Well, perhaps 2021 really will be different?

If you’ve followed the anarchy going on in Oregon over the last several years, you know what Antifa has done to that city. Long before the George Floyd riots, masked lunatics dressed like characters from a low budget apocalypse movie were running around blocking traffic, attacking people, and burning things. Things escalated last summer, with months and months of siege laid upon and damage being done to the city’s federal buildings.

Despite the front and center aggression, of which there was no question of responsibility, Portland’s Mayor Ted Wheeler routinely put out insanely delusional messages blaming white supremacists and other right wing bogeymen instead.

But now that he’s been re-elected, he’s apparently had a change of heart, and shockingly enough, he’s even condemning Antifa by name.

Portland Mayor @tedwheeler: My good faith efforts at de-escalation have been met with ongoing violence and even scorn from radical antifa and anarchists.

It's time to push back harder against those who are set on destroying our community."pic.twitter.com/aj5rjyPTXE

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 2, 2021

It’s pretty nuts to consider that someone as insanely weak and pandering as Wheeler has now done more to call out left-wing anarchists than Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have, but here we are. Our national political scene, at least on the Democrat side, has been a safe harbor for Antifa, with major figures refusing to even acknowledge they exist as an entity. Notably, Joe Biden once claimed Antifa was just an idea during a debate while Rep. Jerry Nadler said they were a myth when confronted. The media cheered on those descriptors, going after Republicans who’d dare to suggest left-wing anarchists were a real problem.

That all makes Wheeler’s admission and condemnation especially awkward for him and his party. It wasn’t an idea that was burning the court house and police precincts. It was radicals who also happen to be part of the base of the Democrat party.

Wheeler has likely pushed things too far to gain control now, though. The Antifa genie doesn’t just go back in the bottle because he won his election and feels like he can crack down without political impact now. You can expect the violence to grow even more out of control in 2021. You can also expect Oregon’s far left voter base to keep putting people in power who will coddle and excuse such activity. Wheeler neutered himself long ago, and now he and his city are going to pay the price for it.

It’s a sad scene, but one that was completely avoidable with the showing of just some semblance of leadership early on. Unfortunately, for the sane people left in Portland, defeating Donald Trump took priority, and Antifa run amok are the fruits of that labor.

(Please follow me on Twitter! @bonchieredstate)