He needs there to be violence

In my previous post I wrote about the ongoing protests in Portland, OR (50 days or seven weeks now) and the federal police in unmarked uniforms and cars who have been kidnapping protesters.

As the situation gets worse – the crowds are resisting and fighting back – Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Governor Kate Brown have called on the nasty guy to withdraw his troops. They’ve filed lawsuits to get the feds to withdraw – I applaud the effort but doubt the nasty guy, who sees himself as embodying the law, will follow whatever any court does. The state’s Congressional delegation is introducing bills (which the nasty guy will gleefully veto if they get past the Senate).

Wheeler explained one reason why these misbehaving federal troops are a big problem as he spoke to Lulu Garcia-Navarro of NPR this morning.

My residents don't know who a federal officer is or a local police officer or a county deputy or a state patroller. They don't know, and they don't care. It's all the same to them. … But there's - it's a distinction without a difference in the eyes of the public, and I believe the president and his people know that.

Wheeler says yes, his police have made mistakes…

But the difference between local and federal law enforcement is that we have clear policies, clear directives. We have a complaint process. We have an independent accountability and review system.

With the federal government, they won't even identify who they are. We don't know why they're here. We don't know the circumstances under which they're making arrests. We don't know what their policies are or what accountability mechanisms there are …

Mark Sumner of Daily Kos explains a bit more:

But the biggest takeaway of “how did we get here” when it comes to unidentified men in camo dragging people into vans, or blasting them in the face, is simple: Donald Trump wants it that way.
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The federal forces didn’t just shoot an unarmed student in the head. They shot the relationship between the police and the protesters. They blew away an already tentative sense of cause and effect. They made it clear that there are no rules. Anyone could be hurt at any time for any thing. Or for nothing.
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These [police] are ass-kickers, and they’ve been sent in to kick ass.

They are not there to make things better. They are very, very much there to make things worse.
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The relationship between the police and protesters went way down. The chance of violence … through the roof.

This is exactly the kind of outcome Trump is going for. It does Trump no good to have people sitting around sharing food, helping their community, and planning for the future. He needs there to be violence. So he, and Barr, and Wolf, are creating it. They have no intention on stopping with Portland. The United States is currently undergoing the greatest crisis it has faced in a century. At the same time, it is wrestling with the greatest reconsideration of civil rights in half a century. Trump has no interest in dealing with the former, and nothing but distaste for the latter. He’s creating a crisis on top of crisis on top of a crisis because … racism and fear. In the end, it’s all he ever brought to the game.
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Trump means to send federal forces to Chicago, and Seattle, and anywhere else he can think of, explicitly to insert the chaos and violence that justifies taking even more federal control. And it would not be too much to believe that action is headed toward something very like a declaration of martial law, or a federalization of police forces.

However, there is one thing that can slow Trump’s action: Visibility.
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The most important thing at the moment may be to elevate the videos and reports from those on the ground. To join in saying that this is unacceptable. And to make it clear to Donald Trump that you see what he is doing.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted:

Unidentified stormtroopers. Unmarked cars. Kidnapping protesters and causing severe injuries in response to graffiti.

These are not the actions of a democratic republic.

@DHSgov’s actions in Portland undermine its mission.

Trump & his stormtroopers must be stopped.

That brought the ire of Leah McElrath, who tweeted in response:

Dear @SpeakerPelosi—

In this tweet, you say “Trump & his stormtroopers must be stopped.”

Where is the action component?

What are you going to do to try to stop this outrageous abuse of power?

Yes, Nancy, you have a lot more power to stop him than we do. Use it.



Paul Krugman tweeted a thread:

Where we are now: at this point, it will be almost impossible for Trump to win reelection legitimately. It's quite possible, however, that he will try to steal the election. And if you don't think that can happen, you're not paying attention.

Krugman reviewed the two top reasons why it is almost impossible for the nasty guy to win – he has completely botched the federal response to the coronavirus and because of that (and a stingy Senate) the economy has tanked.

Even if the pandemic and the economy somehow turn around — and how is that supposed to happen? — there isn't enough time to rescue Trump. Oh, and the attempted October surprise — you know there will be one — will fall flat from the boy who cried "fake news."

But attempted theft could happen in multiple ways; expect to see many or all in November. Men claiming to be federal agents, but without identification, are already making arrests. Coming to polling places in November? Broken voting machines in D-leaning precincts? Mysterious and selective rejection of millions of absentee ballots? The list goes on. Don't say they wouldn't; clearly they will if they can. If you aren't scared, you're oblivious.

As he did in 2016 the nasty guy is already hinting that he won’t accept the results of the election if he loses.