Trump wages war on peaceful protests—turning them into violent protests

By SJ Otto

We have for a president a man who has made it perfectly clear that he is a president for all the conservative rednecks in this country. Those who love the police—law and order—a reckless disregard for left-wing opinions—those are the people who love Donald Trump, our irresponsible president. One thing I can say about Trump. There is no middle ground—no sitting on the fence—you either hate him or love him. I hate him and that is easy to do.

Trump has nothing but contempt for people on the left. His recent action in Portland spells that out. Trump has no tolerance for those who protest against the status quo. He is an authoritarian. He sees himself as a strongman and his actions, sending Federal agents into the streets of Portland, are not surprising. He seems determined to stamp out the “disorder” and any opposition to him. No other president, in recent history (except maybe Richard Nixon) has been such an authoritarian. He seems completely intolerant of anyone who crosses him.

It is not surprising that he has sent Federal agents into Portland. His excuse is that they are there to protect Federal property. That position is as phony as his leadership has been. There are reports of him having protesters arrested and held in secrecy. It is as if we are now living in a South American country where they used to have the so called “dirty wars.”

Now Portland police have declared a riot as demonstrators have attacked a fence outside a federal courthouse.

According to Yahoo News:

“Portland,…… has seen 58 straight days of protests sparked by the Black Lives Matter social justice movement and the Memorial Day death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.”

The Mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, has the good sense to oppose Trump. Unlike other local politicians, he does not have enough sense to want Trump to take the Federal agents out of his town.
In the past he has accused Trump of making the protesting and violence worse. I’m sure he is right. He was even tear gassed just recently. According to Wbur:

“The mayor of Portland, Oregon, was tear gassed by the U.S. government late Wednesday as he stood at a fence guarding a federal courthouse during another night of protest against the presence of federal agents sent by President Donald Trump to quell unrest in the city.

Mayor Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, said it was the first time he’d been tear gassed and appeared slightly dazed and coughed as he put on a pair of goggles someone handed him and drank water. He didn’t leave his spot at the front, however, and continued to take gas. Around Wheeler, the protest raged, with demonstrators lighting a large fire in the space between the fence and the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse and the pop-pop-pop of federal agents deploying tear gas and stun grenades into the crowd.”

Nothing Trump does is surprising. He is a despicable human being and probably just about the worst president we have had in nearly a century. In some ways we have seen the real essence of Trump. He is a disgusting tyrant and he has just about declared war on many decent Americans just for not bowing down to his right-wing authoritarianism.

Pix by Molotov Cocktail Icon.