The Sam Video: Sometimes You Have To Back Off Aways To Look At Things ...

If Brian Hines is any indication, then about fifty miles should be about right to get some perspective on it:

Dudes, you all need to get out more. Spend some time on Comedy Central, where my wife and I hang out a lot. Laugh more and judge less. Loosen up.

Neither the world, nor Portland, is coming to an end because the Mayor, a city commissioner, and rock star Storm Large had some fun making fun of Adams' gayness for a Portland tradition, Candidates Gone Wild.

We couldn't have said it better. Brian Hines has nailed it here.

Read the whole article. It's instructive. And be glad you don't live in Salem.

We need to get over this one, or it's going to reflect more on the complainers than the complained-on. Indeed, it may already be doing so, if you've read the comments over at Jack Bog's Blog.

I'm Not Feeling The Outrage Over The Sam Adams Video

The Sam Adams Affair Affair just refuses to be a simple matter. A lot of us-meself included-are looking at our Mayor through jaded glasses now.

But are things getting a bit bizarre? Maybe.

At his blog, Jack Bogdanski has linked to a video. This video is in poor taste. It shouldn't be viewed at work, by kiddies, or by anyone who is sober. Seriously. Here's the executive summary: It details the pursuit of then-Commissioner Sam by Commissioner Randy Leonard who's out to prove that Sam Adams isn't in fact, gay. He tails Sam and Storm Large (who is pretty much the hip hottie in street clothes) from his house to a coffee shop back to his house where the Mayor and the city's hottest girl singer act quite the lovey-dovey.

The switcheroo-gotcha punch line of this shaggy dog story is nothing if not Felliniesque. It's low humor, to be sure.

And it's presented by Scion.

Yes, I mean the car brand.

Anyhow, the blogger and a lot of his commenters are saying how it's a low for Portland. I'm not there with that. It's not that I approve of Sam ... I want him to resign ... but I'm already angry over the way he lied about a relationship that was well over the border into unethical (and may or may not have been illegal, depending on whose story you buy as to when it happens).

This video, actually, as made as party of the WW's "Candidates Gone Wild" show, where outrageous behavior for the benefit of the microbrew-besotted audience is the order of the night. At the time, we didn't yet know that Sam did what he did. As a matter of fact, we'd pretty much forgotten about Beau Breedlove.

We already have enough to be angry at Sam about. Why should I waste my time getting angry over this too? It just seems weird to me to get upset about this too. It's sound and fury that, if it doesn't signify nothing, at least it doesn't signify anything more.

If you wanna get het up about this, though ... hey, go to town. I'm not one to harsh your buzz.