Make Better Mistakes Tomorrow?

(photo by Dan Savage)

Like my colleague Mighty Toy Canon and so many others who have hesitated to weigh in on the Sam Adams situation, I have my own set of mixed emotions to sort through and reconcile. But this being a blog about "the arts" and "Portland," and Sam being heretofore the most visible leader of "the arts" and "Portland," sharing with you today's take in the New York Times seems appropriate and pertinent to our efforts here at Culture Shock.

OK, OK. You want to know my take? Fine. While Sam clearly showed piss poor judgment in that fateful series of events several years ago, assuming it was all completely legal, I haven't been able to decide how serious an offense it was to have denied the relationship earlier this year. I am inclined to let the investigation tell us conclusively what transpired, and to let the public decide then what they want to do about it. If he's ousted then in a recall effort, that sounds fair to me, but in the meantime, I for one think he should stay.

To cement my resolve I cosigned a letter from several arts leaders (including other members of the Culture Shock family) that's getting some very interesting (and quite humorous) criticism from several Mercury readers, their gist being, "who the hell are these people and how dare they claim to represent the arts community." Oh it's so easy to be misunderstood these days... certainly it was not our intention to claim to represent the arts community, only to come out as some in the arts community who want cooler heads to prevail in this affair.

I also attended the rally last night, and I must say it was a fascinating display of support from a great many people. I'll be interested to see how the story unfolds today.