**** "Fuck the feds," shouted a young woman in a helmet and gas mask who declined to give her name. "You want war? We'll give you war. We will win" ... (PDX protester quote)
This posting will serve 3 series of this journal/ blog ... "The Awakening", "Public Patriots", and "Neoliberalism". I been following all the resistance in Portland/ PDX to what is basically leaning towards more fascist type policies, this time directed by President Trump, cloaked in the name of things like protection, goodness, love of the American People, patriotism, and Jesus ... or other related political charlatan neoliberal nonsense. But, yeah, this is very importante, if we want to keep anything that slightly resembles a democracy ... and credit here to these people of Portland, who are patriots for democracy. And in my view and experience of PDX ... I have also viewed PDX as one of the last of the great American cities ... I mean, it'd be sad to see this unique American city get turned into a mundane cookie cutter corporate communism American shithole. To see this President try to suppress and destroy the spirit of liberty, this city, and democracy, is shameful, and the response from Portlanders, in defense of their liberty and Constitution, is appropriate. Now this administration is using various excuses to enforce these repugnant anti- American policies on other cities around our country. I selected a few videos and articles below for a briefing, out of a number of pieces I been reading. I felt it was appropriate to first hear out U.S. Navy vet Chris David, a native Portlander who was injured by these sort of national special police officers/ soldiers, when he approached them to ask a question. Other pieces below look at how a judge is reacting to this ... some of the events on the ground ... expanding surveillance powers and new funding for DHS, specifically for this ... a PDX journalist on how they instill fear in citizens ... a couple pieces on how a Mayor and District Attorney of 2 large American cities are handling this ... and a video from trial attorney, Devin Stone, who also runs the popular YouTube channel, LegalEagle, to explain and look at the legal end of this. At the bottom, I'll add some of my views.
Navy veteran beaten at Portland protest talks real message after video goes viral ... Thanx to ABC7 News Bay Area
***** CBS NEWS | ASSOCIATED PRESS: Judge orders federal agents to keep hands off journalists at Portland protests ... (newsread)
***** THE GUARDIAN | Chris McGreal: Portland: protesters bring down fence as confrontation with Trump agents rises ... (newsread)
***** THE INTERCEPT | Ryan Grim: As Trump Threatens Secret Police Deployment Nationwide, Democrats Debate Expanding Surveillance Powers And New Money For DHS ... (newsread)
***** THE OREGONIAN | Henry Latourette Miller: Opinion: Protesting an authoritarian police state is terrifying ... (opinion/news)
***** IN THESE TIMES | Hamilton Nolan: Philly D.A. Larry Krasner He's Ready to Charge Invading Federal Agents with Crimes ... (newsread/ interview)
***** BUSINESS INSIDER | Connor Perrett: Chicago mayor defends her decision to work with federal agents but says the can't 'play police' when 'they don't know the first thing about our city' ... (newsread)
Portland Occupied by Secret Federal "Police"? LegalEagle's Real Law Review ...Thanx to LegalEagle
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***** PD | RCJ: "THE AWAKENING" ... PART'S 57 THRU 1
***** PD | RCJ: "PUBLIC PATRIOTS" ... PART'S 65 THRU 1
***** PD | RCJ: "NEOLIBERALISM" ... PART'S 13 THRU 1
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Thomas Hudson Pickering/ Ranch Chimp (1982 photo)
Where are all the Constitutionalists in all of this? ... please, come out ... you know, those who fight tooth and claw endlessly to protect our 2nd Amendment right. What about the 1st and 4th amendment for example? ... shouldn't y'all be out in the streets with these folks with your AR-15s in hand? ... after all, some protesters desecrated a federal building ... certainly something that y'all would support, with your disdain for the federal government, eh? Where are all these folks that endlessly proclaim that the states individually should make their own decisions, and have the right to contest the Washington "elite" and federal government? This U.S. Navy veteran, Christopher David, that had his hand broken by these soldiers illegally beating him, for asking a question ... why didn't our President, who supports veterans above most, not meet with Chris, apologize to Chris, and publicly in front of the White House with Chris, as he would do for most any veteran support photo op? Speaking of President Trump ... where is your support publicly for these protesters/ freedom fighters for democracy? It was just earlier this year, that the President, with bipartisan support from other Washington political elitists, that y'all were loudly praising the Hong Kong protesters, and encouraging them to "tear shit down", and to fight the communist government of China, for their oppression of the people of Hong Kong. The President himself even threatening sanctions against China, if they didn't ease their brutality and oppression ... what in Hell happened over the last few months, that makes you respond to PDX freedom fighter protesters, like communist China would? I mean, we all know that you're a fascist ... do you also want to go down in history as one of the greatest communist leaders, as well? First the President labels these Portland citizens as "Antifa" ... I guess someone told him what "Antifa" actually means, because he now is calling them "Anarchists". No, Mr. President, you had it correct the first time, they should be called Antifa, because they ARE anti- fascist ... in other words, they are calling you by your right title, as a fascist ... not a President of any democracy ... they're fighting for their liberties, and against your policies and acting like a fascist dictator, Mr. President. And NO, the people of Portland are not out of order, they are doing the American thing ... and NO, there shouldn't be any goddamn peace, without justice ... nor should we have any respect for those who are out to destroy our democracy, rights/ liberties, and lives ... that have no respect for the majority of people.
Some of the mainstream media, in this case FOX News, has been painting this as anarchy taking over the country, to destroy everything American ... as far as Portland, and any large American cities, being ran by what they call liberals. What you see in PDX, is a small 4 block or so section of downtown, that has these protests, it has been consistent, and mostly orderly ... some vandalism, but the majority has been within the law. This is not nearly as heavy as what they praised in Hong Kong ... and this is no reason to gas, and shoot rubber bullets at mothers, dads, grandparents and the rest, that are simply asking to protect the rights of their families and children. Not only PDX and Oregon should be filing lawsuits here, but the UN should also be taking some kind of action ... this should be illegal, and probably is, on a global scale, by even international law. The reason they want to send troops into Chicago, has to do with a recent surge of gun violence, which I look at as largely gang related, not to do so much with the fight for democracy or George Floyd ... but yes, constant oppression as well. Completely different than PDX, but they will have and legislate various laws, to have reason to go into any city, if you allow it, for any reason, as this can easily become a slippery slope. I mean, Chicago has a history of gang violence that goes back to the 1800s/ 19th century ... you have a recent spike ... and Chicago has a history of city government corruption that goes back for nearly as many years too. But too, on the other hand, such as PDX, Seattle, NYC, Philly, or wherever ... this reaction to oppression, racism, police brutality, neoliberalism, has built up a growing amount of anger, and continues to. The police murder of George Floyd brought out alot of anger that been brewing over our government's policing policies for decades. I had this journal/ blog now for a decade ... and just in that short time, look at how much this country has deteriorated on these issues ... which is the whole reason I started covering this stuff a decade ago ... because at some point, we will come to some kind of awakening, the sooner, the better. This is why I support these folks like in Portland, or any other U.S. city that stands for democracy, because what we see today, is not democracy or even freedom by a long shot. Again, this resistance will NOT die out, but increase globally, wave after wave, as long as they push anti- democratic policies ... whether it's American protests, or folks like the French "Gilets Jaunes", or the German's "Aufstehen" movement ... we are all up against a common global enemy.
It's in order if this is about only protecting the Federal Courthouse in Portland from vandalism or related ... whether a federal courthouse, park, monument, or whatever else. What is not part of that so called "detail", is breaking away from the courthouse protective perimeter, going a couple blocks away and just grabbing citizens off the street at random wearing masks, which they are supposed to, to protect themselves/ others from COVID as well, and detaining and interrogating them without legal cause to, they don't charge them with anything, because they're committing no crime. As for Mayor Lightfoot of Chicago, saying she wants these militarized federal forces to help them in Chicago, but with strict oversight and limits ... that's fine ... and it's common for folks to want help ... but there is no reason to believe that, that won't also lead to a slippery slope. As far as hundreds of protesters showing up outside Mayor Lightfoot's home, they should, and make sure their voices are heard loud and clear ... politicians should be fearing the people, not the other way around, they impose fear on the people constantly. The District Attorney of Philadelphia, Larry Krasner, is taking the more sensible route ... being that, if these troops break their local laws, he will charge and prosecute them, plain and simple. As far as the President thinking he's just going to send forces to all these cities, and crack heads or whatever ... that is ill thinking, which is quite common for him. "IF" you start to just mobilize these militarized forces across the country ... it will make many go underground, then you will really have to worry about pockets of anarchists and trouble. People, especially the younger more tech proficient, are not dumb ... thinking that you'll just track them all on their phones or whatever is also ill thinking ... they will devise and use alternative communications and organizing methods, and some will recruit ex- military sympathizers, with demolitions engineering backgrounds, counterinsurgency backgrounds, intelligence/ counterintelligence backgrounds, to special forces/ weapons backgrounds, etc, who will teach others ... then you'll have a new challenge. Because the forces the American people will be resisting are actually terrorizing the people and country ... at the request of fascists and multinational tyrannical oiligarchs. This is also NOT Hong Kong, there are millions of more guns here than population, and access to many tools that others across the globe may not have. It would be harder, for any U.S. military branch and/ or law enforcement branch, to contain and crush a strong determined resistance ... and this is much larger and more populated than Afghanistan or Iraq. And how long will it be, as the economy gets disrupted, and society increasingly turns against these tyrants attacking us ... that many of these militarized forces personel start realizing that they are doing wrong by taking orders from these anti- democracy tyrants, to attack our citizenry on/ in our own grounds/ country ... and decline to do it any further ... with some starting to join the people and their families to fight back?
As far as Washington and the Congress debating new funding and expansion of surveillance powers, etc ...well, this is nothing new, look at what has happened just over the last 30 years ... you can barely wipe your ass without some tech device picking it up, nothing to worry much about, because it's the reality, but certainly to be aware of. Of course there will be bitch fighting back and forth between Democrats and Republicans, but you can bank on it, that they will be beefing up surveillance and law enforcement. And you want to be careful of asking to dismantle/ defund police departments, because that will lead to privatization of police forces (example here of a privatized Fire Department in Tennessee), and wealthy investors marketing it. This is not only to keep tabs on what everyone is doing, but what they are spending, eating, or whatever else. Most they will label as for the common good, after all ... people who have committed horrible crimes, including murder on others, have been easier to track and bust, because of technology. Hell, if it wasn't for our phones, we wouldn't even have all these clear cases of police misconduct and killings of innocent people ... there is a flip side to everything, eh? This is one of those things, that Democrats will even have enough to support it, and pass it, many with public approval, because so many fears and uncertainty people have. People want a certain amount of protection, and to be watched to some degree. But, these things also have a flip side, and has a history of turning into a slippery slope. It was events like the North Hollywood Shootout (wikipedia) in early 1997, that started to even more, add military type gear to the police uniform and gear, when all these cops who responded to the bank robbery in progress, had no adequate protection, from these well equipped bank robbers. The 3 strikes laws against violent offenders, led to folks stealing a sandwich from a 7-11 to eat, getting decades in prison for it, which led to private profit/ investor driven prison/ detention facilities, unpaid forced labour, and so forth ... so you see how the slippery slope works without control, especially in a society where everything is market driven. The recent George Floyd protests, are evidence, that you can get change with strong protesting ... look how many corporations have changed things overnight from the protests. Major sports leagues changing their attitude, NFL supporting kneeling ... even changing the name of the "Washington Redskins", removing Confederate monuments, to taking Aunt Jemima off the pancake box ... I could go on and on. You have never seen this kind of change in such a short time frame from any political party/ politician ... it was the actions of the "people" and their protesting that brought this about, so don't expect these politicians to change a damn thing ... the people need to make the demand, and change things. Continuous protests and civil disobedience, over and over and over, is what will bring any change in any decent time frame.
Word Out ....
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***** RANCH CHIMP JOURNAL "WELCOME" POST
***** RCJ MUSIC/ ART'S HONOUR ROLL SOCIETY (my hand- selected music/ arts picks)
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Where are all the Constitutionalists in all of this? ... please, come out ... you know, those who fight tooth and claw endlessly to protect our 2nd Amendment right. What about the 1st and 4th amendment for example? ... shouldn't y'all be out in the streets with these folks with your AR-15s in hand?
ReplyDeleteThe unspoken context of those people's "constitutionalism" is that those rights they proclaim to be so important only apply to "the right kind of people". If you're the wrong color, the wrong sexual orientation, the wrong side of the political spectrum, or whatever, then you're not "exercising your rights", you're an uppity troublemaker who needs to be put down. That's how the same people who throw a huge toddler tantrum about having to wear masks can think it's silly or pernicious for black people to protest against getting shot by the police for no valid reason.
They don' believe all those rights, including gun rights, should apply to everybody -- only to people like themselves.
Yeah Infidel, that sums it up about how selective some of these constitutionalists can be ... after all, it's an old school belief too. Years back, many folks never thought that the Constitution is for everyone either, they certainly didn't think it applied to black folks, and many said that black folks could never be a citizen, these were popular beliefs a couple hundred years ago ... and some folks still believe such.
ReplyDeleteBut I was serious, I mean, I'm like a constitutionalist, been damn near all my life, since I knew what the Constitution was ... so yes, I feel all American's should be supporting, or at least have a certain respect for these folks. I've lived a pretty damn free life ... and when you have that, it's a good feeling ... you don't like to lose it. That's like a trademark of America ... and it's for everyone to have, share, and enjoy.
Yes,the mask thing really surprised me, I would have never thought that folks would have tantrums over something as simple as that, during a pandemic, that is to protect our friends, neighbours, and families ... a little mask is so simple, I won't leave home without it. I really think that these institutions, such as politics and religion really fucked up our nature given morality and reasoning. While I was writing the Constitutional part of this, I was actually thinking about what it would be like, if the constitutionalists just joined in, and everyone put down their sword against each other, put aside their religion and political parties, and stood together against this anti- democratic shit. That would really trouble the oligarchs, we would build a strength to just run their asses out of town, if we could unite on something ... and it would be the oligarchs worst nightmare. That's one of the reasons they flood our politics with money, and control mainstream media, is to keep us at each others throats, and away from their throats. Because they know if we found a common good and goal, that unites us, their ass would be running for the hills or their private islands, for their lives.
Nice post thanks foor sharing
ReplyDelete