What is happening in PDX is Exhibit A of the pathology that infects police culture in America. I used to say that not all police officers are fascists, but if you happen to be one, police work is likely to be an attractive career option. Now, having watched dozens of videos of unprovoked violence by police in Minneapolis, NYC and now PDX, I have come to believe that even the non-fascists who join the police force become indoctrinated into a fascist culture. If you think I am exaggerating, there is ample video and photographic evidence on Evans’ Twitter feed, @IwriteOK.

It’s shocking that a sitting US senator would openly express what can only be described as a fascist world view, or that he would suggest that the peacekeeping methods used in the ‘50s to stop oppression of black people by southern racists applies equally to use of force against peaceful protesters, whom he falsely accuses of being violent marauders.

That said, I’m not sorry the NYT published the essay. When Cotton runs for president in 2004 and attempts to don sheep’s clothing, many of us will remember what he wrote in 2020. What the NYT should have done is run the essay alongside a rebuttal written by a credible voice from the left.

One final point: calling it an “overstatement” that the police have borne the brunt of the violence is a massive understatement; based on news reports and the video evidence circulating in social media, by far most of the violence has consisted of the police shooting tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets at peaceful protesters and members of the press, and severely beating individuals who they consider to challenging their authority (not attacking them physically, resisting arrest, etc.).