I am so furious over this bullshit. And now the paper I freelance for has written a similar editorial calling for Adams' resignation. I just wrote this letter to WW's editor.
Dear Mr. Zusman,
Honestly, I rarely read WW any more - I figured out a long time ago that it's written for (and by?) people who don't really live in Portland. But this Sam Adams thing is really a new low. You sent your reporters to his office because it was important for you to prove that he had a sexual relationship with Beau Breedlove? Did it never occur to you that even politicians deserve to have a private life and that the whole thing was maybe none of your fucking business? And now his career as mayor may be over before it even began, over THIS? And this is some kind of accomplishment that you'll go home and feel good about tonight? Hey, I think I know what's really going on here. Nigel Jaquiss scored with the Neil Goldschmidt story, so let's repeat the formula with someone currently in office, right? Press that "sexual panic" button and watch everyone jump. I'm not really surprised that someone in Sam Adams' position would lie to protect their privacy, and I see all the outrage over ethics as a thin veil over peoples' discomfort with the sexuality involved. Well, 18 may be young, but it's not child molestation. If Nigel Jaquiss wins a Pulitzer for this story, it'll be two more than he deserves. I think I'm going to assemble a group of citizens to come to YOUR offices. We will present the evidence we've collected that WW is an invidious muckraking waste of ink and time. Hopefully the Oregonian will then issue an editorial calling for you to resign from the world of publishing.
Anthony L. LeTigre
Portland, OR
Brilliant rebuttal.
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