From the sea to the sparkling sea, crime is on the rise and gunshots ring throughout the night. In some cities, anarchists break windows and start fires, with the aim of establishing autonomous zones.
In response, President Trump threatens to send federal troops unless local officials stop the chaos. In their response to him, Democratic governors and mayors tell the president to leave.
Oregon’s attorney general is even suing to prevent Homeland Security agents from making arrests in Portland, where the riot caused riots, and Mayor de Blasio promises that the feds will receive the same rude welcome in Gotham.
“If I tried to do it, it would only create more problems,” de Blasio said. “We will immediately take action in court to stop him.”
Welcome to the rights of states, around the year 2020, where lawbreakers are the new protected class. And they say Trump is the one who violates national standards!
The gigantic protests that followed the alleged George Floyd police murder in Minneapolis on May 25 have largely faded, but the violent strip appears to be growing. However, instead of asking for help to protect their citizens and maintain order, Dem officials are forming a protective circle around the mobs.
This extraordinary move echoes efforts in the segregated South five decades ago to prevent feds from enforcing civil rights laws. While it’s suddenly popular with the activist left now, it’s hard to see how the strategy retains support if the mess spreads. At some point, even the wokest Dem will tire of sirens at night and step on broken glass in the morning.
More generally, defending the mobs puts presidential candidate Joe Biden in a different situation. The fact that he appears to be a dumb spectator on the subject is a sign of his fundamental weakness.
Trying to keep the party intact by adopting some of the policies of the far left without losing its relatively moderate base, Biden has already given up large pieces of grass to the New Green Distributors. He has been dubious about the radicals’ movement “to underfund the police,” saying only that he wants to “redirect” some police funds to social service programs.
Now comes the added burden of having its ostensible allies tacitly endorse violence and violation of the law as legitimate forms of protest. Sure, they hate Trump, but do they really want to see that their cities can’t be lived to prove it?
And while Democrats don’t want to dampen the anti-Trump enthusiasm of their young voters, they will hand the President over four more years if the disorder alienates middle-class voters in changing states.
Politicians in the blue state are not only playing with fire in their territories, they are playing with the fears of voters across the country. You don’t have to live in one of those burning cities to be afraid that your city is next.
That fear is driving gun sales to record levels, and NPR reported that federal background checks for firearm buyers in June increased 300 percent from last year. An investigator estimates that 3 million more weapons have been sold than usual since the start of the pandemic closings.
Trump, following virtually all national polls, clearly sees the potential for political gold in chaos. In the language used by Richard Nixon in his 1968 campaign, the president declares himself the “law and order” candidate and claims that he sees a “silent majority”. Polls show little sign of that so far, but if the events continue on their current course through the fall, the president will surely benefit.
In that case, Biden will either have to part ways with the blue state rioters or see his burning possibilities increase.
In fact, it would be one thing for a presidential candidate to have to defend the mayors and governors of his party if they denounced the rioters and tried to crush the violence. Another thing is that officials in Portland, Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago and almost every other city basically raise their hands to the criminal element and then criticize Trump for wanting to solve the problem.
Even the dreamy Seattle mayor, Jenny Durkan, was forced to realize the chaos in her city. Remember that you initially predicted a “summer of love” on June 11 after the creation of the first autonomous zone, but love quickly turned into hate, theft, and murder, and closed the area and ordered its evacuation on July 1.
Also note the silence of Congressional Democrats about rampant vandalism. Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not even criticize a Baltimore mob for throwing a statue of Christopher Columbus into the harbor, saying, “People will do what they do.”
There is an argument that Trump will benefit the most by letting Democrats get into trouble of their own making. My friend Bill McGurn of The Wall Street Journal compares the situation to Colin Powell’s warning to President George W. Bush about the invasion of Iraq, which Powell allegedly called the Pottery Barn Rule: You break it, you have it.
By that estimate, Trump would own the riots, and he couldn’t afford not to shut them down. However, if there are incidents of brutality or fatalities, there could be an even bigger reaction. Therefore, it is better to keep your distance.
Those are fair points, but the president has an obligation to protect federal property if the local police are unable or unwilling, and there is already evidence that the crisis is spreading due to lack of police enforcement.
In addition, residents of Portland, Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago, and New York are also Americans and enjoy the same federal civil rights as residents of cities where politicians are not afraid of the mob.
My bet is that Trump will not play it safe and will remain on the sidelines. It is not who he is, and if the past four years have proven anything, it is that radical leftists never stop voluntarily.
NYT shame
Historian Robert Rosen wants to add a gruesome detail to my column about slavers in the extended family that has controlled The New York Times for 125 years. Rosen, the author of “The Jewish Confederates”, has more on Abraham Mendes Seixas, already identified as a late 18th century slave auctioneer and merchant in Charleston, SC.
“Seixas was also the teacher or superintendent of the Charleston workhouse,” writes Rosen. “This was a city-run facility where slaves were beaten for violating laws or regulations or fleeing. It’s pretty bad. So not only did he own and sell slaves, but he was paid to inflict physical punishment on them, which I’m sure he could describe as torture. “
Marine Corps under fire after canceling training session amid concerns over speaker’s Christian background
Wait, are there atheists in the burrow?
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