What are Democrats Thinking?
President Trump recently announced efforts to combat crime in Washington, D.C., by bringing in the National Guard to assist the city's police department.
As this op-ed is being written, it has been several days into these efforts.
Initial reports are encouraging.
Trump’s order is in effect for 30 days.
If he believes more time is needed, Congress will have to weigh in.
A recent report says that the president's crackdown on crime has yielded more than 100 arrests.
One would think that any reasonable efforts to lower criminal activity would be welcomed.
Unfortunately, this is not the case with Congressional Democrat leadership.
As an example, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., declared in a profanity-laced tirade that he is against President Trump's plan.
Sen. Schumer vowed to do everything he can to make sure Congress does not extend this authority. Schumer says his reason is that Trump does not care about crime, and this is simply an effort to change the subject from the Jeffrey Epstein controversy.
Although many believe the administration hasn't handled the Epstein controversy well, it's this writer's opinion that Schumer and his colleagues are the ones using this issue to change the subject.
The topic of Jeffrey Epstein has lingered for years.
Democrats did nothing to promote transparency when Joe Biden was in office.
Although some have claimed Trump is covering up the subject because his name is on some list related to Epstein, this doesn't make any sense.
The Democrats have thrown everything they could find at the president over the last few years and would have gladly released anything to connect him to this scandal if they had any information suggesting his involvement.
One other argument that Democrats make against Trump’s plan to fight crime is that D.C. crime statistics are the lowest they've been in 30 years.
The problem with this is that there are questions about the true status of crime in D.C., given the fact that there have been allegations that police there have been falsifying crime statistics to make them look better.
The head of the D.C. Police Union suggested that claims of crime falling as much as the statistics claim are "preposterous."
When you consider these latest pronouncements on crime, along with the fact that some Democrats seem to be doing everything they can to protect criminals who are in the country illegally, it makes you wonder what in the world they could be thinking.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that people want to have confidence that they will be safe when they go out in public. The position of Democrats on D.C. crime and criminal illegals is in direct opposition to this.
Have you noticed that the theme Democrats revert to whenever discussing anything political these days is "democracy?"
They're constantly proclaiming themselves to be the defenders of democracy, while claiming Trump is destroying democracy.
I certainly support democracy, just not in the context in which they use the term.
It seems to this writer that they define democracy as any policy position that supports their efforts to obtain power.
Conversely, any issue they disagree with is an effort to subvert democracy.
A recent example of this can be found in my home state of Texas.
When Gov. Greg Abbott called a special legislative session to take up congressional redistricting, many Democratic state legislators abdicated their responsibility and flew to Illinois to deny a quorum necessary to call for a vote on the issue.
Of course, these Democrats claimed they were doing this to "save democracy."
Regardless of where you stand on the Texas redistricting effort, we should all be able to agree that attempts to prevent a vote on an issue is not the way to support democracy.
In fact, in this writer's opinion, obstructing votes seems to be contrary to the idea of democracy. I believe democracy should entail making an argument as to why you support or oppose an issue in an attempt to convince others to join your position. Once debate is over, everyone casts a vote according to pre-established rules and the issue is decided.
Rather than constantly talking about democracy, it's my hope that the Democratic Party will put their money where their mouth is and begin behaving as if democracy matters to them. A good start would be to come back to the center on the issues, particularly issues important to working people.
If they would do this and seek to once again compete for middle class votes, I believe our country would be better for it.
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Joe from Texas is a family man with children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He's experienced tremendous success and lived the American Dream. His beliefs are both straightforward and deeply held. He believes in God, his family, and the United States of America. Read Joe Penland's Reports — More Here.