Street Smart

Two weeks ago, I threw myself a whiny little pity party because I was a little discouraged. I want to say thank you to all the wonderful people who called and wrote letters and emails encouraging me to continue writing this column. I needed the kick in the pants! Thanks!

A friend sent me a “meme” via email last week that I’d like to share because it cracked me up. It was a political cartoon that had two separate panes. The first depicted the Republican symbol of the elephant holding a microphone up the to Democrat symbol of the donkey and asking the question, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” The second pane showed the Democrat donkey responding to that question, “It’s Trump’s fault and you’re a racist!!” I laughed because the message in this cartoon is so true. To quote a friend’s opinion that I share; “I’m convinced that our president (I love saying that!) could come up with the ‘absolute, no argument’ cure for cancer and Washington Democrats would whine about out-of-work doctors.”

Now the accusation from the left is that President Trump and his supporters are responsible for the violence we’re seeing in towns like Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Portland, Oregon. That logic defies me! After the killing of two rioters in Kenosha and the wounding of a third, followed by the murder of a Trump supporter in Portland, the left has begun accusing President Trump’s supporters of vigilantism that he (President Trump) allegedly encourages and supports. Let’s have a look.

Before going any further, I want to make it abundantly clear that I absolutely do not condone vigilantism. I believe it to be dangerous behavior that cannot, in the long term, end well. Also, I know there are hundreds of peaceful protests happening nationwide. I’m only talking about the instances where we see the violence and rioting.

I started by looking up the word vigilante. Here’s the Oxford definition: “A member of a self-appointed group of citizens who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority, typically because the legal agencies are thought to be inadequate.” I believe that the “inadequate legal agencies” are key to understanding what we are witnessing.

Most people don’t understand that declaring an incident a riot changes everything from a law enforcement perspective. In a nutshell, what probably started out as a lawful/peaceful demonstration devolves into criminal behavior. Law enforcement then has to adapt tactics and address the criminal/violent behavior. When done quickly and properly, the tactics work and the rioting can be stopped. Quickly and properly are the pivotal words in that last sentence. Any experienced law enforcement professional knows the truth in that. Also, to be clear, law enforcement wants to take appropriate action. They’re not allowed to because of weak leadership.

During the first few days of rioting in Kenosha, the situation was entirely lawless. The local elected authorities initially refused to confront and stop the violence and destruction (that is, until President Trump convinced the Wisconsin governor to allow National Guard troops to intervene). The same thing continues to happen on a daily basis in Portland, where we’ve seen over 100 days of declared riots. Many on the left believed it was the presence of federal officers guarding the Hatfield Federal Courthouse that was causing the violence. They believed (and then demanded) that removing the federal officers would resolve the situation and stop the violence. We all now know, that didn’t happen! Has anyone heard about ongoing violent confrontations in cities where decisive action is taken against rioting? The answer is no. There are dozens of examples, but those who are curious can simply look up “rioting in Reno, Nevada” to see how violent behavior was confronted and then stopped.

The purpose of all of this is to point out the fact that when decisive law enforcement action is taken, normal law-abiding citizens don’t feel compelled to take action themselves. We wouldn’t see vigilante behavior if immediate action had been taken. There was a delay in decisive action in Kenosha and there continues to be an absolute failure in Portland. I lay the deaths and destruction directly at the feet of the inept leadership and cowardice in those two cities.

So what should be done? President Trump has been quite clear in what he believes the response to rioting should be; shut it down immediately! What have we heard from Joe Biden? Has anybody heard his plan? I haven’t. We constantly hear the pundits in the left-leaning media complain about what has been done, but they never offer a viable opinion regarding what should be done. Why is that? Because they all know (Biden included) that what should be done is exactly what President Trump is promoting! The problem for them is that they can’t come out and state the truth and look like they’re supporting our president. Pathetic! Biden only gets softball questions from the media, but I’d love to hear him asked directly, “What would you do to address the violence in Portland?” Maybe he’ll have to answer that during the debates (if they happen, that’s going to be entertaining viewing), but he’ll never be asked by the liberal media.

When I first heard about the shooting deaths in Kenosha and Portland, my initial question was, “Why were they even there? This could have been avoided. Because he can’t articulate a plan, these riots are destroying Biden’s election chances in 2020 anyway so… let ’em party!” As I thought about it though, I understood. It all boils down to a fundamental difference in ideology. Lawful versus lawless. The people who responded were frustrated by the weak and pathetic law enforcement response they saw in Kenosha and Portland. Although I understand that motivation, I would suggest they just stay home, but remain aware.

I quoted Teddy Roosevelt a couple months back, but it’s worth repeating. “Complaining about a situation without offering a solution is whining.” Does anyone want indecisive/feckless/whiny leadership? I don’t!

Blaine Blackstone is a retired Los Angeles Police Sergeant who enjoys the simpler life in Thompson Falls. He can be reached by email at [email protected].