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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 2d

Today’s dispatch from the front lines. Stay safe out there, Comrades.

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 3d

I’m confused. Hasn’t he been pretty good against lefties for a good long while now—basically since his bad start?

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 3d

“Class, remember we talked about Pizzagate last week? This was similar except instead of a deranged incel with an AR-15, the Governor of Texas sent the National Guard to invade Oregon.”

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 3d

Future historians are going to have a hell of a time explaining that time Texas tried to invade Oregon because Texas believed an internet hoax.

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 4d

Trump is either lying repeatedly and shamelessly to justify an attempt to militarily occupy an American city or he’s completely lost touch with reality. It seems like a worthwhile journalistic endeavor to figure out which and inform the American people.

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 4d

The protests are on one block. Nothing is burning down. His justification for sending in troops is all based on lies.

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 5d

Just cooked to perfection. 👩‍🍳💋 #BAONPDX

Our Game Magazine @ourgamemagazine.bsky.social · 5d

Olivia Moultrie.

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 5d

They Liv’d, it turns out.

This Thorns team isn’t great. They’re plugging holes with duct tape and bubble gum. But they’ve got two bona fide match winners in Moultrie and Coffey, and they’re bought in from top to bottom.

A legit accomplishment to be in the playoff hunt. #BAONPDX

Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 5d

It’s Liv or die for the Thorns attack right now. Genuinely impressive that they’ve made it this far given the plague of injuries, but I think the camel’s back is officially broken. #BAONPDX

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 5d

A red card challenge from a Sounder and ten sets of shrugged shoulders from Fernandez’s teammates. Absolutely brutal. #RCTID

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 5d

Man. Nobody on the Timbers reacting to that really bad tackle from Rusnak is not good. They’ve quit. #RCTID

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 5d

It’s Liv or die for the Thorns attack right now. Genuinely impressive that they’ve made it this far given the plague of injuries, but I think the camel’s back is officially broken. #BAONPDX

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 5d

Yeah honestly I wasn’t going to say anything because of the omen, but it’s basically the same outfit.

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 5d

Extreme Sonny Corleone vibes from Rob Gale tonight. #BAONPDX

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 5d

Model journalism that exposes the lies the Trump Administration is using as pretext to occupy PDX.

I’ve been so impressed by Portlanders’ response to date. Firm, unequivocal, and characteristically whimsical without giving in to Trump’s desire to manufacture violence. Keep it up and we’ll win this.

Bill Oram @billoram.bsky.social · 5d

So impressed by the work of my colleagues @oregonian.com who teamed up to show what a full day outside of Portland's ICE facility really looks like.

Is this what "lawless mayhem" looks like?
www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

24 hours outside Portland’s ICE facility: Is this what ‘lawless mayhem’ looks like?

President Trump said conditions continue to deteriorate. Here’s what the newsroom saw.

www.oregonlive.com

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 6d

Let me see if I have this right.

During a government shutdown, the administration can find the money to fly multiple helicopters and airplanes over the locus of Trump’s lies about Portland but not to hit “Send” on the already prepared monthly jobs report?

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 7d

The overwhelming majority of people don’t have direct personal knowledge about most things he talks about—including his lies about Portland. And the experience of having that personal knowledge about this particular lie but seeing it nonetheless cast into the world has been eye-opening.

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 7d

Trump’s lies about Portland have really driven home that the information environment is even worse that I thought. Trump’s lies are just that—pure fantasy. They’re not misleading or exaggerated or anything like that. Yet his tweets are still just neutrally reported like “This is a thing he said.”

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 11d

#FrontLineDispatches

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 11d

Surely somebody out there can make a Portland pun based on E.B. Sledge.

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 11d

If you’re an aspiring filmmaker in Portland it’s your civic duty to make a Ken Burns-style documentary about the heroism and sacrifice of Trump’s invasion.

Yorktown
Gettysburg
Normandy
Guadalcanal
Elephant’s Delicatessen

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 11d

Get a beautiful latte? Send a dispatch from the front lines.

Riding bikes with your kids to the park? Dispatch from the front lines.

Find a cozy place to read a book? Dispatch from the front lines.

Mocking them exposes the abuses while depriving them the pretext they want to attack our city.

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 11d

Fortunately social media gives us a perfect platform to craft a third way: Using mockery as protest.

Every Portlander should flood their chosen social media platform with “Dispatches from the Front Lines”—photos and videos of them going about their lives in this beautiful city.

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 11d

I agree with the sentiment here.

Trump’s invasion of Portland creates a paradox: Justifiably protest these nakedly authoritarian abuses and give the administration the pretext they want for state violence or stay silent and lend a patina of normalcy to Trump’s fouling of our democracy?

Oregonian Opinion @oregonianopinion.bsky.social · 11d

Editorial: Portland must resist becoming Trump’s political prop

President Donald Trump's announcement that he will send federal forces to Portland is neither necessary nor justified, the editorial board writes. But Oregonians must resist reacting impetuously to Trump’s bombast or actions, which will only feed negative narratives used to discredit our values.

www.oregonlive.com

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 12d

Things Portland is currently ravaged by:

Pizza
Temperate, sunny weather
Coffee
Middling soccer
Sunsets
Farmer’s markets
Apples
Hiking trails
Thai food
Fresh hops
Harvest-ready vineyards

Things Portland is not ravaged by:

War

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 12d

We need to be honest about what this is. It’s a transparent attempt to use the military to incite protests that the administration will then use state violence against.

Portland is not “war ravaged” or anything remotely close to it. And those who repeat this lie without correcting it are complicit.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12d

Trump says he’s authorized Hegseth to use “Full Force” against Antifa in “War ravaged” Portland

At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

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Chris Rifer @chrisrifer.bsky.social · 14d

Injuries happen and they’re most often just bad luck. But this swarm of them has been so extreme that I think the Thorns need to at least consider if there’s some causal factor within their control there. #BAONPDX

Taylor Vincent @tayvincent6.bsky.social · 14d

The Portland Thorns announced today that forward Julie Dufour has officially been placed on the Season-Ending Injury (SEI) list. Dufour sustained an ACL injury to her left knee during the match against San Diego Wave FC at Providence Park on September 20.

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