On the whole it was a very good year, for the undertaker
It's hard to believe how cheap life has become in Portland. Now some guy is shooting and killing the security guard in the maternity ward at the hospital. And on the streets, 11 people have been killed in traffic wrecks since the first of the month, and it's only the 23rd.
There's an atmosphere of lawlessness in this city, and there has been for about three years, beginning with the riots. Public safety is a complete failure. The cop who killed George Floyd pretty much killed Portland with him.
The politicians will lower some more speed limits, and maybe even pass some more gun control if you force them to, but without people in uniforms to enforce the rules, the laws the bobbleheads pass are a joke. Portland is so short of law enforcement personnel, and so short of political will to make the necessary changes, that we might as well accept that a weekend like the one we just had is the new normal.
I spent about six hours on Interstate 5 south of here over the past few days. I saw cops giving out tickets to speeders. The speed trap warning on the phone went off at least a half-dozen times. It's what the cops do, every place else but here. The state troopers don't cover Portland any more, for some stupid reason, and the city cops by and large can't be bothered.
Okay fine, we've given up on traffic safety. But if that's the case, stop selling me the "Vision Zero" p.r. nonsense and the never-ending string of car-hater roadblocks and bike toy malarkey. "Better" Naito, my heinie. Let's stop all that garbage, too.
As for the killing at the hospital, my God, words fail. But does it surprise you any more, in Portland? Not me. We seem to have come full circle to "No lives matter."
It’s not the Portland cop’s fault that most of the voters in Portland have abandoned the social values that have worked for millennia.
ReplyDeleteI have confidence that the deepening equity of ranked choice voting will combine with the university educated citizen voter, and the insightful marginalized representatives like JoAnn Hardesty to create something absolutely new and dynamic in the Portland Vancouver area.
DeleteOf course, dissolving our border with Mexico will strengthen and renew our sense of community as vivid and vivacious non-English speakers are nourished by contempt for all that as come before. Sanctuarily-speaking that is.
Portland is going to experience a wonderful spring awakening which will see activities undreamt of flourishing in the bright light of day. We don't need no stinkin' badges.
We don't have enough cops, and the ones we have are scared, for good reason.
ReplyDeleteRoll out the barrels. That ALWAYS works.
ReplyDeleteWe used to say “ if you think violent crime is out of control in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit or Washington DC, just wait until it heats up in the summer”. Senseless tragedies are lately overwhelming what’s left of our local police force yet many voters continue to distrust calls for more cops, more arrests and more prosecutions. A possible compromise…….the police union ceases to support the very small number of rotten cops and they get the heave. The public responds by supporting a significant increase in a reformed police force plus a new DA who prosecutes lawbreakers . Maybe maybe we would see public safety stabilize, most can agree current policies are a spectacular failure. Summer in the city is dangerous now in Portland too…..
ReplyDeleteThe rotten cop meme is getting tiresome.
ReplyDeleteI might consider Rotten Cops over indifferent cops. I did though see a patrol car today while walking the dog. That could be a fun little website reporting on actual sightings of actual police doing actual police work.
ReplyDeletePerfect
DeleteMost if not all of Potland's problems result from those who Vote while under the influence.
ReplyDeleteRemember when seconds count, the police are minutes (or hours) away. Snide comment aside, this is a spiritual issue as much as physical nuts and bolts. Respect for others, karmic awareness, seeking higher truths is sorely lacking in too many people. The collective soul has lost its way in nihilism.
ReplyDeleteAccording to two Legacy RNs I know, management knew specifically of this shooter and his threats to the point of actually posting his photo, yet failed to arm their own minimal security (1 guard for the entire hospital at night) apparently expecting nursing staff to deal with him. It is as if everyone with any power to do anything wants Portland to fail . . .
ReplyDeleteSmallwood was shot at Good Sam but the police took him to Emanuel, 2-1/2 miles and 10 minutes away across the river because Emanuel has a level 1 trauma center. Yet Good Sam has an emergency room. Wouldn't immediate attention have been better than taking 10 minutes to find a slightly better trauma center?
ReplyDeleteI think he went to the Good Sam ER first, and they sent him to Emanuel.
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