An Extremely Tense Situation in D.C.

[BoSoxGal]

[liberty]

You . . . .

So, you don't respond to any of three specific issues but just make stuff up that wasn't even mentioned? Of course, I made no such absurd statement that DC can do whatever it wants. Evidently you would have been happy in Berlin in oh about 1933 - 1939 at least. You certainly seem to cheer on the forces of authoritarian anti-democratic dictatorship

Oh to be fair - you did deny that Trump is trampling on democracy. That simply makes you wrong rather than evasive. 99 murders is about 99 too many. But to use facts (which don't suit Trump's ego). . (he probably wouldn't recognize truth if it bit him in the ankle). .(well, if it did maybe he'd say "Oh that must be truth"). . (but I don't think so).

“The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogotá, Colombia, Mexico City, some of the places that you hear about as being the worst places on Earth,” Trump said. “We have DC: 41 per 100,000. No.1 that we can find anywhere in the world”

The chart Trump displayed is from 2023. Since then, the district’s homicide rate has fallen considerably. The rate was not the worst in the world — then or now. In 2023, at least 49 other cities in the world had higher homicide rates.

You seem to back a President (not Congress, not "the Federal government" per se) sending in the jackboots to get rid of the undesirable elements - such as anyone Trump thinks should be proscribed, blacks, Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, immigrants and "liberals" - by any means necessary or unnecessary.

Just How Is He Messing with Democracy? What he says to me isn’t important; I’m concerned about actions. If he wants to lie, he can lie all he wants. Most politicians do. They usually don’t lie to your face, and I can’t be sure he doesn't believe it. It might just be the way he thinks. But that’s irrelevant.

And he called for Texas to do some gerrymandering. Everybody gerrymanders, Democrats, Republicans, left, right. Gerrymandering isn’t strictly the province of the Democratic Party. Or do they get to do it just because they have more Black voters? Can Republicans? That’s crap. Whatever one side can do, the other side can do.

Remember: elections have consequences.

As for federalizing the D.C. police force, I think it should’ve been done a long time ago. Unfortunately, Trump can’t do it in other cities because they’re not federal cities. But D.C. is. And I wish a bunch of Democratic governors would grow some backbone and do the same thing.

There’ve been about 100 people murdered so far this year in D.C. Is that not enough for you? What do you want—200? 300? I think one is too many, especially in the capital of the United States.

[Joe Guy]

IMG_2895.jpeg (felonies involving subway sandwiches up 100%)

That's an interesting statistic. Especially since Trump wants us to believe that he's taking a big bite out of crime.

[Scooter]

There’ve been about 100 people murdered so far this year in D.C.

Number of homicides in first half of 2025
Washington DC (pop'n 684,000) 82* (link)
Baton Rouge LA (pop'n 215,000) 43 (link)

Number of homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in the first half of 2025
Washington DC 11.99
Baton Rouge LA 20.00

With the homicide rate being 67% higher in your own state capital than in DC, there's a line about specks and logs in eyes that I remember reading somewhere, that seems applicable here.




* Lest the village idiot think that I cut off at the half year to cherry pick the data, in the same source you can note that the average number of homicides since then is slightly lower than the average for the first half of the year

[liberty]

IMG_2895.jpeg (felonies involving subway sandwiches up 100%)

That's an interesting statistic. Especially since Trump wants us to believe that he's taking a big bite out of crime.

Someone who is more interested in pushing an agenda than uncovering the truth can make statistics and surveys say just about anything he wants. As for me, the older I get, the more cynical I become.

I've now reached a point in my life where I don't care about images, artistic flair, or surveys, especially telephone surveys. All I care about is results. I care about results because I'm seriously concerned about what I'm leaving behind for my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. This country is really screwed up in a lot of ways, and if something isn't done soon, we're not going to be leaving them much of anything worth having.

[liberty]

So where is the 'Emergency' that justifies these special powers that Trump has assumed? The FBI crime stats for DC have been trending down in DC and most other urban areas. A single data point (99 murders this year) tells you nothing. One murder is too many. Crime level in DC is not worse in July 2025 than it was in July of 2020 when Trump was nearing the end of his first term. Better law enforcement does not mean arrests and detentions without probable cause or due process. DC has a home rule organization that was passed by congress and signed by the president. Before that it was ruled by a special Congressional committee, NOT the Executive branch.

A previous Democrat politician declared "We make our own reality" Trump seems to make his own emergencies and neither congress or the Ssupremes seem to have the integrity to stop him.

snailgate

The homicide rate in D.C. during the 1950s was roughly eight or nine per 100,000 residents. In those days, a murder in the city was still unusual—it was newsworthy. Now, a single murder barely registers. Why can't the city return to those kinds of statistics?

https://www.bing.com/search?q=What%20wa ... C3C5803A63

[ex-khobar Andy]

Lib told us:

I've now reached a point in my life where I don't care about images, artistic flair, or surveys, especially telephone surveys. All I care about is results. I care about results because I'm seriously concerned about what I'm leaving behind for my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. This country is really screwed up in a lot of ways, and if something isn't done soon, we're not going to be leaving them much of anything worth having

I don't disagree with a word you've said there, lib. (Except the grandchildren bit - I don't have any.)

I too am seriously concerned that we have let go all the experts. Those who actually know what the fuck they are talking about in terms of infectious disease, climate, even military action. We have replaced them with toadying lickspittles who know fuck all but do have the ability to flatter our ponderous president. I really don't care if he cheats at golf or even on his wife - but when he cheats on us, he is a clear and present danger to the country. And because the US is what it is, to the world.

[Big RR]

This country is really screwed up in a lot of ways, and if something isn't done soon, we're not going to be leaving them much of anything worth having.

I agree; especially after Jan 20 of this year. Pretty much everything this country stands for is being perverted by our current president.

[BoSoxGal]

This country is really screwed up in a lot of ways, and if something isn't done soon, we're not going to be leaving them much of anything worth having.

I agree; especially after Jan 20 of this year. Pretty much everything this country stands for is being perverted by our current president.

The perversion began when he rode that escalator and it hasn't stopped since. We had a few years of reason triumphing over insanity when the Biden team was running the show and doing more for poor and working class people than has been done since FDR was in the WH, but all the while there was the rising hate of MAGA and now they have the reins again and are perfectly happy to drive our country off a cliff.

I wonder if we will ever get the chance to vote again, in an election that isn't like the ones they have in Russia.

[BoSoxGal]

I can't believe there are checkpoints in DC in peacetime. I can't believe the second term president is publicly stating that he's considering all the folks who are pleading with him to run again in 2028. I can't believe I just signed up to hear Gavin Newsom tell me how I can help to prevent the president and his tools from stealing our next election and beyond.

Please join if you can and want to, it's tomorrow and it's free:

https://act.gavinnewsom.com/event/erra- ... tDfJVJe0jw

[liberty]

My comments are not about Trump. This is about crime in Washington, D.C., and what should be done about it. The fact that Trump took action is irrelevant to me, it should have been done a long time ago.

Biden should have done it. Obama should have done it. Bush should have done it. Clinton should have done it.

The capital of the United States should have the lowest homicide rate in the country, not just for the sake of its residents, but for national pride, if nothing else. If the lives of individuals there don’t matter, then at least the symbolism should.

The way people reacted to Trump nationalizing the police force in D.C. reminds me of how Paul Theroux was criticized for his book Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town. He was criticized because he told the truth. He didn’t romanticize or make excuses for corrupt politicians.

No one should be criticized for speaking the truth. Without truth, we’re lost.

If your ship is sinking, that’s not the time to argue with the captain or downplay the danger. It’s the time to sound the alarm and call for help.

[liberty]

I can't believe there are checkpoints in DC in peacetime. I can't believe the second term president is publicly stating that he's considering all the folks who are pleading with him to run again in 2028. I can't believe I just signed up to hear Gavin Newsom tell me how I can help to prevent the president and his tools from stealing our next election and beyond.

Please join if you can and want to, it's tomorrow and it's free:

https://act.gavinnewsom.com/event/erra- ... tDfJVJe0jw

BSG, it's not going to happen. Trump is not going to run again for president. The Constitution is clear on that. He can run his wife, he can run his children, but he can't run himself.

If he tries, the states won't go along with it. He simply won't be placed on the ballot, and everyone will turn against him, except maybe the most extreme right-wingers, but they’re a tiny minority.