Portland’s Pusillanimous Mayor; Ted Wheeler and Portland deserve each another.

"In August 2020, then-President Donald Trump offered to assist the Democratic mayor of Portland, Oregon, in putting down the nightly riots that had ravaged his city for more than 90 days. Given this choice between ending the systematic violence and arson that was wreaking havoc throughout his city and publicly signaling his virtue, Mayor Ted Wheeler chose the latter. While the residents of Portland hid in their homes to avoid the violence, he responded to Trump’s offer with a sanctimonious letter that included this delusional passage: “No thanks. We don’t need your politics of division and demagoguery.” A week later, Portland police declared a riot and arrested 59 people.

"Fast forward to last Friday. Mayor Wheeler, having survived countless calls for his resignation and somehow managing to get reelected in November, is still presiding over a continuous wave of riots and is reverting to the same ineffective tactics that failed so spectacularly last summer. One of these brainstorms was to ask the city’s hapless residents to help put a stop to the destruction without offering any suggestions as to how that might be accomplished. Now that the “mostly peaceful protesters” continue their rampage and the city is still aflame, Wheeler is again asking Portland residents to do the job that neither he nor his acting police chief are willing to do. The Oregonian reports:

Portland’s mayor and acting police chief on Friday urged the public to safely stand up to the black bloc group of violent demonstrators who continue to plan “direct actions” around the city that routinely end with shattered windows, fires and other vandalism. Wheeler asked residents to note the license plates of people who drive to the events in various neighborhoods and then don all black clothing and grab shields or weapons from their cars. Share those license numbers with police.

"This is too little, too late, as was Wheeler’s declaration of a citywide “state of emergency.” The man just isn’t taken seriously by Portland’s residents or the rioters. " . . .