Former U.S House Speaker Newt Gingrich once observed that when you find an issue upon which 80% of the public agrees you should stand beside it and bask in its light.
The American Left today appears to be doing the exact opposite. Further, their innate reflex to oppose anything and everything Donald Trump has allowed the president to maneuver them into among other things, take the side of narco-terrorists and condone high crime rates in the nation’s big cities.
Earlier this month the U.S. military conducted a strike on a vessel in the southern Caribbean. Aboard were eleven members of the narco-terror gang Tren de Aragua. The ship was in international waters and intelligence reports indicate it had a cargo of illegal narcotics bound for the United States.
Left wing voices rose in unison to condemn the strike and lament the killing of the drug runners. How dare Trump order the elimination of the vessel without due process? He was condemned as being judge, jury, and executioner.
The Trump Administration has been waging a multi-front war on illegal fentanyl pouring into the country from various sources but particularly from South America. The impact of the fentanyl crisis is so severe you would be hard pressed to find a single American who has not either personally lost a friend, relative or acquaintance or who knows someone who has suffered such a loss.
The strike against the narco-terrorists saved of hundreds if not thousands of American lives. President Trump has promised more such action which is not only prudent, but essential. Its an 80% issue in the light of which the president is standing. The Left finds itself in the untenable position of supporting drug runners. While that may appeal to the ascendent extremist base of the Democrat Party, it is not a prescription for an electoral comeback.
On the general issue of crime Trump has once again maneuvered the Left into a corner. There is no doubt that the level of criminal activity in our nation’s largest cities is out of control. Exacerbating the problem was the COVID-era drive to defund or at least decrease funding to the police along with the installation of soft-on-crime district attorneys in those cities.
Washington, D.C. is a federal city over which the president and congress have greater control than in other cities across the country. The nation’s capital has become a dangerous place. In recent months a young Jewish couple were shot and killed. A congressional intern was shot and killed. An administration staffer was beaten while trying to stop a car jacking.
Exercising its constitutional and legal power the Trump Administration cracked down sending in a wide array of assets to protect the residents and visitors to the capital city. The Left of course went into outrage mode. The president was called everything from a fascist to a wannabe dictator.
The only voice of moderation has been Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser who after initially objecting is now cooperating with federal authorities. The result: crime, especially violent crime, has been reduced significantly.
Having produced successful results in Washington, D.C., President Trump is considering similar efforts in other cities, most notably Chicago. That will be a more difficult undertaking because unlike D.C., Chicago is not a federal city. It is also more difficult because crime in the windy city is significantly worse and more prevalent than it is in Washington.
Unable (or unwilling) to get crime under control you would think Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson would welcome federal assistance. He does not. He would rather have his citizens victimized by crime than accept help from Donald Trump.
All of this is complicated by presidential politics. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has delusions of running for the presidency and thus is playing to his party’s base by opposing federal crime fighting assistance. Both Pritzker and Johnson have chosen to stand on the wrong side of an 80/20 issue.
Here in Penn’s Woods the obvious place for federal assistance would be Philadelphia. Soft on crime progressive D.A. Larry Krasner has created a climate where criminals can flourish. Once again though, a wannabe president – Governor Josh Shapiro – has geared up to oppose any potential federal intervention.
By playing to the far-Left wing of their party politicians like Pritzker and Shapiro are willingly placing themselves on the wrong side of the very issues that – are not only practical and make sense – but are supported by the vast majority of the voters needed to win a General Election.
They have once again been out-maneuvered by Donald Trump.
(Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute and host of the weekly American Radio Journal and Lincoln Radio Journal. His e-mail address is lhenry@lincolninstitute.org.)
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