As of today, Saturday, the "compassionate" homeless advocates are already attacking Poor Keith. He's looking like the classic deer in the headlamps. He'd better kow-tow to the Democratic Socialists--pronto!
The city is now entering a time of maximum political instability, exactly when it needs to (1) admit we're going down the drain (2) the old traditional power structure is gone, replaced by--as you point out--self-dealing creeps. The corruption to come will be breathtaking.
In January, I plan to call each of my "councilors" and ask them to get my street paved. One will be Steve "Tiny Terror" Novick, whose brilliant idea to institute the TIC charge made it impossible to build anything affordable along any of the city's 50 miles of gravel. I'll ask him to maybe dip into his $133K salary and put down some asphalt on my half of the street.
I’m sure Novick will kick in some of his personal windfall to pave your street…he’s a good socialist right? (oh and and he’s also the original Portland police defunder—back in 2014).
It's incredibly strange to me that the media reports on increased calls to the crisis line over the election, as though that's not completely insane. What has convinced people (who, in general, pay zero attention to local politics which actually affect them) that the outcome of the presidential election poses an existential threat to their well-being? These folks need to chillllll.
Excellent Summary. This election showed that the non-profits, far left unions and progressive PAC's are in full control of Portland. After Gonzalez and Vasquez were elected I thought there was some light. It was snuffed out. The endorsement of the far left virtue signaling politicians will only increase as pragmatic taxpayers like myself flee Portland. I am done with Portland politics. I am done with Portland and its intolerance. I am looking forward to my escape from "the city that no longer works" and will be happily taking my tax dollars elsewhere.
When Yascha Mounk interviewed Francis Fukuyama recently about last week's elections, they too talked about lessons learned and changes to be made. Among other things, Fukuyama observed:
"Gay marriage was something that a lot of people thought ought to be part of the culture and ought to be mainstream. I'm not sure that some of the transgender stuff actually falls into that category because I think there are a lot of reasons why you might want to be a little more careful about that."
Finally!
The primary difference between the gay rights movement and the trans movement is that the former was and continues to be a quest for individual rights under the U.S. Constitution that is indistinguishable in principle from women's suffrage, the black civil rights movement and feminism, while the latter is rooted in a strain of novel modern philosophy and the sui generis gender identity ideology it has spawned.
The most important reason "transgender stuff" - i.e., gender identity ideology and its social manifestations - are not part of the culture and do not belong in the mainstream is they are not a response to the age-old injustices of a marginalized population who has been oppressed since at least Old Testament times but a fictional blueprint for creating identities hitherto unknown to humankind and producing considerable suffering and harm in the process.
Gender identity ideology is essentially applied queer theory, and queer theory was fabricated out of whole cloth by philosophers preoccupied with ideas having little or no relation to human history or past or present cultures. One will not find peer-reviewed studies validating the social reality of Judith Butler's imaginary world. Unfortunately, too many people have mistaken speculation for truth. Worse yet, too many young people who are unhappy or suffering from mental disorders have concluded, often as a result of social contagion, that changing sex or gender (whatever that is) is the panacea they must have right away.
There is a growing left-of-center sex realist, or gender critical, movement that rejects the concept of gender and the notion that males can become females and vice versa. It is led mainly by women, many of them lesbians, but includes gay and straight men and detransitioners. It is not informed by right-wing Christian morality nor is it allied with right-wing politics.
Sex realists seek to curb or roll back the excesses of the trans movement, most notably American society's headlong rush to embrace pediatric gender medicine in reckless disregard of the welfare of the patient, medical ethics and the fact a number of European nations have restricted or discontinued therapies that are unquestioned here.
Of equal importance is prohibiting males who identify as women from competing against females in female-only athletic competitions. They rob women of the rewards of their talents and hard work, including athletic scholarships. In some sports, male bodies can inflict more severe injuries on women when in motion than women are generally capable of inflicting on one another.
We believe that gender has no place in the curriculum in K-12 classrooms. First, the concepts are not real. Unlike sexual orientation, which generally manifests itself naturally in adolescence, children would never come up with the fanciful ideas they are taught about gender on their own. It has been established that most children who are gender nonconforming or who suffer from gender dysphoria will outgrow it and desist in adolescence if not sidetracked by gender ideology. Many find they are same-sex attracted.
I know this from experience. I was a very precious and sissy little boy in the late 50s and early 60s. Dennis the Menace I was not; I was sugar and spice and everything nice. I did not roughhouse. I had no interest in sports. I threw away my cap guns unprompted because of their association with violence. My cub scout merit badges were given in recognition of my butterfly collection and my ability to boil an egg, iron a handkerchief and sew on a button. My mother indulged my desire to have a Barbie doll. I never wanted to be her; I liked her wardrobe and accessories.
I have no doubt that if I were the sissy boy now that I was 60 years ago, and if I had trans allies for parents and in my social orbit, there is a reasonable prospect that I would be headed for social and medical transition. This would have been a crime that prevented me from becoming the person I was meant to be, a masculine gay man who, incidentally, happens to be a centrist Democrat.
To conclude this far from complete list of gender critical individuals' criticisms of gender ideology, male intrusion into women-only spaces is hugely contentious. The reasons women do not want males in their spas, shelters, changing rooms, toilets and events should be obvious to the astute readership who frequent these comments.
If Trump's victory is a sign that Democrats in general and progressives in particular need to rethink their world view, an obvious reform would be to stop calling sex realists transphobes and start listening to what they have to say.
You are not getting the whole truth from trans activists. Their response to criticism is to denounce, censor and shame their critics. They can be just as illiberal and intolerant of dissent as the wokest of the woke on an Ivy League campus. The choice really is not between having a dead son or a trans daughter. Affirmation followed by transition pursuant to the World Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) guidelines is not the "gold standard" of care for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria. WPATH is severely compromised by the role that activists play in its work product.
It is bad enough that gender ideology captured our institutions undemocratically through the back door without notice to those it would affect, an opportunity for debate or the ability to lodge objections and change outcomes. What's worse is that it is almost impossible for sex realists to get a fair hearing from liberals and progressives. This needs to change.
Excellent article. Portland is over, the Portlandia days are but a fond memory, and the dreams of our socialist neighbors are dead. No law and order, coupled with our excruciating local tax burden, has killed the golden goose of private sector business and it’s highly paid executives and workers who have previously provided our government with the resources and gifts that have served the very least among us.
I’m sad to agree; local & state election results do not make me confident for Portland’s near future. We’ll need your investigations to keep accountability!
Unfortunately, Portland is dragging the rest of the state down with it. How bad does it have to get before people realize they are getting exactly what they are voting for?
Nailed it!
As of today, Saturday, the "compassionate" homeless advocates are already attacking Poor Keith. He's looking like the classic deer in the headlamps. He'd better kow-tow to the Democratic Socialists--pronto!
The city is now entering a time of maximum political instability, exactly when it needs to (1) admit we're going down the drain (2) the old traditional power structure is gone, replaced by--as you point out--self-dealing creeps. The corruption to come will be breathtaking.
In January, I plan to call each of my "councilors" and ask them to get my street paved. One will be Steve "Tiny Terror" Novick, whose brilliant idea to institute the TIC charge made it impossible to build anything affordable along any of the city's 50 miles of gravel. I'll ask him to maybe dip into his $133K salary and put down some asphalt on my half of the street.
Excellent comment on “compassionate Keith”.
I’m sure Novick will kick in some of his personal windfall to pave your street…he’s a good socialist right? (oh and and he’s also the original Portland police defunder—back in 2014).
It's incredibly strange to me that the media reports on increased calls to the crisis line over the election, as though that's not completely insane. What has convinced people (who, in general, pay zero attention to local politics which actually affect them) that the outcome of the presidential election poses an existential threat to their well-being? These folks need to chillllll.
Excellent Summary. This election showed that the non-profits, far left unions and progressive PAC's are in full control of Portland. After Gonzalez and Vasquez were elected I thought there was some light. It was snuffed out. The endorsement of the far left virtue signaling politicians will only increase as pragmatic taxpayers like myself flee Portland. I am done with Portland politics. I am done with Portland and its intolerance. I am looking forward to my escape from "the city that no longer works" and will be happily taking my tax dollars elsewhere.
Public unions are the engorged ticks sucking the life out the Oregon.
When Yascha Mounk interviewed Francis Fukuyama recently about last week's elections, they too talked about lessons learned and changes to be made. Among other things, Fukuyama observed:
"Gay marriage was something that a lot of people thought ought to be part of the culture and ought to be mainstream. I'm not sure that some of the transgender stuff actually falls into that category because I think there are a lot of reasons why you might want to be a little more careful about that."
Finally!
The primary difference between the gay rights movement and the trans movement is that the former was and continues to be a quest for individual rights under the U.S. Constitution that is indistinguishable in principle from women's suffrage, the black civil rights movement and feminism, while the latter is rooted in a strain of novel modern philosophy and the sui generis gender identity ideology it has spawned.
The most important reason "transgender stuff" - i.e., gender identity ideology and its social manifestations - are not part of the culture and do not belong in the mainstream is they are not a response to the age-old injustices of a marginalized population who has been oppressed since at least Old Testament times but a fictional blueprint for creating identities hitherto unknown to humankind and producing considerable suffering and harm in the process.
Gender identity ideology is essentially applied queer theory, and queer theory was fabricated out of whole cloth by philosophers preoccupied with ideas having little or no relation to human history or past or present cultures. One will not find peer-reviewed studies validating the social reality of Judith Butler's imaginary world. Unfortunately, too many people have mistaken speculation for truth. Worse yet, too many young people who are unhappy or suffering from mental disorders have concluded, often as a result of social contagion, that changing sex or gender (whatever that is) is the panacea they must have right away.
There is a growing left-of-center sex realist, or gender critical, movement that rejects the concept of gender and the notion that males can become females and vice versa. It is led mainly by women, many of them lesbians, but includes gay and straight men and detransitioners. It is not informed by right-wing Christian morality nor is it allied with right-wing politics.
Sex realists seek to curb or roll back the excesses of the trans movement, most notably American society's headlong rush to embrace pediatric gender medicine in reckless disregard of the welfare of the patient, medical ethics and the fact a number of European nations have restricted or discontinued therapies that are unquestioned here.
Of equal importance is prohibiting males who identify as women from competing against females in female-only athletic competitions. They rob women of the rewards of their talents and hard work, including athletic scholarships. In some sports, male bodies can inflict more severe injuries on women when in motion than women are generally capable of inflicting on one another.
We believe that gender has no place in the curriculum in K-12 classrooms. First, the concepts are not real. Unlike sexual orientation, which generally manifests itself naturally in adolescence, children would never come up with the fanciful ideas they are taught about gender on their own. It has been established that most children who are gender nonconforming or who suffer from gender dysphoria will outgrow it and desist in adolescence if not sidetracked by gender ideology. Many find they are same-sex attracted.
I know this from experience. I was a very precious and sissy little boy in the late 50s and early 60s. Dennis the Menace I was not; I was sugar and spice and everything nice. I did not roughhouse. I had no interest in sports. I threw away my cap guns unprompted because of their association with violence. My cub scout merit badges were given in recognition of my butterfly collection and my ability to boil an egg, iron a handkerchief and sew on a button. My mother indulged my desire to have a Barbie doll. I never wanted to be her; I liked her wardrobe and accessories.
I have no doubt that if I were the sissy boy now that I was 60 years ago, and if I had trans allies for parents and in my social orbit, there is a reasonable prospect that I would be headed for social and medical transition. This would have been a crime that prevented me from becoming the person I was meant to be, a masculine gay man who, incidentally, happens to be a centrist Democrat.
To conclude this far from complete list of gender critical individuals' criticisms of gender ideology, male intrusion into women-only spaces is hugely contentious. The reasons women do not want males in their spas, shelters, changing rooms, toilets and events should be obvious to the astute readership who frequent these comments.
If Trump's victory is a sign that Democrats in general and progressives in particular need to rethink their world view, an obvious reform would be to stop calling sex realists transphobes and start listening to what they have to say.
You are not getting the whole truth from trans activists. Their response to criticism is to denounce, censor and shame their critics. They can be just as illiberal and intolerant of dissent as the wokest of the woke on an Ivy League campus. The choice really is not between having a dead son or a trans daughter. Affirmation followed by transition pursuant to the World Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) guidelines is not the "gold standard" of care for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria. WPATH is severely compromised by the role that activists play in its work product.
It is bad enough that gender ideology captured our institutions undemocratically through the back door without notice to those it would affect, an opportunity for debate or the ability to lodge objections and change outcomes. What's worse is that it is almost impossible for sex realists to get a fair hearing from liberals and progressives. This needs to change.
Excellent article. Portland is over, the Portlandia days are but a fond memory, and the dreams of our socialist neighbors are dead. No law and order, coupled with our excruciating local tax burden, has killed the golden goose of private sector business and it’s highly paid executives and workers who have previously provided our government with the resources and gifts that have served the very least among us.
I’m sad to agree; local & state election results do not make me confident for Portland’s near future. We’ll need your investigations to keep accountability!
Unfortunately, Portland is dragging the rest of the state down with it. How bad does it have to get before people realize they are getting exactly what they are voting for?
So true. We moved 3 years ago but now I fear that it may not have been far enough away..
If you're in any of the three Metro counties, you're screwed.