NEVER FORGET

RE: “As Donald Trump Becomes President, Portland’s Streets Will Be Chaotic” [News, Jan 18], featuring an interview with Oregon Liberty Activists leader John Glendenning. Glendenning’s group vowed to attend a flag-burning event, fire extinguishers in hand. “I’m not gonna keep quiet, I’m not going to hide,” Glendenning said. “Conservatives are scared. You know how it feels to be conservative? They won’t let you express your own views, but you have to hear theirs every day?” At the flag-burning event, the Oregon Liberty Activists were nowhere to be found.

I’m sorry you’re scared, but it’s you guys who show up with the guns, it’s you guys who tend to start with the talk about violent elimination of political viewpoints you disagree with, and frankly, you guys who never suffer any legal consequences. But yes; you’re the victim here. The rest of us don’t spend all our lives being told that the views of rural bigots are actually the views of “real America.” We’re never told that the only worthwhile way to serve this society is to join the military, that if you’re not a Christian, you’re not really an American, and that the only people worth a shit in our economy are CEOs. I’m very sorry you’re scared of whatever the fuck it is you’re claiming to be scared of.

Look, sleep well, but try to get that you’re just as much a whiner as anyone who ever said they don’t want to hear about some idea they don’t like because it’s “triggering.” You’re exactly what is wrong, and we need a lot less of you. I don’t care if you’re a great dad or grandpa. If you supported Trump, you voted against the United States, you stupid fuck, and people like me aren’t going to let you forget it.

rich bachelor

SEARCH YOUR FEELINGS

RE: “Women's March Organizer Margaret Jacobsen: ‘Marching Isn’t Comfortable. It’s So Much More Than That'" [Blogtown, Jan 20]. “In order to understand that it’s okay to be racist,” Jacobsen told Senior Editor Megan Burbank, “and you actually can unlearn all that, you usually have to trace it back to ‘these are our roots, this is how things were built,’ and even if you aren’t consciously going up to a person of color or [someone who] looks differently than you and shouting in their face and being degrading, it doesn’t make you not racist.”

Passive racism is okay. It is natural and benign. So GET OVER IT. You’re not going to change people’s subconscious. You only notice it because you spend every waking minute of the day looking for any trace amount of “racism” you can find. Worry about the bigger problems. This is political correctness gone haywire.

FYI

Passive racism is insidious. It is cultural and taught from a very early age. So how do you GET OVER IT? You need to change your subconscious. You know it’s working when you begin to spend a few minutes of the day in self-examination rooting out any amount of racism. People don’t like self-reflection because it’s painful when you encounter your own biases and have to address the fact that you’re not good and pure and perfect. Do it anyway and you’ll be a better person. Or we could just dismiss it all with a nebulous reference to political correctness.

abitterseahorse

REPRESENT

RE: “How to Contact Your Elected Officials” [Trump Resistance Playbook, Jan 18]. “All of Oregon’s Congresspeople—except for Rep. Greg Walden in the district east of the Cascades—are Democrats who have been vocal in their opposition to Trump,” wrote News Reporter (and former Clevelander) Doug Brown. “But it’s still important to stay on them.”

You left out three representatives. Seeing as how you are not from Oregon, I’d like to make sure you know there are also Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader in the House of Representatives. Glad we got that cleared up.

Local_Latina

Local_Latina, while our article was focused on the core of Portland, you couldn’t be more right—you win the Mercury’s letter of the week, and two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater! And hey, everybody else: Oregon’s senators are Democrat Ron Wyden (wyden.senate.gov) and Democrat Jeff Merkley (merkley.senate.gov), and our representatives are Democrat Suzanne Bonamici (1st District, bonamici.house.gov), Republican Greg Walden (2nd District, walden.house.gov), Democrat Earl Blumenauer (3rd District, blumenauer.house.gov), Democrat Peter DeFazio (4th District, defazio.house.gov), and Democrat Kurt Schrader (5th District, schrader.house.gov).