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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 14m

Good summation of the propaganda assault on Portland that is accompanying the Trump administration’s political/military assault on the city. open.substack.com/pub/goodpoli...

Sordid Sortor

A dust-up in Portland reveals the dangerous degree of Trump administration overlap with the right-wing marketplace

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Seth Cotlar

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 14h

Whichever way history turns, I have a feeling that this will be a historic photo

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 17h

David Medina, texting to a friend from DC on 12/12/2020. “The proud boys are currently beating the fuck out of BLM right now in DC so that kinda gives me hope.”

Medina was charged by the DOJ for his actions in DC on January 6.

Alex Baumhardt @alexbaumhardt.bsky.social · 18h

Meanwhile Noem allowed local social media streamer David Medina to ride in with her.

www.instagram.com/reel/DPhQIJ2...

Alex Baumhardt @alexbaumhardt.bsky.social · 18h

Noem appears to have arrived? Not sure how long we’ll be blocked from the street outside ICE processing facility. I can say unequivocally she did not witness anything she claims is happening at this facility, as she entered the facility…

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 18h

Don't know. Hope he didn't croak.

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 19h

Sometimes I need to force myself to remember that it's possible for a country to have a President who doesn't talk like he's Andrew Dice Clay on tranquilizers doing an extemporaneous set in Vegas in 2015.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 21h

Trump: "If we didn't win this election. If we had these people that were running that were ruining our country, destroying our country with their open borders and men playing in women's sports and transgender from everybody and windmills all over the place ... I'm not sure we'd even have a country."

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Reposted by Seth Cotlar

Alex Baumhardt @alexbaumhardt.bsky.social · 1d

1) Re-upping this given what's happened in recent days. Still think it's wild that Mason called Trump's threats to use U.S. cities as training grounds for military "a throw away line."
2) Neither Trump nor anyone in his administration have tried to talk w/ Oregon's Gov. today, her office said.

Alex Baumhardt @alexbaumhardt.bsky.social · 5d

Nearly drove off the road when Dave Miller asks Dan Mason, National Committeeman for Oregon Republican Party, what he thinks of Trump recently saying he wants to use US cities as training grounds for military troops. “I think it’s a throw away line,” Mason said.

www.opb.org/article/2025...

Oregon Republican Party leader on deploying National Guard troops in Portland

Dan Mason, National Committeeman for the Oregon Republican Party, joins us to share his perspective on deploying the National Guard in Portland.

www.opb.org

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 19h

Brave of Noem to venture into this violent battle zone.

Alex Baumhardt @alexbaumhardt.bsky.social · 20h

Scene outside ICE facility in Portland where DHS Sec. Noem is expected to visit today. Sound on for one protestor’s soundtrack.

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 20h

On that. bsky.app/profile/seth...

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · Mar 17

Don’t forget that this whole “we’re being invaded by Venezuelan gangs” canard started as Trumpian campaign propaganda made possible by corrupt local politicians and landlords in Aurora, CO. coloradonewsline.com/2024/09/19/t...

The greatest threat to Aurora is not a gang. It's dishonest council members. • Colorado Newsline

Aurora council members who spread falsehoods about gang threats failed the most basic duty of any public servant — to protect the public.

coloradonewsline.com

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 20h

Sounds similar to the Aurora, CO slumlord who helped create the “Venezurlan gangs have taken over entire apartment complexes” talking point in 2024.

flipinidaho @flipinidaho.bsky.social · 22h

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...

The building is in a 27 million dollar foreclosure filed by Wells Fargo. The next day, Wells Fargo filed an emergency motion for receivership. The fascist regime kindly emptied the building for donor Wells Fargo.

Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children

Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.

southsideweekly.com

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Reposted by Seth Cotlar

Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 23h

An enterprising journalist that could prove that his aides and advisors are showing Trump fake shit that led to him signing EOs and making policy decisions would be a huge deal. Maybe the biggest story in the history of the Presidency? Bigger than Nixon. Too bad the newspapers quit being newspapers

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

“.. On closer inspection, however, it turned out that the image was not a photograph of a real event in Portland, but instead a fabrication created by combining two photographs of scenes that unfolded in South America nearly a decade apart ..”

@theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 22h

If any intrepid journalist out there is exploring this, I have some informed guesses as to where team Trump is getting their “information” about Portland.

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 22h

Republicans ca. 1985: Gulag Archipelago 😭
Republicans ca. 2025: Gulags LetsFuckingGo! 😁

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Reposted by Seth Cotlar

utopia deferred @utopia-defer.red · 22h

It is unbelievably funny how load bearing American democratic norms turned out to be

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 23h

Mike Johnson ignores a question about when he'll swear in Rep.-elect Grijalva and walks away

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 23h

My sense is that the bulk of the leadership class (with a few obvious exceptions) are just being opportunistic about this, but I think many in the rank and file are authoritarian/reactionary true believers. They've been led to believe that they are manning the barricades of Christian civilization.

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 23h

This is why the Christian Nationalism that has become so dominant inside the GOP poses a serious threat to democracy. If you believe that you're doing God's will by crushing "the anti-Christian, terroristic left," then obviously it makes no sense for you to feel constrained by things like the law.

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 23h

Things like "constitutions" or "principles" or "the rule of law" only have the power to constrain what politicians do if those politicians (& the people who vote for them) actually believe in them and are willing to adhere to them. If all you believe in is your own righteousness, then anything goes.

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 23h

When seen through this lens, it seems less contradictory that the OR GOP would support J6 messengers like this who decry political violence by "the left," while celebrating the military occupation of Portland. "Principled libertarianism" never had anything to do with it. bsky.app/profile/seth...

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 17d

Update, this anti-violence January 6er who celebrated Proud Boys beating up Black protesters in DC has been told by God that he should run for Governor as the candidate of unity, love, and truth.

OFA Media is in Portland, OR. •
Follow 22h • ©
Give me your honest thoughts! Just trying to feel it out!
David Medina
@davidmedinapdx
X.com
Should I run for Governor of Oregon? It seems nearly impossible, but it's tugging on my heart lately and I'm not sure if it's God or the chemicals from the Coke Zero I've been drinking lol.
Oregon needs change NOW! My candidacy would be a huge shake up.
I'll tell you something, I wouldn't go in to lose! And the fact that I have supporters in the state who are libertarian, Democrat and independent inspires me the most in addition to uniting the GOP base.
My platform would be built on UNITY, LOVE, and TRUTH.
Was hesitant to post those, but want to feel it out.
What are your thoughts?
DO 1.2K
511 comments 15 shares

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 23h

A huge chunk of Americans "on the right" in the 1960s and 70s were not principled believers in "small government." They were what historian Jefferson Cowie calls "believers in racialized anti-statism." They opposed "big government" only when it threatened white supremacy. bsky.app/profile/seth...

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · Mar 22

To be more precise, the people behind this pamphlet decrying this "federal tyranny" on behalf of civil rights were also involved with the "sovereignty commissions" set up by Southern states to spy on and collect information about civil rights activists. da.mdah.ms.gov/sovcom/scage...

Sovereignty Commission Online
Agency History
Access Chronology
Commission Members
Commission Personnel
Notes
SOM, MIES
20978
Freedom Rider Mug Shot, Sto kely Carmichael, arrested in Jackson June 8, 1961. Enlarge.
The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (Commission) was created by an act of the Mississippi legislature on March 29, 1956. The agency was established in the wake of the May 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling. Like other states below the Mason-Dixon Line, Mississippi responded to Brown with legislation to shore up the walls of racial separation. The act creating the Commission provided the agency with broad powers. The Commission's objective was to "do and perform any and all acts deemed necessary and proper to protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi, and her sister states.." from perceived "encroachment thereon by the Federal Government or any branch, department or agency thereof." To exercise this loosely defined objective, the Commission was granted extensive investigative powers. The governor was
End
Police
BRUTALITYA
appointed ex-officio chairman of the Commission. Other ex-officio members were the president of the Senate, who was vice-chairman of the Commission; the attorney general; and the speaker of the House of Representatives. In addition, the Commission comprised the
Millsaps students protest death of JSU student Ben Brown, May 11, 1967. Enlarge.
following members: two members from the Senate, appointed by the president of the Senate; and three members from the House of
Representatives, appointed by the speaker. The governor, attorney general and legislators served on the Commission during their tenures in office. The three members appointed by the governor served for the duration of his term.' The agency itself was small, consisting of a director, public relations director, clerical staff and a handful of investigators.
The Commission's activities were shaped by the preference of the governor and skills of its staff. J.P.…

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 23h

Many in the GOP looked at the "George Wallace voters" of 1968 and thought "those people are kinda weird, but at least they share our belief in limited Constitutional government as evidenced by their strange obsession with that little known, 2nd Amendment." But their gun love was NOT about freedom.

Don't Let Them Take Your Guns Away !!
ONLY George Wallace WILL PROTECT YOUR RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS!
WALLACE:
"I say register Communists and criminals, not guns.
When guns are outlawed only out-
laws will have guns."
HUMPHREY:
"I ask for favorable action on gun registration and licensing."
NIXON: regiavat sto
"I favor strong state laws for licensing and
No matter where you register your guns, the federal government will get your name and address and know where the guns are.
Did you know that the new gun law which goes into effect December 16, 1968, requires you to give your name and address every time you purchase ammunition?
By registering your ammunition purchase--you will be registering your guns.
The next assassination or emotional crisis could lead to confiscation of your guns, and if you do not surrender your guns you could be convicted as a criminal. We pretend to fight for freedom in Vietnam, while losing our own at home.
WALLACE
Vote For GEORGE WALLACE
And Keep Our Freedoms
FOR
PRESIDENT
Article Two - Bill Of Rights •- U. S. Constitution
'I well regulated militta being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keen and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 23h

These future tripping articles about Presidents abusing their emergency powers appeared in the same far right publications that pushed what is now the reigning, ahistorical take on the 2nd Amendment. In both cases, this was about power, not constitutional principle. bsky.app/profile/seth...

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · Jan 28

It's hard to overstate how little most people knew or cared about the 2nd Amendment before the 1970s...let alone interpret it as a self-destruct clause that the founders supposedly wrote into the Constitution. bsky.app/profile/seth...

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · Apr 10

In May of 1954 the Commander of the Navy Reserve Army in Salem, OR awarded medals to a group of junior riflemen. He asked the assembled crowd if they knew what the 2nd Amendment was. Crickets. Not a single person in the audience knew what it was. Imagine that.

Salem Statesman Journal, 10 May 1954.

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 1d

Here’s a thread with some examples of what I’m talking about. In the 1970s it was inconceivable to the illiberal far right that they might ever win control of the federal government via elections. So they assumed these powers would be used against them. bsky.app/profile/seth...

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · Aug 13

As Trump exerts ever more dictatorial powers using baseless claims of "emergencies" to do so, I'm reminded of how "America First" far right orgs like Liberty Lobby in the 1970s was obsessed with the idea that Presidents would use EO's to impose full communism on America by declaring emergencies.

preparedness
Sec. 3013. Transfer of Functions. Any emergency
function
under this
order, or parts
thereof, may be transferred from one department or agency to another with the consent of the heads of the organizations involved and with concur-Preparedness.
rence of the Director of the Office of Emergency
United
Under the terms of EO 11490, the President of the
States
exists and can then:
can order that a national emergency
• Take all souls or picer electic, nuclear, pe-
troleum, etc.)
railroads,
inland
facilities
waterways, and storage
• Commandeer all civilians to work under federal supervision
• Control all activities relating to health, education, and welfare
• Register
every man, woman, and
United States
child in the
• Shift any segment of the population from one locality to another
• Control all devices capable of emitting electromagnetic radiation
• Institute EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES with respect to any facility, system, or service essential to national survival
• Take over farms, ranches, or timberland properties so as to protect, manage, and utilize them effectively
• Freeze all wages and prices
• Demand emergency welfare services, (food, cloth-ing, and lodging) in private homes, for those in need
• Regulate the amount of your own money you can withdraw from your bank or savings and loan institution
• Close the stock exchanges and freeze stock and bond prices.
All of these items listed, plus many others clearly enumerated on 32 pages incorporating nearly 200,000 words pertain to every previous Executive Order ever issued unless specifically revoked.
E.O. 11615
Executive Order No. 11615 was issued by President
Nixon on
Aug. 15, 1971. It provides for stabilization
of prices, rents, wages, and salaries. Although the wage-price "freeze" was to last only 90 days, the Order established another bureaucratic agency called the Cost of Living Council.
This Council is almost certain to be with us for a long time, growing in power and size, with concomitant restrictions on…

THE FEDERAL REGISTER
The Federal Register is one
States today. Its notification of
dential actions assumes the power of law. No is no review
Congressional authorization is required. There
by the judiciary. All Executive
Orders (EO's) are laws made by one man-the
President of the United States.
Through existing EO's it is possible for one man to ignore the Constitution, the Congress,
ship can be imposed,
and the will of the people. A complete dictator-
under the veil of law,
on the American people.
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11490
The most damaging of all the EO's is 11490, the
consolidated 23
so-called "omnibus" Emergency Preparedness order that signed on Oct. 28, 1969.
previous EO's, which President Nixon
By virtue of EO 11490 President Nixon declared a national emergency to exist on Aug. 15, 1971, in con-
economy. At first glance,
most of the EO's seem to be steps needed to enable the United States to prepare for and strike back in the event of a nuclear attack.
blanket every conceivable facet of today's gigantic and complex American society and
of events no part of it will ever
supervision from Washington.
More frightening than all its contents is the omission of a definition of the phrase "national emergency." The decision as to what constitutes a
"national emergency"
President, whoever he might be.
EFFECT OF EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Although there are
Presidential memorandums and not specifically
listed in this brochure,
LIBERTY LOBBY feels those excerpts referred to are the essential orders that must be studied by all Americans if they are to acquaint themselves with this sword of Damocles" hanging over all our heads. established the machinery
dent and his advisers to take control of every significant factor of the private sector of our society!
The Office of Emergency
Preparedness (OEP) is re-President in all emergency
sponsible for assisting the preparedness activities.
Its director is a member of the
subversive Council on Foreign Relations! The OEP has eight regional offices …

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 1d

A common talking point in far right publications in the 1970s had to do with a bunch of Cold War executive orders laying out a range of “emergency powers” a POTUS could temporarily take on in a crisis. They used to say this was the blueprint for communist takeover. Turns out they were just jealous.

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 1d

Trump's tweet that Portland is "war ravaged" just backfired. A Trump-picked judge cited it in blocking National Guard deployment to Portland, declaring him "untethered from facts."

On the pod, Oregon AG Dan Rayfield illuminatingly explains the ruling and what's next:
newrepublic.com/article/2014...

Trump’s Own Tweet on Portland Backfires as Judge Deals Him Harsh Loss

As a judge’s blunt ruling blocks Trump from deploying troops in Portland, Oregon’s Attorney General tells us in an interview that Trump’s lawless threats are working against him—and discusses what com...

newrepublic.com

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Aaron Huertas @aaronhuertas.bsky.social · 1d

Reactionary centrist propaganda requires making stuff up about the left to match what the right is doing. You can get away with it when you’re running a glorified blog, but it’s pretty hard to say, generate footage of someone invading the Capitol with a Harris / Walz flag.

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 1d

This report left out the best part of Weiss’s pep talk! Many people are saying that as she finished, Weiss made the heavy metal fingers on one hand, stuck out her tongue, bobbed her head and yelled “YOLO motherfuckers, let’s go save western civilization!!!”

max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 1d

Bari Weiss introduced herself to CBS News staff today on the network's 9AM call, saying she wants to "win," which requires restoring trust to CBS. She also said she was excited for staff to get to know the Free Press, and ended her remarks by saying: "Let's do the fucking news."

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Dr Alex Cruikshanks @alexsaysstuff.bsky.social · 1d

It's interesting to see it depicted visually, but this really brings the point home how a strong social prohibition on the far-right is actually much to the benefit of centre-right parties, who become hegemonic electoral juggernauts.

Marios Richards @mariosrichards.bsky.social · Aug 12

In our - very limited - historical experience of democracy,

(i) states rot from the centre-right
(ii) and it's contagious (via geography/powerful exemplar states)

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