I also materially agree with the editors of the Wall Street Journal:
As he often does, however, Mr. Trump took the bait and fired off tweets that CNN and Democrats spun as incitement. “The big backlash going on in Portland cannot be unexpected after 95 days of watching and incompetent Mayor admit that he has no idea what he is doing. The people of Portland won’t put up with no safety any longer. The Mayor is a FOOL. Bring in the National Guard!†he tweeted.
He’s right about the National Guard, but Mr. Trump would help Portland and his own political cause more if he called for calm on all sides. That includes his supporters who rolled into Portland for a counter-protest on Saturday. According to news reports, the man who was killed in the streets was wearing a hat for “Patriot Prayer,†the right-wing group that sometimes clashes with Antifa.
Mr. Trump should tell his supporters to stay away from Portland, Kenosha, Wis., and other cities where rioters reign. Democrats and Mr. Trump’s media opponents will take any opening they can to make alleged vigilantism the story rather than the failure of progressive Democratic governance.
The President can continue to offer local officials federal help if they want it. And he should offer sympathy for the people of Portland, Kenosha and other violent cities who have been let down by state and local leaders.
Vigilantism isn’t the cause of the current urban violence, but it could become one result of the failure to control violence. Americans have watched for weeks as rioters burned and looted businesses that people spent a lifetime building. Yet mayors like Ted Wheeler have let it happen. Inevitably, average citizens will move to defend themselves if elected officials won’t protect them. The proper place to do that is at the ballot box, however, not in the streets with guns.
That would be the statesmanlike thing, the presidential thing to do. I hope he takes their advice.
There are other things he could do as well including directing the Department of Justice to open an investigation into whether the civil rights of the people of Portland are being violated by their mayor’s and governor’s failure to live up to their oaths of office.
My suggestion; it’s time for Trump and Biden to do rallies.
It would give an outlet to the partisan sentiments in a generally non-confrontational way.
It sounds paradoxical but participants in political rallies are expected to be on good behavior — lest the bad behavior dominate coverage; and they are held in places like stadiums which are easier to control from a police perspective.
Incentivize peaceful, organized rallies.
When you have 90+ days of non-stop ‘peaceful protesting’ and no calls for calm until the polling of the focus groups comes back sour, it’s rather hypocritical to then ask for calm on both sides. Nasty tweets aren’t violence, even though the SJWs consider speech and silence to be violence. I don’t think the parade from Clackamas should have been organized and sent, but it is a free country; one has a responsibility to NOT retaliate to provocation. Killing someone because you were maced (after you threatened them with bodily harm) is way disproportionate.
There are other things he could do as well including directing the Department of Justice to open an investigation into whether the civil rights of the people of Portland are being violated by their mayor’s and governor’s failure to live up to their oaths of office.
A very good idea which I wholly agree with. Of course OMB would be called Mr. H 10X for doing so, and Barr et al would be called the reincarnation of the Stasi, Gestapo, etc. for trying to carry out that mandate. Probably have to wait until after the reelection.
Also, open places of worship, and other civic organizations.
Those are all places where citizens can put the energy from these events into constructive purposes.
Heh.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-democrats-spend-four-years-fantasizing-about-riots-assassination-and-violent-chaos
Curious about “Patriot Prayer”. Wikipedia’s entry:
Patriot Prayer is a far-right group based in the Portland, Oregon area. Patriot Prayer describes itself as advocating in favor of free speech, and opposing big government. Wikipedia
Free speech and small government. Far, far, right wing.
In one of the first posts I ever wrote on this blog I pointed out something that should be obvious: your perception of just how far right or how far left something is depends as much on your own ideological position as it does on those of what you’re commenting on. The two cannot be separated.
If you’re far enough on the left there isn’t much that isn’t far right wing and vice versa. Since I tend to be non-ideological it gives me a different perspective. I can see far left, left, right, and far right from where I sit.