Giving credit where due: Laird's column of 3 May - What's in a name? Maybe a fight!

I have hammered John Laird like a nail on this blog for his blind partisanship. It seemed like every column he inked had some reference; overt, veiled, indirect or direct to the "evil" of the political right.

This column was strangely lacking. Could the message, sent repeatedly to those Laird answers to, finally have been heard? Did Laird hear it himself, or was he force-fed a dictate to knock of his writing as if it were cleared by Washington State Democrat Party Chairman Comrade Dwight Pelz?

Either way, I have to also note when something is done right... when something begins to approach the tenets of journalism.

Laird's column this time achieved that. Hopefully, this column wasn't a fluke, and he will repeat this type of writing in the future.


John Laird May 3: What's in a name? Maybe a fight!

Sunday, May 3 1:00 a.m.

John Laird

Portlanders spend (waste) a lot of time arguing over what to name stuff. The latest dispute is whether their 39th Avenue should be changed to honor Cesar Chavez, the late labor leader whose activism was carried out mostly in places other than Portland. In 2007, Portlanders fought the same fight over Interstate Avenue. Exhaustion set in, and the street kept its name.

Playing with names used to be fun back in the good ol' days. Shirley Ellis, in her hauntingly philosophical étude of 1964, led our chorus: "Shirley Shirley bo birley banana fanna fo firley fee fi mo mirley! Shirley!" (Some of us sophomore boys devoted long hours to ferreting out first names that would produce vulgarities when we chanted "The Name Game.")

But name games aren't much fun anymore, especially in Portland. In Clark County, we're not so argumentative over names. Been there, done that is our attitude. After all, in "Vancouver — not B.C. — Washington — not D.C." we're used to having our city and state confused with other places.

In Portland, though, the near-riot rages on over what, basically, is a dumb idea. I don't mean honoring Chavez but changing the name of 39th Avenue. As several sane observers have pointed out, the best way to honor a hero is to add a name somewhere, without taking away another name. A recent editorial in The Oregonian provided a great alternative: Attach the Chavez name to a new bridge planned over the Willamette River for pedestrians, transit and light rail. Instead of sending a message to 30,000 cars a day on 39th Avenue, The Oregonian editorialized, send that message to 42,000 transit riders a day (plus bikers and pedestrians) who will use the bridge.

Portlanders also are fighting over the proposal to tear down Memorial Coliseum and replace it with a baseball stadium. Veterans groups claim this will insult those who have served in the military and deserve to be memorialized. Perhaps, but has it occurred to them that a new stadium with the same name could actually bring greater honor to veterans than the drab structure that's currently on the site?

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