Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is a special kind of politician, and I don’t mean that in a good way. He’s the kind of true believer that will pander even as his city burns. We’ve seen that happen routinely over the last year as Portland has become ground zero for Antifa and their destructive tendencies. For months on end, Wheeler was unwilling to take action, instead continuing to blame white supremacists and right-wingers when there were often none to be found within a hundred mile radius of the chaos.

Well, now that the election is over, Wheeler has apparently decided to find some courage. He’s ordering police to not allow a new “autonomous zone” to be setup.

I am authorizing the Portland Police to use all lawful means to end the illegal occupation on North Mississippi Avenue and to hold those violating our community’s laws accountable. There will be no autonomous zone in Portland.

— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) December 9, 2020

Stunning and brave. It’s also incredibly transparent. Wheeler was unwilling to take this kind of action prior to November 3rd precisely because he felt the chaos helped Joe Biden. Americans never like to see cities burning, and though it makes no sense to most of us, I’m sure there were a contingent of people who saw Biden some kind of deal with the devil to enact normalcy. No one likes to give into what is essentially blackmail, i.e. voter for Biden and the riots stop, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who will do it.

Of course, because Wheeler is who he is, he promptly set that courage on fire and actually reinforced those destroying his city and breaking the law.

All of these crises are magnified in urban areas, including Portland. And, these crises disproportionately impact Black people.

— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) December 9, 2020

Do we all agree to that? I mean, I don’t, and I know a lot of people who find that premise to be ridiculous in 2020. Yet, Wheeler can’t seem to understand that the more you grant the premise of anarchists, the more anarchy you will get. If you tell a child not to sneak out of the house because that’s the rules but that they are completely justified in wanting to sneak out, you know what you’ll get? That child ignoring the rules and sneaking out. Reinforcing bad behavior always leads to more bad behavior.

The reality is that none of the rioting and destruction in Portland is justified. It’s mostly being done by a bunch of upper middle-class, privileged people who have nothing more to really complain about than Starbucks putting too much caramel in their iced coffee. They aren’t justified at all, and Wheeler’s continuing fluffing of them is why he keep getting the chaos he’s receiving.

You get what you vote for, I suppose. Maybe one day Portland residents will wake up and stop this. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.

(Please follow me on Twitter! @bonchieredstate)