In 1982 James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling wrote an article espousing the Broken Windows Theory. Simply stated, it says if you let small crimes and evidence of such become apparent it will lead to larger and more specific crimes. In effect, it gives people a license to continue on misbehaving as they have clear indication that people don’t care to stop the errant behavior. Otherwise, fix the broken windows.
This theory was adopted by then-newly elected Mayor of NYC, Rudy Guiliani, and his police commissioners. Its adoption was responsible for cleaning up our largest city after decades of decay. Unfortunately, Democrats and their Leftist allies never accepted this theory despite the clear results and characterized it as they do everything these days as racist.
This summer Americans sat locked in their homes watching the disintegration of our cities in what was determined by many elected officials and talking heads to be righteous actions. Most Americans did not accept the actions of the miscreants. They did not accept the destruction of businesses and the livelihoods of their fellow citizens along with their employees’ jobs. They detested the burning of police stations and the attacks on government buildings. American citizens watched as our soon to be inaugurated President condoned the behavior as being vindicated by prior racial injustices disregarding that these actions tend to metastasize. Broken Windows.
President Trump should have anticipated that his heated rhetoric for close to two months about an election that was mishandled in many ways could lead to improper activities by some of his supporters. He lived in NYC and saw first-hand the benefits of the new policing policies. He should never have held the rally or participated in it on January 6th. While he did not encourage anyone to act improperly, he had the responsibility as President to think through the situation and he did not. Broken Windows.
In the aftermath of what happened our soon to be President and his V-P went to their normal corner – they invoked racism. That is the prism through which they and their supporters currently see most everything. In this case, however, they were correct. If this were a demonstration led by Black Lives Matters, there would have been a completely different policing strategy. After tearing up neighborhoods, attacking people who were peacefully eating a meal and burning, looting and killing fellow citizens, the DC police would have been prepared for a disaster because that is what that group brings. Without them no one had invoked Broken Windows.
“Republican riot.” We don’t do that. If you ask Americans when they ever saw Republicans act like a mob, they cannot remember. There was one time in our lifetimes. During the aftermath of the 2000 elections when they were locked out of a registrar’s office in Florida, they gathered and pounded on the window to view a ballot count. Even the hateful press made light of the scene of people dressed in white shirts, khaki slacks and blue blazers revolting. No one remembers anything else because WE DON’T DO THAT. We respect property and peacefully express our opinions. But then there were Broken Windows.
The worst outcome of January 6th was providing Trump’s political opponents an opening. Of course, what Republicans did was a hundred times worse in the eyes of the media and elsewhere. Yes, it was the Capitol building. But the stores and cities BLM looted and burned was the “Capitol” to those who earned their living there. It was sedition and an insurrection to them. The police did not come. It did not really count. The looters had righteous indignation.
This one was the one that really counted not because it was the U. S. Capitol, but because they were Trump supporters and supposedly Republicans. A terrible strategic mistake that has been condemned by every Republican on every level.
Now we have the severe overreaction. Impeaching a President, a week before he will be gone from the political seen. Calls to send every supporter of Trump to Hell for eternity. If these arguments were not tiresome repeats of over-the-top political hyperbole, they might mean something. Their overreaction is as always callous political maneuvers. Make no mistake; this is a naked political power grab.
Instead of moving to heal the nation they are acting like the children they have acted like for four plus years. The government is ours; how dare you steal our toy.
In addition, we have Jack, Jeff, Mark, Tim and Sundar (the tech oligarchs) jumping at the opportunity to show their allegiance to the new administration. They are using the opportunity to suppress freedom of expression because they know the new team will never change Section 230. Not the team that has been bought and paid for by the Oligarchs. They also know that the Leftists will continue to attack the inordinately wealthy while continuing to enhance their own wealth. Their attempt to strangle Parler will only in the end make Parler a more robust place for freedom of expression and opposition to tech tyranny.
Mr. Trump’s gravest sin is not understanding that politics is a team sport. His actions since the election have played into the hands of his opponents. He may not have cost Republicans the elections in Georgia (Loeffler was a horrible candidate and dragged down Perdue), but he certainly did not help them. He was selfish in that way and his selfishness played to his opponents. In a team sport you never sacrifice the team for yourself. That is an unforgivable sin.
Mr. Trump changed our political scene immensely. He enacted some policies that others did not or could not accomplish. He did that while experiencing a four-year onslaught of attempts to destroy him and what he did. Like every other President it is time for him to walk off the political stage. We have many capable political leaders who can carry the torch and do it without being the constant target of hatred from the opposition.
Do not believe the rhetoric from the political opposition that Republicans are in disarray. It will not be long before Republicans are totally united. After all, Joe, Kammy, Nancy, Chuck and the rest of the race baiters are in charge.