What Have You Done?

I wrote my Senator [Wyden] asking him to oppose Mukasey's nomination until he clearly and unequivicably renounces waterboarding as torture and rejects the idea that president can break laws if he believes it is in the national interest.

Look at me, I'm all activist and shit.

Fudge

Nephew called on Obama to get his ass in gear and pose a challenge to Hillary, if he's going to do it already.

Social Security "reform" and anti-gay singers are not the way I was hoping Obama would go with it. Tonight might be telling in my continued support of Obama.

Although his Social Security stuff is not as bad as I was reading on the netroots. Eliminating the payroll tax exemption should be an idea we can all get behind.

[UPDATE]: I watched the first hour, but remained unimpressed with all of them. Except maybe Kucinish. Hillary wasn't that bad, but then, later, I heard her at some health care forum talking about "individual responsibility," basically echoing the Republican talking point that argues that there would be no health care crisis if people would stop going to the emergency room when they chip a nail. Plus, there was an op-ed in today's paper praising Hillary for being "serious" about Iran, because, you know, they are days away from having a nuclear weapon and I think we can all agree that would be a horrible, horrible thing. Which made me remember what a horrible, horrible thing it would be to have her in the White House.

Most Bizarre

If you haven't been following the Glenn Greenwald/Col. Steven A. Boylan affair, you should get in on it.

It started with GG writing a column on the fact our military seems to be closely linked, exclusively, with right-wing news sources and right-wing bloggers.

Col. Steven A. Boylan, the spokesman for General Patraeus, wrote an e-mail to Greenwald basically saying that GG was full of shit, didn't know what he was talking about, and it a hack "journalist."

Greenwald published the e-mail and wrote another column about how Boylan's response only goes to prove Greenwald's point and doesn't dispute any of Greenwald's theses.

Because Boylan's e-mail is over-the-top and he speaks for the commander of US forces in Iraq, many people thought maybe the e-mail was a fake. Greenwald wrote to Boylan asking him to verify that the e-mail was from him. Boylan said that the e-mail was not from him.

And you can read from the many updates, the story is now about whether or not Boylan wrote the first e-mail. Apparently, many, many, computer experts, including the GTFF's own Peter Boothe have determined that there are no differences between the e-mail Boylan denies sending and other e-mails that he has sent to Greenwald.

Through other sources, Boylan has emphatically denied writing the first e-mail.

We now have a choice to make. One thing is true, the other is not.

1. Boylan sent the e-mail and is now lying when he claims he did not.

2. Someone was able to gain access to the US military e-mail service and send an e-mail that is indistinguishable from legitimate e-mails sent on this system.

Certainly, option #2 is the most disturbing, but option #1 is not much better. Let's not forget that this guy is the personal spokesman for General Patraeus and is a Public Affairs Officer in the US military.

One Small Clause

Generally speaking, I have nothing against fair share members of my beloved union. You don't want to join? That's cool, 75.86% of GTFs do. It's no harm to me if you don't join up.

But...when you tell me that you don't want to join up because unions are "irrational and inefficient," immediately after signing up for your free health care, then you can go fuck yourself.

I want and "Eye and Eye" clause in the next contract. If someone actually advances the argument that unions are irrational and inefficient, they should immediately lose all union benefits and be forced to rely upon the kindness of their department for all benefits.

Good luck with that.

Last Time, I Promise (Maybe)

I know I've been pushing the crap show K-ville, this is the last time I do so. I promise. Maybe. Depends on how soon K-ville is canceled.

Tonight's repeat episode is one of my all-time favorites. Maybe #2.

Fox, 9 pm.

Things to know before you watch:

White Cop (I still haven't learned his name) just joined the NOPD at the beginning of this season. He originally claimed to be a cop out of Cincinnati, but it was revealed that he was actually a prisoner in a NOLA jail when Katrina hit and he escaped during the storm. To escape he had to kill his cellmate/best friend because the cellmate couldn't swim and he was drowning White Cop. After escaping jail, White Cop joined the military where he served a two-year hitch in the Special Forces in Afghanistan. Only Boulet [Boo-lay] (black cop) knows about White Cop's nefarious past.

It is important to remember that White Cop has only been on the police force for a month now, having started out as a homicide detective. I believe this is important to keep in mind during all scenes between the captain and the just-hired homicide dick.

That should set the scene. Many things will not make sense to you. This is the way of K-ville. You may be tempted to turn your mind off and watch the show. Do not do this. Keep the mind active, as it will add layers of surreality.

I know many of you may be wondering if K-ville is possibly best viewed while high. I wouldn't know, as I am not yet that brave.

Ah, the Good Ol' Days

Have you all seen the latest Coors commercial? I'd link to it, but it's not up on the Youtubes and you have to do a hellva lot of navigating to get to it on the Coors website. I know my crowd and you're way too lazy to find it. Go ahead. I dare you.

Anyway, it features a (white) man, his (white) friends, some (snowy) Rocky Mountains and a (yellow lab) dog. Mostly, it features a song. A song about how the world seems to be changing. Everything is changing. But I'm not going to go changing. I like the way I'm living. I've got my reasons why. I'm not going to go changing.

Now, ostensibly, the commercial is about the fact that Coors has been brewed the same way since nineteen-aught-diddly and they aren't going to change that. I guess the fine folks at Coors seem to think that the loyal Coors drinker might be worried that the Miller-Coors merger might result in some compromises to the fine brew that is Coors. This commercial will reassure them of that, I am sure.

Not-very-sub-textually, of course, is also the message that the fine folks at Coors, like you, are just a little tired of these queers demanding special rights, the blacks getting all uppity, and now the women got one of 'em running for president! Can you believe that! So, if you are a reactionary white male, boy have we got a beer for you!

Is it possible that what Coors is trying to assure the loyal Coors drink of is that despite the merger with Miller, Coors isn't going to go changing their very conservative social policies and "charitable" endeavors?

EW Letter of the Week

This letter has the classic Eugen "I don't live in the world where business have to make money" attitude working in spades.

ROOFTOP PARK

Greetings! Here's a compromise idea re: what to build across from the Eugene Public Library. A park, on the roof of a one-story building, which has street-level stores, java haunts to granola shops, facing Olive Street, 10th Avenue and Charnelton Street. The first floor interior could have an inner green-spaces courtyard and access ramps to a below ground parking garage much like the library's. The excavation work for such a garage is already half-done. (Of course, having a downtown public pool is an alternative.)

On the rooftop's park, tables and chairs surrounded by plants and small trees in raised-beds, ivy growing on 8-foot high wind-blocking wooden lattice work — all accessed during library hours and for special events.

No doubt two or three small cart vendors would love to get a contract for such a rooftop park.

So, what do you think? Is it evident to you that any urban renewal work must be environmentally responsible and contribute to lessening, not increasing, the effects of global warming?

Charles F. Thielman, Eugene

Dinner

for me, not you.

For the Record

No matter how hot it is, the combo of gin and Sprite Zero^TM is not a good one.

I Know You Do

If you've got a spare 45 minutes, jam it on over to Fox's K-ville site, download the viewer and watch what might be the worst 45 minutes in television history.

Some of you already know of my love for K-ville, others have yet to hear of it. Here's your chance to get on board. I will post some time soon as to why I think this show may be the greatest on television since Love Boat.

For the Catholics in the crowd...you have to watch this episode. It concerns the murder of a Deacon in a Catholic Church. The (ex-cop) "preacher" and our hero/cop hate each other for reasons unknown/revealed throughout the episode. If you're already scratching your head, be sure to note the lack of genuflecting and sign of the cross making and enjoy the gospel choir portion of the episode.

If you're already a fan of the K-ville, please do not hesitate to drop me a line, as there were many hysterical things throughout the episode.

It's Official

Me no likey the water.

It wants to kill me.

By filling my lungs with itself.

I'm not writing off all of Hawaii yet, as I really do enjoy paying $77 for lunch. Could anything be more decadent? Someday I will discourse on my love of bourgeois indulgence. Lots 'o thoughts spinning around.

I tired very quickly of "mahalo," but have now decided to embrace it for the joke that it clearly is. My moment of clarity came about as I was in a grocery store and I heard a woman with the same voice and inflection as Roz from Monsters, Inc. come over the loud speaker and say "Aisle six. Aisle six is now open. Mahalo."

Okay now a quick nap and it is off to the $325 luau.

Off to Hawaii...Back Next Week (or Before Depending on Access)

Like a Third-Rate Cinderella

The Cecil-Hayward family just acquired a salad spinner last night and all I can say is, "Where have you been all my life?"

Three Ruminations on the Value of Non-Monetary Rewards Within the Capitalist System

Like Civil Rights for Blacks, You Know Historic

An unnamed grad union just declared their newly bargained anti-discrimination protections for transgendered grad employees to be "historic."

Now you and I know that the GTFF bargained such protections 5 years ago.

I thought that a certain reader would want to know that a certain person that she is close to used to belong to the very organization that is now ignoring her "historic" work.

Not Since 2006 Has Membership Been So High

New membership record for the GTFF. 75.18%. Shatters the old record of 75.12%

Whaaaaaaa...?

Take a gander at this "hilarious" press release from the Republican branch of the House Energy and Commerce Committee concerning SCHIP.

Now I am all for getting "drunk" at work on a Friday afternoon and putting weird shit up on the internets, but for fuck sake, when you work for Congress, you really should be careful about these things.

Three million kids without health insurance has never been so funny.

Worst E-Commerce Ever!

[UPDATE]: An hour later and the site is still unavailable.

EW Letter of the Week

With six pages of letters, it was a banner week at the EW, but only one stood out for perfect nonsensical nonsense.

RESISTANT TO WHAT?

MRAPs: The mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles. I can only hope they work as well as the IRSS, the insect repulsion sun screen defense. If it is as scary as the connotations I get from the acronym IRSS, it might just work. It seems a waste of $50 billion since Bush promises that we will have won by the time they are built and it won't be necessary, to quote Joe Biden, "to send to our front lines." What front lines? We don't even have a front circle. Maybe the whole thing is just a front.

Vince Loving, Eugene

How High Were They?

OMFG!!!111!1!!!! So Freakin Awesome!

Do yourself a favor, watch all the Rainier commercials you can stand. If you can't stand much, don't miss the Rainier "Motorcycle" ad. Every Northwesterner knows this commercial in his or her soul. You can pretend like you belong next time your out here.

Campus

Too bad there are no bike lanes on campus forcing you to ride your bike on the sidewalk, because the sidewalk is really pretty crowded.

There is a guy wearing a viking helmet (metal, not plastic) sitting outside of the campus head shop offering to read your palm (or whatever) for free, for $5.

Street Faire is going on, so that means people are standing in a 20 minute line to spend $8 for (small) plate of noodles. Pretty plain noodles.

I cannot freakin' understand it.

Your Opinion, Solicited

Everyone knows that I am a cynical son-of-a-bitch (how dare you talk about my dead mother that way!). So I need a ruling. In announcing a committee to investigate how Oregon colleges are staffed, Governor Kulonoski said this:

[The Commission will] Study the impact of the use of part-time faculty and graduate student employees on program quality and student success, and recommend a consistent definition to describe adjunct, contingent and part-time faculty.

How should we be reading "the impact of the use of part-time faculty and graduate student employees on program quality and student success"?

Positive toward part-time faculty and graduate student employees?
Neutral toward part-time faculty and graduate student employees?
Negative toward part-time faculty and graduate student employees?

Help a (union) brother out here.

Unadulatered Wa[n]kery (You Know That's How I Like My Wa[n]kery)

Oh sweet Jebus. I heard this story on OPB yesterday on my way to Portland and I was tempted to abandon my job interview (more later) and drive to the studio and beat the crap out of whoever (whomever? fuck it) approved this story. If you are capable, listen to it; it is much worse listening to this chick babble about how awesome she is than to read it.

The movement to pay reparations to African Americans for slavery has not picked up much political momentum in this country.

Backers of the idea say slavery is America’s equivalent of the holocaust, worthy of payments to make up for generations of human horrors.

In cities across the country Wednesday, about 70 people sat on street corners asking people to pay reparations...right there, on the street. They collected money from white people and handed it on to black people.

The organizer of the event is Damali Ayo, a performance artist in Portland. Colin Fogarty caught up with her outside Nordstrom in downtown Portland.

The crosswalks that surround Pioneer Courthouse Square represent cross sections of Portland. Shoppers pass dollar bills to valets. Construction workers buy coffee.

Men in suits and women in dresses look down at the brick sidewalk as a MAX line edges through the streets.

Nearly everyone here is white. But sitting against the wall of Nordstrom is a fashionably dressed African American woman, with a cardboard sign.

Damali Ayo: "I hold a sign that says reparations accepted here. And I accept reparations from white people as they come by. And they put the money in my can. And then I pay that out to black people as they come by. Would you guys like to pay some reparations today?"

Man: No, I’m OK.

Damali Ayo: "Well you’re OK. But that’s not the point really?"

To artist Damali Ayo, this isn’t panhandling for survival, nor does she consider it a political protest. It’s a performance piece. Ayo has been doing this since 2003. Now, she’s organized dozens of people in cities from California to Connecticut, asking the same question to passers by.

Damali Ayo: "Hi would you like to pay some reparations today? People act like I can’t see them. I see you. If you put your head down, I can still see you."

Colin Fogarty: "Why should people pay reparations?"

Damali Ayo: "I think that it does something to say, yeah, we’re accountable for our history. We’re accountable. I was thinking, recently I was listening to an article about the holocaust and how people talk about the Nazis and how they were so evil and how they were animals and how could do they do that. I mean, look at our own history. We don’t talk about the white slavers that way. We give them the benefit of humanity. So I don’t think we’ve owned up to it. And when you put your money down...we know in this country, when you put your money down, you’re owning up to something. You’re it. And so that’s what this is for."

As we talk, two women from Nordstrom come out to kick Damali Ayo off the property.

Woman: "I represent Nordstrom here. I can’t have you sitting up against our wall or soliciting in front of our doors."

Ayo stays put for awhile. But before she goes, she convinces one white man to give her some change. Later, Ayo finds an African American woman and gives her the money.

Damali Ayo: [to the woman] "White people have been paying me reparations. And I can give you some money that I have. No. no. It’s not my money. It’s white peoples’ money."

Damali Ayo: "And that’s what I love the most about this piece is that anybody who walks by I don’t have to talk to them, I don’t have get money from them, they all have an experience with it. And they’ll go home and say, 'Frank, I saw the weirdest thing today.' And they’ll hopefully have a conversation, which is what I think art should do."

Damali Ayo has panhandled for reparations in more diverse cities than Portland, including New York and Boston. She says in Portland, though the reactions she gets are the most extreme...ranging from accepting to angry.

Of Course, Dr. Johnson Could Have Just Mentioned Gutter Guards and Solved This Problem Long Ago, But He Had a Yacht to Pay For

What Happens In Oregon Does Not Necessarily Stay In Oregon

I Don't Hate GTFs

Hi, um I'm a new GTF and I'd like to complain that no one told me that I needed to come to your office to sign up for health care. I'd like to complain about that for the next 20 minutes. I didn't go to the big GTF orientation, so I didn't see you there. I didn't go to the department orientation. I ignored that postcard you sent me. But I really think that you've been deficient in notifying me about health care. Why didn't you notify me?

What the Navy and the AFL Have in Common

From the Bellman:

This is a bit long, but cruise through it. It actually has some good data that I imagine apply to most of our careers.

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This is great. Sixty-nine ;) slides of the Navy trying to understand the kids today and at no time did the Navy consider that the way the kids today live might, I don't know, better than the way they were brought up.

Let's see...the kids today are perfectly comfortable with technology. They are perfectly comfortable living in a "virtual" world. They have multi-ethnic friendships. Nation means little to them. Race means little. They like their parents. They value education. They want to serve, volunteer, and be involved. They learn by doing, rather than through understanding theoretical models. They have no inherent respect for "authority." They are hyper-achievers. They want praise for doing work.

And the Navy would like to undo all of that. Mentor a kid. Teach 'em that the 60s were the bomb. Life is hard. Respect authority. America kicks ass! Sand niggers must die! The "real world" sucks. And is like the Matrix. Without the hot chick. One would imagine. Teach 'em that they have to respect you because you're old. Teach 'em that they don't know nothin'. Make sure they understand that college, unlike the Navy, is for sissy boys and girls. Say things like, "I thought that black eyed peas were for New Years!" Then cackle maniacally. Teach 'em about Reagan and the Cold War, you know when the world made sense. (Don't teach 'em about our support of Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War, that will only confuse 'em.) Teach them that the Navy is really like one giant video game, expect you actually kill real people, but you only get to be a guy who monitors a screen, not the guy who actually pulls any sort of trigger.

We have the same damn problem in the union movement. We're starting to get the speeches that point out that most "good" union men and women are retiring soon and the kids coming up behind them need to understand the value of the union. Because the kids today, I tell you what, they just don't get it. So I go to workshops about reaching out to young workers, but what you get is a room full of Boomers bitching about how the young people just don't respect all the work that Boomers did to get those contracts. They don't want to join the union. They don't want to get involved. Let's all sit around talk about what is wrong with these kids and how we can get them to be more like us.

I've started to become a bit more vocal in my displeasure about these sorts of conversations, but I have yet to hit upon any kind of rhetorical strategy to make the oldsters see that it is maybe they that need to be thinking of ways to relate to the kids and not the vicey versey. That our unions must change in order to stay relevant. The unions of the 1950s did not look like the unions of the 1930s, the 1970s did not look like the 1950s and so on. A massive cultural shift is here, but I don't think it happens by convincing the young people that the union model has been perfected, so it is time they get on board.

Of course, I am hampered by my lack of knowledge about how it is we reach out to the young people. I am very conscious of the fact that my Simpsons references, which used to go over like gang-busters and formed the heart of the GTFF for a while, now fall totally flat. Using Robert Guilliaume as a cultural touchstone is over. And like all old folk, I fear that which I do not know. But still, I like to think I am slightly better off than my Boomer aunts and uncles.

So what do we do to reach out to the young folk? For the most part, I think it is just a matter of getting the hell out of their way and seeing where they take us. Maybe the key to getting the old folk to understand how to "reach out" to the young people is to teach them that everything is going to be okay. Maybe educate them a little about the po-mo. Tomorrow's unions won't be "better" or "worse," they'll just be "different." And that's "okay."

Pretention, Thy Name is Frank

Went and saw former Pixies frontman Frank Black perform at the WOW Hall on Friday. His band goes by the name Black Francis. Yep. He lives in Eugene now. A fact that I was supposed to wet my pants about.

I swear to the Lord that he said that he had just flown in from Helsinki and he was burnt from the trip. His voice was fried. I gave him a lot of slack for this, although I wondered about scheduling a gig right after such a trip, but actually admired the "fuck it, I'll do it for the new hometown" ethos he was laying down. 'Course some of the shine was knocked off this when it was mentioned that he's lived here for three years. All shine is gone after visiting his website and seeing that he's had gigs in Portland and their Couve in the week before he played Eugene. What the fuck was that about Helsinki?

He played a few Pixies songs solo. Nice touch. Then the band came out and the "rocking" began.

You know, I have a kind of "dancing" style that involves me standing still. If the song is really rocking, you might see my head nod back and forth with some modified front to back body rocking. Too old and fat for the pit, this is all you will get out of me. I honestly cannot understand people who are going nuts bouncing up and down, side to side, and generally freaking out to a soft rock song. And soft rocking was all we were doing, save one song.

So Frank informs us that his new album is based on the life of Dutch artist...well I didn't catch the name. Internet research shows that he was referring to Herman Brood. Now it is obvious that Frank dwells in the 12th Realm of Hipsterdom where Brood is practically a saint (I guess). I dwell in the level where references to "Dutch artists" transport me to the 17th-century world of Rembrandt and Vermeer. My mind touched briefly on Van Gogh and then, naturally, on Don McLean's awesome "Starry Night" and then on NOFX's kick-ass cover. No such ass-kicking was to follow.

Between songs would tell us which parts of Brood's life inspired the next song. Of course, Frank was operating under the impression that we already had a firm grasp of the details and his mere references would allow us to follow along. It was during one of these interludes that I/we learned that Brood was not a 17th-century painter, but rather an 1970's rocker. While the lyrics to the songs were unintelligible, it was slightly disturbing to find that my canal-laden visions of lower-class painters living in an upper-class world needed to be replaced with the glory that was 1970s Holland. Of course my pop-culture addled mind immediately raced to Austin Power's Goldmember and jokes about the freaky-deeky Dutch.

Anyway, the place was hotter than hell and I really didn't care about Herman Brood. When Black tried to tell us that Brood had "redeemed" the Amsterdam Hilton by jumping off it's roof to his death, I was completely done with him. Suicide was cool and the hotel needed to be redeemed because it was the site of John and Yoko's "Bed in." Ironically, it was about this time that his wife joined him on stage for some Onoesque background singing.

He got a little schtick from the audience for going on about how cool it was that Brood had jumped off the Hilton to commit suicide. Frank was taken aback. For just a moment I could tell he was thinking of walking off the stage in one of those "how dare they" moments. He stuck with the show, but as the room grew hotter and people starting shouting more "who the fuck cares about this"-type comments during his interludes, he grew more pissy.

My ability to go with the flow was ended with the anecdote about Brood's lover Nina Hagen. I still haven't figured out why her name drew a cheer from the audience. A case of mistaken identity? Anyway the song Black was about to play was inspired by her, or as Black put it, "This next song is inspired by Nina Hagen, Brood's lover. It's not about her. I thought about writing a song about her, but just couldn't. But I certainly thought a lot about her while writing this album." Or something to that effect. That was about all I could take.

Black ended the show by playing one of Brood's songs, "You Can't Break a Heart and Have It." Wouldn't you know it, it was the most rocking song of the whole freaking show. I wasn't the only one who thought this, as the whole crowd was into it. I couldn't help but wonder if the whole thing might not have gone off better if Black had just chosen to play some of Brood's songs and leave it at that.

No encore for us. We certainly had not earned it.

I Note You Not

For those uawares, the State Department has a new blog. It is called Dipnote. They haven't posted anything in two days and the first post looks to be the welcoming post, but the site has been up for a couple of weeks. The comments are pretty good in that they break down one of two ways: either they are clearly plants thanking the DoS for the new era of transparency or from people making fun of the DoS.

Have a good time.

EW Letter of the Week

Those we like to play the game of guessing which letter I am going to select must have been very disappointed this week, as there was only one clear choice:

CONSTITUTION DAY

An article about how the Constitution is not being taught in our schools should also include our Congress. The Constitution states that it is the jurisdiction of the states' supreme courts to settle election disputes, not the U.S. Supreme Court, thereby negating the Bush presidency.

I don't mean to be mean or impeach the impeachment movement, but constitutionally you can't impeach someone who is not legally in office. I wonder if the court can indict itself for failing to uphold the law of the land.

Vince Loving, Eugene

Pre-AGEL Phone Call Blogging

You know why the song Jessie's Girl is awesome? It's the line:

She's loving him with that body/
I just know it.

It's the "I just know it." As if there is some doubt in Rick's heart that Jessie and his girl are actually sleeping with each other. They way says it, like we, the audience are the ones harboring this doubt and he needs to convince us of the strength of his belief.

Rick, we never doubted it, and you divinely reveal too much. We love you because we pity you.

More Thorp

If I could say it better than the Curmudgeon I wouldn't be working at the GTFF:

Uh-oh, Howard looks like he’s about to prove that wearing Buddy Holly glasses and being named “Howard” doesn’t automatically make you smart. It’s well known that the Internet primarily exists as a vehicle for anonymous personal abuse. Googling the name of a crappy high school quarterback who plays in a town unnaturally obsessed with high school sports will mainly serve to demonstrate how many ways there are to misspell “YOU FUCKING SUCK.”

Oy

Veh.

Just In Case You Ever Doubted It

I ♥ Hillary and always did.

I Am a Freakin' French Mushroom!

Boom!

EW Letter of the Week

TOO OBVI, REALLY

OK, so I'm not going to bother to explain exactly why Eugene needs a downtown park and public open space for meeting people, reading library books and relaxing (besides the LTD bus station, of course) because in my mind, it's just a non-issue. I mean, do I really have to explain how much good it would do the city if there were a park downtown? No, because we all already know it. (Well, at least some of us.)

On Sunday I will be leaving to travel in Europe for two months. I hope while I am enjoying its famous parks that the city of Eugene will do something great for its downtown area by bringing in some green, creating a place to gather and not fostering the need for even more cars. Please don't follow the UO's lead, which is currently raping the campus by cutting down large trees and destroying a favorite large open grass space to create none other than — a parking lot.

P.S. I am a 21-year-old college student, and I vote, pay my taxes, ride my bike and care about the future of this city. Isn't it time that the "older and wiser" people in charge care about it too?

Sarah Thorpe, Eugene

Awesomely Emerald

Headline from Monday's sports section:

All eyes fixated on him, Jackson has big day

Incompetent Politics

We have a ballot measure battle out here in the sticks. Measure 50 would raises taxes on a pack of cigs by $.85. This money would be used to provide health care for the poor.

Big Tobacco has been running ads against it. Brilliantly, they have framed the issue as a huge give away to HMOs. More people with health care = more money for health insurance companies. They are also going with the "we must protect the sanctity of our Constitution" and "what's next? Coffee??!?!?!??"

The Yes on 50 people, or the Healthy Kids Initiative, just fired back with their first commercial. They have decided to go the (troubling) nativist route and attack the out-of-state tobacco companies that don't care about our kids. Not only should we on the left be deeply troubled that the best weapon our allies have is a claim to "homeland," but Health Kids manages to screw the pooch by having their narrator mispronounce "Oregon."

You out-of-staters may not know this, but we Oregonians are very, very, infinitely very touchy about how "Oregon" is pronounced.

The Healthy Kids folks are running a commercial that has one message, "vote yes because the 'no' crowd is from out of state." Then they manage to fuck up the pronunciation of the state name. How the heck did this get by anyone who actually lives in Oregon? Why was it run? Why? Why? Why?

I wish I could show you the video, but the Health Kids folks are also not competent enough to post their freakin' commercial on the YouTubes, let alone post it to their website.

Boobery.

And lastly, very prominent on the website is the message that Lance Armstrong(!) endorses Measure 50! That's right, out-of-state adultering cheaters think this is a great idea! You should too!