Tuesday Tune: Here Comes The Rain Again

More Bad News For Gordon Smith

It seems the Republican senator's Eastern Oregon pea-packing plant has had some more overflow problems in violation of state environmental regulations.

Happy Birthday U.S. of A.

Tuesday Tune: Right on Time

Today in Oregon

Why the long face?




Last night in Oregon ...



(click on images for larger versions)

Tuesday Tune: He Said Psychedelic (heh heh)

From The WMD Stockpiles: The Rumsfeld Collection

In light of the recent news that a Senate committee has determined the Bush Administration, eh-hmm, "overstated" the, eh-hmm, "evidence" leading up to the invasion of Iraq, The World's Maddest Dog has unearthed more scuds from the WMD Stockpiles.

Presenting ... The Rumsfeld Collection (click on images for larger versions):

If Hillary Were An NBA President ...

The New Republic's Christopher Orr provides a brilliant "sports parable" to put into perspective Hillary Clinton's absurd reasoning for staying in the Democratic Presidential Primary:

A Sports Parable

A statement from Detroit Pistons general manager Joe Dumars:

I wanted to say a few words about the Michigan Solution. No, not that travesty of justice. I'm talking about a fair, common-sense resolution of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Some in the media are declaring the series over because the Boston Celtics have won four of the six games played so far. But I don’t understand why, with a series this close and hotly contested, anyone would want to shut it down before we play a seventh game and have all the results in. As anybody who follows the NBA knows, a seven-game series would be good for the league, and the added competition would make the eventual victor, whomever it might be, a stronger opponent against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals.

...Yes, Boston has won four games and Detroit only two. But it's hard to imagine a more arbitrary and undemocratic way to determine this series’s outcome than "games won." It is, after all, a bedrock value of the game of basketball that all points must be counted. But how can that be the case when every point beyond the winning point is ignored? There are literally dozens of layups, jumpers, free throws, and (yes, even) dunks that our opponents want to say don't count for anything at all. We call on the NBA to do the right thing and fully count all of the baskets that were made throughout the course of this series.

Once you abandon the artificial four-games-to-two framework that the media has tried to impose on the series, a very different picture emerges, with the Celtics leading by a mere 549 points to 539. Yes that’s right, the margin between the two teams is less than one percent—a tie, for all intents and purposes. This is probably the closest Conference Finals in NBA history, though I will thank you not to check on that.

Do yourself a favor, read the rest HERE. It's genius.

Hat tip to The Daily Dish.

Today in Oregon

Buffet

Did Cheney Hand Democrats W. Va?

Gruff-but-unlovable Vice President Dick Cheney stuck his foot in his mouth while attempting humor with the national press. Will his gaffe make it easier for Obama to win that state in November? One can hope.

Roll the tape ...



Cheney needs to give up the comedy act and stick with his day job ...

Tuesday Tune: My Wife...

...thinks you're dead!

NY Times Notes Novick's Internet Appeal

Was Steve Novick the first major YouTube political candidate?

That's the question New York Times media reporter Richard Perez-Pena posed in his article published today about Novick's feisty campaign for Oregon's Democratic U.S. Senate nomination:

Mr. Novick lost the May 20 primary by three percentage points, but political pros say that for the first time in a statewide race, YouTube had the crucial multiplier effect, turning an under-financed campaign into a serious contender. His ads received far more attention on the Internet than through his few television spots, offering a new template for insurgent candidates.

"YouTube plus netroots equals Steve Novick," said Jennifer E. Duffy, managing editor of the Cook Political Report. (Netroots fuses the words Internet and grassroots to describe a style of political activism.) "YouTube is the only way he got any traction."

Not that this will be easy to duplicate. It worked because of a candidate, a strategy and a set of ads that were all clever, oddball and appealing.

...Bloggers and talk show hosts praised the ads and linked to them. The beer ad alone collected more than 150,000 hits on YouTube. The most popular Merkley ad was seen on YouTube about 3,600 times.

The mainstream media started covering Mr. Novick. He rose steadily in the polls and ultimately raised more than $1 million — a respectable sum, though far short of Mr. Merkley’s.

The reporter fails to mention the boatload of bailout cash floated Merkley's way in the closing weeks from heavy hands in D.C., but otherwise an interesting take on Oregon's U.S. Senate Democratic primary and Novick's nearly successful "insurgent" campaign.

Hat Tip to Jack Bog's Blog.

Wyden Officially Endorses Merkley

Oregon's senior U.S. Senator, Ron Wyden, made his endorsement official Saturday when he tapped fellow Democrat Jeff Merkley in the race for the Senate seat currently held by Republican Gordon Smith.

From the Oregonian:

Wyden -- who has also benefited politically from his bipartisan friendship with Smith -- told the crowd, "I will not be criticizing (Smith's) service as a senator, or anybody else's.

"But just as Gordon supported my opponents in 1998 and 2004 because those gentlemen shared Gordon Smith's Republican values," added Wyden, "it is important I support the person who supports my progressive values, and that person is Jeff Merkley."

Merkley called Wyden a "huge asset" to his campaign and said the senator has promised to help in "multiple ways." Merkley aides say they expect help with fundraising and with additional appearances at campaign events. They also didn't rule out using Wyden in campaign advertising.

Oregonian reporter Jeff Mpaes also points out that Democrat Bill Bradbury received this same kind of endorsement from Wyden in his unsuccesful 2002 campaign to unseat Smith.

Video: Young Hillary Clinton

Guess Who Was In Town Last Night

At the Roseland in Portland:



And it was goooood!