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Mike Hastie Photography & Words
http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/hastie


Posted on Facbook, by Jenika Sharon

God, Guns, Bats, and Patriotism

"I live in Portland, Oregon, where presently the state is suffering from the God, Guns, Bats, and Patriotism

I live in Portland, Oregon, where presently the state is suffering from the worst wildfires in history. Eventually, these wildfires will be called what they really are: " Climate Fires." 500,000 Oregonians are on alert to evacuate. Whole towns have been completely destroyed. The city of Portland was so polluted from dark brown smoke yesterday that I had to hurry home after delivering lunches to the homeless in Old Town Portland. The poverty stricken people I gave lunches to earlier did not have that option. The toxic smoke was starting to affect my breathing, as I was getting anxious. Other than breathing tear gas at many demonstrations, I have never been in this kind of situation before where I was conscious of being enveloped in highly polluted air.

I wanted to talk about something I experienced last week on Labor Day when I drove to Salem, Oregon. I decided to observe a Trump rally at the Oregon State Capitol Building. There were about three hundred hard-core Trump supporters who showed up. Many of them traveled there in pickup trucks with multiple Trump and American flags flying from the back. One flag had Trump's head on Sylvester Stallone's muscular body carrying a machine gun. On the flag was written in bold print: " No Man, No Woman, No Commie Can Stump Him." This is quite an aggressive statement about Trump, who had five military draft deferments to keep him out of the Viet Nam War. But, of course, all of this is down the memory hole for people who love him.

Shortly after I got to the rally, at least 75 Trump supporters chased after a group of Black Lives Matter people who were across the street from the capitol building. Some of the BLM people were knocked to the ground, as Trump supporters were hitting them with their fists. Luckily, the Salem Police were there, so the fights were broken up. Two Trump supporters were arrested for assault. Many of the Trump supporters are members of either the " Proud Boys " or the " Patriot Prayer " group. A couple of weeks before, these two groups descended into downtown Portland and got into major fights with anti-fascists members. All kinds of weapons were used, except for guns with live ammunition, though one member of the " Proud Boys " pulled out a pistol and pointed it at several people dressed in all black. For some miraculous reason, this " Proud Boy " member did not pull the trigger. A picture of him pointing the pistol can be seen on the Internet. It is a very frightening image.

A week after this happened, the " Proud Boys " and the " Patriot Prayer " group were back in Portland with a long caravan of pickup trucks driving through an area where the fights had been the week before. There were people in the back of the pickup trucks who were firing paintball guns at antifascist members. Some of the pickup trucks plowed into people who were wearing all black. That night a member of the " Proud Boys " was shot and killed at 3rd and Alder St., an area I know well from previous demonstrations. The person who shot and killed Aaron " Jay " Danielson was a self described member of Antifa, by the name of Michael Reinoehl from Portland. Six days later Michael Reinoehl was killed by the police in Lacey, Washington, which is located near Olympia, Washington. 30-40 rounds were fired at him by the police. The police said Michael Reinoehl was armed with a pistol. Some people say he did not have a gun, and that it was a police killing. Like so many things, the truth will be swept under the carpet. I mention all of this, because these events tie into my experience at the capital building in Salem.

I believe the " Proud Boys " and the " Patriot Prayer " group are out for revenge. They are angry white men with God, Guns, Bats, and Patriotism on their side. That is what I saw when I mingled with the Trump supporters that day. They were frightening to be around, because they were armed with assault rifles, pistols, knives, bats and plenty of rage against anyone who opposed them. They are all Trump clones who want to settle things with violence. They see Trump as their savior, a parental figure who would never betray them. I walked around and heard conversations that were all about patriotism and the worship of the American flag. They hate anyone who does not love this country, and they would commit violence against those who would desecrate the American flag. They are all on edge, ready to strike anyone who would provoke them. They are a powder keg waiting to go off. And, standing amongst them was a man wearing a T-shirt with the words " Trust Jesus " in very large letters. I spent a lot of time sneaking pictures of men holding high powered AR-15 rifles. I have included some of these pictures with this article. Like the people who are carrying them, they are loaded and ready for anything that threatens them, real or perceived. For the " Proud Boys " and the " Patriot Prayer " group, what is also in those ammo magazines is ANGER.

Donald Trump has put them all on high alert, and that is what we are dealing with as we approach the Presidential Election in November - just around the corner. I did not plan on writing a long article, because it's just too much to read. But, it seems, so many things run together. When you are in the belly of the beast, and realize none of these people have a grasp of U.S. Empire History, you realize you are surrounded by boy soldiers. These men are boys, and they will act like boys when they pull the triggers on their AR-15 rifles, just like 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse did in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 23, 2020, and killed two people. He was very angry, just like the raging Climate

Fires that are currently destroying towns in Oregon and California. Everything is happening so fast, with over 100 days of constant protests against the Portland Police, COVID-19, and now the worst fire storms in recorded history. Like anyone, you survive by staying connected to people who you can be honest with. If people don't have community, they start talking to themselves. I see this constantly with homeless people. You stay in the lifeboat, because that is where you get validated."

Mike Hastie

Army Medic Viet Nam

September 12, 2020

via S Brian Willson

Portland, OR Demo 8-10-20, “A Cancer of Lies” Report by Mike Hastie, Army Medic, Viet Nam

On August 10-11, I took part in another demonstration in Portland, Oregon, as protesters marched to a neighborhood police precinct and confronted Portland Police and Oregon State Troopers. The police were lined up defending their turf, while protesters chanted their disrespect for police behavior over the past couple of months that have seen many protesters injured and arrested. There were about 300 protesters at the precinct, most of them young, in their 20s and 30s. I have been around them many times as I have been present at these demonstrations throughout the Summer. These young people are a new kind of resistance, as they have an appearance of being gladiators, and I say that because they are wearing things that protect them from the police. Those in the front row are wearing bicycle helmets, gas masks, shin guards, protective shields, and a shit load of courage.

It is amazing how many women I see in harms way, and the intensity I see in their eyes. Many of them have been injured, as the police often do not differentiate between man or woman. One woman showed me a video of herself being knocked to the ground for no apparent reason by a police officer, and she had Press credentials. She showed me another video of her being tossed to the ground and arrested while she was videoing. She also showed me her knee, where she had been hit with a projectile a couple of weeks ago, and the tremendous swelling that occurred afterwards, with graphic pictures to prove it. Her show and tell stories were a primary example of what is happening on a daily bases during the 2020 Summer that has defined Portland demonstrations.

This is a NEW GENERATION of protesters, as they are using the current technology to organize and defend themselves from the powers that be who are trying to control them. Most of them define themselves as anti-fascist, as they see no future for themselves in a System that has essentially lost its mind. They have their whole lives ahead of them, and for many of them they see a bleak future. They have very little respect for the generations that came before them because of what the world looks like NOW. Black Lives Matter has opened a powerful door for a lot of people, because they identify with their struggle for existence. Many of them are asking what have peaceful demonstrations accomplished, when politicians and the rich keep destroying their future with unbridled obedience.

All one has to do is open their eyes, look at the Trump Administration and see what is happening environmentally and with the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic catastrophe, and it is right in front of your twisted face of disillusionment. These young people, no matter what color, or ethnicity, have their Whole Life in front of them.

I'm 75, as I will be gone in a few years. What would be my response if I was 25-years-old living in these times? I often think of the words of Bob Dylan when he wrote: "The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure, to live it you have to explode." The White House has become a Psychiatric Ward, as it has been that way for countless years, as the U.S. Empire is getting much worse. As Michael Parenti once said: " The only thing the rich want is everything." The young people at these demonstrations in Portland are serious, because their lives depend on RESISTING a government that has become a monster. For them, if it is this bad NOW, what will it be like in twenty years? To be docile is to attend their own funeral. Most Americans are living in an OBEDIENCE COMA, and these young protesters are willing to get the shit beat out of them by the police, because this is their LAST STAND.

When the police marched and ran at the protesters last night it was like a stampede of power, a relentless show of FORCE that is consuming this country. I feel dreadfully sorry for millions of American people who do nothing to stop this overwhelming American Empire of Demolition.
--Mike Hastie, Army Medic Viet Nam, August 12, 2020

We will not be quiet as long as our nation continues to be the most violent culture in the history of humankind.
--Rev James M. Dawson Jr., Speaking at John Lewis' funeral on July 30, 2020

This is our last stand!!!!


Me and John Wayne on Memorial Day

Recently I came across an old picture of me when
I was in kindergarten. ( See attached photo )
I think it was the first day of school, as my father
took the picture in 1950.

We were living at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, as my father
was a career Army officer and combat veteran in the
16 months he spend in North Africa fighting the Germans.
He had profound PTSD, and the entire family inherited it.
As you can see by the picture, I am holding a school notebook with a picture of John Wayne on the cover. Little did I know, John Wayne was preparing me for Viet Nam.
Very few World War II veterans talked about the war, so they
let John Wayne talk for them.

Of course, John was never in a war, because Hollywood propaganda war movies were more important.  In 1968, John Wayne directed a movie called, "The Green Berets."
It was the same year that American soldiers went into My Lai
and massacred 504 innocent Vietnamese civilians.
182 women were murdered, 17 of them were pregnant.
173 children were executed, including 56 infants.
60 older men were also murdered.

In a quote from Larry Colburn, who was a door gunner on
Hugh Thompson's helicopter that landed on the ground during the massacre, and attempted to stop the killing, these were his words: " The only thing the U.S. soldiers did not do was cook them and eat them."

John Wayne never knew this, nor would he have ever believed it. You don't believe things that annihilate your core believe system.

John Wayne was a powerful brand name, and that trademark sent my generation to Viet Nam.
A friend of mine, Brian Willson, who witnessed atrocities in Viet Nam had this to say when he looked into the dead eyes of a Vietnamese woman still holding three dead children in her arms after napalm was dropped:

" In that moment, and it only took a second, I got it."

In that moment, he knew he was the enemy in Viet Nam.
So, here we are again on Memorial Day, which should be called,
Forgetful Day.

When I look at that picture of me holding that John Wayne notebook, I realize just how far I have traveled in comprehending the unspeakable truth.
I feel like I have lived multiple life times.

Mike Hastie, Army Medic Viet Nam, May 25, 2020

Where there is truth, there is holy ground.
-M.H.

Image may contain: 2 people, people standing, child and outdoor


 


Demonstration in Portland, Oregon last night, June 5, 2020. They marched down Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, then went across the Hawthorne Bridge. The energy of course was electrifying. Everyone finally gathered where the Blues Festival is held every year along the Willamette River, where speeches were given. The younger generation in the crowd were definitely catapulted into a realty that we saw in the 60s. There is where I saw the hope, in standing up to the Racist Virus all across America. The United States, which represents 4% of the world's population, has the most powerful Military Force ever known to mankind. What is wrong with this picture? Martin Luther King Jr. talked about the U.S. Government spending more money on military defense than on social programs across America. This is our government LOOTING its own people, especially the poor and working class. I help handout lunches to homeless encampments in Portland three days a week. I see the utter desperation on the faces of the forgotten, while their government continues to make millions of bombs and bullets to kill innocent people around the world. This is a massive sinkhole, and the swarming locust are coming home to America. This is what happens when profits come before people. I always tell young people who are thinking about going into the military to Google: "History of U.S. Military Interventions Around The World." It is country after country after country after country after country after country after country after country after country as far as the eye can see.

This is WHY this country has no money to treat systemic racism and poverty across every corner of the United States. The U.S. Military is sucking the life out everything. Maybe 2020 will finally be the eyesight that sees the cancer of inequality in America. Standup, or the elites on Wall Street and in Washington will put you down with an injection like a dog. To remain silent is to swing by the neck until dead.

Mike Hastie

Army Medic Viet Nam

June 6, 2020

"The further a society drifts from the truth the more it will hate those who speak it."

George Orwell

See the source image

Homeless Rage in America

by Mike Hastie

Yesterday I was driving in Portland, Oregon, when this homeless woman stepped in front of my car and just started to scream.

I had my camera on the floor next to my legs, so I grabbed it real quick and took this picture.

Being a photojournalist, I simply wanted proof of what I was witnessing.

Sitting next to me was Brian Willson, who witnessed U.S. atrocities in Viet Nam.

In the back seat was a Nicaraguan woman by the name of Ulda. She was visiting the U.S. for the first time.

When she was a small child she remembers eating only banana roots, because her family didn't have food to eat because of the U.S. funded Ronald Reagan War.

In the past two years, 200,000 people have moved to Portland from all over the country. Rents have gone sky high, just like other cities across the nation.

Homelessness is an avalanche--tents popping up like wild flowers everywhere.

Streets are littered with trash everywhere. Arguments on many street corners.You can feel the stress everywhere.

Anyone reading my words knows exactly what I am talking about.  In fact, I doubt if I could say anything in this post that people don't already know by heart.

It's happening!  You can't spend 50% of U.S. tax dollars on the violent military, without eventually turning this country into an economic war zone.

So, Mike, what's your point?
My point?

The world is finally getting even.
The Scream is finally being heard.

Picture taken July 1, 2019


http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/hastie

The Real Domino Theory

Since the end of World War II, the U.S.
Government has bombed 28 countries.
These countries have become an ammo belt
going into an M-60 machine gun.
Short bursts over time, so it doesn't
look like the U.S. is trying to take over the world over night.
You don't want to pull the trigger non-stop,
because that would give away America's cover.
So, here we go again, with another country that
America has deemed as a threat to our national
security, our corporate interests, and the American
way of life.
If we don't stop ISIS in Syria, they will land on the
Oregon Coast.

When the United States was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001,
approximately 3,000 citizens died.
Americans were absolutely shocked, and the following
month the U.S. Military started bombing Afghanistan.
In March 2003, the U.S. Military started bombing Iraq
again.
Remember what Madeleine Albright said to Leslie Stahl
about civilian deaths of Iraqi children on 60 Minutes on
May 12, 1996?
Google You Tube...

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Government conservatively
murdered 3,000 innocent Vietnamese civilians every week.
That's 12,000 every month.
That's 144,000 every year.
That's 1,152,000 civilians for the war,
if we say the war lasted eight years.
That is a very conservative estimate.
Many people would triple that number.
Many people would go beyond that.

When I left Vietnam in 1971,
American soldiers in my unit
were shooting heroin, they
were shooting fellow soldiers
with their M-16s, and they were
shooting themselves.
Unzip a body bag and you see
the madness.
Mike Hastie
Army Medic Vietnam
September 13, 2014

Phillip Jones Griffiths, a famous combat photographer
who covered the Vietnam War, had this to say about
the discrepancy of Vietnamese killed versus Americans:
" The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
is 150 yards long. It has the names of 58,000 American
soldiers who were killed. If the same memorial was built
for the Vietnamese that were killed, it would be 9 miles
long."

Photograph of a little girl at the " Wall " in Washington, D.C.
Taken in September 1986 by Mike Hastie. Poetry by a close
friend from Seattle, Washington.

Obey
 

Living in America,
sometimes makes me think
I live in a luxurious concentration camp.
I can have anything I want as long as I obey certain rules.

If I can't do that, there is a selection
process waiting for me. 

Mike Hastie
Army Medic Vietnam
March 13, 2014

Always Cover Up The Madness

The United States Government did not
have concentration camps in Iraq.
The Pentagon did not need them.
They just killed 500,000 Iraqi children.
That's how you bring the enemy to the
peace table.
You just do the unbelievable.
Mike Hastie
Army Medic Vietnam
August 30, 2013

A U.S. Senate study acknowledged that by
1968, an estimated 300,000 Vietnamese
civilians had been killed or wounded in
free-fire zones.
Nick Turse
Kill Anything That Moves

Photo by Mike Hastie
An Khe, Vietnam

 


All American Limo Over There

There we are
There we are
Oh The Yanks are coming
The Yanks are coming
and it won't be over until
The Yanks completely control
the Middle East over there.
There we are
There we are
Oh The Yanks keep bombing
The Yanks keep bombing
and it won't be over until
The Yanks destroy innocent
people over there.
Now it's Syria
Now it's Syria
And the Yanks blame Assad for
using sarin gas
for using sarin gas
against his own people over there.
It's a lie
It's a lie
especially when The Yanks did nothing
when Hussein used poison gas against the
Iranians and the Kurds over there.
Or The Yanks spraying 19 million gallons of a
carcinogenic chemical called, "Agent Orange,"
on innocent people in Vietnam.
Or The Yanks using Depleted Uranium in Iraq
on innocent people over there.
The Yanks are lying
The Yanks are lying
And if the U.S. Government is not stopped
the world will be over over there.
Mike Hastie
Army Medic Vietnam
September 2, 2013

Photograph by Mike Hastie August 31, 2013
Portland, Oregon after a "Don't Attack Syria Rally."
Woman is wearing a shirt that reads:
W A R  Wealthy Are Richer


The Nobel Peace Prize President

speaks eloquently to 300,000,000
American people in their hour of
spiritual need.
Mike Hastie
Army Medic Vietnam
September 4, 2013




Guns, Bombs and Other Means of Killing

Every time I see the American flag,
I see the stars of countries we have bombed.
In order to survive, I have to separate
myself from America's National Shame.
I have always seen this as a form of
Political Incest, the same shame that
families suffer from when there is
incest within the family system.
This has been a lifetime effort for me,
ever since I returned from Vietnam.
It is a sense of freedom that is priceless.
Mike Hastie

Army Medic Vietnam
February 24, 2013

Photo by Mike Hastie. Gun store in a small
town near Portland, Oregon.

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