Comments

1
According to the O, another witness of the event indicates there was no couch tipping and that neither Mr. Smith nor the victim appeared noticeably intoxicated. http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.s…

Seems to contradict how Mr. Smith is spinning this (to a effective degree as evidenced by Mr. Theriault's description of victim twice referring to her as "the drunk woman").
2
Christ, next you'll be linking to The Dirty.
3
If a woman was physically attacking me, I would just leave.
4
@Babygorilla, I don't think it really matters if anyone was drunk or sober, just like we don't go easy on drunk drivers killing people just because they were drunk, and whether there was couch tipping involved. The point is all the witnesses say she started pounding on him first and he defended himself, charges notwithstanding. Can't spin what the witnesses say.
5
Well, if the victim (and Mr. Smith) were not noticeably drunk and there was no couch tipping as the witness who spoke to the O recalls, then it begs the question as to why the victim flew off the handle, if she in fact did so. There's spin here, you just don't want to recognize it.
6
@Babygorilla, even sober people can go off on stupid things and do stupid shit. Also more witnesses say she was drunk and the couch was tipped than not, and more importantly, that there was no ill intent. Enough said.
7
Denis - are you going to acknowledge that there is more to this than a simple misunderstanding at a party? The law was involved and the young woman was cut badly enough by Smith's fist that she required stitches. Smith got into a criminal diversion program - paid all related expenses and did community service time in lieu of jail time. He admitted "wrongful" behavior. Is that the behavior of an innocent man? As demonstrated last year in his violent sports behavior, Jefferson Smith is violence-prone and has an anger management problem. All those who say otherwise are in denial.
8
Gah. All of a sudden Blogtown is full of people who must be lawyers and judges and know how all this stuff works (but we don't know that for sure because they can't sign their comments with their real names), and have the arrogance to tell people who make logical arguments based on statements from witnesses (and, no, I'm not a lawyer -- though I have many friends who are and do have healthy debates with them often) that they're in "denial". That's like the paternalistic crap coming from the Hales campaign when he and his supporters told Jefferson not to run. Who else do you think is behind this? People who can't run a clean campaign, that's who.
9
And Paul Cone was at the jeffersonian smithian press conference and supports the jefferson smith. And also works for the City of Portland.

Jeffy is a dick. He's always been that way. And Chucky lies and has tantrums. He always has. At this point it doesn't matter.
10
Yes Paul, you're much more intelligent than everyone else. No one cares how it got out (though it would be great if the media could have tracked these stories down) and with the way this campaign has gone, Hales gave Smith some good advice.

At this point, as a journalist, it's irresponsible to pass along any of Jefferson Smith's explanations as anything close to fact. Give his side of the story, but all of this "Awe shucks, this doesn't sound so bad" editorializing without talking to anyone not related to Smith's campaign is really puzzling, especially since he's shown a proven inability to tell the WHOLE story about any of his many, many youthful "indiscretions."
11
Can't this guy just take responsibility? Seriously, hitting a drunk co-ed is tantamount to a man hitting a sixth grader. Unless she had a weapon he should have been easily able to defensively deflect her attack. He chose to go on the offense. Fuck that, Ice Prez for mayor. My platform? Bitches DON'T get stitches.
12
Whether I am a lawyer or a judge is entirely irrelevant. I am a Portland citizen. The facts remains that Mr. Smith:

1) has multiple driver's license suspensions
2) has multiple traffic citations including citations for excessive speed
3) ignored court appearances
4) ignored bar renewal notices and had his bar license suspended at least once
5) lasted a few months as a lawyer before deciding that that profession which he understood about growing up as his father was a practicing lawyer and for which he studied for three years and likely another six months of study before taking the bar was suddenly not for him
6) Punched a fellow recreational basketball player in the testicles (within the last few years)
7) Got kicked out of a recreational soccer league for his behavior (within the last few years)
8) Entered into a criminal diversion agreement to avoid an assault charge for causing bodily injury to a 20 / 21 year old woman
9) Admittedly got into multiple fights in college
10) When news of his driving record first saw light, he was slow to release / disclose full details (despite giving interviews / press releases) until multiple reports kept finding additional details.

These are behavior patterns that, coupled with the witness statement that there was no couch tipping and no one was noticeably intoxicated, cause one to logically be inquisitive about the true nature of what happened. They are also behavior patterns that persist to this day and should lead one to conclude, logically, that Mr. Smith is not fit to be mayor of a mid-major American city.

Now can you spin that, suckaaaaaa!

Also, Mr. Hales may not have the same character defects (the tax / vote issue is dicey), but his policies would potentially continue Portland down a path of economic ruin, so don't vote for him either. Write in or maybe Green this year.
13
I'm still voting for him. He's the more sexually appealing of the two candidates. And that's how I roll.
14
Charlie Hales can't do a cartwheel, therefore I am not voting for him.
15
Jesus. Seems to me like we still don't really know what the hell happened, except that Jefferson (over)reacted to a woman hell-bent on kicking his ass for not good reason. 20 years ago.

I will hold my nose and vote for him anyway - know why? Because his character flaws are less worrisome than Charlie's (hello - he fucking quit the last time he was given a chance to run the city. Sarah fucking Palin anyone? And to go be a lobbyist for the streetcar, the biggest waste of money this town's seen in decades.)

AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, I think Jefferson has better ideas about how to take the city of Portland into the 21st century, like not building the damn CRC or bending over for the PBA.

We're not hiring him to be the friendliest pick-up basketball player.
16
Dear Mercury:
Please pull Denis Theriault off of covering the mayoral election. You guys were finally starting to redeem your news operation after your disastrous Amy Ruiz fiasco. Now you're letting your news reporting be used by an obvious partisan who probably already has his resume in with Smith. All your work is about to go down the drain again.
Best,
Euphonius
17
Euphonius, if that's true, then I'm guessing that Nigel Jaquiss has his resume in with Charlie Hales, too. But really, you're full of shit. Denis is the best damn reporter in this town hands down. Give him some appreciation lest he bail and leave us with Nigel and Beth Slovic to do so-called "investigative" reporting of City Hall.
18
"Please pull Denis Theriault off of covering the mayoral election. You guys were finally starting to redeem your news operation after your disastrous Amy Ruiz fiasco. Now you're letting your news reporting be used by an obvious partisan who probably already has his resume in with Smith. All your work is about to go down the drain again."

Paraphrased:

I don't like what Denis Theriault wrote. He shouldn't be allowed to write anymore.
19
@ML, that's right, I was at the press conference because that's how you learn about things directly -- by being out and getting involved and paying attention. And what does me working for the City have to do with anything? I'm on my own time when I do such things. At least I have the balls to sign my name to things.

As for those of you who don't care how journalism works and is manipulated in this town -- why do you even bother to read and comment on Blogtown if you don't care?

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.