Is it worse to drink alone than to not drink alone? (Who knew, and thus who gets a new job or a raise?)

Is it worse to be naturally impaired than occasionally impaired? (Are there actually instances of unimpairment? If water service would be cut off for failure to pay a street/bike "fee" that gets packaged as a "utility fee" that this is a "tax" on the delivery of water service, and folks that think otherwise are drunk on nonsense. Have you ever tried to argue with a drunk?)

Overheard yesterday:

"Why did the Mayor crash his truck on Jantzen Beach? He was driving angry after he found out BJ's was only a pizza place."

uuuuummmm you just wrote about him.

Yeah, it's like watching Hannity and Rush try to not talk about Clinton. They try so hard but it's just too tempting...

The O reports that the Lavatory Love Machine is giving up driving for a month. Now if we can just convince him to give up the mayor's office for, oh, forever.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/after_crash_adams_promises_to.html

I was embarrassed by Adams before. Now, I'm beginning to feel embarrassed *for* him. He's accelerated his efforts to burn through gimmicks, pet projects and staged diversions, his voice getting higher, his hands shakier, his promises more frequent and earnest--and vapid.

Anybody who wants power had better learn to master any feelings of shame. Or, better yet, have none at all.

Mayor of the largest city in the state takes his cues from the Mayor of a city that is a suburb of another city and is less than 1/4 our size.

Yes, Sam, walk and wait for your zip car reservation and ride your bike around town. That's just what we want someone managing a major metropolitan area.

It's all about the optics with this guy.

His zipper was down, his undershort button unbuttoned, his eyes glazed. You couldn't make this s**t up. Read the second police report released today.

Awwww, geeeze...

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/05/second_mayor_sam_adams_acciden.html

I really wanted to follow Jack's lead and take a break, but, c'mon...

He's accelerated his efforts to burn through gimmicks, pet projects and staged diversions, his voice getting higher, his hands shakier, his promises more frequent and earnest--and vapid.

Sh*t, I wish I'd said that - especially the "vapid" part.

That's the most concise one-word descriptor of hizz(dis)honor I've seen.

It's kinda like what happens as objects approach the event horizon of a singularity...

...never mind.

There are so many better things to think about.

Adams' explanation about being confused about which way the car in front of him was turning is simply not believable. It is inconsistent with the lay of the land, and is only too consistent with his pattern to blaming others. "Sure I made a mistake, but somebody else created the situation."

And his claim that the sun was in his eyes is so meaningless that "lie" doesn't seem to fit; it explains no aspect of the collision and doesn't even support his own explanation of the primary cause.

Since the front car was in no way turning left and Adams was in no way attempting to pass on the right, it seems that the likeliest explanation is that he was distracted and didn't see that the car in front had slowed to turn. And when he saw that he was about to rapidly rear-end the car in front of him he tried to avoid a collision by turning to the right. And here his claim that he hit the gas rather than the brakes seems be an accurate account of what happened.

Car Toys employee Randy Schweitz, 22, told The Oregonian that after the crash he had gone to check on Reed. Schweitz said Adams got out of his truck, and walked up to him. "He asked if everybody was all right. I could smell alcohol. His zipper was undone and his (shorts) button was undone."

And that would be an awkward time to admit to being distracted.

This reminds me of
"don't tase be bro"

"Hey dude, your fly is down, and your pants are unbuttoned"

A mayor of a major city driving around
with his pants undone?

What was he doing?

Second police report

"I went over to check the guy in the white truck," Joslin said. "I said, 'Hey dude, your fly is down, and your pants are unbuttoned," Joslin recalled. "He said, 'Oh, thanks.' I said, 'Are you ok?' He was a little dazed.' "
Joslin said he smelled alcohol on Adams' breath, and said his eyes looked "a little glazed." He said Adams asked him if everybody was OK, then got in his truck, shut the door and got on his cell phone.

There's a statement in Sergeant Berry's Special Report (first report released) that I've been wondering about:

"No witness made any statement about there being a passenger in ADAMS'S vehicle."

Seems like a gratuitous observation. Just out of the blue?

What is the big deal about Sam Adams not driving for a month? For years I saw Vera Katz rode the same #17 bus to City Hall and back. No one thought it was "sustainable", I never heard it mentioned once in the media. Of course our current mayor could not do that, he would not be caught dead exposed to the angry masses. His only exposure to the public is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYYczqJZjFg

Well, the story's on UPI. Is the New York Times next?

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/06/Mayor-denies-drinking-before-car-crash/UPI-56741241643791/

His zipper was down, his undershort button unbuttoned, his eyes glazed. You couldn't make this s**t up. Read the second police report released today.

Jay Leno will not be short of material once this story gets to his writers.