Troops as Props
This is all for show.
Steven L. Taylor
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Tuesday, August 12, 2025
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10 comments
If the issue was actually the notion that the National Guard could be used to lessen crime in DC, probably the least efficacious place to deploy those assets would be the National Mall.
But, if the goal is security theater, the absolute best place to place these assets would be the National Mall.
The fact that people are taking tourist photos is just an illustration of the silliness of it all.
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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Exactly. Completely unserious administration. But they know their audience, and that audience eats it up. Media does a great job of thinking they are informing us, but they just glamorize it and saturate us with it until it becomes normalized. Once your government becomes unserious, it becomes hard to take it serious, then it’s just a joke and then one day you are like, “Hey, don’t we have a Constitution or something?” But then it’s too late, you are paddling up a raging river. Hope I am just being melodramatic
The ridiculous display at Macarthur Park was the same, complete with mounted police and zero “illegals”. But it all makes great media material, crowding out any potential stories embarrassing to the regime.
I do wonder if there’s going to be some sort of mass sweep of homeless encampments. I think those, more so than actual “crime,” are what got Trump’s attention.
More reality show programming by the Carnival Barker in Chief who knows that the media will never stop chasing the metaphorical squirrel. Unserious administration + unserious media = teetering democracy.
It’s only a show if one perceives such occurrences as entertainment. For the rest of us it is a demonstration of our nation’s constitutional construct evaporating before our very eyes.
Trump pardoned and released Jan 6 terrorist filth back onto the streets, pushes failed policies that kill jobs –increasing poverty and thus, increasing crime. We’re to believe Trump Republicans care about reducing crime? Yeah right.
Why didn’t job-destroying incompetént Trump deploy the National Guard when his Jan 6 criminals desecrated our democracy by sacking the Capitol? Trump insisted that was Pelosi’s call, that he had no power to intervene as his MAGA thugs attacked Capitol police.
Was the Epstein-bestie pedo president lying then, or is he lying now?
@James Joyner: I definitely expect that to happen.
@Chris: Don’t get me wrong: I am not downplaying it.
@James Joyner: @Steven L. Taylor: The question is how brutal will the sweeps be? Round-ups and forced removal with vehicles and heavy equipment aren’t going to go over well.
IIRC MacArthur deployed troops to sweep out the bonus army, even those who were staying private land where they had permission to stay. Conservatives ie Trump supporters will support nearly any use of violence/force against people they dont like and the homeless are part of the group they now detest.
Steve