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Where Exactly Is This Portland Hellscape I Keep Hearing About?
It doesn’t exist except in Donald Trump’s twisted mind.
My wife and I moved to Happy Valley, Oregon, a suburb of Portland, 25 years ago. Yesterday I took my life in my own hands and went downtown on our efficient light rail system, MAX. As it was a nice day, I walked a mile on both major and side streets to meet a friend at the Portland Craft Chocolate Festival.
Everything was perfectly normal. There were many people out, including those at the Oregon Convention Center who were signing up for today’s Portland Marathon. Everyone was enjoying a pleasant Saturday.
Unlike the impression you might get from the news, I saw no fires, smoke, riots, demonstrations, broken glass, boarded-up storefronts, threatening people, or burned-out buildings. Donald Trump has been foaming at the mouth and calling out 200 Oregon National Guard troops “to provide all necessary Troops to protect war-ravaged Portland.” He said, “What they’ve done to that city, it’s like living in hell.” On October 2, Trump warned that “conditions continue to deteriorate into lawless mayhem” and labeled Portland a “NEVER-ENDING DISASTER” (his caps).
His rhetoric last week was even more hyperbolic following a conversation with Oregon’s Governor Tina Kotek:
