Gov. Ted Kulongoski rode a bicycle from the governor’s mansion to the state capitol Monday to encourage people to seek alternatives to car commuting, but the feat didn’t impress The Oregonian’s editorial writers much.
“Add now the name Ted Kulongoski to the list of the world’s great explorers,” they wrote on Wednesday.
“Monday, Oregon’s governor finally discovered the fabled passage – the perfect bicycle commute.
“Two miles.
“Downhill.
“With a police escort and the promise of a lift back uphill at day’s end.
“It would be easy to bash this week’s gubernatorial glide for being exactly what it was – a gesture. But we happen to be big on gestures by guys who have ‘governor’ in their job titles.
“These characters tend to send signals.
“In the case of Monday’s Voyage of Disc-brake-overy, the signal Kulongoski was sending to Oregonians was this: Summer is coming. No, really.”
The Eye is grateful for the gov’s encouragement, but we’ll believe summer is coming when we finally see it. Which will be in mid-July, most likely.
This article appears in Jun 5-11, 2008.
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I hear that, owing to high gas prices, Summer has been postponed until at least August.
LOL! We won’t have decent weather in Oregon until the goddamn Portland Rose Festival is over. I’ve been here 23 years and that’s how it works. Trust me.