Flexing federal force just to look tough

Trump is openly using the military and federal law enforcement to intimidate and harass Democratic-led cities now, and it’s honestly not even being hidden anymore. He’ll send the National Guard into places like Chicago or New York, even if the governors are flat-out against it, but the troops can’t actually do much except wander around looking threatening and wasting piles of taxpayer money. The real kicker is in Washington, DC, where Trump has this unique power - never used before in U.S. history - to take control of the local police force and import agents from federal agencies like ICE or the Department of Homeland Security to back him up. So in DC, he doesn’t even need to ask for permission, he just takes over. But the point isn’t really law enforcement or keeping anyone safe. The whole plan is to provoke people - send in the troops, rile up the locals, and wait for someone to snap so they can scream about “violent leftists” and justify even harsher crackdowns. It’s all for the cameras, so Trump can paint Democratic-run cities as lawless hellscapes and pitch himself as the only guy who can save us. Meanwhile, you’ll never see him order this in red states, even though some of them have higher crime rates, because those places voted for him and stroke his ego. He’s just flexing on blue states because he’s a bully, plain and simple, and honestly, a lot of his supporters love him for it. The cops and agents he sends in aren’t just reluctantly following orders, either - they act like they’ve been given a blank check to do whatever they want. We’ve seen them hurt people for filming, attack reporters, lie about being assaulted, and take inspiration from ICE with their heavy-handed tactics. This isn’t about public safety, it’s about power, and a ton of these law enforcement folks are all too eager to sign up for voluntary ICE training or drag peaceful protesters off the streets in DC. People love to say the National Guard is “just standing around,” but let’s be real: if Trump told them to load live rounds or even shoot Americans, most of them would do it to keep their jobs or avoid trouble. Every single one of them has a choice, and most just go along, which is exactly how these things keep happening. At some point, we have to stop pretending these people are heroes or that they’re just “doing their jobs.” If we ever get the chance, we need to clear them all out and stop giving a pass to anyone who goes along with this crap, because otherwise, we’re just setting ourselves up for the same authoritarian nonsense again and again. Bullies act tough until enough people push back, and then, like always, they’ll fold.