In a series of moves aimed at appealing to the most progressive elements of American society, Oregon Governor Kate Brown has signaled her strong desire to become the poster child of the limousine liberal set. From setting up a Trump Resistance Team through her campaign to proclaiming herself a “radical feminist,” to issuing Executive Orders countermanding federal law, Brown is developing an outsized ambition that is matched by the bank accounts of her billionaire benefactors. Brown’s activism has even attracted the notice of The New Yorker, which proclaims her America’s Radical Feminist Governor.
First, it was the revelation that Brown (affectionately known as #KorruptKate from her days as Secretary of State) had formed a Trump Resistance Team through her campaign apparatus. That was followed last Thursday with an Executive Order that forbids any state agency from assisting any federal enforcement of immigration law, and calling on the state’s attorney general to sue the federal government over Trump’s Executive Order placing a temporary halt on immigration from terrorist hot spots. In an email to all state employees announcing the moves, Brown said,
Colleagues,
As public servants, we have all made the choice to spend our professional lives supporting and working for the success of all of our fellow Oregonians. I know that what binds us together in common cause is shared respect and admiration for Oregonians who work to provide for their family and to make our state thrive.
In recent days and weeks, I have received an extraordinary number of emails, phone calls, letters, and social media interactions. Oregonians across the state are deeply concerned about the potential impact of new presidential Executive Orders on our State, its economy, and on our families and friends.
That’s why today, I took action to reaffirm Oregon’s commitment to be a welcoming and inclusive place for all, including immigrants and refugees.
First, I am calling upon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to bring legal action to oppose the federal government’s recent anti-immigrant measures. Second, I have issued an executive order that renews our State’s commitment to protecting our immigrant, refugee, and religious-minority communities.
These measures are another chapter in the Oregon story. On this page of that story, we as public servants stand for those among us threatened by discrimination, and for those being placed on the far side of a false “us” and “them” divide. Your service helps give every Oregonian the chance to write their own story.
Thank you for your service and the thousands of hours you have committed to ensuring that millions of Oregonians have the opportunity to live to their greatest potential.
Thank you,
Governor Kate Brown
The full Executive Order can be read here. The most pertinent section reads,
No state agency may use moneys, equipment, or personnel for the purpose of detecting or apprehending persons whose only violation of law is that they are persons of foreign citizenship present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws, except as required by federal or state law or as otherwise authorized by the Governor or her designee.
Displaying an inability to discern irony, Brown blithely dismisses the violation of federal law conducted by thousands of illegal immigrants currently residing in Oregon.
All of this activism has caught the eye of the limousine liberals on the East Coast. Kate was in New York City recently to meet with Win McCormack, an Oregon-based billionaire with ties to George Soros, The Tides Foundation, Tom Steyer, and all the other funders of the progressive movement. It should be noted that Kate Brown originally was elected to the Secretary of State position in Oregon with help from Soros’ SOS Project. So she’s long been on the radar of the most radical of the leftist billionaires in America.
While she was in New York City, Kate was invited to sit down with Daniel Wegner, a reporter from The New Yorker magazine. She was, of course, all too happy to remind Mr. Wegner that was the first openly LGBTQ governor in U.S. history, adding, with a smile, that she had experimented with lesbianism in college. The interview could not have been more of a cliche if it were conducted by The Village Voice: “We were talking in the back of Housing Works, a SoHo bookshop-café whose proceeds go toward H.I.V./AIDS advocacy … Brown … had come to New York for meetings related to her 2018 reelection campaign. The night before, she’d had dinner with Win McCormack, an Oregonian who owns The New Republic, and she had a full day of hobnobbing ahead.”
Wegner fairly swoons at Kate’s liberal activism, writing,
As we talked, Brown sipped a hot chocolate. “I’m naturally caffeinated,” she said. This much was clear a couple of weeks ago, when she took to Salem’s Capitol Mall during the Women’s March there, donning a pink pussyhat and delivering the kind of speech that many had dreamed of Hillary Clinton giving: “In my Oregon, and under my leadership, women are in charge of their own bodies,” she said, shaking with her fist. “In my Oregon, immigrants and refugees are welcome with open arms.” She ended with a call to action, then turned to someone behind her and did an ear-cupping pantomime that is a regular feature of her speeches. Then she turned back toward the Mall: “Are you willing to fight?” The crowd screamed this time …
It remains to be seen if Governor Brown will be rewarded for her far left partisanship with reelection in 2018, but it seems unlikely that Oregonians outside of the Portland-Salem-Eugene corridor will be inspired by what they see.
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