Great! Looks Like Trump Is Starting To Act On Good Advice
Reality is complicated and it's usually not a good idea to simply react without considering. However, we've had several days of attempted anarchy and people are anxious for ... leadership. I posted the handy reference to insurrection so everyone would know what the legal framework is. However, short of invoking the Insurrection Act , the president can do things. Things that Trump is good at. Like, providing principled leadership, articulating what the response of local government should be--because, in our federal system, that's how it has to work. Short of a total breakdown, and we're far from that.
So I was thinking of a new post along the lines of how Trump should deal with this. My thoughts were that:
1. He should offer all the help to the locals that is at his disposal, but
2. At the same time he should demand that they fulfill their own obligations--local government has the resources to deal with this, but too many have abdicated the streets to the anarchists;
3. Before they ask him for help they need to show they're doing their part or are willing to turn over total authority.
In other words, none of the BS we've seen with the Covid crisis--Blue state governors trashing the president and trying to shift blame for their own mistakes and their own irresponsible actions, while offering nothing constructive.
If you want federal help, here are the terms. Here are the conditions to fulfill, and if you fulfill them but still can't regain control, then you have to tell the president that you can no longer handle the situation and ask for his help as set out in the law.
Just before I started typing I was greatly heartened to see that Trump had a conference call with the governors this morning and he got exactly that process in motion . TGP provides some tweeted accounts of the president's words. Good for Trump. He paused, got advice, thought it through, and now he's acting--in this context, words are action, too. It's encouraging to see CBS News appearing to play this pretty straight:
CBS reporter Ed O’Keefe reported on the leaked recording:
“JUST IN: President Trump unloads on the nation’s governors on a call, calls on them to step up enforcement: “You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate.”
“MORE: Trump tells governors later: “You’re making a mistake because you’re making yourselves look like fools. And some have done a great job. But a lot of you, it’s not – it’s not a great day for our country.”
“TRUMP ADDS: “You know when other countries watch this, they’re watching this, the next day wow, they’re really a push over. And we can’t be a push over. And we have all the resources – it’s not like we don’t have the resources. So, I don’t know what you’re doing.”
Of course the Fake News media will try to distort his words. Americans of good will will understand.
And in the meantime you can bet that Bill Barr is pushing everyone under his authority to develop action plans for dealing forcefully with Antifa.