So apparently U.S. President Donald Trump has “invaded Oregon” according to the Mainstream Media and even the governor of the state in question Kate Brown who is not surprisingly a Democrat. This is in reference to the Federal Government sending in agents to arrest protestors often by just dragging them into unmarked vehicles. The Black Lives Matter protests/riots/uprisings have devolved to the point where the American Right and Left seem to be in an intellectual race to the bottom. This is truly a mess but one with many nuances and given the political will could have a solution. Let’s break down both sides of this issue and see where the problem lies.
Trump/Republicans/The Right
A long time ago in an America far, far away during the reign of Bush II we accepted the fact that terrorism isn’t a crime but something else vastly more wicked. Terrorism became its own special category that the normal rules did not apply to even if the accused happened to be American. All of this because 3,000 people died in a country of 300,000,000+ because of hijackers with boxcutters succeeded in their suicidal mission once. The immediate answer to public and media panic resulting in the Overton Window shifting far enough to make waterboarding your neighbor for quick information sound like a great option to save the country from “the ticking time bomb scenario”.
This moment of mass cowardice was going to come back to bite America for sure. At the time (the early 2000s) the Democrats rightfully scolded these Bush-era reinterpretations of American values, but as we see more and more the only reason they were angry was because the other side did it. Stepping further into the future it becomes evident that “homegrown” and “Right Wing” terrorism can and should be fought with the exact same methods according to our bureaucrats in blue.
Based on this awful foundation the status of Antifa becomes very important regardless of if you support or despise them. If Antifa can finally be fully confirmed as a “terrorist organization” then throwing them into unmarked vans without a word is a completely legitimate and legal option. Terrorism is the exception and if you are on that terrorist list they can do anything they want to you. Furthermore, the people accused of financially supporting a terrorist organization may have to deal with men in uniforms storming their house at night or at the very least getting many of their assets frozen… *cough*, *cough*, George Soros.
Since terrorism is a special case and seems to have “no jurisdiction” any claims of an “invasion” of Oregon by the feds go right out the window. If Al-Nusra was in Boise, Idaho Trump would be able to deal with them like a varmint infestation in one’s garage – mercilessly and without repercussion. The framework for this sort of NKVD style approach to problem solving is not a Trump Era creation but it is a shame he is choosing to allow it, because when the Democrats get their turn at the wheel it is sure going to be one hell of a ride for anyone who does not kneel to their politics.
Image: Sadly this type of American thinking is fading into history.
But to be fair Trump does find himself in a very rough situation. There are mass protests of a very destructive nature (some could call them riots) going on across the country. No matter what happened in America, and no matter how “proud” we are to live in a system of “checks and balances” where powers are divided – ultimately the President gets blamed for everything. This is irrational and unfair but it is the way the human mind works. So if Trump actually believes he is on some sort of mission to Make America Great Again then he has to maintain power in this election year and fight against those who are destroying his vision, which requires cracking a few eggs.
Trump has to do something, but this particular imagery of masked men dragging people into unmarked vehicles, some of whom don’t seem to be particularly violent at the moment of filming just makes him look like a corny dictator from an impoverished country that never fought in a war but wears 20+ medals. So far, out of fear of revolution even staunch Libertarians and Conservatives have turned to police worshipping (#BlueLivesMatter) and the normally sane PragerU has joined in with their Back the Blue campaign. Although so far the Right is going along with the President this is not a good look either at home or internationally.
Yes, we cannot forget that if the governors of Blue States are going to do nothing and let America burn, then Trump has to do something, but not this. These videos of hippies being “disappeared” is not MAGA. In fact this looks very cowardly and just as anti-American as the attitudes the President claims to be fighting against.
Screenshot: Militarized secret police are not a good look for America.
Anti-Trump/The Left/Democrats
Is it wrong for the Federal Government to swoop into states and local jurisdictions and just do whatever the hell they want? Constitutionally yes, traditionally yes, but the Blue governor’s like Oregon’s Kate Brown and their precious party are exactly the types of people who advocate for more and more government control and laugh at state’s rights. The rotting away of the idea that America is a collective 50 semi-independent states didn’t happen by chance.
Governor Brown said that in terms of these mass protests “In Oregon we solve problems by deescalating and dialoguing”. The problem is that clownish hipster feel-good tactics like dialogue do not work when dealing with a mob mentality, especially when the mob has no “official” leadership to dialogue with.
When there is mass rioting and looting and the local authorities offer a chit-chat over tea as the only solution they shouldn’t be surprised to get intervention from Washington. As stated above Trump simply cannot sit around and watch things develop from beyond an invisible wall of jurisdiction that the Democrats themselves do not respect whatsoever. Just you wait as soon as some guy in Iowa refuses to make an erotic cake for a gay wedding, you better believe Blue Washington will be happy to intervene. In short, this out-of-nowhere newfound Democrat interest in state’s rights is a farce and repulsively hypocritical.
Additionally, calling the use of a small group of agents an invasion, would only be true on some distant island with a miniscule population. Furthermore, the United States cannot invade the United States, unless this is going to be Civil War 2.0, but it is doubtful that that was the intent of Brown’s words. It is a violation of jurisdiction for sure, it could very well be a violation of state’s rights, but it is not an invasion, grow up.
If the real desire of the Governor of Oregon is to find a peaceful resolution to these protests the simplest answer is to cut the purse strings. One simply cannot protest forever as they need some source of income to stay fed. If there are some government programs that somehow support the protestors – cut them. If there is some means of grants/donations being thrown their way – block it. In a battle of attrition the Government of the State of Oregon will win.
Things will get worse before getting better
The more desperate Trump and/or Democrat Governors get the more likely we are to see absurdity and hypocrisy making the headlines. There is a Soft Power battle for the near future of America going on right now in the streets. Certain Blue States are consciously acting apathetically to these protests while Trump is trying to break them up from a distant Washington D.C. Regardless of what the ballots may say in some ways the actual selection of power for the Oval Office is happening across American urban areas right now and that is why we will probably see further escalation of the conflicts until early November.