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I’ve defended the protests here(while still calling for the violent offenders to be arrested). But we took a little driving tour around downtown for the first time in a few months and it’s gotten so bad. And the targets make no sense from any sort of social justice notion unlike the prior focus around the courthouse.
Mercedes dealership, Tiffany store, Gucci? Those are all fine.
Boys and Girls club, employment outreach offices, homeless missions, public parks and other things trying to help just a minute down the road...trashed. Even little mom and pop restaurants. E
You are coming around. Now when you come to the realization that the courthouse, Mercedes,Tiffany, and Gucci shops are not fine you will be making some real progress. None of it is fine, it isn’t hunky dory. When you let standards slide sometimes you don’t get to make the limits at the levels that personally offend you. So how you deal with this is say we don’t loot and riot, period. Ever.
Portland doesn’t need another useless centrist. Portland needs a Ron DeSantist-type Conservative to clean house and crack the whip.
How so, and what is someone like DeSantis going to do to improve things in a place like Portland (and in a way that doesn't just continue to exacerbate the "us against them" mentality)?
I don't think it's an unreasonable position to be disgusted by both the needless destruction (property destruction and at times violence) that has happened in Portland and other places but also be disgusted about a very small minority of bad cops whose inexcusable murderous behavior has risen to the surface over the last few years, especially the last year (making it even tougher for the vast majority of good cops to effectively do their jobs)?
What is wrong with someone whose policy actions strongly condemns both of these awful scenarios among very fringe elements of society?
Because I think that's how most people view the events of the last year (or few years).
By some of the OPs statements (like it's OK for protestors to target Mercedes dealerships, Gucci stores, etc), and then making the absurd claim there are right-wingers coming in from across the country and engaging in this mayhem, I think it's safe to say the OP is exactly the type of person that votes for these far-left politicos who let ANTIFA and BLM run riot. It's called reaping what you sow.
notnamed and greywar were advocates for 98% of what happened in PDX and SEA last summer. Sure, "stop those who are breaking the law!" they might say, while telling you how there were hardly any breaking the law.
"Fix those bad cops! They're the REAL problem" they tell us, while not understanding it is the "protestors" who should be doing THAT with the "rioters". Those yellow-shirted mommies were all cool and just protecting the legal protestors from the big bad cops ... until they also chose to disobey legal orders, breach fences, and get on the courthouse steps and even sometimes participate in the mayhem.
You are coming around. Now when you come to the realization that the courthouse, Mercedes,Tiffany, and Gucci shops are not fine you will be making some real progress. None of it is fine, it isn’t hunky dory. When you let standards slide sometimes you don’t get to make the limits at the levels that personally offend you. So how you deal with this is say we don’t loot and riot, period. Ever.
One has to ask how these protestors are getting supplied with money, transportation, supplies and bodies. How many drug addicts are they recruiting or are they supplying drugs to keep to their 'troops' motivated. To protest night after night after night. I don't buy a small hardcore bunch.
One has to ask how these protestors are getting supplied with money, transportation, supplies and bodies. How many drug addicts are they recruiting or are they supplying drugs to keep to their 'troops' motivated. To protest night after night after night. I don't buy a small hardcore bunch.
I suspect that at least some of them come from financially privileged backgrounds (i.e. trust fund babies) and don't have to work.
Has Portland's housing prices been affected? If things are so bad, I should be able to purchase an entire city block for $200K.
It hasn’t. As this problem is still mostly just in the downtown core. Portland is more laid out like a giant suburb. Housing and businesses outside of that are still in high demand. But downtown there are boarded up businesses with for sale signs that I’m sure are at a relative bargain right now.
As the winter rains are ending and we enter the summer dry period the number of homeless have exploded too. But that’s actually an annual migration of them that come up from CA.
By some of the OPs statements (like it's OK for protestors to target Mercedes dealerships, Gucci stores, etc), and then making the absurd claim there are right-wingers coming in from across the country and engaging in this mayhem, I think it's safe to say the OP is exactly the type of person that votes for these far-left politicos who let ANTIFA and BLM run riot. It's called reaping what you sow.
I wasn’t saying it was OK, I’m just saying the noticeable change in targets doesn’t make any sense for some leftist/Marxist/whatever to be going after. And that there has been a dramatic escalation in property damage in the last few months. It’s odd that the ritzy business district is fine, but literally the next block over is boarded up with graffiti on every vertical surface and homeless tents right outside business entrances. Who in the world has a political issue with a family owned Chinese restaurant in the Old Town Chinatown area for instance?
Also to be clear I live across the river in Vancouver, WA where this isn’t happening and is actually a very nice “purple” area that actually elects a mix of Republicans and Democrats with very low taxes, effective police, and political compromises are still possible. No complaints about what it’s like here. Not to mention it’s one of the most beautiful natural areas of the country. Portland was just for our nightlife.
If you love the first amendment just as much as the second, what’s the solution here? A hard crackdown on protesting is just as unpalatable as a gun seizure if you truly love our Constitution.
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