The Portland Problem

 Portland has become a problem for both sides in the ongoing protests against police violence. On the left, Portland is unusually populated by anarchists and cosplay revolutionaries. Within the larger context of Oregon, there are a great many militia types nearby. Apparently, Oregon is an open-carry state.

Last night, Trump supporters drove in to Portland to confront BLM and general anarchistic protesters. This led to the death of a what appears to be a militia member. 

This is really, really bad. 

The point of the Trump counter protesters was to get a response, and they did. Now they have a martyr for their believers to rally around. If rightist militias could turn Kyle Rittenhaus into a hero, they can certainly elevate the dead militia member into the second coming of Nathan Hale. 

Expect more of these sort of provocative counter protests, and expect that the police will do nothing to stem this violence and separate the two groups. Dead people - on either side - are fine with extremists. (For the record, I don't consider most BLM protesters extremists, but there are extremists from various anarchist groups intermingled with them.) It only takes one or two Gustavo Princip wannabes to unleash a wave of violence.

We have a president whose credibility to bring peace and unify the country is non-existent. In fact, he probably welcomes the violence in Kenosha and Portland, because his entire appeal is fear-based. Violence on any side could rally some soft support to him.  Alternatively, he's the president during two crises that he can't control - spiraling street violence and a run-away pandemic. 

Right now, Trump is losing. Aggregates suggest he's up by about 8%. That is too big a lead for Trump to cheat his way to victory. Trump needs something to change the direction of the race. Street violence committed by BLM-adjacent anarchists is just about the only thing that might save his race for president. Recall that Hitler burned down the Reichstag, blamed it on Communists and then seized power. That's Trump's playbook. 

Biden's Basement Strategy is a good one, but there needs to be someone (Harris and Sanders?) who can go to Portland or Kenosha and calm things down. If Biden and/or Democrats can bring some calm to these conflagrations, then they can demonstrate that "Biden's America" will be a more peaceful place.

Otherwise, this could just be the beginning of violence ripping this country apart.