Today the next president of the United States, Senator Barack Obama, spoke at the bowl at Waterfront Park in Portland, Oregon. The steep amphitheater of grass is on the banks of the Willamette River right off of downtown Portland.

And it was completely packed with people. Obama mentions 30,000; I think it may be more. (Confirmed count is now 75,000.)

My wife and I began the day listening to the rebroadcast of my radio show from yesterday (Portland does not play me live) and then at 10:00am, walking four blocks to the MAX station to take the train into downtown.

We got off at the SW 1st and Oak stop and walked to Waterfront Park.

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After the long walk, guided somewhat by helpful volunteers, we reached the end of the line at the bus stop at SW 5th and SW Salmon. There stood a young girl in a pink dress.

More and more people continued falling in line behind us. But then a couple came up and hugged the young girl and stayed there in line. Ah, must be parents, I thought.

Then another couple of people came up, friends, it appeared. They stayed and talked with the young girl in pink, too. My wife noticed this growing rudeness of cutting in line, but I told her to chill, it really wasn’t going to keep us out of the event.

Then a couple of young guys came walking by. Girl in pink calls out to them, they come over and stand in front of us, too. Now I’m paying attention. Girl in pink is calling on her cell phone telling somebody that she’s in the line near 5th and Salmon and come on down.

Next, three young women come up and join the expanding bulge in this line and that was when I lost it. “Is there some sort of limit on how many people you’re going to have cutting in this line,” I said loudly, more to the rest of the line than to them. “I got in this line about an hour ago and this girl in the pink dress was in front of me, now there are nine more people in front of me!”

(More ranting and raving, plus video of Obama speaking, follows in There’s Moreville below…)

I was about to leave it at that, just acknowledging the rudeness, but then the people about whom I was speaking turned their backs on me as if I were branded with a scarlett “A” for asshole. I can handle criticism and rebuttal, but ignoring me never really plays well. “Yes, I’m talking about you two with your backs to me, ” I continued, “don’t think anybody’s not noticing how rude you are.”

They continued to ignore me, so I whipped out the camcorder I brought for the rally and got them all on tape. I started first with the young girl, loudly narrating for my recording, as I circled the line bulge and counted and filmed each of the people who were cutting in line.

One young woman approached me trying to explain the situation. See, they were all foreign exchange students, see, they all have plans, etc. I didn’t handle that too well, either, thinking, oh, so you’re not even citizens voting in this election so you should stand in front of the hard-working Americans wearing out their feet by following the rules and going to the back of the line in the hot sun?

That’s what I was thinking, anyway. What I said wasn’t quite as well phrased. I blurted something about teaching foreigners the lesson of following the rules and they could go to the back of the line like Americans do. Sometimes I forget that I’m a big fat white guy from Idaho and the way those kinds of words sound coming out of my mouth to complete strangers doesn’t convey the meaning I intended. Which is why I’m not posting the video, because out of context, it sounds awful.

(Or in other words, “foreigners”, if you’re reading this, I’m kinda sorry if you took it wrong. I’m not a “fuckin’ redneck refugee”, as you muttered after taking one of my cards. Where you’re from wasn’t what pissed me off, it was your use of that as some sort of defense, like, ooh, we should be some sort of gracious hosts to the visitors from foreign lands! It would be more discrimination over your origins to give you pass because of them. I just wanted you to follow the rules like equals. That’s America. You don’t get “cutsies” for nine able-bodied adults, sorry. I can see a husband saving a spot for a wife, or a couple letting in their kids, or even a couple of friends letting in a couple of friends. But nine people? Sorry, that’s just rude.

Reminds me of that stupid duct-tape-your-space crap that Portlanders defend for saving spots for the Rose Parade. A full week before the parade you’d see all these duct-taped rectangles with big X’s through them. “What’s that,” I asked my cousin Kenny. “Oh, that’s reserved spots for the Rose Parade next week. “Oh, for dignitaries or something?” “No, just people,” he tells me. Ridiculous! You want a good spot, you camp out like a Star Wars geek or a U2 concert fan. Can’t do that cause you have a job or kids? Waaah! That’s what a good spot costs! And what about these “pay to get in the express lines” things at theme parks? Disgraceful - can’t we have anything in America where the rich and poor are equal? Anyway, I digress…)

We must’ve gotten in the line around 11:00am. It started moving around 12:15pm and by 2:00pm, we were into the Waterfront Park. As we traveled the line, there were vendors of t-shirts and buttons galore, and lots of volunteers for the Senate candidates Novick and Merkley. Some guy got me to sign a petition to have open primaries in Oregon — I don’t know if I’m for them, but I am for putting the issue on the ballot. Seems to me the entrenched parties get too much benefit from a closed primary. I can’t imagine how many Independents and Greens are “temporary Democrats” for this election, and then the Dems will trumpet, “Look how many new registered Democrats there are!”

Toward the end I met up with Greg MacPherson, the candidate for attorney general in Oregon. I got a chance to ask him two direct questions:

Q: How would you stand up against the feds if they want to do anything about Oregon’s medical marijuana law, subpoenaing records, hassling growers, stuff like that?

MacPherson: We’ve got to respect that it’s the law of Oregon, and my job as Attorney General is to defend the laws of Oregon against the federal government, whether it’s Death with Dignity, Medical Marijuana, tougher tailpipe emissions standards for all new cars, all those things, AG’s has got to push back against the federal government.

Q: Well, that’s great. And one other question. In 2010, Oregon’s going to have an initiative coming up on the ballot to tax and regulate cannabis sales for all adults in liquor stores. If that were to pass by the people’s vote…

MacPherson: Whatever the people have decided, I’ll defend.

Then it was into the bowl to see Barack Obama. There was a band playing and some beach balls flying around the crowd. A young Obama volunteer came out and rallied the crowd, followed by Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer. After some more waiting and four songs played on the PA system, the emcee introduced the next First Family of the United States. (Enjoy what you can of the video - I tried to hold steady by hand, as tripods weren’t allowed in.)