Thursday, November 30, 2006

Negotiations To Failure

Major Mike

Normally I wouldn’t connect the opinion/editorial page drivel that comes from the Oregonian to a brilliant piece by Dean Barnett, who writes with Hugh Hewitt at Townhall.com, but there are some parallels between a local Portland story, and his take on the Baker Commission report that provide us some insight to the liberal mind…and the massive failings of liberal ideology in the real world.

The Oregonian almost gleefully cheers the departure of Schumacher Furs from downtown Portland today. Schumacher has been operating a legal enterprise in downtown Portland for 111 years, yet they are being forced to leave because they are on the radar screen of the liberal uber-left…the animal activist groups.

These schizophrenic animal “rights” groups (leather shoes anyone?) have been targeting Schumacher on Saturdays for over a year with escalating protests, and antagonistic tactics. Pictures provided in the Oregonian (like these provided by the protest group) clearly reveal an intimidating presence in front of Schumacher store, and undoubtedly, and unfairly impacted their business…to the point they felt they had to move.

The Oregonian falsely claims that “…police, the city and downtown business representatives all worked hard to help Schumacher counteract the protests.”


Their listless observation of the protesters from across the street, their failure to moderate the intensity or frequency of the protests, and their failure to ensure that shoppers could enter the store without feeling threatened, don’t constitute “working hard” at a solution in my book. Maybe the Oregonian editorial staff should read their own columnists...or do a little research on line...

"That Schumacher, 51, has lost patience with the raucous rumba line of protesters is understandable. There have been bullhorns, paint splatterings, sidewalk obstructions, online death threats, and naked demonstrators in front of his door (we're still efforting photos for the blog). Schumacher is still fuming about the police response; only when a police officer was assaulted, he said, did "we have 14 police cars at the door." "(my emphasis)

It is representative of liberal City leadership blindly supporting an uber-left liberal cause, and leaving an innocent business owner as the victim. It is not representative of a City "working hard" as a force for moderation.

And we get to the crux…what of those “negotiations?” Painting the windows with an opaque paint…requiring Schumacher to display a large tag inside of the garment proselytizing the bible of some fringe animal rights group whose entire membership may constitute a number somewhat less than that of a men’s synchronized swimming team…and generally allowing a business to be bullied by protestors can hardly be considered fair “negotiations.”

But that IS what the left considers “negotiation,” and they are smug about it. The Oregonian editorial board chides Schumacher …


The loss of any downtown business, small or large, is troubling, and the loss of a venerable one is particularly distressing. But Schumacher's farewell, cast as an all-purpose attack on doing business downtown, was off the mark. Put it this way: It ought to be swallowed with a large squirt of mustard.”

Maybe the Oregonian editorial board should read their own mailbag, where support for the Schumacher’s was published at four-to-one for Schumacher and against the naked, paint throwing, death threatening, sidewalk obstructing, peaceful furry animal defenders.

So, one-way “negotiations” where an innocent party is rode out of town on a rail is considered a successful negotiation by the left…which brings us to the Dean Barnett piece and Jon Carrey’s testimony before the widely vague and unharmonious Baker Commission…

Kerry seemed quite satisfied with what the Baker Commission was going to recommend. He seemed especially tickled that the Commission was poised to seek a diplomatic settlement with Iran and Syria to bring about peace in the Middle East. The fact that a diplomatic settlement with these nations would depend on the good faith of their lunatic leaders either doesn’t bother or fails to register with the Kerry and the Commission.” (my emphasis)

Beware America…Kerry, the Dems, and their liberal membership don’t want solutions, they want “negotiations,” and the results, as Schumacher proves, don’t really matter…it is all about feigning an effort, and moving the ball forward on minority driven, liberal causes…the good of the country and the rights of others be damned. This is a harbinger on how liberal officials implement their minority driven, liberal agendas, and how they approach problem solving. They don't acutally solve problems they negoitate, defer, delay, deny, and then the innocent party becomes a victim of their malfeasance.

Wake up America, or we will soon have “negotiated” our rights away to Islamic extremists, and we’ll be looking to set up shop with the Schumacher’s in the suburbs.

2 comments:

Mr.Atos said...

In fact, the grotesque little atavists move the ball backward, toward the primitive and concoct an elaborate chimera of progress to spoon feed the American public via the propaganda media... like the Oregonian.

Your example of Schumacher Furs is an excellent one. But, I will go you one better. How about the crusade against Walmart. Local leftists are fighting like mad to keep Walmart out of Milwaukee/Sellwood and to remove the two stores from 82nd Avenue. But, as the fetching Mrs. Atos pointed out this past weekend, not a single activist that despises Walmart has uttered a denigrating comment about the half-dozen porno shops on those same roads, 2 blocks from the Elementary School.

Have you ever noticed the local Lefties getting worked up about Mary's? Downtown Seattle has a similar Peek and Pull right in the center of town across the Street from its largest tourist attraction, Pike Place Market. There's a window box out front with a raunchily arrayed barby doll riding a Steely Dan one block from a kids Day Care center. Never have the Left complained, and yet if it were selling Furs, damn sure it would be a target.

The values of the Left, simply have no value to a civilized society, and their approach to foreign affairs is no different except in terms of scale and threat.

dueler88 said...

the ultimate goal of the left is "education". the method they use is *intimidation*. how many times have those two words shown up together in political and ideological circles?

it is difficult to persuade a person who is so vehemently dedicated to their cause. the bloodlust to cast out infidels is the same for Salem Village in 1692, Russia of 1917, Kabul of 2000, and Downtown Portland in 2006.

if you'd like to stand out in front of a store and tell the world how evil it is, you have that right. but please, make your case in a peaceful, rational and logical manner. the path of intimidation and violence is on a very slippery slope.