"If Portland wanted to re-elect Trump, they couldn't be doing a better job."
Michael Trigoboff, who lives just outside of Portland
A hundred and one nights of unrest in Portland. Trump loves it. Fox News shows it.
It has become a regular nightly event. Peaceful protests by day evolve into violence later into the night. Under cover of the protests some people took the opportunity to set fires, break into stores and loot them, to spray graffiti, to vandalize, to point lasers and throw heavy objects at law enforcement and others, to topple statues, and to get into fights. The violence created its own fuel, drawing people in who were looking to be where the action is, hoping to engage with one side or the other, the police, the protesters, the counter protesters, someone.
I hear from a variety of sources in the Portland area four points. One is that the violence and looting is not by protesters earnestly concerned about racial justice. The protests created a volatile situation but the violence takes place around those protests, not by the protests.
The second is that the GOP-aligned media makes the Portland situation far, far worse than it really is. It's a mess, but not as big a mess as Fox News portrays it.
The fourth is a comment parallel to my own thoughts: Ted Wheeler is an idiot and a disaster as mayor. He was handed a great opportunity and he handled it the worst way possible. He had the opportunity to endorse Black Lives Matter as an idea and a movement for racial justice, and then say that damned if he was going to let this important, good cause be hijacked and destroyed by looters and arsonists. He could have promptly supported police in restoring order at the front end, setting a clear policy of what was permissible and what was not, making the point that the civic order was protecting the protests, not stifling them. He might have called on protesters to assist the police in identifying wrong-doers, making the distinction between people fighting for racial justice and people destroying this great city. He had a shot at looking like a strong, clear headed liberal.
He blew it. The disturbances were like a fire that grows from its own heat. Some people on the left justified violence and destruction as the language of the oppressed, and that squelching violence meant opposition to the protests. The city's response was muddled, and the protests mixed people who opposed the violence with people who sheltered it. Disruption elicited a predictable response, the entry of more people attracted by the opportunity to act out.
Wheeler had bad luck. This is late summer, a period of very pleasant, predictably dry weather, with evenings cooling after hot days. It is a perfect time to be outside, sitting on a patio, visiting with friends, or on the streets of Portland getting into fights.
By mid November storms off the Pacific reliably bring hard, cold rain. It's much less fun to stand around in the streets at night getting soaked. By that time, though, Trump may have been re-elected, the public having decided that COVID is something beyond the ability of government to control, but Trump, at least. had a plan for dealing with an issue government could control, creating domestic tranquility and civic order.
Biden was on top of this, saying essentially what Senator Ron Wyden said when he visited Medford two weeks ago, that the protests were good and the violence is bad and it should be prosecuted. Those words are not as vivid in the eye of a TV viewer as images of protesters throwing bottles of burning gasoline. Trump says those rioter are liberals and that Biden lets them get away with it.
I had donated $250 to Ted Wheeler's election campaign in 2016. I thought he had real potential. Sorry.
Tomorrow I will share a report from Michael Trigoboff, the author of the quotation at the top of the page. Today I pass along the report from a 41 year old friend who lives just outside of Portland. I asked for a first person account. He dashed this off, so it retains the flavor of a first person spoken narrative, produced in the moment.
"I have a sensitive job. Don't use my name," he said. "Show a photo of my truck, not my face. That will surprise people."
He went on. "I'm at home in Portland. I was born here and lived here all my life. Portland isn't just organic food, yoga, fancy beer, and liberals. I like cigars and I drive a big truck as my main vehicle. I like Bernie and AOC. I also like guns. I have two rescue dogs and I recycle. You can't typecast me."
Field Report, Portland:
Portland is being used as a proving ground for the political landscape of our country.
Ask yourself this question: Did Ted Wheeler, the stupid hippie liberal leftist, ruin this once great city?
If your response to the question is “yes“, then you are instantly deemed a Trump supporter and probably want to take immediate action to make America great again. If your answer is “no," you must be an Antifa-loving, communist pinko.
There is no room being left in the middle. Well, I think it's more complicated than that.
If I were to draw a Venn diagram for myself, I would be at the center of supporting my local law-enforcement, being against police brutality, supporting Black Lives Matter, wanting our city to come back to normal, and someone who strongly condemns any and all looting, arson, and rioting.
These are not diametrically opposed opinions as we are being told they are.
I also believe that we have a surprisingly large amount to learn about the systematic oppression of minorities.
Portland is my home. I have watched Portland's livability spiral downward. The homeless epidemic was here long before Covid or the civil unrest that’s currently taking place in our city. If I were to point a finger at an entity that was responsible for that population, I would place the blame with Purdue Pharmaceuticals first and foremost. They created the opioid epidemic which in turn created the homeless drug addled population.
I am not happy with how Ted Wheeler dealt with the protests. I voted for him last time. In hindsight, he should have come down hard on the bad actors in the protests, directing the police force to make sweeping arrests of anyone that caused violence or destruction of property. He could have done that while giving an abundance of support to his police department. Remember, I am a big supporter of Black Lives Matter. There is no contradiction here in liking BLM and wanting police to stop violence in my city. It is a trap to allow others to make you chose one or the other.
In closing:
Our city is not in ruin.
Graffiti can be cleaned.
Covid is still the main reason people are not patronizing the businesses of our city.
Our city is still a wonderful place.
Trump is a lying cowardly piece of shit."
6 comments:
"Some people on the left justified violence and destruction as the language of the oppressed."
Careful, this assertion isn't necessarily factual, and certainly plays into the Regressive narrative. The identities of the criminals, and their motivation, is not known. I'm not aware of any organized Progressive group that endorses violent revolution. Those who are thoughtfully protesting know that violence and destruction are counter productive.
My guess these are the acts of opportunistic individuals. That there is a lot of it is a separate question that does speak to law enforcement and governing. Police cannot be everywhere at once, nor can they respond instantly, so it can get out of control. That’s what looting is - breaking and entering and burglary. Peaceful protest is legal and a civil right, acts of violence are not, and should be condemned, as the organizers have publicly done.
I do agree that the protests become theater, attracting some to the drama of marchers and police lines. I'm also aware that in a crowd immature people can let their emotions get away from them and behave irrationally, for example after a championship football win. The impulse to "crack down", opens the door to violations of civil rights and further police transgressions.
As a practical matter businesses and civic institutions carry insurance to protect themselves from loss, so property damage is mitigated, and depending on the coverage, loss of revenue as well. Having coverage is their responsibility, so if they are standing in front of their door with an AR-15 they are either negligent, or looking for an excuse to shoot someone.
Rick is being way too flip about damage to businesses caused by vandalism, looting, and rioting. “You have insurance,“ he says.
In Minneapolis, it turns out that standard business insurance apparently does not cover losses due to arson and looting. Many small businesses have been put out of business in the aftermath. I wonder if arson and looting insurance riders are even available for small businesses, and at what potentially exorbitant cost? Many of these small business owners have been left with personally having to clean up the broken glass and smashed interiors of their former businesses while suffering crushing financial losses.
Rick, how would you like it if someone trashed your home or business? Would you be satisfied to be told, “No biggie, dude, you have insurance?”
People have a right to defend their homes and property and businesses. Ideally, the police should be doing it. But if politicians like Portland’s spineless mayor keep them from doing it, it’s up to each individual to preserve what they may have spent a lifetime building up.
Gun sales are spiking lately, many to first-time gun owners. Cavalier responses like yours are part of the reason.
Couldn't agree with Rick more. I believe any destruction going on is caused by either agent provocateurs or testosterone-crazed youth (who may be egged on by the aforementioned).
"Law and Order" is a huge distraction from the existential threat" of climate change and other important issues like Medicare for All and wealth disparity. We are getting played by our addiction to drama and a complicit corporate media. Law and order is convenient for politicians to NOT address the very issues that contribute to civil unrest.
Why don't protesters pivot to one of the other issues since all are related to systemic racism? Stop giving the fascists the BLM target for awhile? Give them something harder to deny or expose them on these other issues. We should be actors rather than reactors to their agenda.
Andy Seles
Standard business insurance does not cover losses from civil unrest. Most of the small businesses destroyed will never re-open.
Most large corporations are self-insured, ie, they eat their own losses. Many of the branches of large businesses that are destroyed will not re-open in that neighborhood, as it is assessed to be not worth the risk.
Wheeler never had a chance, and I said so at the beginning.Portland is, like Kitzhaber said years ago about Oregon, ungovernable.
What really needs to happen is for some independent enterprising journalists (if any are left.... honest too btw) is to look into who is orchestrating this in a number of communities, Portland, a “useful idiot,” ground zero.
These are neither “protests” nor spontaneous. We’re being played. Portland media is handmaiden to it.
As a testosterone-crazed senior I take issue with it being the sole property of the young...but I digress...
I just wanted to take a moment to agree that the media is a bit hyperbolic. The Sunday news shows talked about "a nation engulfed in protest"...hardly...
Portland's activism has been growing since 2016 and reflects its largely Progressive character, however the rest of State is backwards otherwise which may explain the conflicts. The other notable cities have had police murders. This leaves a wide swath of America only dealing with a lethal pandemic and a collapsing economy.
Good times...
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