Trump Administration Live Updates: President Orders National Guard to Washington and Says He’s Taking Control of D.C. Police

[Michael Cole]

The president is literally citing and following the law. Taking control of the DC police 30 days as specified by the law, and stating if it needs to be longer he will seek an extension (under the law) from congress. How is that "autocratic"? or not following the "established rule of law"?

I don't prefer this at all, but he's following the process that is set forth in the law by a congress and president long before he came into office.

Abuse of power can be lawful. Following the law in its exercise is not an excuse for wielding it. It is what fascists would say, though.

Much of what we do is subjective. Cruel and unusual punishment is left to interpretation. There are, however, norms that we all seem to agree on. A 20 year sentence for a minor traffic violation, we all would surely agree, would violate the Constitution. Therefore, we must view crime and law along a scale, subjectively. That's why we have the system we have. Decisions are not made by AI. They're not made by one person. Our system of justice has served us well for 250 years.

Following a process does not preclude authoritarianism. Indeed, it's a cornerstone. Makes the trains run on time. Get's the trains boarded efficiently, as well.

Let's see if you can tackle this without snipping everything that makes your argument uncomfortable.

 

[Deuce]

Remember when conservatives pretended to think Nancy Pelosi was in charge of the DC national guard?

 

[Ikari]

That is a very silly comeback. If Alligator Alley is a concentration camp, then so is every prison in the country. The detainees have it far better then the average prison inmate.

Oh my!

Well our prison system is more than ****ed at this point, that's really on both parties. But I wouldn't point to our prison system as any form of credible comparison.

 

[SuperDS77]

Simple logic dictates that the POTUS cannot lie and make stuff up and pretend there’s an emergency when there’s not an emergency. There has to be an actual emergency.

Defined how?

 

[jpn]

The president is literally citing and following the law. Taking control of the DC police 30 days as specified by the law, and stating if it needs to be longer he will seek an extension (under the law) from congress. How is that "autocratic"? or not following the "established rule of law"?

I don't prefer this at all, but he's following the process that is set forth in the law by a congress and president long before he came into office.

There are other processes which he could follow, such as increasing the number of police, increasing programs for teens, neighborhood watch programs, and so forth.

Is he choosing to boost these? No, in fact his lackies in Congress just voted to slash D.C. funding by $1.1 billion.

Instead, Trump sent in a handful of troops to pose in front of monuments so that his followers will be distracted from the fact that he's hiding the Epstein records.

 

[j brown's body]

The president is literally citing and following the law. Taking control of the DC police 30 days as specified by the law, and stating if it needs to be longer he will seek an extension (under the law) from congress. How is that "autocratic"? or not following the "established rule of law"?

I don't prefer this at all, but he's following the process that is set forth in the law by a congress and president long before he came into office.

One would hope the effort is sincere and not done for performative purposes, which is what we have here.

How long before one learns that a victory for Trump does nothing for anyone else?

 

[jpn]

Simple logic dictates that the POTUS cannot lie and make stuff up and pretend there’s an emergency when there’s not an emergency. There has to be an actual emergency.

Well, there's theory, and then there's practice. Once Congress is back in responsible hands, it needs to remove all the laws granting the president emergency powers.

We can no longer assume that a president will act responsibly and in good faith.

 

[SuperDS77]

Crime is down, that is true.

From all time highs, yes. Congrats to DC!

It shows that this isn't some grand emergency requiring the Federal Government to call in the NG. Trump's just grandstanding and testing the waters as to how far he can push shit with calling out the NG/military.

Says you. The POTUS, by law, gets to make this determination.

No one is saying that DC is "totally safe", there are major problems for the city. That's for the city to solve. The NG isn't going to solve this, having FBI and troops patrolling the street 24/7 in some militarized martial law exercise isn't going to solve that problem. How much money you think this costs? This isn't a permanent solution, we can't afford to keep this up indefinitely. And what happens when inevitably the NG is pulled out and the 24/7 martial law exercise ends? It will be back to business as usual because you're not addressing the fundamental problems. You'll nab some folk, hopefully they're actually criminals; though you never know with this administration. But that's going to be about it.

No one is saying that others are saying that. Straw man.

Whatever has been attempted by the city to solve this acknowledged major issue, has not worked. So there is that...

You'll show that under martial law crime fell to blah blah blah, declare victory, pull out and move on, and everything will just return to where it was before. And at that point you'll point and say "see how well martial law did at lowering the crime rate, now that we're not there, crime is back up". But it will be bullshit, and we'll know it's bullshit, because calling out the NG on crime does not address the fundamental issues affecting that city and why crime is so high in the first place.

Kinda like the whole "crime is down" bovine scat, right?

 

[j brown's body]

There are other processes which he could follow, such as increasing the number of police, increasing programs for teens, neighborhood watch programs, and so forth.

Is he choosing to boost these? No, in fact his lackies in Congress just voted to slash D.C. funding by $1.1 billion.

Instead, Trump sent in a handful of troops to pose in front of monuments so that his followers will be distracted from the fact that he's hiding the Epstein records.

Of course there are. He doesn't care about anyone of them. They stripped a billion in funding for DC that could help.

The whole charade is to drive us about arguing about crime and liberals.

 

[j brown's body]

Well, there's theory, and then there's practice. Once Congress is back in responsible hands, it needs to remove all the laws granting the president emergency powers.

We can no longer assume that a president will act responsibly and in good faith.

Or that Congress will act at all - and would he care if they did.

 

[Ikari]

From all time highs, yes. Congrats to DC!

Says you. The POTUS, by law, gets to make this determination.

No one is saying that others are saying that. Straw man.

Whatever has been attempted by the city to solve this acknowledged major issue, has not worked. So there is that...

Kinda like the whole "crime is down" bovine scat, right?

That crime is down is a quantifiable fact. The POTUS, by law, might be able to make that determination. Funny how he didn't want to make that determination during the 1/6 Sedition, lol. But we'll see the limits to martial law that might be here.

But it doesn't avoid the fact that Trump's actions here will not change the fundamental issues that are causing the crime. None of your deflections gets around that.

 

[Michael Cole]

Defined how?

That's the issue, yes.

Subjective decisions need to be arrived at by more than one person. It's why we have juries, panels of judges, city councils, the Senate, etc. It's a cornerstone of democracy.

We have a system of federalism where cities and states have control of their jurisdictions. If the people of US cities do not see an emergency situation, the federal government is not empowered to make that decision for them. That's antithetical to democracy.

 

[Risky Thicket]

Trump thinks of doing it like Bibi.

And Bibi is wanted internationally for human rights violations.

 

[j brown's body]

I have given you enough of my time for this morning. We can chat another time.

Very wise of you to quit now.

 

[SuperDS77]

That's the issue, yes.

Subjective decisions need to be arrived at by more than one person. It's why we have juries, panels of judges, city councils, the Senate, etc. It's a cornerstone of democracy.

Not always, specifically in the case of the Home Rule Act of 1973.

We have a system of federalism where cities and states have control of their jurisdictions. If the people of US cities do not see an emergency situation, the federal government is not empowered to make that decision for them. That's antithetical to democracy.

DC is different. It is a federal enclave. I assume you know that and understand the distinction, right?

 

[SuperDS77]

That crime is down is a quantifiable fact.

Yeah OK stick with that. Is it down compared to 2010?

The POTUS, by law, might be able to make that determination. Funny how he didn't want to make that determination during the 1/6 Sedition, lol. But we'll see the limits to martial law that might be here.

BUT Jan 6th!!!!!!! Deflection noted and dismissed.

But it doesn't avoid the fact that Trump's actions here will not change the fundamental issues that are causing the crime. None of your deflections gets around that.

We shall see, won't we?

 

[Risky Thicket]

Defined how?

In the matter at hand the determination should come from the mayor of DC, and it did not.

 

[Ikari]

Yeah OK stick with that. Is it down compared to 2010?

BUT Jan 6th!!!!!!! Deflection noted and dismissed.

We shall see, won't we?

Violent Crime in D.C. Hits 30 Year Low

Total violent crime for 2024 in the District of Columbia is down 35% from 2023 and is the lowest it has been in over 30 years, according to data collected by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and announced by United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves. A breakdown of the data is available here.

www.justice.gov

 

[j brown's body]

Yeah OK stick with that. Is it down compared to 2010?

BUT Jan 6th!!!!!!! Deflection noted and dismissed.

We shall see, won't we?

MAGA is arguing that DC is in a state of emergency because crime didn't go down as much as people have claimed it did.

So you feel the best policy for fighting crime is to have the military patrol our streets?

 

[W_Heisenberg]

Defined how?

I believe there’s an objective reality that exists apart from Trump’s imagination. The law may give the president the authority to determine whether an emergency exists, but that decision is supposed to be based on actual, verifiable facts in the real world. That is the underlying assumption made by the legislators who crafted the statute you're quoting. Do you honestly think he should be allowed to invent an emergency that doesn’t exist and use it as a pretext to invoke emergency powers? The President’s oath of office requires him to act in good faith, which means making determinations grounded in reality, not in fabricated claims. That's why I say simple logic dictates there are limits to the President's ability to make such a determination. I suggest to you he cannot insist an emergency exists when it clearly does not. This is why you and your fellow Trump supporters have become fascists, and exist within the confines of a cult-like mentality. You think the truth is what Trump says it is. I say that's a bunch of ****ing bullshit. And I say to you if that's the kind of society you want to live in there are for more suitable places for you than America, maybe North Korea is more suitable for your tastes? When did you Trump supporters begin hating America? Was it before or after the black man became President? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?!?! I do not recognize you people as Americans. Are you Russian bots or something? When did you wake up and decide you wanted trash the Constitution and make Trump a dictator. WTF?!?

 

[Nickyjo]

Here's what it's like to shop in many areas of DC...

View attachment 67584317

Customers pay the price as some DC stores lock up items to deter thieves

Across the District, 7News is seeing the impact of retail thefts on stores and the communities they're in.

wjla.com

Lowest crime in decades my ass...

Same where I live in a fairly affluent part of Berkeley, CA. They lock up toothpaste here as well. But I assume that this picture was the sort of thing that set Trump off, significantly declining crime rates be damned!

Can we just face it, that dispatching the troops is just a combination of Trump’s current Epstein distraction program and his normal tendency to wave his dick around?

 

[Ikari]

MAGA is arguing that DC is in a state of emergency because crime didn't go down as much as people have claimed it did.

So you feel the best policy for fighting crime is to have the military patrol our streets?

Ain't no law like martial law.