No. 59 of 108
August 11, 2025
While possible under the law, there has never been a federal takeover of the police since passage of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973. Until today, as ordered by the President. The National Guard has also been deployed. Crime rates, up during the pandemic like in most cities across the U.S., have been decreasing. The police and the mayor were neither consulted nor informed. In his remarks, the President warned cities generally of the measures he is willing to take to “restore order.” This news took top position across most news outlets, including international ones.
So much for “home rule.” Are you alarmed? Good! Alarm means control by force is not yet an accepted norm, to you. Control by force has been characterized as a primal instinct, a reflex when we are threatened. Both the fear and the rush to control by force perversely show up more frequently and dramatically for an aggressor in power than a defendant not in power. Shows us how much work is needed to interrupt such habits and retool our consciously human instincts. Hard, complex, durable work toward humanity. Lots of work!