No one’s going to like what I’m about to say. Hell, I don’t like what I’m about to say. But it must be said, and loudly at that, so here come the big letters:
Then So Is Minnesota.
At this point, Minnesota’s “forces of order” cannot or will not restore order in its largest cities. Moreover, the violence is swiftly spreading beyond its origins. The prospects for statewide chaos are grim – and should it be permitted to continue much longer, it will endanger other states as well. A comparable variety of unrest is manifesting in several other cities as we speak.
The Constitution authorizes Congress to federalize “the militia” – in this case, the National Guard is the closest approach – in case of war or insurrection. (Article I, Section 8, paragraph 15) If Congress fails to do so of its own initiative, President Trump should call a special session and put the question openly before it. Should Congress still fail to act, the president would have the same authority to act that President Washington exercised to put down the Whiskey Rebellion, and President Cleveland used to suppress the Pullman Strike.
This sort of development was explicitly contemplated by the Founding Fathers, and provisions made for it in the Constitution. Indeed, it’s one of the two inarguable justifications for the maintenance of a federal armed force. If there’s no will to use that force, there is no justification for the federal government whatsoever.
I told you up front that you wouldn’t like it. I don’t either. But facts are facts.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
ReplyDeleteThe falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
W. B. Yeats 1919
Sooo. They wanna tear it all down? What are they going to replace it with? A more equitable distribution of wealth and goods? Yeah, that'll work, I'm sure. In the interim, while they build their new system, do they think their food will be delivered? Their other necessities of life? Don't think so. When hard core reality hits, and starvation sets in, what are they gonna do? Start eating each other? Don't forget to bring the ketchup, if you can find any.
ReplyDeleteReplace Libya with Somalia. That's where a huge chunk of the MSP looters come from.
ReplyDeleteThe militia is not just those in the armed forces. Every citizen is part of the militia, and has the duty to protect their nation from enemies, both foreign and domestic. That, and to protect citizens from any government authority acting outside what's allowed by the Constitution.
ReplyDeleteNo argument at all, but I am beginning to wonder what other cities might require military intervention to restore order. Given that any such action, Constitutional or not, will inevitably be characterized as federal overreach, how much political power can the President realistically exert?
ReplyDeleteI am currently tracking the riots in Brooklyn. At present the worst of the violence appears to be happening about five miles from where my daughter lives in a ground-floor apartment. It is not a comfortable situation.
Exceptionally uncomfortable for me, too, Margaret. I have two good friends in Brooklyn. There's no way any imaginable outcome here could be called "good." And you're right that the Left and the media will call anything President Trump does overreach. But he may have to act even at the cost of his re-election, for the Republic itself is teetering.
ReplyDeleteI have a cousin, about whom I've written, living "somewhere" in NYFC.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I don't care any more about them.
They're as liberal as liberal can be; they hate Trump with a passion of a thousand suns because he defeated Her Heinous. She hated him before he even got the nomination.
Every. Single. Liberal. Cause. is one she supports. Every single one. Illegals? All good. Islamic refugees by the f*ckton? Fine. Welfare, UBI, you name it? Soak the rich. And of course, BLM... not all lives, just black lives, even if those black lives threaten yours because slavery 150 years ago.
Actions have consequences.
And just as surely as actions having consequences, so do ideas.
DeleteLearn, and teach all who can hear.
Our civilization depends upon it.
Yeah, Margaret - my eldest daughter is in an iffy part of Chicago (the South Side). She's with other sisters, so, probably OK - but I worry.
ReplyDeleteThe cities don't seem to be in any hurry to stop the violence. In fact, they seem to be facilitating it, by withdrawing any police from the areas being hit.
Where the hell are the Rooftop Koreans?
Where are the "rooftop Koreans"? Worried about being arrested for defending themselves.
ReplyDelete