Gimme Shelter
A busy weekend for honest folk and bullshit artists alike.
What a weekend! Podcasts, marches, New York Times op-eds, and a riot? Oh, and we’re a little bit at war with Iran. I’m still working on BudgetMania II! It was another marathon session (actually multiple sessions) and it deserves an analysis as obsessive as the first one. This weekend there are a few things to cover more briefly.
The Podcast
I went on NW Fresh again to give my 6 month evaluation of our City Council (post-budget battle.) The episode should be up next week. Spoilers: I’m even less impressed with our council than I was last time, with one or two notable exceptions. You can see my first and second episodes at these links.
This was my ranking at the 3 month mark:
Stay tuned to figure out how it changed, or maybe add your ranking in the comments to see how close we matched up?
There Was a March, I Guess.
Saturday was the No Kings! March hosted by several groups but primarily 50501 Portland who you will recognize from my previous writing:
You already know my feelings on the failure of these orgs to police their “big tents.” They know my feelings as well. Some are sympathetic but unmoved. The best I got from one group was:
Hey! Our rally is before the 50501 rally and has a much different lineup than theirs. We don’t want to/can’t discourage people from going to 50501, but we’re providing an alternative lineup of speakers.
Little can be done about it, but in the wake of violent political attacks against Jews I still think it’s important to hammer them over their continued tolerance of left wing violence, terror apologia, and friendliness with the DSA.
I didn’t go to the march. I’m not marching with people who want to kill me — it’s just that simple. You know who did go? Councilor Angelita Morillo and Congresswoman Janelle Bynum, though not to the same marches or for the same reasons.
“Friendly” Fire
A few days before, Morillo attacked Janelle Bynum’s vote on H.Res.481 “Condemning the rise in ideologically motivated attacks on Jewish individuals in the United States…” Of course, Morillo and her friends1 at the Portland Mercury neglected to mention key facts.
This is the second time Morillo has singled out Bynum for being ideologically impure. Specifically for her “hatred of immigrants.”
First, I have a direct response to Morillo and the Mercury’s gross erasure of antisemitic violence.
Second, on Bynum’s “history” of anti-immigrant bigotry and love for ICE:
“Dem Rep Compares Immigration Enforcement Bill To Fugitive Slave Act” - Daily Caller.
“Janelle Bynum Defends Assaulting Law Enforcement Officers” - National Republican Congressional Committee. That piece is about Bynum’s defense of fellow Democrat LaMonica McIver who was arrested during an anti-ICE demonstration.
This is how conservative news sources report on her. Janelle Bynum won her swing seat, during the 2024 Red Wave, as the first black woman to do so, while being attacked by Republicans as soft on crime, drugs, and immigration. There is no hatred for immigrants. She voted yes on the Laken Riley Act, and then she voted yes on a resolution condemning attacks on Jews. That’s it.
Morillo grew her brand with outlets like Teen Vogue for her initial attacks against Bynum, but also got at least some criticism at home. Remember that this was shortly before she dropped the pretense of being a Democrat and openly joined the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). It’s gross, opportunistic, and dishonest. It’s also absolutely on-trend for the American Left right now.
The DSA Puff Piece I mentioned in the video is eye-opening. It’s, unironically, a recruitment ad for the DSA.
To Katbi, the backlash means DSA’s on the right track.
“We’ve been seeing a lot of fearmongering, and I expect we’ll see a lot more of it,” Katbi said. “We’re a force to be reckoned with. We are coming for [wealthy people’s] money, and we want to redistribute it so everyone can have a good life. I don’t think we need to be shy about that.”
As for the DSA-aligned councilors, the pushback doesn’t appear to be swaying their decisions in City Hall at the moment. In their view, the people are here for it.
So the pushback needs to be a bit louder guys — before these bigoted assholes kill our city.
The New York Times Wakes Up
Finally, the paper of record says it clearly:
Antisemitism Is an Urgent Problem. Too Many People Are Making Excuses. - The New York Times Editorial Board
The list of horrific antisemitic attacks in the United States keeps growing. Two weeks ago in Boulder, Colo., a man set fire to peaceful marchers who were calling for the release of Israeli hostages. Less than two weeks earlier, a young couple was shot to death while leaving an event at the Jewish Museum in Washington. The previous month, an intruder scaled a fence outside the official residence of Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and threw Molotov cocktails while Mr. Shapiro, his wife and children were asleep inside. In October, a 39-year-old Chicago resident was shot from behind while walking to synagogue.
The United States is experiencing its worst surge of anti-Jewish hate in many decades. Antisemitic hate crimes more than doubled between 2021 and 2023, according to the F.B.I., and appear to have risen further in 2024. On a per capita basis, Jews face far greater risks of being victims of hate crimes than members of any other demographic groups.
Please read the whole thing and share with friends and family who still think I’m exaggerating this stuff. The piece ends with the following paragraphs:
Americans should be able to recognize the nuanced nature of many political debates while also recognizing that antisemitism has become an urgent problem. It is a different problem — and in many ways, a narrower one — than racism. Antisemitism has not produced shocking gaps in income, wealth and life expectancy in today’s America. Yet the new antisemitism has left Jewish Americans at a greater risk of being victimized by a hate crime than any other group. Many Jews live with fears that they never expected to experience in this country.
No political arguments or ideological context can justify that bigotry. The choice is between denouncing it fully and encouraging an even broader explosion of hate.
I know some Jewish Portlanders who went to the No Kings! March on Saturday. We had a group chat in contact with them the entire time. We had an exit plan for them. Does that sound reasonable?
It Was a Riot!
After the peaceful protest, there were two spicier events planned. An anti-ICE protest and a “Hands off Iran” protest. That’s right — we’re marching for Iran now. The country that inspired The Handmaid’s Tale is not to be touched you fascists. Let them kill teenage girls and fund terror to their hearts’ content. And by ‘their” I mean the mullahs. Iranian citizens can keep their mouths shut if they want to keep their children safe.
The pro-Iran protest fell through. That feels like a positive development. Like “we might hate Jews but not enough to cape for Iran” feels like a pathetic sort of progress.
Just a Little Free Speech at the ICE Facility
Earlier in the week there were a few arrests for mostly arson related activities.2 This was characterized on Bluesky as “first amendment protected activity.”
Oh Mitch… keep playing to your base. See if it pays off in 2026. So Green and the DSA leaned on the PPB and they backed way off. It actually is the job of the police to prevent people from attacking buildings from the street, but so what? Let the federal agents take care of their own property. It worked out so well last time.
Also… Willamette Week? Can you please google the people you interview from “the other side” of the story?
“There was one person that lit a fire, eight people went immediately, put that fire out, and then the cops and ICE used that as a justification to come out, beat and hit and arrest people,” said Andy Siebe, a protester who has stayed at the encampment on and off since it was established on June 7.
Andy Siebe has a history of agitation and arrest in Portland, though he used a different name back in 2020. Siebe literally ran for congress! As “conservative” as it may sound to you, Portland does have a professional activist class. They aren’t exactly reliable witnesses.
Hundreds showed up at ICE on Saturday, broke doors open, tossed bricks, and got tear gassed and smoke bombed. They even tossed some of that back at the feds.
You can actually see a decent time delay of the early bit of the protest on Reddit. The doors are breached at around the 0:21 sec mark and then the feds exit the building to set up a defensive line.
You can find the story covered in all major outlets, but only two sources seemed to get the story completely wrong.
The Portland Mercury and Street Roots. I can just imagine you gasping in shock.
This is Taylor Griggs, functionally the only reporter at the Portland Mercury. She of the recent DSA Puff Piece above. She is accusing local and national media of getting the story wrong, but… what did they get wrong? It was a riot. People attacked a federal building. They were repeatedly warned to leave. We’ve already played this game several years ago.
Here’s Mercury bullshit-artist-in-chief Steven Humprey’s summary:
According to our reporters on the ground, roughly ten agents from Federal Protective Services (part of the Department of Homeland Security) are shooting tear gas canisters and possibly pepperball projectiles into the crowd. One person has reportedly been put into handcuffs and detained. Portland Police were largely staying out of the way, but just before 7 pm used their loudspeaker to declare the current situation as a riot and are closing the streets outside the facility. Protesters on the scene are disputing that assertion.
But if you notice the photo of the federal agents that Griggs provided:
The smashed doors are conveniently out of frame.
Here’s Kevin Foster, Associate Producer of The Palestine Exception (so you know we can trust him):
So… Portland’s Left doesn’t want our police involved, but now federal agents are kidnapping people and firing first, except maybe they aren’t? Portland Police declared a riot but the activists disagree?
Here’s the deal Portland: we aren’t doing this shit again. You just had a peaceful protest with over 10,000 people and then 500 losers smashed shit and people are getting arrested. Guess what? They deserve to be arrested. Chief Bob Day is doing exactly what he said he would — protecting free speech, punishing criminal behavior. DA Nathan Vasquez is planning to prosecute.
I’m happy with that but the Mercury and Street Roots aren’t. They seem to long for the nights of rage. They want it back. They want relevance back. Do not give it to them. Don’t give it to Trump either.
This account, along with independents like John Hacker and his Full Rev Media3 are promoting this narrative. The Gestapo is here, democracy has fallen, take arms and rise up. You will not be shocked to learn that Councilor Morillo follows and shares a lot of this content. She and the DSA seem to read local news entirely from the Mercury, Street Roots, and independent instagram accounts like Hacker’s. Think of the prototypical boomer dad who only watches Fox News, but for communists.
Learn to recognize the tiny minority of people trying to sow discord and violence, and stop listening to them. Portland cannot survive another Summer of Rage, and only a few thousand people seem to want one. Unfortunately, a few of them are in our local government. Call them out and then vote them out.
Two people is still plural.
Probably a reference to engines, right? Vroom Vroom?
These ppl aren’t going to make it long in our government or our streets. The fact that they’re in all black (they’re uniform) makes them easy to point out. They look extra stupid after thousands upon thousands of ppl peacefully protested and it was clear the rioters were a totally different group. These ppl don’t care about immigrants. They care about the spotlight and furthering their hateful message. The farther into the “spotlight” they go, the easier it is to spot them and vote them out (or arrest).
As long as the FBI has been in business, they've been infiltrating and planting double-agents, and (a la Jan6) running false flag ops and running "sting" schemes (how 'bout the 2010 Mohamed Osman Mohamud op; FBI agents talked a 19-year old Somali immigrant into pressing a button to detonate a "bomb" at a Portland ceremony--he got 30 years for the FBI-engineered caper). Many radical outfits would have folded if the FBI plants weren't keeping things lively.
Which brings us to the local radicals--amazing how Anifa just suddenly appears outta thin air. As for the socialists, golly! How're they paying to keep their lights on? How come some rads never seem to be prosecuted? Or actually seem to have jobs?
I'd dare every so-called socialist to take a lie detector test to prove they're not on the FBI pad.
As for La Morillo et al, they're at best useful idiots. Their bosses are out on the East Coast clipping their inheritance coupons and running proof of concept experiments on the forest creatures out in Oregon