One can only hope that this deal will defuse the conflict, which has been pointlessly inflamed by the arrival of the feds. Before they came here, the demonstrations in downtown Portland had been running out of steam and winding down. But Trump evidently wanted to put on a show of armed force crushing the protests before they could die down by themselves, presumably to present his base with the energizing spectacle of libs being owned, with actual rubber bullets and tear gas this time. This, of course, provoked renewed opposition here, with turnout at the formerly-moribund demonstrations rising to 5,000 on some nights.
It's not clear why Trump is now backing down, but I suspect some of his more sensible toadies convinced him that the violence -- which included the vicious beating of a Navy veteran who clearly presented no threat -- was not playing well with most of the public and would be a net negative for his re-election hopes.
I must emphasize that the scale of this conflict is far smaller than the media have apparently led most of the country to believe. I've seen it described as an imposition of martial law, and Trump himself tweeted that "If the Federal Government and its brilliant Law Enforcement (Homeland) didn’t go into Portland one week ago, there would be no Portland -- It would be burned and beaten to the ground." This is utterly ridiculous. The number of federal officers/troops/whatever deployed in Portland was a little over a hundred. The entire conflict has played out in an area of a couple of blocks near the courthouse, leaving the vast majority of the downtown unaffected, never mind the rest of the city. It's Potemkin fascism, theatrics for the Trumpanzees, not some epic battle.
And now, hopefully, the show is canceled for good.
It’s all for show.
ReplyDeleteEverything IMPOTUS does is out of impulse or for distraction. Everything is a cliffhanger. The only aim is to rile up the base.
Such a disgrace.
XoXo
Good deal that they have at least negotiated something ... but, I'm with Wyden as far as his questioning and skepticism ... no, of course I don't trust them ...give me reason or eveidence to, and I would consider trusting it/ them. So the strict oversight is necessary. Absolutely! ...as far as Trump letting them soften up ... the GOP is being hammered with bad publicity, especially due to the COVID, and Trump's response ... even Texas Republicans are getting mad at him ... Hell, ole George W's GOP buddies are even endorsing Biden ... and they're in gridlock, trying to negotiate a stimulus (and trust me, we are in for some hard times ahead, as far as jobs, economy, evictions, food, and on and on ... until we start doing shit right).The people of PDX still have the right to protest as well, all these feds and Trumpsters say all they're worried about is the Federal Courthouse ... and that's cool, if all they want to do is protect it ... I mean like ... go sleep in the mother f*cker, but keep your hands off the people. Let them do their thing, which should be able to be done with Oregon State Troopers, just as easy ... and let the people's resistance do their thing. There are many wayz to protest, and to disrupt, what should have been disrupted across the country years ago. This also gives folks time to take a break (week or so vacation), because even protesting is hard work ... reorganize, restructure strategies, and pursue a new and improved game plan, etc. I'm looking forward to alot more protesting, but much more widespead across the nation, because we will need it ... with all that is about to come, from the economy, to jobs, injustice, and just so much, that I won't even get into here ... because they're fixin to shove the dildo up our asses even more.
ReplyDeleteIn agreement with Sixpence. Trump's only purpose for any action he takes is to place him in the limelight. He is a one-trick pony, and I apologize to all ponies everywhere for that description. I am glad to hear that Portland will be left alone now, but wonder where the federal agents will be sent to next.
ReplyDeleteWell hopefully things quiet down soon.
ReplyDeleteSame thing here in the St. Louis area with the Ferguson debacle. It was about a 3 or 4 block area. And if it was on TV I would have never known about it.
ReplyDelete"And now, hopefully, the show is canceled for good."
ReplyDeleteI hope you're right, but I fear this may be a game of whack-a-mole. Last week, Portland. Next week? Chicago? Austin? New York? St. Louis? It ain't over 'till it's over, and it won't be over until Trump is out of office, and out of the White House.
Yours crankily,
The New York Crank
Fixed - Same thing here in the St. Louis area with the Ferguson debacle. It was about a 3 or 4 block area. And if it wasn't on TV I would have never known about it.
ReplyDeleteSixpence: The problem with riling them up is that it riles them up to vote. We just need to make sure more of us do so.
ReplyDeleteRanch: True. I shudder to think what's likely to happen when the unemployment insurance supplement and eviction protections expire.
Jenny_o: There are those who maintain that Trump is a specific part of a horse, not the whole horse.
Mary: I certainly hope so.
Mike: I can believe that, though in the media it looked like the whole city was in chaos.
Crank: Trump's talking about sending the same goons to three other cities -- a couple dozen per city. It's more Potemkin fascism.