Certainly the Guard would provide some relief, but there are legal thresholds to be met. “Making a point” and “their jobs are difficult” aren’t sufficient. For the latter, that’s really in DHS’s hands to figure out.
For whatever reason, there’s been a persistent attempt to frame what’s happening in Portland to suggest a rebellion or insurrection, and then use that as justification for federal troops.
Some of that framing is built on outright lies: “War ravaged Portland” and “Portland is burning to the ground” and “It is a violent armed resistance designed to incapacitate the essential operations of the duly-elected federal government, by force.”
Meanwhile we’re picking apples, taking kids to the pumpkin patches, hosting a marathon, etc.
I don’t like hyperbole in media at all, either, and calling your city a war zone might be a bit far off, but it’s also possible you don’t know everything that’s actually going on where you live. Here in Maine, you really do need to “do your own research” at the city level, because our formerly well-run local newspapers no longer do their government watchdog job. There is exactly one state-level organized media outlet with press credentials who does this role right now, and they are a nonprofit funded by Leonard Leo, who isn’t interested in being a watchdog of Republicans in Maine. Given our Democrat political dominance (and government payment of major media outlets in the millions of dollars), they are absolutely performing a needed public service.
Otherwise, if Portland is anything like Maine, you just need to pay attention to the people who diligently pay attention to the actual government proceedings at all levels of local and state government. It’s quite tedious, and I still don’t know everything that’s going on in this weird state run by the rainbow mafia, which is the same group that seems to dominate Portland politics. Hell, the gal who lost to Ted Wheeler had a Joseph Stalin skirt, IIRC.
I’m not sure how much gunfire is needed to be called a war zone, but there is definitely a very violent conflict playing out in my town’s streets that meets my definition of warfare. Taken as a whole, Antifa and their enablers in political power are also hostile combatants, even though they do their best to skate the thin ice between protest and hostile agitation.
Media sensationalism aside, there’s good reason for the duly-elected leader of the free world to target your hood. I’m assuming you’re familiar with Andy Ngo. He’s been doing a good job of documenting Antifa in Portland for many years now, and he has never struck me as a sensationalist, given that he does a good job of backing up whatever he says with facts that can be verified by others, unlike “anonymous sources familiar with Trump’s thinking”, or anything else like that kind of crap.
If things are as bad as you’ve described, and resources are spread as thin as you’ve suggested, wouldn’t it make sense to request the National Guard to come to Lewiston? California and Texas seem to have troops available at the moment. I do mean that seriously.
I’m actually not familiar with Andy Ngo, nor had I heard of him until a couple days ago. Though I suppose I’ll take a look/listen.
I mean it is probable that there’s many things playing out that I’m unaware of. I’m already in a somewhat weird position in that I live in the Portland metro and I’m in the city regularly, but I don’t live in the state. I don’t have any say in Portland politics regardless though I do see the outcome. The biggest change in the last couple years is decreasingly less homeless near businesses. Otherwise small business continues to thrive, the city continues to invest in making it safer for cyclists and pedestrians, and keeps things otherwise clean and safe. The airport renovation is really nice, too.
I mean, some of the worst things to have happened is a fire at my favorite ice cream place, the shuttering of a few of my favorite breweries and restaurants, and some changes to the skyline due to condo development that all looks very same-y.
Yeah that problem comes up a lot in Maine whenever anything happens in any one of our cities and towns that are named for someplace else. Portland, York, Mexico, China, Norway, Sweden, Paris, South Paris, and many other municipalities are all responsible for a lot of confusion.
It’s possible that Portland, ME is even more dysfunctional than Lewiston, but I’m not up-to-speed on matters of local governance there.
This is a very serious question that needs to be answered here in Maine, which ties in to public education failures. It really boils down to how we discern true from false.
That’s how Targets get torched when a media narrative takes off that a 140lb guy murdered a 250lb dude with a knee pin while being filmed.
I lived in NYC for over 30 years, including the time when they put a cop on every subway at night due to crime.
I can assure you that if I lived in the Upper East Side, and didn’t have to use public transportation, I could’ve told you NYC never had a crime problem.
I actually don’t understand why you see that as disingenuous. Based on this reaction, it sounds like that was a bad example.
Edit: Ok, I see. My understanding originally was that he got into an altercation and was stabbed, not that it was in self defense. I was basing my knowledge off the tiny bit that was reported the other night.
All I’m trying to say is that there have been no weapons, no rapes, no looting, no stabbings, no gunfire at the protests. Both in the peaceful daytime stuff, and the less-peaceful night time stuff. There’s hours and hours of video from all the journalist and streamer coverage. Probably 24 hour coverage.
What happened in Montgomery this weekend is horrific. Same for what happened in Utah. Same for what happened in Dallas. That is not what’s happening here.
I’m not saying it’s been peaceful. I am saying that people have been arrested when interfering with the federal agents. I am saying that people have been arrested by Portland Police when altercations happened in the crowd.
But for anyone to suggest it’s an armed violent revolutionary insurgency is disingenuous.
It does have a lot to do with name recognition. Big name cities get big headlines.
You could lob grenades into traffic during rush hour in Pittsburgh and nobody would ever hear of it. If its not a Steelers game, it doesn’t matter.
On the other hand, some of the violence that has taken place is above & beyond next level. As a halfwit of a kid, we would occasionally taunt local police and general criminal mischief, but when the Feds showed up, it was a whole different ball game. Nobody would ever, ever, think of messing with them, let alone actual trading blows, harassing or shooting at them.
Then there’s the rhetoric coming from politicians. Honestly, the stuff today from the Mayor of chicago and Govornor of Illinois is the worst I’ve ever seen.
Thats just straight up fear mongering. People are dangerous when they’re scared, and he’s definitely doing his part to make sure they’re as scared as he can get them.
I have to hand it to CNN. They have an extraordinary threshold for the difference between “protest that gets a little rowdy” and violence toward and obstruction of law law enforcement.
They are the origin of the Mostly Peaceful trope for very good reason.
