Trump’s fake war hits a real wall in Oregon

Techdirt reports that a federal judge has permanently blocked Trump’s effort to federalize Oregon’s National Guard, calling out his administration for lying about phantom “riots” and deploying troops against people in costumes and dance parties.

There’s no “rebellion” happening here, the judge says, quoting the same law the administration is now abusing on a regular basis. There’s no concerted effort to seize control of federal property. There are no persistent attacks on federal or local law enforcement. There’s no organized group hoping to seize power. This is exactly the sort of thing this particular administration is incapable of handing: a persistent display of opposition that rarely, if ever, engages in the sort of behavior that might justify the deployment of military troops. The protesters are a fly the government can’t swat, whose mere existence is annoying enough the Commander-in-Chief and his immediate underlings have to constantly lie about to salvage their unconstitutional acts. And, despite all of their power, they’re losing this battle. Let’s see if the Ninth Circuit is willing to make this loss permanent.

Techdirt

Judge Karin Immergut’s 106-page ruling dismantles the government’s story point by point, exposing a pattern of deception so sloppy it borders on parody: fires that were candles, barricades that were open doors, and chaos that existed only on Fox News. ProPublica has shown us that Fox News recycled old footage to make the TV segment Trump refers to as the justification for this gross abuse of power, but we’ll see what happens on appeal.