The Oregon senate, with the assistance and pressure of Governor Ted Kulongowski, pulled an end-run around an end-run this weekend by reversing itself and passing a bill to authorize bond-backed funding guarantees for a professional baseball stadium in Portland. Passage in the house is expected, and the governer has indicated he will sign the bill.

Shame on you. If it weren't for the recall fiasco in California, we would be right up there on the list for ridicule on Jay Leno's monologue. Eight weeks of rancorous debate over the state's budget. The worst school funding problem in the nation. Elderly and handicapped being dumped out in the street because we can't find the money to continue their housing allotments and their prescription drug funding. And yet, in a matter of a few days, we can commit money to help one of the richest sports in the world.

This is an embarrassment. I sincerely hope the Expos move to Washington, DC, instead.