Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is starting to look more incompetent than even New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
That takes a lot of effort.
Wheeler, whose city is going into its 100th day of violent anti-police protests, is moving out of his downtown condominium now that left-wing activists have targeted the high-rise for nightly demonstrations, including one in which they smashed windows and lit fires.
It would be “best for me and for everyone else’s safety and peace” that he find a new apartment, the mayor said Tuesday in an email to his fellow tenants, according to the Oregonian.
The email adds: “I want to express my sincere apologies for the damage to our home and the fear that you are experiencing due to my position. It’s unfair to all of you who have no role in politics or in my administration.”
Wheeler bought the soon-to-be-vacated two-bedroom apartment in 2017 for $840,000, according to records reviewed by the Oregonian.
“Demonstrators have gathered outside Wheeler’s condo building sporadically since mid-June — at least twice when he was not there,” the Oregonian report adds. “On Monday, Wheeler’s 58th birthday, some in a group of more than 200 graffitied and damaged the building and sidewalk and threw a burning bundle of newspapers into retail space in the building.”
It seems the simple fix here is that Wheeler can just, you know, do his job. Maybe instead of high-rise hunting, he can treat the lawless protests as such instead of coddling them in the hope that the crocodile will devour him last.
President Trump even offered to redeploy federal law enforcement agents to Portland to assist local officials in reining in the chaos. Wheeler, the genius, effectively said, “Nah.”
“On behalf of the City of Portland: No thanks,” the mayor said in an open letter (read: publicity stunt) to the White House. “We don’t need your politics of division and demagoguery.”
It adds, “Portlanders are onto you. We have already seen your reckless disregard for human life in your bumbling response to the COVID pandemic. And we know you’ve reached the conclusion that images of violence or vandalism are your only ticket to reelection.”
Later, after a right-wing activist was killed this weekend during a protest in Portland, Wheeler declined again to go after the anti-police perpetrators and chose instead to blame the president.
“It’s you who have created the hate and the division,” the mayor said. “It’s you who have not found a way to say the names of Black people killed by police officers even as people in law enforcement have.”
He continued, reciting an oft-repeated lie about the president, “And it’s you who claimed that White supremacists are good people. Your campaign of fear is as anti-democratic as anything you’ve done to create hate and vitriol in our beautiful country.”
Seems like this tactic of playing nice with the anti-police demonstrators, who have rampaged through Wheeler’s city since late May, is working out really well for the mayor.
Have you ever been so reluctant to perform the basic duties of your job that you would rather switch residences than just do what your position requires of you? No? It’s just Wheeler then?
Even de Blasio must feel embarrassed for him.
