Brooke Jackson-Glidden

Portlanders mock Trump for calling their city ‘war-ravaged’. But they’re clear-eyed about its problems Like many American cities, Portland has been struggling to combat rising unaffordability and homelessness

Trump’s Portland narrative didn’t appear suddenly; it’s more a denouement after powerful interests catastrophized challenges for political gain.Years of oiling the growth machine, even in a city with a progressive reputation, have failed to produce material results for voters.

Here’s some history:

in the second cnn portland city councilor hit of the day, the anchor couldn’t keep a straight face

This is the genius of the Portland protests - they make the claims of lawlessness look not just wrong, but comical

Using the Portland Oregon Sign in Your Project An Intellectual Property License Agreement is required for the commercial use of the Portland Oregon Sign. Commercial use does not include personal use, such as photos of yourself that are shared amon...

This artist might be playing with fire, knowing how litigious the city can be about this stuff (maybe they have a permit, who knows?) www.portland.gov/arts/using-p...

If Portland Is a ‘War Zone,’ It’s Not Because of Portlanders No, Portlanders aren’t “living in hell.” But even if we were, it wouldn’t justify a military takeover.

In the words of Detox, I’ve had it, officially.

Stephen Miller is screaming on
X that his feeling of their being an insurrection in Oregon is more important than the obvious truth, asserted by judge, that there's nothing of the sort. He can keep trying to force reality to bend to his moods (& SCOTUS will help) but at some point people will balk.

Two wholesome exchanges with the under-3 crowd at the cafe:
-A toddler came up to me holding a doll in one hand and a plastic dinosaur in the other. We played dinosaurs while she repeated “hi hi!” about 46 times.
-A stroller-bound kiddo yelled “Put your phone down!! 😡” at me while I was scrolling.

With Newfound Sway in City Hall, Portland’s Democratic Socialists Hope to Redefine the City’s Priorities How do you solve a problem like an unprecedented city budget deficit? Over the last few months of budget planning, Portland leaders suggested a host of ways to close the roughly $93 million gap, from ...

(And hey, if you want to read some responsible reporting on Portland’s socialist presence, may I suggest: www.portlandmercury.com/news/2025/06...)

What Happens When Socialists Are in Charge? Portland Offers a Glimpse.

Does it? Any of the problems Portland has are legacies of previous years. And despite some high profile fights over small amounts of money during the budget process, most high profile votes at council are unanimous. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/04/u...

All this to say: It is shameful and egregious for the NYT to publish that story now, which will inevitably be used to justify further military occupation here. Meanwhile, the Atlantic is quoting Andy Ngo like he’s in any way credible. Pretty bleak, y’all.

The extent to which the four socialists and two other left-wing councilors were working together became clear in May, when they won a contentious vote to reallocate $2 million from the city’s proposed police department budget to parks maintenance. It was a provocative move at a time when many Democrats have backed away from calls to defund the police.

Violent crime is down in Portland, homicides down by 51 percent in the first half of 2025. And the police budget still *increased* from $308 million to $316 million. But yeah, we’ve really “defunded the police” here!!

Too extreme. Too inexperienced. An absolute disaster. Mainstream politicians are sharpening their attacks, and the wealthy are threatening to move away as a socialist revolution sweeps through the city. They’re not talking about Zohran Mamdani or his plans for New York City. Rather, they are agonizing over the scene in Portland, Ore., where the democratic socialist principles espoused by Mr. Mamdani — the front-runner to become New York’s next mayor — have already taken root at City Hall. Four members of the Democratic Socialists of America, along with their left-wing allies, have occasionally formed a working majority on Portland’s 12-person City Council this year, promising sweeping changes aimed at improving the lives of everyday residents. The socialists advocate raising taxes on the rich, enacting a widespread government-owned housing plan and opening city-run grocery stores — an idea Mr. Mamdani has also endorsed.

A “socialist revolution” you say? Because of the… four D.S.A. members on a 12-person city council? Which you acknowledge is stuck dealing with gridlock? Better send in the troops!

A headline from the New York Times that reads: “What Happens When Socialists Are in Charge? Portland Offers a Glimpse.”

A headline from the Atlantic that reads: “Portland’s ‘War Zone’ Is Like Burning Man for the Terminally Online.”

Anyone read anything… disgustingly out of touch and arguably dangerous about Portland lately?

I think this is an important point to make, because well-meaning people often talk about defecting to other countries—I can’t blame them. But it’s not a foolproof solution.

30 arrested in The Hague's anti-immigration riots, more expected - DutchNews.nl At least 30 people were arrested during Saturday’s rioting during an anti-immigration demonstration in the centre of The Hague, and more arrests will follow, police said at a press conference. Two pol...

On *Saturday,* there was an anti-immigration rally in The Hague. Geert Wilders’ party won the Dutch general election in 2023. Do I think things are extremely bleak here? Absolutely. But this is a problem that can get much worse elsewhere, as well. www.dutchnews.nl/2025/09/30-a...

So I have been blocked by this guy, but this is my main point: As the partner of a Dutch political theorist who listens to him rant about this often, I must insist that we stop pretending like Europe is a leftist haven that isn’t dealing with its own rise in right-wing extremism.

Still thinking about this

Far-right leader Geert Wilders throws Dutch politics into turmoil by pulling party from ruling coalition Populist far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders has plunged Dutch politics into turmoil Tuesday by withdrawing his party’s ministers from the ruling coalition in a dispute over a crackdown on migration.

Not to be that guy, but are you talking about this country? The country that also *ate* its Grand Pensionary in 1672?
www.pbs.org/newshour/amp...

Charlie Kirk, Redeemed: A Political Class Finds Its Lost Cause By ignoring the rhetoric and actions of the Turning Point USA founder, pundits and politicians are sanitizing his legacy.

This was, unsurprisingly, as good as people have said!

This is the real reason Jimmy Kimmel is being taken off the air.

Brian Stelter: "Nexstar already owns lots of TV stations. It wants to merge with Tegna, which owns lots of other stations. In order to do that, it needs Brandon Carr, the FCC Chair's, permission."

The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced. I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.

Some personal news:

I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.

Thread incoming.

substack.com/@karenattiah...

Oregon homelessness and eviction support programs face layoffs as state funding drops While the state's housing budget surpasses $2.6 billion, it reduced funding for the state Housing and Community Services Department by roughly $1 billion over the next two years.

As evictions and homelessness rise in Oregon, homeless service providers say they will be able to serve fewer people, potentially increasing the strain on the state’s social services network.

You Really Need to See Epstein’s Birthday Book for Yourself This time, the conspiracy theorists were right.

I wrote about what I think is a genuinely revealing document of elite depravity and impunity. It is shocking and sickening. But it's also a crucial moment. We're about to see what happens when conspiracy theorists actually get what they asked for but it turns out not to be what they want.

How We Brought Respectful Debate Back to The Harvard Crimson’s Editorial Board

To us, the solution is deceptively simple. Universities should create environments where students with different views must talk to one another routinely and establish ground rules that ensure they do so without distractions or prejudgment. Illiberalism on college campuses isn’t inevitable. At The Crimson, it took only a few months to radically improve.

I will never understand how American elites managed to convince themselves that uncivil debate — not fascism, not impunity and not widespread indifference to facts — is the defining problem of our time.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/o...

using AI to write substantive articles is itself humiliating, but what continues to amaze me is just how little these people understand the thing they’re using.

The conflict surrounding Willamette Falls is a microcosm of what it looks like to try to repair the wounds of colonization—it is not simple or easy. Indigenous communities are not a monolith, and the ways they were impacted by white settlement are not the same.

The Fight for Willamette Falls Tribes imagine a future for the country’s second-largest waterfall.

Willamette Falls was an important site for many tribes in the area for centuries, before white settlers wrested control and slapped a bunch of factories & mills around it. Now that multiple communities are trying to create new public access points, the repercussions of that original land grab loom.

But with these layoffs, with this shift in strategy, I fear the place I knew, the place where I learned to be an editor, is functionally dead. So many talented people lost their jobs yesterday—serious journalists, editors, James Beard Award winners. I am so sad for them, for us, for our industry.

When I started at Eater, I felt I had landed my dream job. I was writing alongside such talented, rigorous, funny people who would tackle goofy little blogs and serious investigations and contemplative trend pieces and dreamy longform features. Food was a way to talk about culture, about the world.

Eater layoffs statement Today, 15 members of the Vox Media Union working at Eater were notified without warning that their jobs were being eliminated as part of a major restructuring of the 20-year-old brand. This was especially shocking considering that Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff told Puck’s Dylan Byers just last week that he did not anticipate any impending layoffs at the company. But, of course, we’ve learned that we cannot trust Jim Bankoff’s word when it comes to layoffs. This is the second major round of layoffs at Eater this year, following a round earlier this year that decimated Eater’s award-winning cities network. To be abundantly clear: these layoffs are a gut-job, one that eliminates roughly a third of Eater’s union jobs. It is also a cowardly capitulation to the fallacious insistence that generative AI is the future of search and publishing. We are devastated that our colleagues have lost their jobs, and we are deeply worried about the future sustainability of Eater without them. Eater is currently in the midst of celebrating its 20th anniversary, and right now, there is not much to celebrate. We will have more information forthcoming about ways to support our laid-off colleagues in the coming days. Solidarity forever, The Vox Media Union Committees

Vox Media Union statement on today's devastating round of layoffs at Eater. We stand with all of our wonderful colleagues. #solidarityforever #unionstrong #1u