A retired cop cohort of mine said it best when he called U.S. Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf [1] as the modern-day Eliot Ness [2]. Here is why he framed it that way:
The U.S. Constitution is not a new document that some readers may have not had a chance to review. It has been around for quite some time, and governs us all according to its democratic republic principles. Among those principles is something known as the Supremacy Clause [3].
Essentially, there is a hierarchy of government levels (municipal, county, state, federal) which bear responsibility for respective geography and all citizens within it. But the one which overrides all others when it comes to matters of national interest (in this case, U.S. taxpayer-funded properties) is the federal government.
Major cities across the United States have not only witnessed rather barbaric “peaceful protests” whereby people are accosted and/or killed on the smoky streets with graffiti-strewn walls in the background…but these cities’ so-called leaders have effectively authorized bad actors to do their thing and watched it foment to the point of chaotic abyss, not bliss. Amidst these riotous-crazed cities are federal buildings belonging to We the People–court houses, U.S. monuments, law enforcement institutions and all manner of dwellings positioned to cater to the nation’s business on behalf of all American citizens.
Metropolis city mayors have abjectly failed to secure constitutional factors such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Enter Mr. Wolf…who on Monday clearly telegraphed to mayors pushing back on President Donald Trump’s oft-reiterated warnings that if they keep failing to regain control, he would do it for them. In fact, he started to do so in cities like Portland, Oregon. That city’s mayor, Ted Wheeler, had the same ludicrous tone and message for the president: you and your troops are not wanted here. That’s too bad.
On Monday, Wolf uttered some simple and unmistakable words: “I don’t need invitations by the state, state mayors, or state governors to do our job.” Ding-ding…the gloves are off.
The Business Insider reported [4] on Mr. Wolf’s assessment, assertions, and intent: “In a Fox News interview on Monday morning, Wolf blamed state leaders for the ongoing protests that prompted the deployment of DHS agents to federal buildings last week, including a courthouse in Portland, Oregon.” Naturally, the pity party ensued. Portland’s thuggery flooded the airwaves with their displeasure of seeing federal agents on the ground. Backing these disappointed voices was Mayor Wheeler. Sorry not sorry.
Mayors might very well govern their respective cities for which its respective citizens voted them in…but federal properties all across the United States supersede any locally elected arbiter from doling out invitations, as if it were a gala event. Hardly!
Chicago is thee prime example whereby gun violence coupled with months-long protests have further deteriorated any glimmer of quality of life in the Windy City. The gusts have been blowing hard, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s political pushbacks against President Donald Trump [5] not only make her look petulant but also feeble to outsiders looking in. One can only imagine what law-abiding Chicagoans are thinking…as they hunker down in their homes and hover over children while praying they are not within the trajectory of bullets whizzing too close for comfort.