Put aside the political rhetoric coming from Democrats in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles about "authoritarian rule," "abuse of power," or "presidential overreach." What upsets the Democrats far more than their hysterical hyperbole would suggest is that the deployment of National Guard troops and federalizing law enforcement exposes the utter and abject failure of the governments in large American cities to fulfill their basic function of protecting their citizens.
Crime statistics — if they can be believed — claim that in most major cities, the number of murders, shootings, and other violent crimes is falling. Ask the people if they feel any safer. Ask them if a few dozen fewer dead bodies in the streets makes a difference in how they approach their personal safety where they live.
Local Democratic politicians may celebrate a "falling" violent crime rate, but it's no more than "defining deviancy down." Taking an intolerable situation and making it "only" unbearable is not improvement. And Democrats are kidding themselves if they believe that.
We've become so inured to dysfunction, lawlessness, mayhem, and savagery in our cities that we've become numb to what should be or can be possible to improve the quality of life of ordinary people of all races and creeds. I'm not talking about miracles. Nor am I talking about "root causes" and other political rhetoric that Democrats use to distract, obfuscate, and deflect blame from their own miserable incompetence.
Lowering the violent crime rate will take changes in the law. It will take political courage to face off against activists who make their living and keep their organizations in the black by turning every move by the police made against violent criminals into a civil rights crisis. It will also take political courage to admit that some of the recent "reforms" of the criminal justice system only made the problem of violent crime worse.
It will take politicians who can make intelligent choices on how to distribute federal, state, and local tax dollars, dramatically increasing funds for law enforcement. And it will take the political will to see any crackdown against crime through until specific goals have been reached.,
As it stands now, the level of violence in all big cities is totally unacceptable. To pretend otherwise is madness and a denial of reality. To be sure, Democrats don't like to be told they're failures, or incompetent, or cowards. They don't want to have it pointed out that crime rates have little to do with the quality of life that people want.
We have become used to feeling unsafe in our own country. "It's not as bad as it was in the past" is defining deviancy down. It allows us to remain paralyzed by the enormity of the political problem of crime. "Well, if its better this year than last year, we must be doing something right," is not good enough.
Donald Trump is trying to address violent crime in big cities. Is it the right thing to do? Is he going about it the right way? No one knows at this point. That he's making an effort to shake the status quo — something he has become an expert at doing — is the absolute minimum that needs to be done to begin the slow process of taking control of city streets and making citizens feel safer.
Perhaps if Democratic big-city politicians stop the hysterical rhetoric about Trump's "authoritarian" actions and shake themselves of their lethargy about ensuring the safety of their citizens, they might find the courage to take the necessary steps to begin regaining control of their cities.
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