Cue the burning buildings, the metric tons of broken glass, the people hounded from their homes, the mayor hounded from his condo, a celebration of destruction that resulted in at least one murder, a murder celebrated by people in the street. As I said, a death-cult.
This is a brilliant piece of writing. My 74 year-old dad moved out of Portland about a year ago. From my vantage point on the other side of the country, I thought he was overreacting about the environment there but in retrospect, he was right. He moved to Salem which is only an hour down the road but seems to be keeping things under control.
Very moving and infuriating. Your article, linked / A Murder in Portland, was even more so. So incredibly tragic. I hope everyone reading this substack reads that article too!
The “good” woke people of Portland deserve none of our sympathy and all of our contempt
"[S]omeone on Twitter said people like me 'support throwing literally millions of Americans in prison and/or empowering the police to murder them without consequence' because I suggested the slashing of an entire block of car tires was beneficial to no one but the tires shops."
This is typical of the thought-ending, disingenuous hyperbole that so many on the left in Portland use as a way to shame and silence opponents. Should someone suggest that Portland must start regulating the homeless for their own benefit and that of Portlanders who've managed to keep their lives from going down the tubes, members of the same tribe will accuse them of wanting to "criminalize poverty."
Such sentiments would be entertaining provided they remained confined to ineffectual on-line anarchist wannabes. They become a threat to the city's future when they make the leap from the online world to the print media, nonprofits, activists, bureaucrats and elected officials who formulate and implement our policy on what to do about the homeless crisis. Some activist reporters on the staff of "The Oregonian" sometimes act as stenographers for the leftist opponents of a return to law and order. It isn't a stretch to imagine the first text that's quoted above, or something very similar, coming from lips of Jo Ann Hardesty or someone of her ilk.
Portland is never going to get back on track until and unless our elected leaders push back immediately and in no uncertain terms every time someone with even the slightest amount of credibility and power attacks government, business or residents for wanting to end the chaos of unchecked homelessness, drug dealing and drug use in our city.
The word I've been looking for here is "slapdown." If our leaders deliver enough slapdowns to bad-faith obstructionists who come out with nonsense like "don't criminalize poverty" and pair them with sound defenses of the city's policy objectives, the haters may find that they're suddenly small and irrelevant.
This is some powerful writing.
Nancy, really, publish all these writings about Portland as a book......its reluctant biography, it could be.
This is a brilliant piece of writing. My 74 year-old dad moved out of Portland about a year ago. From my vantage point on the other side of the country, I thought he was overreacting about the environment there but in retrospect, he was right. He moved to Salem which is only an hour down the road but seems to be keeping things under control.
Thank you John
These are always so hard (and powerful) to read.
You made me feel so sad.
I feel sad too
Very moving and infuriating. Your article, linked / A Murder in Portland, was even more so. So incredibly tragic. I hope everyone reading this substack reads that article too!
The “good” woke people of Portland deserve none of our sympathy and all of our contempt
"[S]omeone on Twitter said people like me 'support throwing literally millions of Americans in prison and/or empowering the police to murder them without consequence' because I suggested the slashing of an entire block of car tires was beneficial to no one but the tires shops."
This is typical of the thought-ending, disingenuous hyperbole that so many on the left in Portland use as a way to shame and silence opponents. Should someone suggest that Portland must start regulating the homeless for their own benefit and that of Portlanders who've managed to keep their lives from going down the tubes, members of the same tribe will accuse them of wanting to "criminalize poverty."
Such sentiments would be entertaining provided they remained confined to ineffectual on-line anarchist wannabes. They become a threat to the city's future when they make the leap from the online world to the print media, nonprofits, activists, bureaucrats and elected officials who formulate and implement our policy on what to do about the homeless crisis. Some activist reporters on the staff of "The Oregonian" sometimes act as stenographers for the leftist opponents of a return to law and order. It isn't a stretch to imagine the first text that's quoted above, or something very similar, coming from lips of Jo Ann Hardesty or someone of her ilk.
Portland is never going to get back on track until and unless our elected leaders push back immediately and in no uncertain terms every time someone with even the slightest amount of credibility and power attacks government, business or residents for wanting to end the chaos of unchecked homelessness, drug dealing and drug use in our city.
The word I've been looking for here is "slapdown." If our leaders deliver enough slapdowns to bad-faith obstructionists who come out with nonsense like "don't criminalize poverty" and pair them with sound defenses of the city's policy objectives, the haters may find that they're suddenly small and irrelevant.
I can't access the videos. Anyone have advice?
Weird. They're showing up for me. Refresh?