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The City That Works? Tell Phil about it

Friday 6.13.03:

"I'm a uniter, not a divider." Worldwide Pablo asks: Just what does it mean to be a moderate? Being a middle-of-the-roader in this day and age is probably the blandest of all possible political choices. After all, few win awards these days for visiting both sides of the fence, let alone mending them. The glories instead flow easily to the glib and facile Sean Hannitys and Michael Kinsleys of the world. But WWP kindles hope that there remains a future for those who choose to live somewhere between politics' north and south poles.

The issue of selecting federal judicial candidates gives us reason to visit this issue again. As United States senators debate (and filibuster) over nominations to federal courts, a refreshing notion arises: Let's appoint a centrist! The radical idea comes from U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who this week challenged the W House, for once, to pick a middle-of-the-roader for the federal bench – something Worldwide Pablo, Schumer and others have yet to witness in nearly 30 months of the current "uniter not a divider" regime.

Schumer even names names of acceptable Republican-appointed Republican jurists. Worldwide Pablo wonders: Would it be so difficult to nominate such a moderate? Only time will tell. In the meantime, however, let the administration's claim to "govern from the middle" be scrutinized by the Great Uniter's actual rhetoric and record.

Portland media: Is the Portland news media a watchdog or a lap dog? Recent news out of the U.S. Supreme Court is that a Cincinnati ordinance creating drug-free zones is not constitutional. The law allowed those arrested (but not necessarily convicted) of drug offenses to be 86'd from neighborhoods, sometimes even if it was where they lived. The Cincinnati law was based on, you guessed it, the ground-breaking (some would say, civil rights-breaking) Portland ordinance.

So what is the future of Portland's "drug-free" zones? The Portland Police Bureau informs us that Portland's ordinance is waaaay different, "improved," even, over the Ohio law. "We have been improving ours over the years, and we are a couple of generations beyond the Cincinnati law that was struck down by the Ohio state and federal courts," a spokesperson tells one major television station in Portland. "We will continue to use our … ordinances." Response from the "news channel"? It's a non-issue, end of story.

Worldwide Pablo, offhand, can think of no less than a dozen lawyers, five or six civil rights organizations and a Rolodex of friends who would beg to differ. Yet not a whimper from the Portland media about the Court’s action.

WWP reminds everyone that the Bill of Rights is a multi-edge sword: The document that ensures such ordinary every-day ideas as freedom of association and freedom of assembly is the same document that assures freedom of the press.

Bring an umbrella: Worldwide Pablo revisits yesterday's topic of the imminent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case Lawrence v. Texas. With gay/lesbian pride events scheduled all across the nation this week and next, could the timing be any more awkward?

In Santa Rosa, Calif., local pride organizers worry that a potentially negative ruling at the same time a celebration is planned could be disastrous. "Anytime there is a negative ruling … it helps send a signal that it's OK to beat up on people with minority sexual orientation," says Jim Spahr, president of the North Bay chapter of PFLAG, or Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. He adds: "I don't want the Supreme Court to pee on our parade."

Worldwide Pablo couldn't have said it better himself.

Diva News, Part I: So, Sam Waksal goes to prison for seven years-plus for his role in the Imclone insider stock trading dust-up. And the drumbeat for Martha grows louder daily. Worldwide Pablo wonders: Whatever became of Enron's Ken Lay? Or Andy Fastow? Worldwide Pablo smells a rat. You don’t suppose it helps to be on a first-name basis with the Great Uniter, does it?

Diva News Part II: Martha is laying out her legal case. Read for yourself.

Diva News Part III: Anna Quindlen has an interesting take on the former first lady and her new book, Living History. She writes, in part:

"Hillary has never fit easily into the boxes convention and custom create for women. She tacked on her husband’s surname, and she messed around with her hair, but she couldn’t hide the fact that she was smarter and more ambitious than most people. If she were male, both those qualities might have been seen as commonplace. No excuse, just fact."

The vigor of the double-standard applied to women amazes Worldwide Pablo. So too the pathology that demonizes their success. Read Quindlen’s essay for yourself. [Thanks, Jami S.]

Passings: Two American icons died on Thursday. The arts, law and journalism are all dear to his Worldwide Pablo’s heart, and in their individual ways, Gregory Peck and David Brinkley epitomized the best in these fields. Hollywood Reporter has nice tributes to the two gentlemen.

TGIF, Part I: Worldwide Pablo's followers will want to mark their calendars for October 24, 2003, when concerned citizens all across the country will participate in teach-ins and other events to "challenge overwork and time poverty in America." (No, WWP is not making this up.) Turns out that "overwork" is something of an American crisis. "Millions of Americans are overworked, over-scheduled and just plain stressed out."

Well, maybe that explains Worldwide Pablo's recent fatigue. (Or maybe it has something to do with his staying up late to write this web log?). [Thanks, Rob S.]

TGIF, Part II: Happy Triskaidekaphobia Day! Today is Friday the 13th. Did you know that statistically, Friday the 13th occurs at least once each year, but not more than three times. Or that the likelihood of one, two or three occurrences of a Friday the 13th is 43 percent, 43 percent and 14 percent, respectively. Put that in your Funk & Wagnall's.

Worldwide Pablo cautions his Friday-phobic friends that the present calendar system is just a human invention – there's nothing special or supernatural about a particular numbering scheme. (Other cultural calendars keep track of the days of the year differently.)

By and large, the ancient superstition of bad luck on Friday the 13th has been replaced by a more modern proclamation: TGIF. [Source: Cyprusastronomy.com.]

TGIF, Part III: It’s Pride Weekend here in Portland. Lots is planned. You’ll find Worldwide Pablo with the Methodists in the parade, and then later, with the Episcopalians down at the beer garden. Enjoy the festivities.

Thursday 6.12.03

News from the north: It's finally happened, in North America, at least. Just one day after a Canadian court eliminated legal hurdles to gays being married, two men have tied the knot. Worldwide Pablo wonders how the "marriage is for procreation only" crowd will respond to this turn of events. As conservatives, they are now in the awkward position of trying to unravel this loving, covenanted relationship between two individuals, and the thousands more that are sure to follow. That doesn't sound so "conservative" to WWP, if you ask him. (Andrew Sullivan weighs in on the same subject.)

WWP marvels at the double standard routinely applied to gay relationships whenever the subject of gay marriage comes up, especially so among the so-called "conservatives." Introduce your straight spouse to others, and it's a loving relationship; introduce your same-sex spouse to others, and it's all about genital sex. Talk about what you and the straight spouse did last weekend, and it's plain ol' fashioned Monday morning water-cooler talk; do the same about your same-sex partner, and it's all about genital sex. Mention your vacation plans with your straight spouse and your children, and it's a Disneyland experience; do the same about your same-sex partner and your children, and it's all about genital sex. Put an arm around … oh, WWP thinks you get the idea.

Worldwide Pablo asks: Is it so difficult to see gays and lesbians in the same light that the rest of the world sees itself? Worldwide Pablo remembers a day when conservatives did just that, hewing to such values as "live and let live" and the "right to be left alone." He laments the Fallwellian, dogma-driven "values policing" that is now confused for conservatism.

Meanwhile, back at the Vatican: Pope John Paul II, increasingly frail but also increasingly strident about the topic du jour, used his strongest language yet on Monday, while in Croatia, in a startling homily on gay marriage. Take a wild guess where Holy See comes down. (Hint: creed rhymes with screed.)

Springtime for Ashcroft: The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to announce a decision any day now on the anxiously awaited case about privacy rights and whether states have the constitutional authority to prosecute gays for having sex. The case, Lawrence v. Texas, gives the Court its clearest opportunity to overturn Bowers v. Hardwick, an utterly vile Reagan-era court decision increasingly regarded as the Dred Scott case of our day.

No matter what the Supremes decide, Worldwide Pablo thinks you can expect a big response to the decision: Either it will be a big party, the likes of which will make Mardi Gras look like a church tea. Or (and WWP's friends know he does not make this comparison lightly), it will be gay and lesbian America's very own version of Kristallnacht.

Worldwide Pablo is nervous.

Compare and contrast: Here are two side-by-side headlines in the Wednesday's online Portland Business Journal:

Oregonians’ use of food stamps up 70 percent since 2000

Safeway drops 940 jobs (in Portland and Seattle)

WWP wonders: Will this lead to calls for yet more tax cuts masquerading as economic stimulus? Sing along with WWP now: "Praise George from Whom All Tax Cuts Flow …"

He's baaaack: Yes, Mr. S, The Voice, the Chairman of the Board, he's fallen back in favor. (As if he ever left.) The eternal and perpetually sonorous "Ol' Blue Eyes" continues to make his mark with the "today generation." Worldwide Pablo can only say: Yeah, baby. See CNN’s take on the re-emergence of an immortal icon.

Wednesday 6.11.03

The free agent: Worldwide Pablo reads in Tuesday’s Big O (that’s’ an "o" not a "zero," by the way, in case you were wondering) that Portland’s Veritable Vera and her baseball minions are now poised to make a deal to bring major league baseball to the River City. Do not mistake WWP; he is a big fan of the all-American pastime and prefers watching the sport above all others. He has many fond memories of watching the old Seattle Pilots (in their one fated season in 1969) and listening to other teams’ games on the AM radio with his departed grandfather, "Pop." (Even sounds like a baseball figure, eh?)

But the full-court press (WWP is truly sorry for the mixed metaphor here) to secure a baseball team at almost any cost and with priority over all other real, unsolved civic conundrums tests his patience and raises his blood pressure. (WWP already has a name for the team: The Portland Follies.)

What to do? Worldwide Pablo has an idea. Since we are talking about baseball, let’s make a deal, one that is in the spirit of the game: Portland gets a baseball team, and we agree to trade Vera to Montreal.

Couldn’t be more simple.

Second time at bat: Do Democrats favor gays more than Republicans do? Rereading a report of the National Gay/Lesbian Task Force, Worldwide Pablo was struck by these words:

"Contrary to assertions of conservative pundits, it's clear that the Democratic candidates cannot be accused of 'pandering' to the gay community," said Matt Foreman, NGLTF Executive Director. "By and large, their positions aren't 'leading' the fight for equal rights, they simply reflect the overwhelming opinion of the American public."

That’s right, the Dems are followers, not leaders, on gay/lesbian issues (if NGLTF is to be believed). If that’s true, Worldwide Pablo wonders if that’s such a bad thing. Here’s why: In insisting that our politicians take bold stands and not waffle on the day’s most pressing issues, we risk creating single-issue candidates, and worse, single-issue voters, the kind of lazy citizens who pick a politician only when the candidate's opinion on Subject 1 comports with a voter's own. Nevermind the myriad of other issues, or trying to govern "from the middle" (as the current administration once famously promised). According to Worldwide Pablo, this dumbing-down process of single-issue politics is increasingly creating the ideologues – and, he would say, the demagogues – we all despise. Be honest: Is such posturing purifying, or poisoning, America’s political atmosphere?

The NGLTF report is worth another look, if only to read it again in that light.

Home base: A charming review in the Tuesday edition of the Portland Tribune ponders two new books that address the subject of boyhood. One of the books addresses the connection between maleness and aggression, and how it is experienced by most boys. Here’s a beaut of quote:

"And like many mothers of boys, [author] Emmons also was initially concerned about her son's desire to play with toy weapons. "When I first encountered this 'maleness' in my child, I was shocked," she says. "I found myself asking grown men, 'Did you play with guns and swords when you were a kid?' And without exception, even the gentlest gay men said, 'Yes, I did.'"

WWP confesses that he played with make-believe guns and swords when he was a lad (it was the 1950s and 1960s, after all). And WWP is charmed that the ideas of gentleness and gayness in the same sentence. But he is puzzled by the idea that "even the gentlest gay men" somehow represents the far reaches of non-aggressiveness – a sweet, but probably unsupportable, contention.

Stereotypes, even when positive, oh, they die hard.

Strike 3! Worldwide Pablo remains in the thrall of those playing cards now populating the Internet – you know, the "Scoundrels of Operation Iraqi Freedom" or "Iraq's Most Wanted" or blah-blah-blah. Now, thanks to modern Internet technology, one can actually play solitaire online with the same cards! (WWP promises to end this fascination with Iraq playing cards, and soon.)

Seventh-inning stretch: Here's one just for fun: The felines of the Oregon Humane Society, live and, well, "in person."

Outta here! Comedian Jay Leno Monday night on Martha Stewart:

"I flipped on Martha Stewart’s T.V. Show this morning, you know what she was making? License plates."

Ouch! (WWP's followers may check out this and other daily late-night one-liners for themselves. Just click here.)

Tuesday 6.10.03

Somewhere, Over the Rainbow: Worldwide Pablo takes advantage of a slow news day to sift through some odds and ends at the bottom of his Internet grab bag. Most of today’s oddities deal with the canards of politics, you know, those whoppers that get repeated so often that they take on the mantle of fact-hood.

An example: Democrats spend more money than Republicans, right? Think again. Or this one: Democrats are the best (and only) friends of gays and lesbians. Depending on who one talks to, he or she would be both right and wrong!

No matter. What Democratic and Republican leaders think about themselves on the latter issue may be an academic exercise, WWP expounds. That horse is already out of the barn, as recent news reports underscore. (Source: The Gallup Poll.)

When You’re Smilin’: Worldwide Pablo is always encourages his faithful readers to contact the nation’s leaders on important topics. Once again, WWP reminds his readers of the handy links at left to make voices heard. And for those who like to poke fun at the nation’s chief executive, check out "The Other White House." [Thanks, Donna G.]

"Lions, tigers and bears …" Here’s a true sight, witnessed by Worldwide Pablo himself on the Monday morning commute: A burly commuter in the next lane is dressed in leather. A chain of some sort hangs around the rearview mirror. Gay bumper stickers are peeling off the back of his beat-up Honda Civic. Rough trade, WWP thinks to himself. Then he spies the teddy bear in the rear window. Stereotype dashed!

Seems everyone has a thing for stuffed animals these days. WWP is informed it is even a trend, and there’s a name for its followers: Plushophiles? Who knew? "Captain Packrat's Plushie Central" is not to be missed, WWP’s sources tell him. Nor the "web ring."

Oh, for goodness sake! [Thanks, Stuart Z.]

For Me and My Gal. With today’s headlines, Worldwide Pablo pauses to remember and pay tribute to a musical legend, who was born on this day in 1922. Still miss ya, Judy.

Monday 6.09.03

"The City That Works." Yeah, right. Not content to let pro-business conservatives set the tone of an upcoming signature drive to recall Portland Mayor Katz, an alternative group has suddenly sprung up and organized its own recall effort. The new recall campaign is backed by citizens angry at the mayor (and police chief) over the recent police shooting.

Let’s see if Worldwide Pablo has this right: After nearly 12 years in office, citizens are just now noticing that Veritable Vera is, shall we say, user-unfriendly to local business? Or that there is a well-entrenched doctrine of indifference or ignorance that makes possible the culture of repeated police offenses against the public it serves? Only now? And only by the fringe left and the fringe right?

Worldwide Pablo wonders where the middle-of-the-roaders are? Is no one except for radicals upset about all the pie-in-the-sky "public improvement" projects, the failed stadium deals, the misplaced priorities (think baseball, covered freeways, relocating statues, etc.), the botched water and sewer projects, and on and on, ad nauseam. WWP is still smarting over the $30 million floating sidewalk that graces the east side of the Willamette River. It’s nice, but WWP thinks the mayor’s priorities should extend a little farther past the bank of the river and into the eastside neighborhoods (where she is rarely seen), where the mayor might be shocked, shocked!, about the miles and miles of unpaved alleys, lack of parks, streets without sidewalks, and a host of unmet public service needs that make the esplanade look like the unnecessary, back-slapping, "Rome-is-burning" boondoggle it really is.

Only in Portland, Oregon. Click here, here or here to read about the recall efforts. Click here and here to compare the dueling recall attempts.