The Eugene Register Guard has taken this week’s Disingenuous Award: “Conspiracy? What conspiracy?” Here’s the Guard: The conspiracy theory goes something like this: As Eugene readies to begin hosting the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials on June 22, the city’s police department is bent on driving homeless people out of downtown, particularly in the highly visible Park Blocks area at Eighth Avenue and Oak Street.
And Eugene Police Lieutenant Sam Kamkar: “The first time I heard (the theory), I was shocked.”
Not so easily impressed by this analysis, arriving as it did seemingly Special Delivery from Left Field, Eugene street resident ‘Quagmire’: “They’re going to pull an Atlanta on us. It’s all because of the Olympics. They want the town to look good for that. His comment referred to the Atlanta Police Department’s highly publicized move to arrest thousands of homeless people in advance of the 1996 Summer Olympics. It’s true Eugene police officers have spent more time patrolling the Park Blocks this month. But it has nothing to do with the expectation that out-of-town visitors are set to arrive in droves next week for the Olympic Trials.
Me thinks The Eugene Register Guard Dost Protest Too Much. It’s…it’s…almost like the Police Department were telling the paper what to print…Naaaaawwwww.
***
Rio-20!
www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/ships/the-rainbow-warrior/
- KBOO