Love story
What's the opposite of journalism? Is there such a thing? I think there is, and this outrageous puff piece by the kids at the Merc is Exhibit A.
The subject is Portland city commissioner Jo Ann "With the Bullhorn" Hardesty. Now, there are probably several nice things you could say about her if you thought about it, but the Merc decided to single out her performance over the last six months as the city's transportation commissioner.
I am not making this up.
Hardesty is a wonderful transportation manager, it says. Just look at her impressive accomplishments:
- She got jurisdiction over East 82nd Avenue handed over from the arrogant state bureaucrats to the arrogant city bureaucrats.
- She hates cars! She doesn't drive, and she panders to the vocal bicycle children. She wants to force you out of your car.
- She has her minions hard at work thinking up new taxes to fund pet projects.
- She's all in on imposing impossible conditions on any attempt to alleviate the miserable traffic chokepoint on I-5 at the Rose Quarter.
Not mentioned:
- Portland has 34 traffic fatalities so far this year, up about 20 percent from this time last year.
- Portland has only one traffic cop left. Literally, one. Hardesty opposes any increase in the police budget for any reason, including traffic safety.
- Portland police are not allowed to stop vehicles for traffic violations any more, because they have been declared, by Hardesty and others, inherently racist and dangerous.
- Vehicles without license plates are commonplace in Portland.
- Street racing in Portland neghborhoods, and on the freeways, is at an all-time high. The cops are literally too scared to respond.
Of all the things to be gushing about, Hardesty's time as transportation commissioner is a bizarre choice. For the Merc to illustrate the article with flattering photos that she supplied only compounds the embarrassment.
But hey, this is Portland, where nothing succeeds like failure.
You left out the fact that she got a lot of minorities murdered by shutting down the gang task force.
ReplyDeleteShe has increased car pollution by letting thieves steal your catalytic convertor (you can hear cars all over town now with no muffler).
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