Nice day to... start again!

Tomorrow's May Day, and it falls on a Saturday, which means Portland is going to be rocking with protests, demonstrations, marches, and God knows what all else. There will be lots of well-intentioned people in the streets opposing capitalism, wealth inequality, institutional racism, assorted phobias, gun violence, police brutality, the whole paella of legitimate grievances. 

But included in the crowd will be the anarchists and nihilists who literally oppose all society and can't wait to spray paint the place up, break windows, and fight with the cops. They love the big crowds of true social activists. They make all the psycho stuff look legitimate.

There are events reportedly set up in Holladay Park, Peninsula Park, and Salmon Springs Fountain. Those will probably be the peaceful ones.

But then there are the 9:00-at-night shows. One such session looks like it's going to start at Shemanski Park, which is behind the Heathman Hotel in the South Park Blocks. Look out, Performing Arts Center, Historical Society, Portland State campus police. Another nighttime throwdown is apparently slated for the wonderful immigration jail that Randy Leonard and Sam Adams installed in the South Waterfront (SoWhat) District. Between the two places, it seems a good bet that there will be six figures of property damage and plenty of tear gas before it's all over. 

The over/under on arrests for the whole day is 4.5.

It being the weekend, you will probably see some white supremacy types coming into town from the sticks to pick a fight. The Portland cops, many of whom in their off hours probably drink with the Proud Boys, will let that crowd get away with an outrageous amount of mischief. None of them will be arrested, no matter what they do. You hope nobody gets killed.

Why the state police and National Guard aren't being called in to help protect the town is beyond me.

In short, it will be a great day to stay away from Portland, unless you have stuff here and want to keep an eye on it. Which is probably a good idea.