But...but....OSPIRG is the backbone of the protesting crowd in Portland. What are thinking of doing, just ignoring them?
(^_^)

What's wrong with OSPIRG? They want to clean up the Willamette, they promote fuel-efficient cars, they have a proposal for lowering prescription prices.

True, they have 18-year-old canvassers doing the grassroots work. But who else is going to do it? Law professors?

I know you're down on the lefty fringe, but OSPIRG lives closer to the civic middle. They are nonpartisan, broadly-funded (the thing, apparently, that irritates you; though in other contexts centralized power burns your bacon), and an important civic voice. So you got some kid who'd smoked a bowl and wandered back by your house. Two passes by a civicly-minded kid is better than the alternative, isn't it?

Yeah Jeff,
Smoke a bowl and bother real wage earners who pay the"Prevailing Wage". Iam considering organizing a union for Door to Door non-profit workers. These poor saps are under paid and unded appreciated. OSPIRG, is taking advantage of these people.
STOP OSPIRG EXPLOITATION-UNIONIZE NOW!!!

As I recall the original Oregon STUDENT Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) went on to become the Oregon STATE Public Interest Research Group after the STUDENTS decided the Real World was not to their liking and they choose to remain near the nest.

So an OSPIRG guy called a few months back asking to speak to my wife. It was after dinner and we were playing gin rummy at the dinner table. Apparently she had let some door-to-door OSPIRG guy take down her name during the last election cycle.

So he tells me that he needs to speak to her because she is a "member" of OSPRIG. Now she never gave them a dime, but they have her name so he's going to play that angle for all it's worth.

She hears enough of our conversation to give me the "I don't want to take this call" sign, so I'm free to have a little fun.

Now I know all about OSPIRG, but I ask this guy what his group is about. He tells me that they focus on public issues such as consumer and environmental awareness.

I tell him that he sounds "like a tree hugger."

(my wife starts giggling).

I get 10 seconds of silence before he says that he'd really like to speak to my wife.

So I tell him that my wife doesn't have any political opinions unless I approve of them first.

(now she's got her hands over her mouth and she's shaking).

Mr. OSPIRG clears his throat.

So I tell him that "at our house we like cutting down trees in our SUV's."

(She's laughing so hard she's crying)

He hangs up.

so carnivore and his lady really get a kick out of mocking young folks who care about the world, but are a little naive. Ain't that special.

Carnivore - That was spot on!

jim - Carnivore gets a kick out of pointing out that the idiots who man the OSPIRG ranks are hypocrites, second only to Critical Mass morons.

If the kid was paying attention, he would have admitted to being a 'tree hugger', and explained the nice things OSPIRG pretends to represent. But having a meltdown when your card is called never helps. Here ends today's sermon of free advice.

its just annoying when someone rings your doorbell to sell you something

Carnivore's story is reminiscent of mine. At least the Jehovah's Witnesses know when to give up.

Funny you mention the Jehovah's Witnesses. I've noticed more than once the cult-like similarity between them and OSPIRIG canvassers. It's as if their hard drives have been reformatted, mind-numbed drones, earnestly serving up pap and drivel that somebody has carefully spoon-fed them. It's a little like watching "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" too.

----"It's as if their hard drives have been reformatted, mind-numbed drones, earnestly serving up pap and drivel that somebody has carefully spoon-fed them. It's a little like watching "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" too."----

Hey, is that from the Charlie Hales bible or the PDC "coaching" staff.

This blog reminds me of the question---What do you get when you combine a Jehovah's Witness and a Unitarian?---Someone who comes to your door but doesn't try to convince you of anything.

As the father of kids whose civic responsibility and interest was encouraged by OSPIRG I was dismayed by the attitude of you and most of your responders. To have them meet and talk with folks who may disagree with them about issues is valuable for both. I prefer that to the overuse of the telephone by interest groups.

OSPIRG's particularly obnoxious on the phone as well.

Jack, two questions. What's wrong with OSPIRG's mission? Is there any way in which a PAC could engage you that you wouldn't perceive as invasive?

The thing that bothers me about OSPIRG is that they take these idealistic young folk and ride their idealism into the ground with their bad labor practices. (As much as I hate to agree with someone using capslock, RTH seems to be correct about that.) By the time they give OSPIRG the finger and walk away, often as not they've had their idealism and activism burned out of them.

So when the OSPIRG folks come to my door, I always take the opportunity to chat with them about their working conditions and pay structure. I tell them right away that I won't be donating so they don't waste their time if they don't want to hear what I have to say. I've had some nice conversations, and I've generally found them to be bright kids (gads, I must be old now) who don't know or care how badly they are being exploited.

Once those kids start telling me that OSPIRG is actually paying them a reasonable base wage for their time, instead of some commission scheme that promises the moon and delivers dirt, I'll consider donating.

The "labor practices" of it notwithstanding, there's something noxious --maybe even borderline evil-- about taking malleable young blank slates and conditioning them to slavishly propound political dogma, the essence of which lies far beyond anything that could reasonably be expected to emanate from their limited life experience all on its own. I'll preemptively invoke Godwin's Law, and just open-endedly ask, where have we seen this before?

I've heard this before, so I'd like to confirm:
Mr. DeWitt, are you basically saying that OSPIRG canvassers get a cut of the donations that they pull in? Just curious.

I was always amused by the number of OSPIRG flyers and handouts collecting in the gutters and landscape at UofO. Tree-huggers my ass.

The most fun I've had talking with OSPIRG twerps, Critical Mass morons and the other True Believers is watching them get that deer-in-the-headlights look when you ask a pertinent question that wasn't covered in their talking points.

Oh my god, now I have to think!!!!!

I was a longtime supporter of OSPIGR until I found out about their labor practices. I told the latest OSPIRG canvasser the story of PSU's OSPIRG executive director and her exploitation by the PIRG.
http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/A121533.htm
She at least made a fair showing of being contemplative.

You ask:
there's something noxious --maybe even borderline evil-- about taking malleable young blank slates and conditioning them to slavishly propound political dogma

These people have brains -- they may be young and idealistic, but they're entitled to learn something about an issue and work hard on it, even if they lack a PhD

Or should we take away their right to vote now? Or stop forcing them to sign up for the draft? Just what is your approval of what 22 year olds should be doing?

You cite a court case that upheld OSPIRG's labor practices as being lawful. People work long hours for nonprofits, often for very little pay. It's not pretty, but it's entirely voluntary by the employee.

If they're exempt employees, they should get to know the law, and that they're protected by other laws besides the minimum wage laws.

Worst thing about the OSPIRG crews is that they're boring.

Someone was at my door literally begging for money yesterday. I told the girl ( who claimed she was from OSPRIG)I wasn't interested in donating and even after I said no, she started pleading with me over and over again for at least a few dollars. She seemed a little too desperate..which made me suspicious. Could you please tell me is this is a typical approach?

Could you also tell me is there is a campaign right now to stop drilling for oil off the coast of Oregon?