The Story So Far

By now you’ve undoubtedly seen the scary images of and articles about heavily camouflaged armed mask men looking more like Star Wars Storm Troopers than any type of US law enforcement officer silently pursuing peaceful Portland protesters and escorting them to unmarked vehicles for rendition or whatever it is they’re doing with them. Follow the links and I’ll embed this thread — it is about as comprehensive as anything I’ve seen — for those of us wanting to more details:

• This article is one of the first published by local the Portland NPR affiliate OPB. It gives a nice alarming beginning of the story: Federal Law Enforcement Use Unmarked Vehicles To Grab Protesters Off Portland Streets (Thanks to friend-of-Ye-Olde-Blogge, Tengrain, of MockPaperScissors for pointing us in the right direction here).
• CNN has this article on the Oregon Federal District Attorney requesting an investigation by DHS into the mysterious goings on in Portland. Of course, this is already old news since one of the chief Mindguards and surrogate gaslighters, ACTING DHS secretary Chad Wolf — aptly named, don’t ya think? — has already fascplained that the federal government has laid SIEGE to Portland using untrained (for this situation) CBP and ICE agents working with Federal Protection Service to protect federal buildings in Portland by patrolling the streets and hauling people away for being in the way when they drove by. I guess that’s a crime now in Trump’s America — the police wouldn’ta stopped you if you weren’t guilty, right? Basically the Ol’ Pussy Grabber is tired of everyone being so worried about 3.7 million+ #COVID19 infections and the 140,000+ deaths, so they decided to summon the ghost of Tricky Dick’s silent majority by Wagging the Dog at antifa in Portland. Presto ergo sum, we have the feds disappearing real live American citizens now. That’ll win him the election! Everybody loves a tough guy.
• In a confusing twist, The Oregonian reports that contrary to city officials there is ample evidence that the Portland PD is cooperating enthusiastically with the camouflaged federal boys in blue kinda like Vichy France.
• According to The Oregonian, the Oregon attorney general will sue the federal law enforcement agencies, launch a criminal investigation into the criminal behavior of the officers involved, and seek a temporary restraining order to stop the disappearances from happening. It’s not like Bill Barr and the Ol’ Pussy Grabber follow court orders anyway.

Get Into Some Good Trouble

This is where you come in. Bill Barr-the-Door and Ye Ol’ Pussy Grabber may not listen to the courts no more, but they have shown themselves to give up on wildly unpopular policies like deporting foreign college students if we can adequately demonstrate how wildly unpopular they are.

It is time to make some noise.

1. Call your members of Congress and tell them to (a) investigate the federal law enforcement actions in Portland using subpoena power of the committees.
2. Write editorials in your local media outlets. Let the world know how you feel.
3. Social media your displeasure at the the federal agencies, the WH, your members of Congress, your dogcatcher, and garbage collector and everyone else.
4. Social media at your favorite media outlets telling them to cover the story and follow up with politicians.

If we don’t stop this now, they’ll be snatching people out of voting lines in November for looking Democratic. You know this may be a new low, but it ain’t no where near the bottom cuz there ain’t no bottom.

Nevermind

I guess everything is okay in Portland in America. The moms have showed up forming lines and chanting, Feds stay clear; the moms are here! Well, that takes care of that, right?

Here’s video of the moms chanting, If this is what you want, we will play!

Tips for Calling

When you call your representative’s office, please remember the following:

• Only contact YOUR MoC! They only listen to their constituents and dismiss requests from non-constituents. Ask for the aide working on the recent federal police action in Portland.
• Be polite! No matter whose office you’re calling. No matter what their positions are. No matter how inflamed you are about the issue — and you should be very passionate — be polite.
• Remember that the people you are talking to are people! So, be nice.
• Call during business hours of the area code their office is in. Typically, that is 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
• Have a script or notes to follow so you don’t forget anything.
• Maybe call with friends. You know like a party.

In Addition to Calling

I’ve heard back from readers that some MoC’s voice mail boxes are always full! It’s as if they don’t want to hear from their constituents. Kinda like those MoC’s who don’t hold town halls or other open forum meetings. Here are some other ways to contact your MoC:

• Send a postcard to their office. Nothing says I care like kicking it old school and using snail mail.
• Email their office. Lay out your concerns in a brief email and send it in. We all know how easy it is to email. Make sure you include the issue you are addressing in the subject line.
• Use the contact page on their website. This is the surest way of getting a message to them. Each MoC has an official government website and each has a contact page that comes with it automatically.
• Contact them using social media. It’s hard to break through all the noise on social media, but it can’t hurt to try given all the time we all spend using it. Be sure to tag your MoC’s when social mediaing about about a specific issue. Be clear and respectful, though, when addressing an issue that you want your MoC to act upon. Make sure you let them know you are a constituent.

Contacting Your MoC

Find out how to contact your MoC using these links!

• Common Cause will give you the names, party affiliation, direct phone number, website link, and social media platforms of all of your federal, state, and local elected officials.
• USA.gov is the official guide to information and services of the US government. This page explains clearly how to contact everyone from the Ol’ Pussy Grabber to your representative to specific government agencies. Through it you can find the following information about your MoC’s:
  • Their phone numbers: DC and state offices
  • Their mailing addresses both in DC and their state offices
  • Official website with their contact page including email, request a meeting, town hall schedules, and social media
  • And, the committees they sit on
• 5 Calls: Sign-up for 5 Calls because they help you contact your member of Congress and keep you abreast of on going issues that are important to you! Now, that is a good deal.
• The Capital Hill Switch Board: (202) 224-3121.
• MassacreMitch and #MoscowMitch: His DC office, (202) 224-2541.
• Nancy Pelosi: Her DC office, (202) 225-4965; her California office, (415) 556-4862
• The Ol’ Pussy Grabber: The WH switchboard, (202) 456-1414 or the comments line at (202) 456-1111 during business hours

Join Indivisible

Follow the link to Indivisible to find a group near you, their campaigns, events in your neighborhood, and download their handy-dandy booklet!

Image Attribution

I’m using a screenshot from a video making the rounds on social media. It was first posted by Machta Chai.