Sheriff Trump cleans up Washington D.C.

President Donald Trump gave the Left one more reason to call him a “fascist” by sending the National Guard to Washington, D.C.

Some of Trump’s own supporters are also expressing their frustration with the measures, pointing out that the American Republic was founded in principled opposition to the use of standing armies to police its own people.

Fifteen years ago, during his first term in office, Obama deployed about 1,200 National Guard servicemen to the border with Mexico. Those troops were used for months as part of Operation Phalanx, supporting federal law enforcement agents who targeted drug smugglers and human traffickers on American soil.

Was that fascism?

Remember the summer of 2020? Our cities were on fire. Businesses were looted. Innocent people were assaulted. Even Democratic mayors – who initially tweeted about “mostly peaceful protests” – had to impose curfews in an attempt to stop the violence.

Trump used the troops to protect life, liberty, and property.

Was that unconstitutional?

Is the pearl-clutching over today’s emergency measures in our capital justified? Had Trump declared martial law, suspended habeas corpus, censored speech, and rounded up dissenters – absolutely. He did none of that.

Based on many precedents, the President used a legal process to restore law and order in our capital. Some would call that leadership.

The National Guard is a tool designed for situations like this. If local and state officials demonstrate unwillingness or inability to restore order when criminals threaten the law-abiding citizens, the matter must be handled at the national level. You should be able to exercise your rights without thugs smashing your windows.

Many blue cities have been drowning in lawlessness for far too long. Their residents are fed up with shootings, carjackings, and retail theft. Using our military reservists to aid local law enforcement is not new. However, the effectiveness of such measures, as well as their long-term community impacts and policy implications, deserve careful consideration.

We’ve been told that urban crime problems are immune to conventional policing strategies. Deploying the Guard in D.C. proved that wrong. But at what cost? Will the improvement of public safety erode personal freedoms and weaken local institutions?

We must weigh the significant benefits against potential unintended consequences.

Decades of empirical research show that criminals are like the rest of us in that they respond to incentives. A higher risk of apprehension discourages unlawful behavior. The National Guard’s presence in our cities can be particularly helpful in high-crime neighborhoods where recent woke policies have left our police departments understaffed or demoralized.

Supporters of such deterrence tactics note that the visible show of force effectively dissuades opportunistic criminals. But these effects may be short-lived. Lawlessness in America today is a symptom of deeper institutional failures – lax prosecutions, revolving-door bail policies, and political leadership that demonizes our police while excusing criminal behavior.

Liberty without order is chaos. Try running a small business in Minneapolis while the city council is debating whether police should even exist.

The National Guard didn’t show up in D.C. to patrol barbecues and block parties. They were deployed to prevent theft and destruction of property, to protect the lives of both civilians and law enforcement, so that residents and visitors can walk the streets without fear. And guess what? It worked.

That’s not an occupation. That’s a return to normalcy.

Trump reminded the nation that freedom requires boundaries. Our human rights come with personal responsibilities.

President Trump didn’t send tanks into the suburbs. He didn’t strip our citizens of due process. He said, “If you loot, if you burn, if you threaten the safety of your neighbors, the government will not coddle you. It will stop you.”

A President, however, is not supposed to be America’s sheriff. The elected public servants in all crime-infested cities have the moral duty, the legal authority, and the economic resources to protect their residents.

If you don’t like the National Guard on your streets, you can vote out the officials who are too scared to govern and the prosecutors who are too ideological to prosecute.

Both the Left and the Right are guilty of selective outrage when Presidents use force. The real threat to our Constitution is a justice system that punishes citizens for defending themselves while letting violent criminals walk free.

It’s a political class that excuses acts of aggression as “activism” while branding the enforcement of laws as authoritarianism.

This piece originally was posted by the Midland Daily News.