Uh oh, spaghetti-o’s. Just when Stephen Miller is busy propagandizing that it is “radical left” judges who are aiding and abetting left-wing terrorists, one of Trump’s own cadre of appointed judges decides to do what’s legally correct. Damn. Why can’t they all be clones of Aileen Cannon? In all events, Donald is out playing golf and that leaves people like Miller and Pete Hegseth to do their damnedest to get troops deployed to Portland and Chicago using their own devices. You read here earlier today that J.D. Pritzker is not being pushed around and he has no intention of calling out the National Guard. So that leaves Portland as the scene for a photo op. The problem with that is that the Portland protests are more carnival than riot. This is not a Rodney King-level protest. It’s closer to Disneyland with a political spin.
Even the sporadic violence outside the ICE facility seems ritualized. The first night I was there, instructions blared from loudspeakers to clear the entrance so that federal agents changing shifts or conducting raids could enter and exit through a tall, beige gate. The crowd instead closed in. Agents emerged in tactical gear and pushed back the protesters with round anti-riot shields, sometimes discharging pepper balls and Mace. Then both sides retreated. In recent months, more than two dozen people have been charged with federal offenses, including assaulting federal officers and creating a hazard on government property. Most of the time, the protesters stand behind a blue line imprinted with the words FEDERAL PROPERTY DO NOT CROSS and hurl insults at agents they spot beyond the gate or on the roof of the building. When the facility falls quiet, they find other ways of passing the time—smoking, singing, sleeping.
In Portland, some protesters are true believers in a fight against fascism. Others seem to be there for a good time. In the days I spent observing the crowd, I thought repeatedly of The World Turned Upside Down, the historian Christopher Hill’s landmark account of the Diggers and Ranters and Levellers—the extravagant dissidents who took part in the civil wars that shook England in the 17th century, who danced and screamed and sang at their meetings, who used bawdy satire to try to change their society. […]
Portland’s reputation as a refuge for nonconformists was cemented by the TV show Portlandia. But in the eight years since the series ended, the city has become better known for its role in a more sinister, real-life political drama: Starting during Trump’s first term, far-right activists and anti-fascist demonstrators clashed in the city, in lurid scenes amplified by Ngo, then a student at PSU. Social unrest intensified after the killing of George Floyd, in 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, roving street brawls popped up in parts of the city. The instigators of that violence went to prison, and Portland learned a lesson, according to locals.
Dubya didn’t like Portland either. He called it “Little Beirut.” In all events, Hegseth has activated the order to call out 200 National Guard troops, and that was just blocked by a judge. The court order remains in effect until mid-October. So that leaves Kristi Noem to deal with getting some good propaganda footage in Chicago. And she is busting it, trying to do just that.
Kristi Noem visiting a sniper’s perch her department set up overlooking protesters below pic.twitter.com/T1ZIwNjy6j
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) October 4, 2025
These are some of the protesters in Chicago arrested by Noem’s secret police. pic.twitter.com/JJJKsUB8Js
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) October 4, 2025
Protesting is a wayof life nowadays, like it was in the 60’s. And it make sense that Hegseth and Noem want to deny us the right of assembly and the right to freedom of speech. That’s who they are. And if you’re wondering where our *president* is while martial law is being contemplated in two American cities tonight, here’s your answer.
🚨 Video of Trump golfing at his Virginia golf club today. This is what he was doing instead of working to keep the government open. pic.twitter.com/HSuClqfebr
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) October 4, 2025
You think Donald can be bothered with the fact that the government is shut down and Pete’s trying to get troops to Portland and Pritzker is resisting Kristi Noem in Chicago. Puh-leeze. Donald’s too busy cheating at golf. Get your priorities straight, will you?
I live right outside Portland. It’s “war zone” reputation is laughable. A Portland police officer (can’t remember his rank) said today that any disturbance is limited to a one block area around the ICE facility. Hardly need 200 troops to manage it.
A sniper’s perch ?
Above legal protesters ?
In an American city ?
What has this country become ?
Answer: Dystopia USA.
Noun: dystopia; an imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic. “Environmental Disaster is the backdrop to this Modern Dystopia” Problem is, this is NOT IMAGINED.