by Dace Potas
President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have been fighting over protests and riots taking place in Los Angeles. In response to attacks on federal immigration officers, Trump involved the National Guard and members of the military in order to get things under control.
Newsom responded by asking the courts to intervene and saying Trump has “lost it.”
But this controversy is exhausting because it is clear that nobody involved is interested in the even distribution of justice. Everyone is acting to serve their own political ends, which has been happening for years.
Neither political party has a monopoly on law and order. Those who think their preferred party is the one that truly champions the rule of law are falling for partisan lies and likely have a short memory.
Democrats and Republicans have undermined the rule of law
There is a great irony to Trump aggressively responding to the June LA riots when he just months ago pardoned those charged with crimes in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, including those who assaulted police officers.
Trump’s law and order campaign is entirely theatrical. He has no problem pardoning perpetrators of political violence or crime otherwise when they are aligned with him. He rewards people who commit political violence on his behalf and brings down the hammer against those who do so in the name of causes he is opposed to. It is a completely partisan scheme that goes against what the rule of law actually means.
That doesn’t mean I disagree with Trump, though. When cities like LA hardly do anything to stop violence, Trump gets the political opportunity to step in and stop riots. Now, these protests are spreading to more cities, which is likely to result in broader violence and more fights with the executive. That goes both ways.
Remember when Democrats tried to market themselves as the party of law and order as Trump faced a slate of criminal trials during his reelection campaign. That’s laughable in light of their past actions.
Democrats rightly blamed Trump for his provocation in 2021 after Democrats did the same thing during the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020. There was no shortage of elected Democrats who simply stood by as violence and looting swept the country, and in some cases, they actively encouraged such violence.
Biden was no better on the pardons front, brazenly using the presidential pen to corruptly pardon his son and other family members. Biden has previously posted on social media that nobody is above the law.
Neither major party really cares about political violence; they only care about it when they can score political points or when they have to defend themselves against the ramifications of it.
Following the law has become a partisan issue
America now has different rules for enforcing the law, depending on who is in charge. It doesn’t matter if you assaulted police officers while breaking into the U.S. Capitol; you’ll be generously pardoned four years later.
It doesn’t matter if you participate in mass riots and looting in the name of racial justice, Democrats will sit by idly as you do more than $1 billion in damage to American cities.
I am exhausted by watching politicians pretend that they care about violence beyond the political forces that it brings.
It’s clear that neither major party can be trusted to present leaders whom Americans can believe will enforce the rule of law justly.
