The people doing the actual work will be long time law enforcement. It may even help with investigations that have stalled due to lack of manpower or resources. The actual day to day police work will still by done by the people who have been doing it all along
While that is definitely a ‘plus’, everybody seems to be neglecting the fact that with the city under direct federal executive control, there will be no security forces independent of federal executive or legislative to oppose another January 6th-type insurrection. Not the US Capitol Police, not the Metro Police Department of D.C., not the D.C. National Guard. The GOP is very concerned about mid-term elections going against them in the House of Representatives, and while all of the current attention is on how they are trying to radically gerrymander the already highly tortured electoral map of Texas, they are also busy in the statehouses of other Republican-dominated states. It is not much of a stretch to imagine that they are also covering bases just in case that election doesn’t go their way (they are already trying to take over election boards and sow doubts about election integrity in states and districts that they don’t control) and if all else fails to appeal to their masses to directly interfere in the election and certification processes at both statehouse and Congressional levels. Not having an independent DC law enforcement presence certainly makes it much easier for the latter.
Stranger
Yes, and not just January 6th type action. Any violence against democratic lawmakers in DC will now be responded to and investigated by law enforcement under the direct control of Trump and his hand picked staff. All protests in the city against Trump will be handled by officers and national guard troops under his control.
It’s only a model.
I think this is one important element in this exercise. It lets Trump claim success at any time.
The point of Julius Caesar leading Legio XIII in crossing the Rubicon isn’t that the river was difficult for a legion to ford; it is that is represented a decision point by Caesar at which he could no longer turn back and preserve his status; by crossing, he precipitated a civil war that ultimately resulted in the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the more authoritarian and unstable Roman Empire.
All true, but I suspect the foremost concern is being able to ensure no law enforcement response against an ‘outside’ force trying to prevent an unfavorable election. They’re doing it now to have time to remove people who may not be compliant with eventual plans to allow or even assist people interfering with Democratic Congresspeople being sworn into office.
Stranger
And the real reason, possibly applicable to Trump, is that it was illegal for Caesar to cross the Rubicon with his army. What he’s doing in DC is legal, even if it’s a bad idea.
Governors of Roman provinces were appointed promagistrates with imperium (roughly, “right to command”) in one or more provinces. The governors then served as generals of the Roman army within the territory they ruled. Roman law specified that only the elected magistrates (consuls and praetors) could hold imperium within Italy. Any magistrate who entered Italy at the head of his troops forfeited his imperium and was therefore no longer legally allowed to command troops.
Given that FBI agents have been observed handling minor traffic issues, that does not seem to be the case?
I’m amused that you thought I was familiar enough with Italian geography to recognize the Rubicon as the historic name for a shallow river in northern Italy, but not familiar enough with Roman history to know the origin and connotation of the phrase “crossing the Rubicon.”
This is why I don’t think the Rubicon is the correct historical comparison. I think this is the setup to the burning of Reichstag. Put all the pieces into position, and then create some “emergency” which demands a forceful response by his assets that are already in DC.
Thanks for that important detail. I usually forget that Caesar was forbidden from crossing the Rubicon.
Pardon the minor hijack, but this discussion made me look up the Rubicon on Wikipedia. I’m surprised to learn that
a.) It’s on the east coast of Italy. For some reason I always thought of it on the west coast.
b.) It wasn’t re-identified until 1933!
After 42 BC it lost its significance as the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and Italia, and the name was lost. They had to deduce which river was really the Rubicon before deciding that it was the Fiumicino.
I knew it was a small river. One illustration I’ve seen shows Julius Caesar appearing to step across it.
Argh!
Moderating:
No more on the Rubicon.
How to Reply as a linked Topic
Click Reply, in the upper left corner of the reply window is the reply type button, looks like a curving arrow point to the right.
Choose Reply as linked topic and it starts a new thread. As an example, you can choose GD, IMHO or The Pit for it.
That is actually the best method.
With the idiot, there can never be only one reason. The New Republic says:
I can believe it. But it’s also another step toward absolute rule in this country.
Well that, and no one in LA directly confronted the troops, provoked them, or even held a decent riot where it would give them an excuse to start shooting so…. that was a fizzle.
Because let’s not kid ourselves - Trump wants a firefight between the US military and protesting civilians so he can justify whatever what the next step is in his mind.
Basically. But the step after that might not be what he wants…
Pencil in a date in October when the park service says it is planning for the Albert Pike statue to be placed back on its plinth in D.C.'s Judiciary Square neighborhood.
The website below is for a list of the crime rates (per person) in all the top 100 most populated American cities. New York City is near the bottom for violent crimes, at 96th highest, and below the middle for property crimes at 60th. Washington is below many cities for violent crimes, at 29th, and at 25th for property crimes. Take a look at the table. Note that you’ll have to click the word Total twice for each of violent and property crimes to have the table ordered from most to least.
And this is just for the 100 most populated cities. So what is the town with the highest violent or property crime per person? I don’t think there’s a tale available on line for that. Ranking cities on the basis of what news stories you read most recently is worthless:
nevermind
The crime problem got personal for trump when Big Balls was beat up.