Teargas Terror

Oh joy, let's talk about the feds and their favorite hobby: stomping on civil rights. Because, you know, who needs freedom and dignity when you've got "law and order" to uphold? The consistent pattern of abuse and excessive force by ICE and other law enforcement agencies is just a minor detail, a tiny blip on the radar of American exceptionalism. The highlight reel of protesters being injured or killed by "non-lethal" projectiles is just a fun little bonus. Who needs rubber bullets when you can use actual bullets, right? And don't even get me started on the "mostly peaceful" protests that somehow manage to turn into war zones. Here are a few of my favorite examples:

• The time a protester in Portland was shot in the head with a "less-lethal" munition and spent weeks in a coma
• The incident in Minneapolis where a police officer shot a man in the back with a rubber bullet, causing permanent spinal cord damage
• The countless times "non-lethal" projectiles have been used on journalists, medics, and other civilians who just happened to be in the way

But hey, who cares about human rights when you've got "law and order" to worry about? I mean, it's not like the US government has a history of using military-grade equipment on its own citizens or anything. Oh wait, they totally do. From the infamous tanks rolling through the streets of Ferguson to the adorable little drones buzzing over protests in NYC, it's all just a big game of "let's pretend we're a functioning democracy". And let's not forget the gullible masses who swallow this nonsense whole. The influencers and "experts" who parrot the party line, telling us that the feds are just trying to "keep us safe" and that we should be grateful for their benevolence. Please, spare me the drama. The US government is willing to use any excuse to justify its abuse of power, and the sheep-like public is happy to go along for the ride. Just look at the statistics:

• Over 1,000 people have been killed by police in the US this year alone
• ICE has a backlog of over 1 million deportation cases, because who needs due process, anyway?
• The Department of Homeland Security has spent billions of dollars on "counter-terrorism" efforts, which mostly seem to involve spying on and harassing American citizens

So, to all the naive souls out there who still think the US government is looking out for their best interests, let me disabuse you of that notion. The feds are not your friends, and they will stop at nothing to maintain their grip on power. So, go ahead and keep pretending that everything is fine, that the system is working, and that the feds are just trying to "keep us safe". I'll be over here, laughing at the absurdity of it all.

Oh joy, another opportunity for Portland to don its favorite cloak of self-righteousness, all while accomplishing precisely nothing. The city's illustrious history of protests and activism is a joke, a mere facade hiding a staggering lack of tangible results. It's all about the performative outrage, the Instagrammable moments of pseudo-activism, and not at all about actual, meaningful change. Let's take a look at the city's "accomplishments":

• Years of protests against police brutality, yet the police department remains as opaque and unaccountable as ever.
• Endless rallies for affordable housing, but the city's homelessness crisis continues to worsen, with officials more concerned with grandstanding than providing concrete solutions.
• Plenty of virtue-signaling about environmental issues, but the city's own carbon footprint remains embarrassingly high, thanks to its addiction to pointless bureaucracy and lack of actual policy changes.

And don't even get me started on the residents, who are far more invested in their artisanal coffee and fixie bikes than in, you know, actual social change. They'll gladly pay $5 for a pour-over, but ask them to sacrifice an ounce of comfort or convenience for the greater good, and suddenly they're nowhere to be found. City officials, of course, are more than happy to pay lip service to progressive values, all while failing to take concrete action. It's a clever game of smoke and mirrors, where they get to bask in the praise of the gullible and the naive, all while maintaining the status quo. And the latest controversy? Just another excuse for them to grandstand and pretend to care, before quietly sweeping it under the rug and moving on to the next photo op. Some "highlights" of Portland's ineptitude include:

• A 2019 report showing that, despite years of "efforts" to address homelessness, the city's homeless population had actually increased by 22%.
• A 2020 audit revealing that the city's "environmental initiatives" had failed to reduce carbon emissions, despite wasting millions of dollars on pointless programs and bureaucratic overhead.
• The city's laughable "response" to the COVID-19 pandemic, which consisted of vague promises, half-hearted measures, and a general air of confusion and incompetence.

And what's the likelihood that this latest controversy will blow over, and the city will go back to its usual apathy? Oh, I'd say it's a near certainty. After all, this is Portland we're talking about – a city where outrage is a hobby, but actual change is far too much to ask. So, by all means, keep on protesting, keep on tweeting, and keep on pretending that you're making a difference. The city's influencers and "experts" will be happy to pat you on the back, all while the city itself continues to rot from the inside out.

The mainstream media's obsession with sensationalism is a plague that's infecting the minds of the gullible masses. They churn out clickbait headlines that are about as informative as a tweet from a Kardashian. It's all about the Benjamins, baby - getting those clicks and views, no matter how much truth is sacrificed in the process. Journalists have become nothing more than content farmers, churning out shallow, poorly researched articles that are designed to provoke rather than inform. And the worst part? People lap it up like the good little sheep they are. Take, for example:

• The New York Times' disastrous coverage of the 2016 election, which was more focused on sensationalizing Hillary Clinton's email scandal than actually reporting on the issues.
• CNN's embarrassing obsession with Donald Trump's tweets, which has become a never-ending circus of speculation and hype.
• The Washington Post's pathetic attempts to pass off opinion pieces as factual reporting, complete with misleading headlines and cherry-picked statistics.

These outlets are more concerned with being first to the punch than with getting the story right. And their audience is too dumb to notice. The spread of misinformation is a pandemic, and social media is the petri dish where it grows. A staggering 67% of adults get their news from social media, which is about as reliable as a Ouija board. And don't even get me started on the "influencers" and "experts" who peddle their own brand of nonsense to the unsuspecting masses. Take, for instance:

• The anti-vaxxer movement, which has been fueled by misinformation and pseudoscience spread through social media.
• The flat-earthers, who somehow manage to convince people that the Earth is flat despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
• The numerous instances of fake news being spread through Facebook and Twitter, often with disastrous consequences.

It's a never-ending cycle of stupidity, and we're all just along for the ride. The sad reality is that most people are too lazy to fact-check, too ignorant to know the difference between real news and fake news, and too gullible to question the motives of the people feeding them information. They're like sheep being led to the slaughter, bleating away about "fake news" and "alternative facts" without having a clue what they're talking about. And the media outlets are happy to oblige, serving up a steady diet of sensationalism and misinformation to keep the sheep in line. Wake up, sheeple! (Just kidding, you won't.)