The Disgrace of Portland

If only mobs were allowed to destroy federal property without consequence.

Then, there wouldn’t have to be any dispute over federal agents defending a federal courthouse in Portland, Ore. It could simply be overrun and burned to the ground with no unwelcome resistance.

As it is, Portland’s mayor, Ted Wheeler, who presides over a city that has become a watchword over the years for left-wing thuggery unchecked by municipal authorities, has roused himself to state of high dudgeon — over federal officers trying to counter ongoing assaults on a federal building.

He calls the feds “a direct threat to our democracy” and argues that they are engaging in unconstitutional arrests and inflaming protests that he had hoped “would end within a matter of days.”