Exhibit A is Portland, Ore. Like many American cities, Portland has been consumed by protests. This is an overwhelmingly white city—African-Americans make up less than 6% of the population—run by a progressive white mayor, Ted Wheeler. In the Portland context he may be the moderate: his rival in the coming election is a woman who has said, “I am Antifa.” . . .
It’s not lack of resources that keeps such mayors from maintaining order. It’s lack of will. As South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott pointed out after Democrats sank his crime bill, the communities suffering most from the urban unrest “have been run by Democrats for decades. Decades.”
Portland is a bastion of white supremacy, according to The Atlantic, and Trump’s action is comparable to Ike’s in sending paratroopers to Little Rock.