I talked to my father on Father’s Day, and all he wanted to know about was how well the Pre-Parade Route Beautification and Equalization of Viewing Opportunity Hoedown went. “So what’s the next stunt you guys have planned?” he asked, in the same tired, bemused tone he used when I got detention for staging dadaist protests against my high school dress code.

I didn’t have an answer for him, but at least someone in this town is keeping the intersection of pranks and politics supplied with fresh collisions. From a group calling itself the Portland Committee of Democrats for Big Business & Free Trade:

Bush in Portland Tuesday on Surprise Visit Will Meet with Earl Blumenauer to Say Thanks for Supporting Free Trade

Where: NE 7th and Holladay
When: Tuesday June 19th, 4:30pm

(Portland, OR)—It was announced on Monday that President Bush will be making a surprise visit to Portland, OR tomorrow to thank local Democrats for supporting big business free trade deals. Even though over 68,000 Oregon jobs have been lost because of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), leading Democrats have not become distracted by whining workers.

Portland Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer was a key architect of new free trade deals with Panama and Peru, agreed upon by the White House and business friendly Democrats. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hailed the deal: “We are encouraged by assurances that the labor provisions cannot be read to require compliance with ILO Conventions.”

President Bush thanks Earl Blumenauer for his commitment to the bottom line and plans to present Earl with an award tomorrow. “While some Democrats buy into all that labor rights business, I like Earl because he listens to Nike first. Now that’s my kind of Democrat.”

Apparently, at least two local TV news outlets called the organizers, asking how they heard that Bush was going to be in town. After it was explained that it was a prank, one of the stations took the joke well, the other didn’t. I’m not going to point fingers, but I think we can all guess who the humorless one was.