is not out with officials making kooky statements like India’s foreign minister and army chief, it doesn’t mean Pakistan should be taken lightly.

Good thing. Resigning in the face of this pseudo-scandal would set progressive thought on the related topics back.

The legislature is considering legislation about relationships between students who are 18 and teachers. How is this different than a mentor relationship? Also, the lip-lock in the 'boy's room!" at 17 is the behavior of a paedophile although a smart one, who cultivated a relationship but had the control to lay the groundwork but wait until the technical age of consent to consummate the act. I think this is called "grooming!" No one ever said the mayor wasn't smart and I mourn the loss of the new approach under this cloud.