Revolutionary Moderation

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Postcard from Portland



Hey Don,



We arrived at Union Station last Monday just in time to miss Dick Cheney skipping town after being shouted down by a few trainloads of demonstrators, who were miraculously whittled down to about 7 later that night on Fox News. Went shopping at Nob Hill and was repeatedly accosted by Democrats. I kept thinking to myself "wow, what dedicated, idealistic young people determined to punt Bush's a*s from the White House": at least until I picked up the local Arts & Anti-Establishment Willamette Week and discovered these kids are pulling $1500 - $2500 a month to pull the vote.



Spent most of our time here at Washington Park, poking through the Rose Garden, the Oregon Zoo, and the Japanese Garden. Picked up the new edition of Al Franken's book at Powell's World of Books (the biggest independent bookstore in the work, staffed by proud members of ILWU Local 5). Didn't do anything Lewis and Clark related, with the possible exception of driving by the the Sacajewea statue.



Did I mention the beer? Portland is easily North America's microbrew capitol. I didn't see a 'Bud' or 'Miller' sign until PGE Park, where the PCL Beavers play to 20,000+ empty seats, as Portlanders stay at home and wait to be deemed worthy by Major League Baseball. It's always sad when people don't know they're being used. Portland's nice enough that I'll probably threaten to move there sometime too.