So... disappearings happening in Portland.

Best comment on this I just read elsewhere:

I mean, to be fair, only the worst kinds of assholes come to a peaceful protest decked out in gas masks and behind riot shields.

Next thing you know, those kinds of people will be firing tear gas into unarmed crowds, shooting people with rubber bullets, batoning journalists, and pushing over 75-year old men for being in the wrong place.

"Proactive arrests" are unconstitutional, anti-democratic, anti-freedom, and abusive to the utmost degree.

How anyone can use such a term while pretending to uphold "law and order" is beyond me.

This is how freedom dies...

Another innovative technique developed by Hong Kong protesters. Wonder when they’ll start gluing rocks to the streets to slow the movement of police.

Going to need a new Secretary of Defense, I see.

Portland mayor was gassed last night while trying to speak with protesters.

Time for Oregan to grow some cojones and send out municipal and state law enforcement to arrest these thugs.

How cool would it be to see dozens of marked police cars and properly-uniformed law enforcement officers pull up to the court house in Portland and start throwing some of these stormtroopers into the back of the cars?

I'd need an extra-big bowl of popcorn for that. Talk about entertainment!

The city cops have been working with the fascists. That’s been pointed out before in this thread.

This is like some Star Wars fan fic where all the Stormtroopers suddenly turn on Earth Vader and join the Rebels.

Google Image Search came through again!

Portland Mayor Tear-Gassed by Federal Agents
It's not clear if they knew he was in the crowd


"It's not clear if they knew he was in the crowd."

If you knew, would you have backed off?

He's made it clear he doesn't read the thread.

Hey just so everyone knows, the Mayor of Portland was teargassed. I'm not sure if anyone has posted that yet, but I wanted to make sure everyone knew that.

Post #252. We were probably posting simultaneously.

This is an interesting development.

Post 245 AND 246, actually. That's why his joke is a joke.

I point you to post # 245 and 246.

Apparently we're heading towards insurgency mode. I downloaded the manual.

Okay, guys, I just logged on and I'm still on my first cup of coffee. Cut me some slack, eh?

Anyway, I'm hoping that (A) the mayor's getting out on the street and (B) his being tear-gassed will be game-changers.

That and the fact that the crowds of peaceful protestors are growing nightly.

Meanwhile we wait for Der Drumpfenfuhrer to spin it.

Yeah, but he's a Democrat mayor and clearly part of the problem. Democrat mayors and governors are the leaders of Antifa and everyone knows that.

He's getting all the attention he's getting because getting beaten and gassed didn't appear to have phased him, and then he just calmly flipped them all off. Of course being that much of a bad ass will get attention.

Here's my question, why has it taken this long for the mayor to get out in the street and have a conversation with these people? Why is it taking so long to address their grievances? Where is the leadership in this country?

Fuck you

Not directly related to the topic, but a data point worth paying attention to in relation to the topic because we’re going to be seeing these names mentioned later. At least some of the forces are private contractors hired by the US Marshals.



As Deep Throat said, “Follow the money.”

Is that an offer? Thanks, no, Fishfingers. I don't know where it's been.

That's three questions, and the last one has too many variables to answer here.

I don't know why it took him so long to get out there, but he did get out there. Unidentifiable federal troops storming your city is not what you'd expect this side of Afghanistan, so Portland authorities had no game plan for that eventuality. Indecision? Yes. Hesitation? Yes. But at least he wasn't hiding in his bunker.

My hero of the moment is the mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, who essentially told Der Drumpfenfuhrer "Bring it."

What does she mean by that though? We need deescalation not escalation.

Deyton?

My guess is, she knows Donnie-boy is threatened by assertive women, particularly strong women of color. He'll veer off and target cities with less outspoken mayors, then announce that he "called Mayor Lightfoot and we had a great conversation... a great conversation" - whether he did so or not.

And as the crowds in Portland continue to grow, he'll try to find a way to "save the day" by claiming that the DHS thugs were acting without his authority.

Wouldn't you think a better thing for Mayor Lightfoot to do is to request a meeting with Trump to have the actual conversation? Wouldn't that be the more rational thing to do? As for your theory about how he'll save the day, I don't think so. He's the "law and order" president, he's happy to "show strength"and the protestors are violent so they "deserve what they get" as @Marso said. If he were smart and if he really wanted to save the day, he'd meet with the Mayor of Portland in the crowd and address their grievances and listen to them. Every step of the way during this pandemic he's been handed clear (to me at least) opportunities to be the hero he wants everyone to think he is and every time he takes opposite approach of what you'd think he would do because he's too stupid to see it and is too busy pretending to be the hero. It staggers the imagination.

He's got one thing in mind - getting reelected. This week he believes acting tough will get him there. By next week he'll believe acting benevolent will get him there. By the following week he'll get distracted by a bumblebee (@shootER will get the reference) and veer off into something else.

Do you really believe he'll step out of his bubble and have so much as a video conference with these mayors, much less fly his fat ass into the warzone in Portland that he's created? A sane man would never have called in the federal thugs. The only way to contain this clown is to just keep telling him "no." He'll fold his arms and pout like a two-year-old and then change the subject.

I don't think Trump knows how to converse. Anyone with a different viewpoint doesn't get heard. He barks arbitrary orders, doesn't listen, and changes his mind based on fox news and twitter.