That is a nice suit! Especially compared with the mayor's outfit. Matt, you get to call him Sam if he is wearing shorts.

Kudos to the questioner who pointed out the stunning lack of diversity and differing viewpoints.

It was a nice evening for the white, male, pro-growth, pro-business, crowd. Everyone talked schools and renewables and sang kumbya

Yawn. But those duds were sharp, Matt. (at least sharper than the cigar bit)

Matt, you do realize that if were you an actual boss interviewing for an actual position with an actual cigar (instead of an being an admittedly dapper and delicious gent awkwardly bobbing a swisher sweet [was it the grape one? those are especially wretched]) more than one eyebrow would be raised at this testosterone filled honky love fest.

And no, men with lady names do not count. Especially when they suggest absurd and shamelessly self serving social programs. (A year of free accounting? Sure. You go find me some health care and I'll get you a gift certificate to H&R block. Deal?)

That needing to be said and having been said, this whole thing was quite enjoyable. I always thought that the slow crippling of America's economy was some kind of crock-pot clusterfuck from globalization, the military industrial complex, high fructose corn syrup and tax code shenanigans. Turns out is was the fucking designated hitter rule. Goddamn you Steve Novak. Why couldn't you have been my 10th grade civics teacher?

And watching Sam Adams do the ol' shit-out-a-bunch-of-words-without-actually-saying-anything routine. Oh fuck. The man is a wizard. I'd vote for him again.

The link is now dead, because it was a LIVE stream, but we'll have video posted later today and I'll link to it from here.

On the diversity front, I agree that there were too many white men up there. We had included Midge Purcell from the Urban League of Portland on the panel, and she was prepared to come and talk about the "State Of Black Oregon" report and its impact on the economy, but had a family emergency, unfortunately, shortly before the event. Still I'm glad you bring it up, because I was embarrassed by the lack of diversity, and that's good, to be embarrassed.

you should be more embarrassed by the cigar bit...and a swisher sweet??? epic fail as both a phallic symbol and a smoke.

As I mentioned, I don't even smoke. But since I live in a state of perpetual maximum embarrassment, it's almost impossible for me to be "more embarrassed" by anything I do. This is a strangely liberating feeling, for an englishman. See also: Fawlty Towers, Basil.

Please post the link to the video from this event. Thanks.

The link to the video for this event, please?