Minneapolis Social Injustice and Related

[ides1056]

Anybody from Portland here who can expound on this:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...ge%2Fstory-ans

[j44ke]

Anybody from Portland here who can expound on this:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...ge%2Fstory-ans

One theory is that they are looking for someone they can charge with treason. Then they can extrapolate from there to a nationwide conspiracy. Dovetail this with the resumption of capital punishment by the Justice Department. Trying to fit reality into a narrative that has some people convinced in the executive branch.

For the individual it must feel like they are being targeted. Like the people who picked them up knew who they were grabbing. Or knew something about them before they were grabbed. However the technique was used in Eastern Europe during the Communist era. Grab someone randomly, treat them like they were up to something, scare the hell out of them, and then let them go. Now they are out in public where their story goes around and around. And the individual is left waiting for the other shoe to drop. The goal is to deflate, erode, confuse, scare. Very simple method. Effective.

That's how you end up with theories like the one above about treason.

[AngryScientist]

Man, Portland seems like a damned scary place to be lately.

[gregl]

One theory is that they are looking for someone they can charge with treason. Then they can extrapolate from there to a nationwide conspiracy. Dovetail this with the resumption of capital punishment by the Justice Department. Trying to fit reality into a narrative that has some people convinced in the executive branch.

Trump and his minions would re-constitute the Gestapo if they could. Or just subcontract to the KGB. I'm sure Putin would give him the "friends and family discount". I have a neighbor who is a federal agent (agency name withheld as a courtesy...). He's a generally good guy, but even he has imbibed the Kool-Aid. He once shared with me his concerns about Antifa. It took all my self control to not laugh out loud. I tried to tactfully explain that I would be much more worried about armed militias, white supremacists, and law enforcement overreach, but it was clear that he was just nodding his head while thinking I was part of the problem.

Greg

[djg714]

Is that Portland or Venezuela ?

[j44ke]

Trump and his minions would re-constitute the Gestapo if they could. Or just subcontract to the KGB. I'm sure Putin would give him the "friends and family discount". I have a neighbor who is a federal agent (agency name withheld as a courtesy...). He's a generally good guy, but even he has imbibed the Kool-Aid. He once shared with me his concerns about Antifa. It took all my self control to not laugh out loud. I tried to tactfully explain that I would be much more worried about armed militias, white supremacists, and law enforcement overreach, but it was clear that he was just nodding his head while thinking I was part of the problem.

Greg

My niece works in a cave underground. Same thing. So I text her in Russian.

I edited my post above. I am a slow writer. Takes me a while to figure out what I am trying to say. Basically the tendency is to see this approach as having greater goals. The act is itself the goal. Just like the Russian effort to destabilize the workings of US government by digital stone throwing on social media. Just want to knock protests and protestors off-balance a bit. Make them think - or wonder - is this it or the tip of an iceberg? And if it somehow leads individuals to further radicalize out of anger at their treatment, then that just makes everything easier.

[vertical_doug]

If you recall, uniformed agents in Washington were also without ID/markings on their uniforms last month.

It seems someone was watching the Watchmen on HBO and pretty soon we'll have masks on cops to protect their identities. That is the situation in France for counterterrorism.

This is the play.

[Clean39T]

Anybody from Portland here who can expound on this:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...ge%2Fstory-ans

One theory is that they are looking for someone they can charge with treason. Then they can extrapolate from there to a nationwide conspiracy. Dovetail this with the resumption of capital punishment by the Justice Department. Trying to fit reality into a narrative that has some people convinced in the executive branch.

Man, Portland seems like a damned scary place to be lately.

This lays it all out pretty cleanly: Trump Condemned for Authoritarian 'Abuse of Power' as Secret Federal Police Snatch Protesters Off Portland Streets | Common Dreams News

tRump is using Portland as a backdrop for an election stunt, and as a distraction from the ineptitude and corruption of his administration.

Downtown, specifically at night and within an ever-evolving perimeter around the federal building and justice [sic] center, is not a good place to be. I feel sorry for those who live even closer in to the core than I do and who have been exposed to tear-gas and worse just because of where they chose to live before this all started (to say nothing of the people living on the streets with nowhere else to go).

The rest of the city is as it's been - good, bad, or otherwise - depending on who you are and where you're from. There is a complicated past here, to say the least, and much to reckon with at the local level.

[gregl]

tRump is using Portland as a backdrop for an election stunt, and as a distraction from the ineptitude and corruption of his administration.

I probably won't live long enough to see it, but the history of this time period will be a fascinating read. I expect that Trump's policies will rival J. Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy for trampling democracy and individual rights. I'm not sure if we're living in the Twilight Zone or The Manchurian Candidate, but either one is frightening and repugnant. Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it, and American citizens are a forgetful lot.

Greg

[ides1056]

Looks like they are there to make things worse:

Portland Protests: Local Leaders Urging Feds to Leave - The New York Times

[HorsCat]

I'm not sure if we're living in the Twilight Zone or The Manchurian Candidate

The answer is: both, with a side of Idiocracy.

[Scott G.]

I'm not sure if we're living in the Twilight Zone or The Manchurian Candidate[snip]

Greg

The Manchurian plot was executed by highly motivated and competent people with a long term goal in mind,
nothing at all like the present situation.

[mjbabcock]

Just cause the president is a dumbass doesn’t mean that really powerful and wealthy people aren’t benefiting tremendously during his tenure. The highly motivated and competent people with a long term goal got a massive tax cut and stimulus money (hundreds of billions) to prop them up when a pandemic struck. Me...I got $1200...corporations with unsustainable debt load from poor decision making...they got the fed to buy junk grade bonds to effectively provide bottomless money pots.

[gregl]

The Manchurian plot was executed by highly motivated and competent people with a long term goal in mind,
nothing at all like the present situation.

Good assessment. Trump is so like Senator Iselin, but I just can't see Melania in the Angela Lansbury role...

Greg

[sine]

edit

Just want to knock protests and protestors off-balance a bit.

"Acting in a Bloc is especially useful when the participants in the action expect that the police, fascists, or other adversaries will wish to identify the participants—which is to say, very often, nowadays. When everyone in a group looks the same, it is difficult to single out individuals."

CrimethInc. : Blocs, Black and Otherwise

[j44ke]

edit



"Acting in a Bloc is especially useful when the participants in the action expect that the police, fascists, or other adversaries will wish to identify the participants—which is to say, very often, nowadays. When everyone in a group looks the same, it is difficult to single out individuals."

CrimethInc. : Blocs, Black and Otherwise

If you are saying that these federal enforcement agencies are acting like a bloc, then yes, I'd agree with that.

[sine]

If you are saying that these federal enforcement agencies are acting like a bloc, then yes, I'd agree with that.

I'm not saying anything. The quote is a line from the linked website.

[72gmc]

If you are saying that these federal enforcement agencies are acting like a bloc, then yes, I'd agree with that.

My thought as well. One of the most disturbing aspects of this year's unrest is what feels like a growing presence of "enforcers" who are neither identifiable nor accountable.

[Clean39T]

Video shows bicyclist tackled, arrested by Portland police | KATU

So, this happened. At 6am on a Thursday.

[ides1056]

That is just plain psycho.