Charles P Pierce: The Authoritarian Operation in Portland Is Only a Dress Rehearsal

[Blecht]

11. She's working hard as she has been from day 1

https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/07/16/oregon-gov-kate-brown-says-president-trump-is-invading-portland-as-an-election-stunt/

In an uncharacteristically harsh statement, Brown responded to Trump's deployment of federal officers to quell Portland's protests against police violence. Those officers sent one demonstrator to the hospital July 11 with a munition to the face.

"This political theater from President Trump has nothing to do with public safety," Brown said. "The president is failing to lead this nation. Now he is deploying federal officers to patrol the streets of Portland in a blatant abuse of power by the federal government."

More:

Brown said she spoke to Wolf and told him to remove officers from Portland streets.

"I told acting Secretary Wolf that the federal government should remove all federal officers from our streets," Brown said. "His response showed me he is on a mission to provoke confrontation for political purposes. He is putting both Oregonians and local law enforcement officers in harm's way. This, coming from the same president who used tear gas to clear out peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C., to engineer a photo opportunity."

Brown accused the president of provoking violence in order to appear tough on crime to suburban voters. "Trump is looking for a confrontation in Oregon in the hopes of winning political points in Ohio or Iowa," she said.

That appears to be a correct assessment: The federal crackdown on Portland is getting approving airplay on Fox News and other conservative media, and Trump has pledged to increase federal action if liberal cities don't make arrests of protesters who damage property. Meanwhile, Trump trails Joe Biden by 10 percentage points in reelection polls.