Sunday, July 26, 2020

Trump's epic miscalculation: Portland

As we watch Donald Trump's attempt to demonstrate what a great strong leader he could be, bringing his brand of law and order to Democratic-run cities, he inflamed already angry demonstrators who had been mostly peaceful to meet federal violence with their violence. He inspired more to join in the protest, and he built a kind of walls he never imagined. Above all, he has created a multiracial cause.  He has now made "autocracy" the burning matter that affects all lives, not just black ones.
     Trump chose one of the whitest cities in America, Portland, Oregon,  to show how he would dominate the streets with anonymous federal agents outfitted for war in Afghanistan.to do much more than just protect federal real estate. His troops were never invited and he ignored state and local officials' requests to withdraw them. He would show how he would bring demonstrators to their knees even if they were peacefully exercising their right to assemble and protest that was guaranteed in the Constitution and even if they were not near federal buildings.
      While what Trump had hoped to do with this made for FOX viewers and  TV advertising demonstration of what he wants his second term to look like, he accomplished something else he did not intend. The new walls he built had nothing to do with the southern border. They were the Wall of Moms..nearly all-white..and the Wall of white Dads wielding leaf blowers to counter tear gas,  and now the Walls of Veterans, also mostly white,  arm in arm as front row protectors of the protestors. They made it clear use of suppression and domination using such violence and force was not to be tolerated by white people any more than it was tolerated by black lives. If his intent was to scare "suburban housewives" back into his fold, showing them they were in danger from racially charged "mobs",  what he did was to give them a picture of what he would do to their daughters and sons of any color if they dared gather to protest any government policy.
Update: July 31, 2020: Trump withdrew "federal agents". https://www.cbsnews.com/news/portland-protest-mostly-peaceful-state-local-officers-replace-federal-agents/?intcid=CNI-00-10aaa3a
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-agents-portland-phased-withdrawal-leaving/

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