This is not a political stunt, nor is it bullying

Marissa Higgins of Daily Kos reports there are three new statues around Washington. Well, people posing as statues. One of them is titled The Poser showing the nasty guy holding up a Bible while protesters are attacked at his feet. In another he is sending a child back to school. In the third he is cowering in his bunker. If you stop and talk to the people on the pedestals they will encourage you to vote. Why statues? Because the nasty guy is spending a great deal of time and tax dollars protecting statues right now.



I’ve commented a few times that the nasty guy has appointed a new head to the US Postal Service who has made some changes that slow down mail delivery. The postmaster of Portland, Maine seems to also be slowing things down. He’s telling his carriers they must be back to the office by a certain time (no overtime) and if they can’t get it all done make sure Amazon packages are delivered – fourth-class taking precedence over first-class mail. That’s a bit ironic considering how much the nasty guy hates Jeff Bezos of Amazon.

Commenters suggest by November we’ll be used to mail being slow and won’t be surprised if ballots aren’t delivered in time. Or maybe we’ll figure out mail is slow so will be sure to return our ballots plenty early.



Yesterday I noted that one reason why the nasty guy has sent police from Customs and Border Patrol is they are also corrupt. A corrupt force enabling a corrupt president.

Leah McElrath tweeted another reason: US military leaders would not agree to fire on Americans on US soil.

McElrath went on to tweet these government paramilitary personnel are going into cities to “align with police departments within which white supremacy is often flaunted.” William Barr of the Department formerly known as Justice is diverting money to these police departments to buy loyalty. This gives the nasty guy his personal army of thugs.

The next targeted city is Chicago. In replying to McElrath TJ Hapney pondered how long it would take Chicago gang members, dressed in camo, to steal one of those unmarked vans.



Bree Newsome Bass reminds us:

Unmarked federal forces being deployed by a president to cities where he isn’t popular is not a “political stunt”, IT’S FASCISM. It’s the actions of a dictator. Even describing it as a “political stunt” is a dangerously watered down use of language. Folks have learned nothing.

And… from a tweet from two years ago that is still appropriate:

That's not how we defeated the Nazis and it's not how chattel slavery ended. Y'all are being dangerously ahistorical in reducing the current actions of the Trump administration to "bullying" and not the actions of a gov't ready to engage in genocide if allowed.

Bass also complained:

The Wall of Moms is taking more active steps to protect the civilian population than these local municipalities.

Now watch that play out.

Kerry Eleveld of Kos reported that Portland, OR Mayor Ted Wheeler, Democrat, was out talking to protesters last night. He had to quickly put on goggles as tear gas came his way. He doesn’t think the tear gas was meant specifically for him, though he said “I can tell you with 100% honesty, I saw nothing which provoked this response. This is not a deescalation strategy, this is flat-out urban warfare.”

The rest of the article and a few commenters from Portland added much needed background. Various news sources have said (and I repeated) that when the feds moved in there had already been 50 days of protests in Portland. And one of the people they’re protesting against is Ted Wheeler. In addition to being mayor he is also the police commissioner. Because the police under him have been using aggressive tactics protesters have been demanding he resign.

Yeah, it was good he was actually out talking to citizens, though while he was talking protesters projected a list of demands on the courthouse behind him.

One commenter added that Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said he will arrest and prosecute federal police if they break any laws, such as kidnapping or fracturing skulls with rubber bullets.

Why isn’t Wheeler doing this? A commenter wrote perhaps because his police have shown a bias in favor of the federal thugs. This commenter then wrote:

In Portland and Chicago, it is police union leaders that asked the feds to come in. In New Mexico it is a sheriff, Manny Gonzolas, who has met or is meeting with Trump in the White House today.

The police are on Trump’s side and are fighting any reform or interference in their brutal tactics.

Cops gone rogue.

A couple comments later there were links to substantiate those statements.

My summary: Police in Portland have routinely been brutal. This is usually to enforce racism. The citizens have finally had enough and are protesting and have kept protesting. The police, afraid they won’t be allowed to keep being brutal, invite big brother to come in and be brutal with them.

Another commenter is scornful of Portland and Oregon officials. Shots have been fired. They think they’re going to now win this in court?



I came across the Twitter feed for Riot Ribs. They’re a pop-up eatery not far from the Portland protests. They’re cooking and handing out meals to anyone who is hungry. Donate if you can. Even if you can’t, enjoy the food. Frequent tweets ask for donations of money, food, coolers, or labor.

It seems these federal thugs don’t like the idea of free food. They sprayed the Riot Ribs grills with pepper spray and tear gas, rendering them unfit for cooking. They need new grills.

The Willamettee Week newspaper quoted US Rep Earl Blumenauer (D-OR):

The needless damage that Trump's secret police did to Riot Ribs—a volunteer-led effort to feed and supply protesters and those in need—shows just how morally bankrupt and cruel this occupation is.