The stupidity of liberal/progressive arguments continues to stagger the mind.
These delusional leftists have had their hands full trying to defend Democrat policies when dozens of cities that have Democrat mayors, city councils, police chiefs and prosecutors have turned into dystopian hellholes in recent weeks. Rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults -- a general breakdown in law and order -- are ridiculously dubbed "peaceful protests" by the idiot media parrots.
Reasonable people can debate the circumstances of police shootings that resulted in the deaths of black people (i.e., some were outrageous abuses, such as the George Floyd murder; others were justified, such as Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.) But what is beyond dispute is that the vast majority of notorious cop killings that helped trigger the current unrest have occurred in Democrat strongholds -- cities under Democrat control for many decades.
One of the arguments leftist partisans use to deflect blame about violence in big cities is it's Republicans' fault because they are beholden to the NRA and opposed to strict gun control. Never mind that gun violence is usually worst in the cities with the most draconian gun control laws. Forget about the fact that such restrictions on the Second Amendment disproportionately harm poor minorities living in dangerous inner city neighborhoods who need guns for self-protection. And disregard the fact there are already about 300 million firearms out there (recall the expression about closing the barn door after the horse is gone).
The bottom line is that trying to stop crime by restricting firearms is like attempting to make water run uphill. It bears repeating: If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. Simple-minded naiveté, ignorance, and often just plain stupidity are the roots of the fervent belief that more and better gun control will do the trick. I guess I shouldn't be shocked or appalled that tens of millions of people believe this swill, when you consider that millions of Americans can't even name the three branches of government.
But let's move beyond the gun control argument. Another talking point of the leftists (e.g., Chris Hahn, the so-called "Aggressive Progressive" and a frequent, annoying guest on Laura Ingraham's Fox News program), is that Republicans and conservatives are supposed to be all about state's rights and respecting the autonomy of local communities. How DARE they send in federal agents to help quell the riots in Portland and other cities.
Well, Chris, it's like this. Cities, counties and states are adjuncts of the federal government. They do retain a certain amount of autonomy when it comes to adopting their own laws and regulations. No one in his right mind thinks Baptists in Valdosta, Ga., should have a say in regulating x-rated video stores or prostitution in Portland, Ore., or that Chicago's gun control laws should apply to Russellville, Ark. Oh, but when blatantly illegal and/or unjust activities occur, or when incompetence and corruption vitiate a city or school board, there definitely is a role for the feds to step in.
For example, federal agents have been present in Portland since last week, defending the U.S. District Courthouse from violent anarchists who hope to burn it to the ground. Yet shameless House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had the gall to refer to them as "stormtroopers." The unhinged Democrats are claiming Gestapo-like tactics, and using the ludicrous term "kidnapped" to describe federal authorities arresting lawbreakers and taking them off the streets. It just gets crazier by the minute.
And here's a little refresher for Democrats: Over the past 30 years or so, it has become commonplace for federal authorities to assume control (or at the very least, exert a heavy regulatory hand) over corrupt, incompetent and criminal local enterprises. Police departments, school boards, city halls, special education, water and sewer departments. That's just a cursory list.
Here in Michigan, we have become very familiar with federal decrees meant to remedy grotesque incompetence and criminal activities in Detroit, Flint and other cities. Indeed, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled recently that Detroit's public schools were violating students' right to a quality education (a right codified in the Michigan Constitution). Under the ruling, the students have standing to sue the state for alleged violation of that right. This was but the latest in a decades-long struggle between grossly inept and corrupt Detroit public schools and the state of Michigan.
As for the Detroit Police Department, the U.S. Department of Justice in 2016 ended 13 years of federal oversight intended to clean up management with audits and greater transparency, improve training and ultimately benefit the people of Detroit with higher quality and more competent police services.
The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department was under EPA oversight for a whopping 35 years! The EPA has been keeping an eye on Flint, Mich., because the local incompetence and corruption preceded the tainted water fiasco by decades. And then, of course, there was the important move by President Dwight Eisenhower to federalize National Guard troops during the tumultuous desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in 1957.
The fact is, no right is absolute, and that includes states' and cities' rights. If the Democrat mayors and governors refuse to fulfill their obligation to keep residents secure on their own streets, and to protect private property, Uncle Sam is fully justified in intervening.
I suspect the majority of Americans see it that way, and recognize moronic straw man arguments when they see them. But then, the high percentage of Democrats who are utterly obsessed with hatred of Donald Trump may well blind them to such reason. After all, many of them still believe the Steele dossier was truthful, and a good percentage of them believe that the Russians actually hacked into American voting machines to alter the results of the 2016 presidential election.
There are none so blind as those who WILL NOT see.
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