Cole Merkel
@colemerkel.bsky.social
Housing Justice advocate turned bureaucrat; Small town Midwesterner turned Oregon suburbanite; Gay married cat dad
Opinions are entirely mine.
🌈🦄🏳️🌈; 📍Cascadia
Opinions are entirely mine.
🌈🦄🏳️🌈; 📍Cascadia
Of Monsters & Men @ Crystal Ballroom
Forgot until getting up here about the "floating dance floor."
Forgot until getting up here about the "floating dance floor."
November 29, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Of Monsters & Men @ Crystal Ballroom
Forgot until getting up here about the "floating dance floor."
Forgot until getting up here about the "floating dance floor."
If this ain't a metaphor, I don't know what is.
October 21, 2025 at 4:06 AM
If this ain't a metaphor, I don't know what is.
Reposted by Cole Merkel
No Kings protests - Time Square
October 18, 2025 at 7:22 PM
No Kings protests - Time Square
Two spouses, two messages, two sides of the same sign. @nathanbreiten.bsky.social
#NoKings #NoKingsPDX
#NoKings #NoKingsPDX
October 18, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Two spouses, two messages, two sides of the same sign. @nathanbreiten.bsky.social
#NoKings #NoKingsPDX
#NoKings #NoKingsPDX
The No Kings Portland march has closed the Hawthorne Bridge. #NoKings #NoKingsPDX
October 18, 2025 at 8:58 PM
The No Kings Portland march has closed the Hawthorne Bridge. #NoKings #NoKingsPDX
Reposted by Cole Merkel
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson calls Sunday's naked bike ride in protest of the Portland ICE facility and and Trump troop deployment "the most threatening thing I’ve seen yet"
www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
October 14, 2025 at 11:41 PM
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson calls Sunday's naked bike ride in protest of the Portland ICE facility and and Trump troop deployment "the most threatening thing I’ve seen yet"
www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
Reposted by Cole Merkel
A Message From The Frog Resistance
YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
youtu.be
October 14, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Reposted by Cole Merkel
Member of the Chicago press gets arrested by
masked ICE GOONS
masked ICE GOONS
October 11, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Member of the Chicago press gets arrested by
masked ICE GOONS
masked ICE GOONS
This lede sentence by @agpnw.bsky.social perfectly sums up the moment in Portland.
October 11, 2025 at 12:12 AM
This lede sentence by @agpnw.bsky.social perfectly sums up the moment in Portland.
The war rations from the burned down storefronts.
October 11, 2025 at 12:04 AM
The war rations from the burned down storefronts.
Reposted by Cole Merkel
The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.
October 9, 2025 at 8:23 PM
The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.
Reposted by Cole Merkel
The overreach of the Jim Crow regime in response to peaceful lawful protest brought it down
Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.
October 8, 2025 at 1:15 AM
The overreach of the Jim Crow regime in response to peaceful lawful protest brought it down
Reposted by Cole Merkel
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
October 5, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
Was just thinking this as I heard the third helicopter fly over our house in the burbs, miles south of the ICE office.
Also how expensive is helicopter fuel and how many taxpayer dollars have they burned
October 4, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Was just thinking this as I heard the third helicopter fly over our house in the burbs, miles south of the ICE office.
Reposted by Cole Merkel
NEW—US Department of Education sent out standard Out of Office language to employees on Wednesday in light of shutdown. Later yesterday, workers tell me they found someone had updated their auto-responses without consent to a new one blaming Democrats.
Version of original on left, updated on right:
Version of original on left, updated on right:
October 2, 2025 at 1:46 PM
NEW—US Department of Education sent out standard Out of Office language to employees on Wednesday in light of shutdown. Later yesterday, workers tell me they found someone had updated their auto-responses without consent to a new one blaming Democrats.
Version of original on left, updated on right:
Version of original on left, updated on right:
Reposted by Cole Merkel
Live from "war ravaged" Portland
September 27, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Live from "war ravaged" Portland
I guess I missed the war. Did it happen before or after brunch?
Trump says he’s authorized Hegseth to use “Full Force” against Antifa in “War ravaged” Portland
September 27, 2025 at 4:30 PM
I guess I missed the war. Did it happen before or after brunch?
Spot on analysis. May it be true.
WATCH: “They are simply going too fast. I really think the speed at which they are trying to rip apart a free and open society is a huge tactical mistake on their part,” says @chrislhayes.bsky.social.
September 27, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Spot on analysis. May it be true.
Reposted by Cole Merkel
We're at the point where the Trump does something worse than Watergate daily, often multiple times a day. And none of it makes news; it's just normal now.
In a less insane time, if it was discovered that the President of the United States said this privately to their AG, it would’ve triggered an all-encompassing, impeachable corruption scandal.
Here, Trump is saying it publicly and it’s just another Saturday.
Here, Trump is saying it publicly and it’s just another Saturday.
September 21, 2025 at 2:49 AM
We're at the point where the Trump does something worse than Watergate daily, often multiple times a day. And none of it makes news; it's just normal now.
There's something deeply disconcerting about seeing retirement aged seniors picking up DoorDash orders at a luxury grocery store on a Saturday morning.
This country's already fraying social safety net is starting to disintegrate. And I don't think anyone in power is ready for the consequences.
This country's already fraying social safety net is starting to disintegrate. And I don't think anyone in power is ready for the consequences.
September 13, 2025 at 7:18 PM
There's something deeply disconcerting about seeing retirement aged seniors picking up DoorDash orders at a luxury grocery store on a Saturday morning.
This country's already fraying social safety net is starting to disintegrate. And I don't think anyone in power is ready for the consequences.
This country's already fraying social safety net is starting to disintegrate. And I don't think anyone in power is ready for the consequences.
Reposted by Cole Merkel
The New Yorker asked me “how bad” today’s Supreme Court ruling was. I boiled it down to one paragraph:
link.newyorker.com/view/5bda429...
link.newyorker.com/view/5bda429...
September 8, 2025 at 9:52 PM
The New Yorker asked me “how bad” today’s Supreme Court ruling was. I boiled it down to one paragraph:
link.newyorker.com/view/5bda429...
link.newyorker.com/view/5bda429...
Just another breakfast in hell.
September 6, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Just another breakfast in hell.
Reposted by Cole Merkel
The Aug employment report shows the strain from growth negative policies--restrictive immigration means construction job losses, trade war means mfg job losses, budget cuts mean state & local govts and health care sputter as job engines. The economy is v close to a tipping point
September 5, 2025 at 1:14 PM
The Aug employment report shows the strain from growth negative policies--restrictive immigration means construction job losses, trade war means mfg job losses, budget cuts mean state & local govts and health care sputter as job engines. The economy is v close to a tipping point
While I wouldn't call myself a Scandanavian architect (though I am damn good at loading our dishwasher), @nathanbreiten.bsky.social is absolutely the raccoon on meth.
"In every relationship, there’s one person who loads the dishwasher like a Scandinavian architect, and one who loads it like a raccoon on meth."
There Are Two Types of Dishwasher People
And only one of them really knows how to load it.
www.theatlantic.com
August 25, 2025 at 1:38 AM
While I wouldn't call myself a Scandanavian architect (though I am damn good at loading our dishwasher), @nathanbreiten.bsky.social is absolutely the raccoon on meth.
1977*
Go sports! 🏀
Go sports! 🏀
Something I love about Portland is how fiercely it loves a basketball franchise that hasn't won a championship since 1976.
August 14, 2025 at 3:40 AM
1977*
Go sports! 🏀
Go sports! 🏀