QUOTE
O' THE WEEK
"Bush and Gore have $80 million of federal money and
hundreds of millions of private money to buy television
time. So PBS can think of nothing else to do but give
them more free publicity?"
--Nader aider Dan Meek, commenting on the time the
two major-party candidates are getting at the end of The
NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
NADER
NEWS
Let the healing begin.
As Al and George slug it out in Oregon, a civil war is
brewing among the state's left-wing.
Friends are turning against friends, allies are becoming
adversaries.
The proof is in the press conference.
Last week, Nader supporter Greg Kafoury heckled environmentalists
Ivan Maluski, Donald Fontenot and Regna Merrit during
their conference to thank Gore for taking a second look
at the Eagle Creek timber sales, saying local greenies
have sold out to the Democrats, giving in to fears of
Bush and short-term thinking. "We're trying to save the
world here," he says. "We're not trying to save a handful
of trees on Eagle Creek."
To prove their point, Nader supporters are rounding up
their own enviros for a Nov. 1 press conference to show
that some greens are firmly behind the Green Party candidate.
Fontenot, a spokesman for Cascadia Forest Alliance, has
had enough. He's organizing a Thursday night "town hall"
meeting and inviting everyone from hard-core Naderites
and pro-choicers to labor activists and City Commissioner
Erik Sten. (Portland State University, Smith Memorial
Center, Room #338, from 7:30 to 9:30 pm.)
"We need to get over this rift before the election,"
says Fontenot, "because we're going to be working together
after the election anyway."
***
Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, meanwhile, is being
slammed by Nader supporters for his tepid position on
the vote-swap websites such as nadertrader.org. The sites
allow Nader supporters in hotly contested states like
Oregon to agree to vote for Gore in exchange for a Gore
supporter in another state voting for Nader. Bradbury
is waiting for an opinion from the attorney general's
office on whether such vote exchanges are kosher. The
California secretary of state, however, didn't hesitate
and calls the practice illegal. In response, several of
the sites have shut down.
--Patty Wentz
QUTUB MAKES
GROSS
ACCUSATIONS!!
You can't blame state Sen. Eileen Qutub for being unhappy
with The Oregonian's Oct. 14 endorsement of her
Democratic rival, Ryan Deckert. But she might be expected
to gather some facts before accusing the author of the
unsigned endorsement of "being dishonest and unethical."
In an Oct. 24 letter to publisher Fred Stickel (copied
to 14 metro-area journalists), Qutub accused longtime
Oregonian staffer Wayne Thompson of having a "gross
conflict of interest" in the District 4 race. "Last night
I learned some disturbing information about Mr. Wayne
Thompson," she began. "Apparently Mr. Thompson has in
the past ten years employed (writing assignments) and
has had a close personal relationship with the mother
(Linda) of my opponent."
Get your minds out of the gutter. The truth is far less
interesting.
Both Deckert's mother, 51-year-old Linda DuBois, and
Thompson say DuBois has been an infrequent contributor
to a column in a newsletter for the Jazz Society of Oregon.
Thompson and his wife, M'Lou, run the newsletter, and
Mrs. Thompson edits DuBois' column, which is submitted
via email. DuBois says she is paid $25, which she donates
to the society. She works for a textbook company, not
Thompson, and she considers him barely an acquaintance.
"The last time I ran into him, I didn't know who he was,"
DuBois says. "I'm furious about this. Eileen is being
a little crazy."
Oregonian editorial-page editor Robert Caldwell
has written a letter of his own to the state senator,
suggesting she retract her statements and "apologize to
the people you maligned." Qutub has not returned calls
from Willamette Week or The Oregonian.
For his part, Thompson, a 36-year veteran of the O, is
disturbed by the letter, saying that Qutub has attacked
his credibility. "To the extent I am damaged, I'll probably
talk to a lawyer and think about remedies," he says.
--Patty Wentz
OFF
YER ARSE
THREE WAYS TO BREAK THE CHAINS OF IRONY
*MOCK INTOLERANCE: The Special Righteousness Committee
has been poking fun at Lon Mabon since 1992. The group
will host a street theater demonstration Thursday, Oct.
26, on the sidewalk in front of the Portland Public Schools
Education Service Center at 501 N Dixon St.
*GET THE FACTS: Portland State University's noon forums
continue Wednesday, Nov. 23, with a debate on Measure
94, which would repeal the state's mandatory sentencing
law. PSU's Smith Memorial Center, Room 238, 1825 SW Broadway.
*GET SPECIFICS: Candidates for attorney general face
off for the City Club at 11:45 am Friday, Oct. 20. Multnomah
Athletic Club, 1849 SW Salmon St.; call 241-9242 for reservations.
Seating is free to members, $5 for nonmembers.
TRAIL
MIX
FOUR WAYS TO PUT THE PARTY BACK INTO POLITICS
The election ain't over until the campaign managers are
drunk. Here's a list of selected spots to watch the returns:
*BENSON HOTEL (309 SW Broadway): Democrats (from
Bill Bradbury to statehouse hopefuls); No on 9 (Lon Mabon's
measure); Yes on 6 (the campaign-finance measure)
*MONARCH HOTEL (12566 SE 93rd Ave., Clackamas):
Oregon Republican Party; Oregon Taxpayers United (Bill
Sizemore); No on 97 (steel traps measure)
*MOUNT TABOR PUB (4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd.): Pacific
Green Party (from Naderites and Lloyd Marbet to legislative
candidates)
*IMPERIAL HOTEL (400 SW Broadway): No on 2 and
7 (anti-land-use measures)
