Though they’re violent and vile for the most part, institutional Portland has had a love affair with its professional protesters through the years.
In the last year or so, both The Oregonian and Willamette Week have written misty-eyed homages to the monkey-wrenchers, Wobblies, ELF and ALF terrorists, Earth First! tree screamers and ‘anti-fascist’ groups that populate the Portland professional protester class.
So beloved are the left’s pet professional protesters and shock troops that the local district attorneys intentionally go easy on arrested protesters, as I’ve pointed out here, and hard on anyone, such as Mike Strickland, who dared to defend himself against them, as I’ve amply pointed out on this website. (Please donate to the Michael Strickland Defense Fund Here)
The institutional left that runs Portland is so smitten with the flag-poopers, that lefties probably take their out-of-town guests to see the urine soaked downtown squats. “This is where they’re taking a stand for affordable housing,” you can almost hear them say.
A stroll nearby reveals the well-used “BushHitler” and “Get Out of Vietnam” and “Stop the Draft” signs. If you squint your eyes, you can almost see the union shop that prints up the signs for pre-planned riots such as May Day.
The people who want to keep “Portland Weird,” show their visitors the doors of bullet resistant glass that have been pock marked by Black Bloc ‘flags.’
Protesters are now fully embraced as part of the Portland zeitgeist. Members of the Portland Professional Protester class are part of the official Portland tour: VooDoo Donuts, check. Oregon Zoo, check. Arboretum, check, check. Forest Park, check. Rose Garden. Beer garden. Portland Protester Petting Zoo, Roger that.
After George H.W. Bush (that’s Bush 41 or Bush-the-Elder) came to Portland as president in the late 80’s he was met with — surprise! — protesters.
Willamette Week lovingly remembered the scenes from the protests of 1989 and 1991:
Suit-wearing Reed students swallowed colored food dye and vomited red, white and, unintentionally, green.
This was just one of four protests that greeted Bush and Quayle. The first, in 1989, was “the only [protest] that disrupted [Quayle’s] schedule,” the vice president’s press secretary David Beckwith bragged to The Oregonian.
Quayle came to Portland for a $2,500-per-person Republican fundraiser at the downtown Hilton on Monday, Sept. 24. While the vice president was raising money and support for Republican representative Denny Smith (not re-elected) inside the hotel, 300 protesters gathered outside. Flags were burned. A man took a shit on a photo of Quayle.
Things were so bad, that the president is said to have dubbed the town, “Little Beirut.”
Portland lefties have embraced that moniker so much that a real estate firm has adopted the name, a Portland band has purloined the term, and it has shown up in one of the most interesting places you can imagine, at a Portland Timbers game.
Last Saturday afternoon, a Portlander took this photo at the Major League Soccer game in Portland:
Here’s another view with three flags flown in the section of the stadium occupied by the “Timbers Army,” Portland’s hard core soccer fans:
According to three people who speak Arabic, the big flag with the tree reads:
“Little Beirut”
You can be forgiven, however, if it brings up some bad memories of other flags you’ve seen flown by extremists:
That flag above is for the Pakistani Al Qaeda affiliate.
This one represents Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Oh, and look at that one above. It’s one of the flags representing ISIS.
Before you gasp, let me remind you of a few things.
My friend Andy McCarthy wrote about the nexus of Islam and the left in book, “The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America”
For years, Portland State University has been a hotbed of Islamic militantism, Lincoln High School has received funds from one of the top terrorist supporters in the world.
Portland’s protest culture has always been pro Palestinian and anti-Jew as evidenced by signs at the leftist camp out Occupy Portland in it’s “sacred space”:
Who can forget the nexus of pro communist groups marching with neo nazis in Portland captured in this video by Daylight Disinfectant?
“Are You a Jew?” – Nazis Hit Portland Anti-War Protest
UPDATE: “The blog “Rose City Anti-Facists” has identified Rebecca Hughes (Barrett) http://rosecityantifa.weebly.com/1/post/2014/01/meet-the-oregon-freedom-pa…
And who can forget when leftist protesters were seen chanting on this video, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be set free” on the streets of Portland? This video is from the excellent videographer Laughing at Liberals aka Michael Strickland:
Fearless Granny Confronts Anti Israel Punks
A small band of rebel Israel supporters counter protest a pro Palestine rally. This grandma shows no fear as she heads right into the militant looking, pro H…
Though some may see this as a heavy-handed comparison, the thing is, I don’t have to do any supposing or guessing. It has been happening for years and years. And it will just get worse, if left unobserved and unchecked.
Who’s flying these flags at the Portland Timbers games?
PSU has a Muslim Brotherhood Support Group.
Recently a new top Nike Board exec who had just been hired came out to Portland to look for a house in order to move his family here. 2 weeks into the job he resigned telling the company there was absolutely no way he would subject his children to the radicals who wish to keep Portland weird or the teachers who wish to encourage that behavior.
Wow. I guess I should be surprised, but, alas … I’d like a link on that if you’ve got it. wow.
Loss of easy federal government dollars might give some shock therapy to those running the likes of Portland, as they would lose the wherewithal to placate those with the entitlement mentality built up in Portland.
They’ll probably just raise taxes higher and screw over the people again.