Just in time for the 2020 presidential elections
Martial law. Federal occupation. Storm troopers. Suspension of the First, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and possibly even the Second Amendments.
A bit dramatic? A conspiracy theory? Perhaps. But perhaps not. It certainly can’t be any wilder conspiracy theory than some we’ve already seen espoused by the right-wing kooks: Pizzagate, Wayfair, staged mass shooting at schools with actors playing student victims.
But for a real-life conspiracy, look at what’s already happened in Portland and now Donald Trump is threatening similar actions in Chicago, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Oakland, Philadelphia and Albuquerque and other “lawless” cities run, coincidentally, by Democrats.
And just in time to disrupt the November presidential election. Talk about an October surprise…
Trump, the “law and order” president, reminiscent to the “law and order” Richard Nixon, laments the loss of control over crime run amok in those cities as his justification for sending in the brown shirts. And of course, his 35% base cheers him own like the good Christians they profess to be. I mean, what’s more demonstrative of Christian love and charity for your fellow man than watching unidentified federal agents in unmarked vans cracking heads with batons?
And that’s just for the graffiti-sprayers. God only knows what happens to those who dare commit real crimes.
Kind of ironic, isn’t it, that it was the right-wing conservatives who originally were so terrified of the “jack-booted thugs” who would come to take us away in the middle of the night?
But I digress.
If you think those people in Portland are bad enough to warrant deployment of nameless, faceless storm troopers acting in the name of Trump (make no mistake, this is his show, no one else’s), then let’s compare crime rates of other cities.
We’ll start with Portland since that seems to be the epicenter of the federal crackdown for the time being.
In Portland, you have a horrific violent crime rate of 5.2 per 1,000 population. Shocking. It makes Portland the third least safe city in the entire state of Oregon. No question something needed to be done to bring the thugs under control. I mean, who would want to live in a state’s third most dangerous city?
But then there are all those other lawless cities whose violent crime rates are even higher:
- Albuquerque: 14 per 1,000 population;
- Baltimore: 20.per 1,000;
- Detroit: 21 per 1,000;
- Dallas: 41 per 1,000
- Philadelphia: 51 per 1,000
- Houston: 52 per 1,000
- Washington, DC: 56 per 1,000
- Jackson, Mississippi; 56 per 1,000
- Atlanta: 58 per 1,000;
- Oakland: 75.5
Trump cited most of the above cities by name but there are also these cities, all located in rock-solid red states that also have higher violent crime rates than Portland.:
- Tulsa: 11 per 1,000
- Nashville: 11 per 1,000
- Wichita: 12 per 1,000
- Indianapolis: 13 per 1,000
- Milwaukee: 14 per 1,000
- Little Rock: 14 per 1,000
- Cleveland: 15 per 1,000
- Kansas City, Mo.: 16 per 1,000
- Birmingham: 19 per 1,000
- Memphis: 19 per 1,000
So, will Trump send in the troops to those cities as well? They are, after all, hotbeds of crime when compared to wide-open Portland.
For that matter, there are no fewer than 10 Louisiana cities that could qualify for the unwanted presence of federal “law and order” crackdowns similar to those we’ve seen on television from Portland. That’s because all ten have violent crime rates far exceeding that of the Oregon city.
They are:
- Baton Rouge: 66 violent crimes per 1,000 residents (Louisiana’s most dangerous city and second only to Oakland among the 30 cities listed here);
- Shreveport: 61 per 1,000;
- New Orleans: 59 per 1,000;
- Lake Charles: 56 per 1,000;
- Lafayette: 53 per 1,000;
- Hammond: 40 per 1,000;
- Monroe: 22 per 1,000;
- Crowley: 16 per 1,000;
- Bogalusa: 13 per 1,000
- Natchitoches: 12 per 1,000
Are you ready to see jack-booted thugs tear-gassing your favorite aunt or uncle as they try to vote this November?
That’s what these federal occupation forces are really all about—voter suppression.
With the exception of the smaller of the Louisiana cities, the vast majority of the 30 listed here have Democratic-leaning citizenry, many of whom are African-American. Those are the ones Trump and his Republican enablers like Steve Scalise and Clay Higgins are desperate to keep from voting on Nov. 3rd.
Forget the “law and order” rhetoric of Trump. That’s a distraction, a diversionary tactic, just as it was with Nixon, who employed it to deflect Americans’ attention from Watergate. Trump likewise wishes more than anything to get people’s minds off the coronavirus pandemic or Russian interference by getting them to focus on some other high-visibility issue. So, like Nixon, he’s creating a “law and order” smokescreen to conceal the real issue of his ineptitude and inability to deal with a crisis—any crisis.
And he’s deploying his storm troopers to make sure we keep our focus where it should be.
And that could well be the “October surprise” of all October surprises.
Louisiana Voice 
I like to think that the more Americans are exposed to this overt Dictatorship troops storming into American cities, the more Americans will decide that they must vote against Trump and his poll numbers will sink even lower. Trump pays attention to his poll numbers. So, if they start tanking, he will suddenly pull back and swear that Democrats made him do it.
Brilliantly stated. I can only wonder if the knock on the door comes in the middle of the night and they drag one of his lunatic fringe supporters into the yard and take the batons to his head and body because he had dared to say something critical of tRump if it will register in his pea picking brain that this is not what he had in mind when he cheered for the chosen one as his goons beat the protesters. I wonder. What do you suppose he will be thinking?
CJG….it will be just like all histories where those who support the dictator become victims of said dictator….whatever truth they come to….it will be too bigy late….sadly for them and us….
This is ridiculous fear mongering.
Jack, I hope time proves you correct. I really do.
This is b.s. You are an idiot. Did Soros write this? The only ones scared are the criminals you dumb ass. You need to be fired
Belinda, I don’t know much about what a dumb-ass is, but a smart-ass is someone who can sit on an ice cream cone and tell you what flavor it is.
As for being fired, that’s a little difficult since I own this domain—bought and paid for.
And if you’ve been watching TV, you may have seen that many of the protesters are moms and veterans. Really hard-case criminals. Yes, there is a criminal element but just who are they? Are they Antifa or Boogaloo Boiz? Skinheads? KKK? Do you know with any certainty?
I’ve compared Portland to the ’68 Democratic convention in Chicago where police were cracking heads of youth protesting the Vietnam War. They weren’t criminals, but they were certainly treated as though they were.
Trump has publicly announced his intentions to move federal forces into other “Democratic run” cities. That should be ominous enough in its own right.
But as I responded to Jack above, I sincerely hope, for the sake of this country, that I’m wrong on this.
1. Do you exist or are you a bot?
2. To how many places did you post this generic ad hominem attack?
Belinda Silvia….why did you respond so forcefully, citing Soros (of all the old unrelated dregs you could drag up) and using ugly threatening words? Why didn’t you give facts and reasonable arguments in favor of Trump’s Troops against protesting Americans? Why….could it be because you don’t have any and you just want to vent your spleen and bully? Sure what it looks like!
Way to go… B. S. All you bring to the conversation are insults and conspiracy theories. Looks like your initials fit.
This is entire nothing but b.s. Fear monger! A Democrat load of CRAP! ANTIFA in Portland and Seattle… you are a dirtbag!
I prefer to think of myself as a patriotic American who served is country in the military and who has the right to express my views when I happen to disagree with things I see my government doing—just as you have that same right to criticize me and my opinions. Patriotism is loyalty to one’s country, not a political party or an individual. I think you may have forgotten that.
Great comments! love the article! I remember quite well my unit training to go to Chicago Dem, riot control, was actually fun, bunch of non combat soldiers, clerks and jerks pushing each other, C147 landing but didn’t stay long, all while Viet Nam was daily killing. I have the utmost trust in our CIA and other intelligence agencies, Trump with help of the Republican party could give a shit about our Democracy/Republic. This includes the white nationalists Woody Jenkins and Tony Perkins and entire Republican reps, they are not going away, but neither are we. Stay safe, keep learning and keep the good work going ron thompson
Shame on you Louisiana Voice. “Invasion” “ Brown Shirts” “ Stormtroopers” Really? These are our own fellow citizens you’re talking about. What is the Federal Government supposed to do just sit back and watch as a small percentage of the population destroy and riot until they get whatever it is they really want whatever that is. I doubt many of these rioters even know what they are doing this for
What’s the federal government supposed to do? Well, David, it wasn’t too long ago (last year, as I recall) that the Republicans were all about States Rights—the states’ responsibility and right to handle their own affairs without interference from the feds. In fact, “get the government out of my life” was the battle cry of the Tea Party. And it was originally the right wing conservatives who fretted about “jackbooted federal agents” invading their cities.
And yes, those are our own fellow citizens…who are being attacked. They are moms, military veterans and medical personnel who are concerned about the abuse of force and who are being teargassed and beaten with clubs.
A little secret: I was a Republican for more than a quarter of a century but I saw the Republican Party abandoning my ideals and beliefs, so I left—even before George Will, so please don’t lecture me on morals and common decency. You probably weren’t around at the time, but I vividly remember how protesters finally woke this country up to the lies and deceit of the Vietnam War. I also remember the Ohio National Guard shooting and killing those students at Kent State during protests.
Finally, Brennen (and I said this earlier to another commenter): You have no idea who the vandals in Portland are. They could be the Boogaloo Boiz, the KKK, white supremacists, or some other of Trump’s “very fine people” just out expressing themselves. The fact is, neither you nor I know who they are but the methods being employed to bring Trump’s version of “law and order” are not they way it’s done in this country. Unidentified agents don’t grab people off the street and throw them into unmarked vans.
That’s. Just. Not. The. Way. It’s. Done.
Very solid article. When a career criminal who bought his way out of everything keeps crowing how he’s all about “law and order,” plus he has so many followers who are so willfully ignorant as some commenters here demonstrate, there’sa lot to worry about. And obviously not to mention that militarized pseudo-police federal agents are already in the streets attacking mostly innocent people.