In his defense, 2013 was SOOOO long ago, long enough to warrant being dated in the headline.

I don't understand why someone caught in something like this doesn't just flat out lay all the cards on the table and instead waits for the press to point out inconsistencies/untruths that they have to respond to and do more damage control on.

Oh, wait, I actually do understand. Liars are liars.

And yeah, here comes a nice $50,000 to $75,000 bill to the county for whatever totally independent and impartial law firm they select for the outside investigation.

I can't see any of this as a concern to a city that accepted Adams as Mayor.

What's the actual price difference between the room he booked and the room he upgraded to? A couple hundred bucks? That would be the amount he actually bilked taxpayers out of, not the total amount of the fancier room. Oh right, plus an extra bag fee on an airplane for her bag.

If this is the extent of hubris and corruption in Multnomah County, 2013, is it wrong that I still don't give a shit?

Let me be a little clearer: I also don't give a shit what happens to Cogen - he acted like an idiot. All I'm saying is let's not get all high and mighty about defrauding taxpayers and betraying sacred trusts and all that bullshit.

I would bet that every last person reading this has stolen from an employer at one time or another, probably more recently than you would care to admit. Most people have expensed a questionable purchase, or asserted a questionable tax deduction. It's all lying and cheating and stealing and betraying sacred trusts if we want to get silly about it, but it's also status quo human behavior.

This guy, very stupidly, appears to have stolen a couple hundred dollars while on a work trip. He also had a pretty pedestrian affair with someone who wasn't a direct subordinate, but wasn't far off. He's walked about as close to the "you-should-resign" line as one can, and may now have crossed it, but let's not get carried away overstating the moral blameworthiness of the conduct.

Oh, and how many millions of dollars are shat away on stupid policies every year? Why does that so rarely get us as hot and bothered as a fucking free checked bag?

How about we actually get all high and mighty when it comes to public officials for any indiscretion regarding the public trust or funds?

While I'm on a box of soap, I'd also like lifetime driving bans for DUII offenses or excessive speed (number is debatable, I'd be ok with 20 mph over the limit to invoke the penalty).

Then, we might get somewhere.

"How about we actually get all high and mighty when it comes to public officials for any indiscretion regarding the public trust or funds?"

How well did demanding nothing short of complete purity of priests work out for the Catholic Church again?

You can accept that public officials are also people, or you can hold them to standards so high that no sane person would ever want to serve, but you can't do both.

I accept that public officials are people too. But there are lots of good people out there who wouldn't abuse the position. If we weed out those that would, and, do, we'd be much better off as a society.

For me, it all boils down to one thing: Manhas got promoted because she and Cogen were fucking. That doesn't mean she's not qualified, doesn't mean she didn't necessarily deserve the promotion. But it's damn near impossible to argue their relationship didn't result in her promotion considering ...

"Records show Manhas forwarded the posting to Cogen via email, accompanied only by a smiley face. Cogen responded with a smiley face of his own—which suggests the job posting was no surprise to either of them. Then, on July 10, Manhas applied for the job. She listed as one of her two references Cogen, the county’s highest-ranking official.

The process was not as Cogen characterized it. Unusually for a position that pays six figures, the job was an internal posting, which meant Multnomah County employees only could apply. That immediately disqualified two of the five applicants. Of the remaining three candidates, two dropped out before the interview process. That left only Manhas in the running—she got the job and a 20 percent pay increase, to $98,517."

http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-2094…

So a wink and a nod (via emoticon) and everyone drops out of the running, in a ultra-competitive Portland job market for an almost $100k a year job, and Cogen's sex partner ends up with the gig. That's terrible fucking behavior from anyone, let alone an elected official.

That's more than enough right there for Cogen to be removed from office. Everything else is inconsequential. I don't see how that much is even debatable.