Running policing as national political theater—deploying the National Guard and picking fights over local rules—diverts attention from the institutions that actually determine crime outcomes. In Washington, the federal government already controls courts, prosecutions, parks, and parole, and does so poorly because those officials aren’t accountable to D.C. voters. Extending that unaccountable control to local policing risks worse results, not safer streets.
— It cautions that politicizing law enforcement can raise crime by replacing accountable performance management with spectacle, a lesson applicable to federal–local power struggles beyond D.C.
by Rebecca Lopez and Jason Trahan, WFAA
2025.10.14
64% relevant
The article parallels Trump’s Aug. 11 speech about deploying Guard to D.C. with Dallas HERO’s anarchy rhetoric to drive a ballot mandate for 4,000 officers, illustrating policing as political theater that can override local performance metrics (crime down) and distort governance priorities.
Ryan Zickgraf
2025.10.09
78% relevant
The article describes Trump sending National Guard units to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and authorizing ~500 troops to Chicago over local objections, explicitly casting cities as 'training grounds.' That aligns with the warning that running policing as national political theater, especially by unaccountable federal actors, undermines local safety institutions and outcomes.
Isaac Saul
2025.10.09
82% relevant
The article argues Trump is turning cities into 'training grounds' and staging Guard deployments and headline raids (e.g., Chicago Black Hawk operation with mass detentions) as political spectacle rather than accountable policing—mirroring the thesis that running law enforcement as national theater replaces performance management and risks worse public‑safety outcomes.
Chris Bray
2025.08.31
55% relevant
Both argue that politicized, performative stances reshape enforcement in counterproductive ways; here, big‑city anti‑ICE theatrics appear to attract federal raids, mirroring how running policing as political theater distorts where and how enforcement happens.
Noah Smith
2025.08.27
70% relevant
National Guard patrols in low‑crime areas of D.C. and L.A., presented as anti‑crime, are described as intimidation theater aimed at urban progressives, aligning with the warning that politicized policing substitutes spectacle for accountable safety outcomes.
2025.08.26
60% relevant
Americans are somewhat more likely to disapprove (48% vs. 38%) of Trump putting D.C. police under federal control and deploying the National Guard, providing data that politicized, centralized control of local policing faces public skepticism.
by Avi Asher-Schapiro and Christopher Bing
2025.08.22
65% relevant
Turning governance into public spectacle—here, an 'efficiency' crusade aired via social media—produced worse security outcomes: a Taliban crackdown in Kabul and harm to a U.S.-aligned partner, mirroring how politicized enforcement can degrade actual safety.
Chris Bray
2025.08.22
55% relevant
Bray contrasts performative denunciations of 'fascism' with operational steps that actually restore order—heavy security presence and gating at LA Union Station—implying that practical, accountable policing and clear signals of enforcement matter more than national political theater.
Matthew Yglesias
2025.08.20
100% relevant
Trump’s takeover of the D.C. police and National Guard deployment, and Yglesias’s claim that federally run courts and parole already underperform due to lack of local accountability.