For the rest of the country who need to consult Wikipedia to learn his name, the fact that governor John Kitzhaber of Oregon has been dealing with something of an embarrassment over the last several months is doubtlessly news. I consider it more of an embarrassment than a scandal because it concerns his fiance Cylvia Hayes, who appears to have something of a colorful past. She married an Ethiopian citizen so he could gain US citizenship in return for money. She was involved in a plot to grow a crop of marijuana back in 1997. And some other things which I can't remember, but few politicians relish being associated with.
So far, all of this have clearly shown that Kitzhaber's choice of potential marriage partners might not be impeccable, but nothing that questions his ability as governor. Up to now Hayes has been more of a chronic distraction to Kitzhaber's historic fourth term as governor, a sideshow almost as bizarre as the usual bizarre antics of the RWNJs in the local Republican party. Then came a new discovery that Hayes had developed her own personal revenue stream out of her relationship with the governor.
Now we are a bit unusual here in Oregon by having fairly clean politics here; political corruption is rare & infrequent. I don't know if that's because we are an honest bunch here, or just too stupid to figure out how to make money in graft. It's been years since the last scandal -- the guy in charge of the parking meters here in Portland was found to be receiving kickbacks for favoring certain parking meter manufacturers -- so Cylvia Hayes' bit of corruption has attracted media attention. So much attention that The Oregonian came out with an editorial demanding Kitzhaber resign.
So just how much has Hayes benefited from all of this? Well, according to The Oregonian's own editorial, there was $113,000 from one source, & $75,000 from a non-profit. The guy who arranged the $75k grant subsequently landed a job that pays $165,000. All in all, we are talking about a few hundred thousand dollars -- a rounding error in the amount of tax subsidies various corporations receive from state government here.
So why would The Oregonian, the newspaper with the largest circulation here in Oregon, demand Kitzhaber resign over such a trifling amount? Welcome to yet another chapter in the decline & fall of the American News media.
