I hate acronyms. It seems there's an acronym for everything. But I heard about a group today that is just begging to be known by an acronym.
The realization came to me while watching the 11 o'clock news on KATU, the ABC affiliate in Portland. They were leading the newscast with the latest story on the scandal surrounding Portland Mayor Sam Adams.
The story prominently featured Hollie Teal, a supporter of Adams, who believes he should stay in office in spite of his admission that he lied about a sexual relationship he had with a young male a few years ago.
Hollie is working to rally support for Adams. She's started a blog, Sam is Still My Mayor, and a group on Facebook that already has 130 members.
In Teal's interview with KATU she gave the group of supporters an unofficial name. "We are the People in Support of Sam," Teal said. Seems an appropriate name to me. People in Support of Sam -- P.I.S.S. -- because Adams has undoubtedly pissed all over his political career.
I'm fascinated by the Adams scandal story, but the things I want to know aren't the things that are making the evening news, the morning papers or the media websites. I want to know the story behind the story. Rumors of Adams' involvement with the other man in this story were apparently circulating years ago, before Adams officially began his run for mayor. But I want to know what pushed it to the forefront now, after Adams was seated as mayor. I want to know what the conversations were like in the Oregonian newsroom, where Adams' partner works as an investigative reporter.
Sure, I'll check in periodically to follow developments in the story. My daughter lives in Portland, so how the city is run, and who runs it, are of obvious interest. But what I'm really interested in is finding links to the story behind the story of how this broke and the intrigue of how journalists and politicians are intermingled here, like the former Portland Mercury reporter who had been trying to track down the sex rumor and ended up on Adams staff.
Media organizations are good at aggressively pursuing a big, breaking news story and political scandal revealed (in this case, finally, as I understand it, by Willamette Week, to home Adams first confessed his lie). But I am particularly interesting in the story behind the story and how the story made its way to publication/broadcast/posting. Now some of those details are coming to light, like Willamette Week's story on why Adams confessed. I also find it fascinating when media report on the actions of other media. It is, surely, one of the benefits of having a competitive media environment with watchdogs keeping and eye on the actions of government, elected leaders and public servants.
So many media outlet are in financial trouble now, along with the economy, and journalists are among those frequently joining the ranks of the unemployed. One has to wonder how many competitive media market, or how competitive those markets will be, after all the economic dust settles.
This story is fascinating on so many levels. Yep, it's a real P.I.S.S.er.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Just your average, ordinary day of historical significance
Seeing President Barack Obama sworn in today as the nation's 44th president forces me to admit that I was wrong about something I said to friends and associates early in the primary campaign season. I predicted, erroneously, that the voters in this nation would not elect a black man president. I thought that voters weren't ready, were too narrow minded to do that at this point in our nation's history.
Seeing the public reaction to today's inauguration events was a powerful message of just how times have changed. I don't assume that racism in this nation ended today. But I hope that today, and with each successive day Obama serves in the White House, that our nation truly gets closer to a nation where race is no longer a barrier, or an issue.
It was great to read the updates posted by friends who were in Washington, D.C., today to witness history first hand. And I was struck by the realization that someone of my generation is now Commander in Chief.
Obama and our nation face tremendous challenges. I am proud that my generation, in the person of Obama, was finally able to achieve a dream many may not even have dared to dream when this generation was born. But mostly I am proud that as my daughter comes of voting age this spring, there really is the possibility that anyone with the proper skills and campaign savvy could become president of the United States of America, regardless of race or gender. I'm not sure I'd want my daughter to be subjected to all the nastiness of a national campaign, but if she wanted to do that I hope she knows emphatically that she could. Without a doubt. Not any longer.
If he accomplishes nothing else, Obama has been the change, the nation has needed.
Oh, and one other note on today's inauguration: How cool was it to see the orange and black of Oregon State University featured so prominently during the inauguration in the wardrobe of Obama's brother in-law Craig Robinson, head basketball coach for OSU? Go Beavs!
Seeing the public reaction to today's inauguration events was a powerful message of just how times have changed. I don't assume that racism in this nation ended today. But I hope that today, and with each successive day Obama serves in the White House, that our nation truly gets closer to a nation where race is no longer a barrier, or an issue.
It was great to read the updates posted by friends who were in Washington, D.C., today to witness history first hand. And I was struck by the realization that someone of my generation is now Commander in Chief.
Obama and our nation face tremendous challenges. I am proud that my generation, in the person of Obama, was finally able to achieve a dream many may not even have dared to dream when this generation was born. But mostly I am proud that as my daughter comes of voting age this spring, there really is the possibility that anyone with the proper skills and campaign savvy could become president of the United States of America, regardless of race or gender. I'm not sure I'd want my daughter to be subjected to all the nastiness of a national campaign, but if she wanted to do that I hope she knows emphatically that she could. Without a doubt. Not any longer.
If he accomplishes nothing else, Obama has been the change, the nation has needed.
Oh, and one other note on today's inauguration: How cool was it to see the orange and black of Oregon State University featured so prominently during the inauguration in the wardrobe of Obama's brother in-law Craig Robinson, head basketball coach for OSU? Go Beavs!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Dream of equality lives, but not yet realized
Television and the Internet can sometimes make the world seem like a very small place. It's easy to get the impression we all have shared experiences. We post our little burbs on our blogs and Facebook and MySpace pages, we Twitter and text and talk incessantly on cell phones. Communication is non-stop.
We share data and details with those near and far. However, that doesn't mean there is true sharing or understanding.
In watching the post-election coverage Tuesday night, so many of the commentators, analysts and pundits were talking about how far we have come as a nation to elect Barack Obama, a bi-racial man, to the highest office in the land. Obama, who was born before the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act became law, is now seen as the hope of a new generation and the embodiment of what so many generations have fought -- and died -- to achieve.
Even Obama's acceptance speech was different than those that came before in its attempt to be inclusive of all of America.
The headline on commentary piece by Joseph Galliano on the Guardian website calls Obama a pro-gay president.
Yes, we've come so far, but our nation still has so far to go.
"There's something deeply wrong with putting the rights of a minority up to a majority vote," Evan Wolfson, a gay-rights lawyer who heads a group called Freedom to Marry, was quoted as saying in an Associated Press story. "If this were being done to almost any other minority, people would see how un-American this is."
Fortunately, we have a system that does not merely rely on majority rule. We have a system that offers checks and balances. But we haven't achieved true balance or true equality yet.
Just ask the gay community.
I can't understand it. I'm perplexed why anyone would care that two people who share their lives and responsibilities also share the same gender. But then again, not everyone has had the same life experiences I've had. I am thankful and fortunate to have so many friends and family members who are gay and open about who they are at their core. They don't live a lifestyle, they haven't made a choice to live or love a certain way. Their sexuality is as much part of them as their eye, or skin, color.
I've been fortunate to live in a community with a vibrant and active gay community, gay businesses and gay activists. I've been fortunate to see beyond the flamboyant fringes of gay and lesbian life and beyond the stereotypes. Those I care about have shared their lives -- not just the parts that are different or mysterious or spicy -- to a heterosexual who was naive about such things. I've seen that they have the same boring, vexing problems I have. But if they are fortunate to find someone they want to share their life with, they run into many more roadblocks in trying to take care of each other or share the burdens of responsibility that come with love and true commitment.
My tolerance for intolerance has worn thin. That's undoubtedly due in no small part to having family members who are Latino and gay and friends who are Latino, black, Jewish, gay, Asian, etc., in other words, people who are outwardly different than me, yet who inwardly have proven to me to offer more similarities than differences and whose differences have enriched me personally.
I'll be honest, Obama's election stunned me. I know there is still a lot of bigotry, racism and intolerance in our country. If I look close, I can still see it in myself too. I didn't think we, as a society, were ready to elect a black man as president.
I was wrong. Sometimes it's good to be wrong. But I can't for the life of me figure out how some of the very same people who voted for Obama in California, Arizona and Florida could also oppose gay marriage.
However, I am not without hope. I know interracial marriage was once illegal. I know the voting majority once supported slavery and opposed giving black men and women of all races the right to vote too. I am proud America is the type of nation that it is with the type of government it has and that majority rule is not the only rule of government or law. I am confident that one day we will achieve the freedom and equality espoused in our nation's Declaration of Independence. We are already more equal today than our Founding Fathers ever dared to dream.
But we are just not yet equal enough.
We share data and details with those near and far. However, that doesn't mean there is true sharing or understanding.
In watching the post-election coverage Tuesday night, so many of the commentators, analysts and pundits were talking about how far we have come as a nation to elect Barack Obama, a bi-racial man, to the highest office in the land. Obama, who was born before the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act became law, is now seen as the hope of a new generation and the embodiment of what so many generations have fought -- and died -- to achieve.
Even Obama's acceptance speech was different than those that came before in its attempt to be inclusive of all of America.
In the rush of euphoria, perhaps it seems that the worst is all behind us. That Americans have matured, grown wise and understanding and inclusive and accepting of people and their differences. But on the same night Obama was elected the next president of the United States -- on the night he mentioned homosexuals specifically in his speech-- that very same electorate also voted to exclude others. Voters approved a constitutional amendment restricting marriage to heterosexual couples only in California and similar measure in Arizona and Florida -- three of 30 states that have now adopted such measures. And on Tuesday, Arkansas voters passed a measure that keeps gay men and lesbian women from adopting children or serving as foster parents."If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. ... It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red
States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America."-- Barack Obama, Nov. 4, 2008
The headline on commentary piece by Joseph Galliano on the Guardian website calls Obama a pro-gay president.
Yes, we've come so far, but our nation still has so far to go.
"There's something deeply wrong with putting the rights of a minority up to a majority vote," Evan Wolfson, a gay-rights lawyer who heads a group called Freedom to Marry, was quoted as saying in an Associated Press story. "If this were being done to almost any other minority, people would see how un-American this is."
Fortunately, we have a system that does not merely rely on majority rule. We have a system that offers checks and balances. But we haven't achieved true balance or true equality yet.
Just ask the gay community.
I can't understand it. I'm perplexed why anyone would care that two people who share their lives and responsibilities also share the same gender. But then again, not everyone has had the same life experiences I've had. I am thankful and fortunate to have so many friends and family members who are gay and open about who they are at their core. They don't live a lifestyle, they haven't made a choice to live or love a certain way. Their sexuality is as much part of them as their eye, or skin, color.
I've been fortunate to live in a community with a vibrant and active gay community, gay businesses and gay activists. I've been fortunate to see beyond the flamboyant fringes of gay and lesbian life and beyond the stereotypes. Those I care about have shared their lives -- not just the parts that are different or mysterious or spicy -- to a heterosexual who was naive about such things. I've seen that they have the same boring, vexing problems I have. But if they are fortunate to find someone they want to share their life with, they run into many more roadblocks in trying to take care of each other or share the burdens of responsibility that come with love and true commitment.
My tolerance for intolerance has worn thin. That's undoubtedly due in no small part to having family members who are Latino and gay and friends who are Latino, black, Jewish, gay, Asian, etc., in other words, people who are outwardly different than me, yet who inwardly have proven to me to offer more similarities than differences and whose differences have enriched me personally.
I'll be honest, Obama's election stunned me. I know there is still a lot of bigotry, racism and intolerance in our country. If I look close, I can still see it in myself too. I didn't think we, as a society, were ready to elect a black man as president.
I was wrong. Sometimes it's good to be wrong. But I can't for the life of me figure out how some of the very same people who voted for Obama in California, Arizona and Florida could also oppose gay marriage.
However, I am not without hope. I know interracial marriage was once illegal. I know the voting majority once supported slavery and opposed giving black men and women of all races the right to vote too. I am proud America is the type of nation that it is with the type of government it has and that majority rule is not the only rule of government or law. I am confident that one day we will achieve the freedom and equality espoused in our nation's Declaration of Independence. We are already more equal today than our Founding Fathers ever dared to dream.
But we are just not yet equal enough.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Who can promise real change for a better future?
My ballot and the voter's pamphlets sit a few feat away on a foot stool. Election Day is less that a week away. It may prove to be one of the most important elections of a generation, yet I find I'm not yet ready to mark my ballot.
I miss going to the polls on Election Day. It feels more significant somehow to go to the polls and cast a vote. A vote at the polls seems more like I'm fulfilling a civic right, like I'm more a participant in the process.
I'll probably end up doing like I have the last couple of elections and drop off my ballot at one of the drop-off spots, rather than mailing it in. It feels more like going to the polls that way. That, and I need a deadline -- a ticking clock -- to get me moving on some projects, whether at home or at work.
I am pretty sure I know how I'm going to vote on the major races (but won't divulge that here. That's a secret I'll keep for my ballot). But the ballot measures are another matter. I'm becoming a cranky old curmudgeon on ballot measure. I am tempted to vote no on everything. I believe the initiative process can be an important part of American civics. However, it mostly seems a sign that the America political system is broken. Our elected leaders (at the federal and state levels), entrenched in divisive partisan politics, seem unable to govern. Unable to practice statesmanship. Unable to make the difficult, important choices to move us forward and away from simplistic, stereotypical rhetoric.
The people have tried to take action, force change, through things like establishing term limits in various states. But instead of making things better, it has only made things worse by leaving the lobbyists and appointed bureaucrats with the influence, power and institutional knowledge necessary to negotiate the process.
Can any of these men and women running for office, seeking our vote on Tuesday, lead us to a better world?
It's a simple vote: Yes or No?
I miss going to the polls on Election Day. It feels more significant somehow to go to the polls and cast a vote. A vote at the polls seems more like I'm fulfilling a civic right, like I'm more a participant in the process.
I'll probably end up doing like I have the last couple of elections and drop off my ballot at one of the drop-off spots, rather than mailing it in. It feels more like going to the polls that way. That, and I need a deadline -- a ticking clock -- to get me moving on some projects, whether at home or at work.
I am pretty sure I know how I'm going to vote on the major races (but won't divulge that here. That's a secret I'll keep for my ballot). But the ballot measures are another matter. I'm becoming a cranky old curmudgeon on ballot measure. I am tempted to vote no on everything. I believe the initiative process can be an important part of American civics. However, it mostly seems a sign that the America political system is broken. Our elected leaders (at the federal and state levels), entrenched in divisive partisan politics, seem unable to govern. Unable to practice statesmanship. Unable to make the difficult, important choices to move us forward and away from simplistic, stereotypical rhetoric.
The people have tried to take action, force change, through things like establishing term limits in various states. But instead of making things better, it has only made things worse by leaving the lobbyists and appointed bureaucrats with the influence, power and institutional knowledge necessary to negotiate the process.
Can any of these men and women running for office, seeking our vote on Tuesday, lead us to a better world?
It's a simple vote: Yes or No?
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Could the future president be coming to town?
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is coming to Oregon at the end of the week and he is scheduled to make an appearance in Salem.
According to the Statesman Journal website, tickets are required at his Salem appearance, but no more tickets are available.
I don't talk about my politics, even with friends, so I won't say who I will be voting for in the Oregon primary or in November. Actually, I'm not sure if I'll get to vote for anyone in the primary, since I also didn't tell state election officials my politics and I am not affiliated with a major (or minor) political party. But I am a little intrigues by the opportunity to see someone who could be a future president with my own eyes.
Perhaps I was born too late. I love lots of the modern technological conveniences and devices, but I miss campaign style of earlier generations where candidates made their stump speeches from the backs of trains at a railroad siding while traveling the nation.
I got to meet a former president once and covered a couple of presidential candidates' appearances in Oregon when I was in college -- Jesse Jackson and Michael Dukakis. Papers I've worked for have covered campaign appearances, but I was long since relegated to desk duty during those events.
Maybe I just forget the feeling and excitement of those appearances because so much time has passed. But Obama's candidacy seems to be different. There is an energy and excitement out there among the public and the mainstream press. I guess I am intrigues at the idea of find out what that excitement is all about for myself.
Odds are, I won't go. I probably wouldn't get to a spot where I would see anything more than the candidate's motorcade anyway. It's just exciting that at least one of the primary races is close enough that a candidate will make several Oregon appearances. Back in January, I figured it both races would be long over by the time Oregon's primary rolled around in May. I don't we will see McCain or the Democratic Party nominee before the November general election. Oregon just isn't a big enough state with enough voters to matter in the fall, unless they make a quick pass through Portland en route to Seattle or somewhere else.
I'll also be curious to see whether Hillary Clinton visits any other cities besides Portland prior to the primary.
According to the Statesman Journal website, tickets are required at his Salem appearance, but no more tickets are available.
I don't talk about my politics, even with friends, so I won't say who I will be voting for in the Oregon primary or in November. Actually, I'm not sure if I'll get to vote for anyone in the primary, since I also didn't tell state election officials my politics and I am not affiliated with a major (or minor) political party. But I am a little intrigues by the opportunity to see someone who could be a future president with my own eyes.
Perhaps I was born too late. I love lots of the modern technological conveniences and devices, but I miss campaign style of earlier generations where candidates made their stump speeches from the backs of trains at a railroad siding while traveling the nation.
I got to meet a former president once and covered a couple of presidential candidates' appearances in Oregon when I was in college -- Jesse Jackson and Michael Dukakis. Papers I've worked for have covered campaign appearances, but I was long since relegated to desk duty during those events.
Maybe I just forget the feeling and excitement of those appearances because so much time has passed. But Obama's candidacy seems to be different. There is an energy and excitement out there among the public and the mainstream press. I guess I am intrigues at the idea of find out what that excitement is all about for myself.
Odds are, I won't go. I probably wouldn't get to a spot where I would see anything more than the candidate's motorcade anyway. It's just exciting that at least one of the primary races is close enough that a candidate will make several Oregon appearances. Back in January, I figured it both races would be long over by the time Oregon's primary rolled around in May. I don't we will see McCain or the Democratic Party nominee before the November general election. Oregon just isn't a big enough state with enough voters to matter in the fall, unless they make a quick pass through Portland en route to Seattle or somewhere else.
I'll also be curious to see whether Hillary Clinton visits any other cities besides Portland prior to the primary.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Voters strip mayor of gavel for posing in panties
The mayor of the tiny town of Arlington, Ore., got dooced this week by her constituents. See the full story from the East Oregonian.
Some people just have no sense of humor. Come on, just how many mayors would anyone want to see in their underwear on a fire truck?
There are mayors embroiled in even bigger scandals than this one. Like the mayor of Detroit, Mich. And remember Marion Barry?
Well, I guess there are two lessons to learn from now-ousted Mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist's scandal.
One lesson related to the Detroit mayoral scandal too and that is that political (sexual or skin) scandal has now ventured into cyberspace and the wireless world.
The other thing of note in this age of voter apathy is that sometimes your vote really does count, as Kontur-Gronquist was recalled by the slimmest of margins, 142-139. And she got her constituents involved, as nearly every single registered voter in the town cast a ballot. How many mayors can boast that sort of turnout or interest?
Some people just have no sense of humor. Come on, just how many mayors would anyone want to see in their underwear on a fire truck?
There are mayors embroiled in even bigger scandals than this one. Like the mayor of Detroit, Mich. And remember Marion Barry?
Well, I guess there are two lessons to learn from now-ousted Mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist's scandal.
One lesson related to the Detroit mayoral scandal too and that is that political (sexual or skin) scandal has now ventured into cyberspace and the wireless world.
The other thing of note in this age of voter apathy is that sometimes your vote really does count, as Kontur-Gronquist was recalled by the slimmest of margins, 142-139. And she got her constituents involved, as nearly every single registered voter in the town cast a ballot. How many mayors can boast that sort of turnout or interest?
Friday, January 18, 2008
Arlington mayor's 15 minutes of national fame
The scandal involving the Arlingon, Ore., mayor's myspace photo controversy will spill over onto national TV today. An interview with the mayor, Carmen Kontur-Gronquist, is scheduled to air tonight (Friday, Jan. 18) an ABC's 20/20.
The mayor has refused calls for her resignation. I'm not sure what folks are so upset about. The mayor has put that tiny burg (population 524 in the 2000 Census), on the map. Her predicament has been a hot topic on blogs, like this post on a blog called "A Slip of a Girl," listed as a lingerie blog, or this one on Blogger News Network, or this one on Death by 1000 Papercuts.
A Google blog search for the term "Arlington mayor photos" brings back 1,411 results. That's nearly three times as many posts about the Arlington mayor than live in Arlington.
Arlington shouldn't be trying to recall their mayor. They should be turning her photos into a calendar (with her consent and permission of course) and turning this into an economic development/revenue generating opportunity. If they city doesn't, someone else will find a way to make money off the deal.
Can Playboy's Girls of City Hall edition be far behind? Maybe they are already trying to capitalize on the sex and politics theme, as one of the items the men's magazine is teasing on its Web site right now proclaims: "Sex in America. Our survey shows that politics doesn't matter between the sheets."
The mayor has refused calls for her resignation. I'm not sure what folks are so upset about. The mayor has put that tiny burg (population 524 in the 2000 Census), on the map. Her predicament has been a hot topic on blogs, like this post on a blog called "A Slip of a Girl," listed as a lingerie blog, or this one on Blogger News Network, or this one on Death by 1000 Papercuts.
A Google blog search for the term "Arlington mayor photos" brings back 1,411 results. That's nearly three times as many posts about the Arlington mayor than live in Arlington.
Arlington shouldn't be trying to recall their mayor. They should be turning her photos into a calendar (with her consent and permission of course) and turning this into an economic development/revenue generating opportunity. If they city doesn't, someone else will find a way to make money off the deal.
Can Playboy's Girls of City Hall edition be far behind? Maybe they are already trying to capitalize on the sex and politics theme, as one of the items the men's magazine is teasing on its Web site right now proclaims: "Sex in America. Our survey shows that politics doesn't matter between the sheets."
Monday, January 7, 2008
Fire erupts over small town mayor's sizzlin' MySpace photos
"Every last one, route one, rural heart's got a story to tell
Every grandma, in-law, ex-girlfriend
Maybe knows you just a little too well;
Whether you're late for church or you're stuck in jail
Hey words gonna get around;
Everybody dies famous in a small town"
-- "Famous in a Small Town" by Miranda Lambert
One of my favorite sayings since returning to my home state a couple of years ago is that Oregon is a small town. Sometimes it seems everyone knows everyone's business here. Of course it's not quite a intense as living in one of the numerous small towns around the state where the population is measured in the hundreds.
Obviously, in a small town, the mayor is about as public of a public figure as you can get, outside of the high school quarterback and the starting point guard on the basketball team (who are quite likely the same person).
Arlington, Ore., is one of those towns, in as small valley along the Columbia River, between The Dalles and Pendleton. It is perhaps best known, in recent years, as the gateway to Waste Management's Columbia Ridge Landfill.
It's biggest celebrity claim to fame was as the birthplace of "Doc" Severinsen, the former band leader for the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. But judging by the current media coverage in the state today, Arlington's newest celebrity is in fact the mayor, Carmen Kontur-Gronquist, who is achieving her fame in a very 21st century manner -- on the Internet as part of a scandal.
The mayor is the focus of some criticism for some partially-clad photos of her (in bra and panties) on a fire truck that she had posted on her MySpace page, which unfortunately she has now set to private, so you can't see her photos. I think I'm beginning to understand what women find so hot about fire engines.
As near as I can tell, the scandal broke in a story in the East Oregonian, which then got picked up on the Associated Press wire, and by the Portland and wider Northwest and Internet media.
I get the EO's daily newsletter of stories, but frankly I did not pick up on the story because of its dull headline, "Residents question mayor's actions." Yawn.
I don't know how all this will turn out for Mayor Carmen or the city of Arlington, but if all there is to the scandal is an attractive woman and part-time podunk-town politician struts her stuff on a fire engine in attire that covers more than what you see along the Columbia River on a summer day, then I would hate to see her lose her job. I generally like the whole social networking phenomenon. But many people find out that personal material you post (or others post about you) online can come back to haunt you. Maybe she will take the picture down, which she apparently hasn't yet, even though she blocked access to all but her MySpace friends.
I grew up in a town very much like Arlington. The town of Echo, Ore., where high school sporting events, like the eight-man football game, is the social highlight of the week for miles around. In fact Arlington was one of the schools in our league for sports.
Oh, the things that could have been posted online about those bus trips to places like Arlington, Cascade Locks, Fossil, Condon.... It's probably a good thing digital cameras and websites weren't around back then. I didn't care too much for living under the microscope as a resident of a small town. It always felt like everyone knew more about my business than I did.
John Mellencamp paints a romantic notion of life in small communities in his song "Small Town." Kenny Chesney's performance of "In A Small Town," by songwriters Harold Cory Mayo and Jon Lyle Mcelroy concedes some of the bad, along with praising the good of tiny town life:
Sometimes it was heaven, sometimes hell
Kinda like church, kinda like jail
There's a water tower says 'Welcome to nowhere'
As soon as I could I was long gone
My jeans were torn and my hair was long
Now I can't believe
I wanna go back there
To a small town, to a small town
But as Miranda Lambert sings in her song, "Everyone dies famous in a small town," she gets to the heart of the sometimes unwanted notoriety even small-town notables find in places where everyone knows everyone else and spends far too much time talking about who, and what, they know. (Click here for the video)
Sometimes, people in towns large and small town go on to Internet notoriety, because the world wide web has turned the whole wired world into one massive small town. Good luck Mayor. And if you find you need someone with press experience to handle the media onslaught, look me up on MySpace. Maybe we can trade services. I can be media consultant and you look like you could certainly be my personal trainer.
Ouch! Did you see those abs? Is it just me, or is there something even hotter about a woman in a position of authority who could also kick your ass if you aren't careful!
Of course, none of the things I say here apply in any way, shape or form to my daughter and her MySpace page! Should I be concerned that she never accepted my friend request?
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