Trump in Charge
There is certainly a new aura about the White House. Press conferences, executive orders, personnel changes; all at a lightning pace. There are foreign policy directives, pardons, new initiatives. Trump is running the show. There is no question.
That is a far cry from the last administration. A shadowy anonymous regent at the head of the executive branch, alternately hiding Pseudo-President Biden from public view or putting words in front of him to blurt out uncomfortably. As Racket News’ Walter Kirn pointed out last week, Biden delivered a speech in the way that the band ABBA sang songs in English - despite not knowing the language. It was clear to the most casual unbiased observer that Biden often had no idea what he was saying. Read the card, say the words, walk away.
Those days are over. Trump has already started his extemporaneous pressers discussing all matters great and small. Trading barbs with reporters, perceived enemies, and foreign leaders. Hearing him bloviate, sometimes we laugh, sometimes we cringe.
A similar paradox covers Trump’s actions. He is at a whirlwind pace, but not all of it is the brilliant ideas of a master statesman as some supporters claim, and certainly not all of it is the work of an evil Hitlerian dictator as his TDS-suffering detractors purport.
There are things we disagree with, things that are not lawful, and things that may have unintended consequences. Other steps are intelligent, common-sense steps that are a long time coming. He is doing as he promised on many fronts; a rare and refreshing thing in politics.
His demand that government workers return to the office is a good thing. Pardoning criminals who assaulted cops on January 6th – we can’t get behind that. Tightening immigration controls and deporting criminal aliens is a necessary and common-sense action. An executive order declaring an end to birthright citizenship is simply unconstitutional. The verbiage, if not the intent, of the 14th Amendment is clear on this issue. We could go on, but the idea is that we like that he is getting things done, but don’t like everything he does.
And you shouldn’t either. A good leader is not always making everyone happy. A good leader does not always stay within the lines of tradition. Trump sees the American political system as broken. He is shaking things up, pushing boundaries, and getting things accomplished. Trump is doing what he thinks is best. Best for the country, and sometimes best for him. But the two are now inexorably intertwined. It is the job of Congress and the Supreme Court to keep him in check where necessary.
And, by forcing those branches to check his executive orders, Trump can, in fact, fix the American system. If the Supreme Court refutes his actions, Americans will regain faith in that institution that has been recently maligned by the left and the personal indiscretions of Justices. If Congress passes laws countering Trump’s executive orders, that institution will have done its job. A job that they have been neglecting for decades – allowing the executive to run the country by dictate, contrary to the spirit of the Constitution.
Perhaps we will see this occur, perhaps not. Trump will be pushing boundaries nonetheless.
Regardless of your opinion of Trump or his individual actions, it is good to know we have an actual President – a sentient President elected by the majority of Americans. That part of our system is corrected, at least for now. As Americans we should cheer his successes and lament his failures. We should support his good ideas and decry his legal overreaches. Trump is flawed like all men. But at least he is in charge.
Racism in Chicago
Did you know that Shotspotter is racist? That was Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s claim during his election campaign. He promised to get rid of Shotspotter, citing its overuse in communities-of-color, which lead to more interactions between police and those communities. He is right on that account. Cops would respond to shots fired in high-crime neighborhoods and then do something about it, i.e. make an arrest. These are the interactions that Johnson bemoaned.
The Shotspotter crime fighting technology had been adopted in Chicago several years ago. The system works through a system of sensitive microphone arrays placed throughout a neighborhood. The system would alert police when it detects gunshots and often gives very specific information as to the location the shots were fired from – often down to the exact address.
The system has some flaws. There are false positives on occasion. Obviously, shootings that occur indoors are not captured. But overall the system is very effective at alerting cops to shots fired well before a 911 call is made (if indeed a 911 call is made at all. In most shootings, it is not). The NYPD has it and I always found the system to be remarkably effective.
An immediate response to shootings in progress is the most obvious benefit of the program. Cops can also see unreported and otherwise undocumented shooting incidents and how they might lead to acts of future violence. It can also be used as a tool to place police resources.
But the cries of racism in Chicago persisted despite the fact that, according to surveys, 72% of Chicagoans wanted to keep the technology. Critics often point to the shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo, who was shot and killed by Chicago Police when responding to a Shotspotter notification. The boy did have a firearm and shots were fired, triggering the Shotspotter. Toledo ran from the police, then stopped and was shot as he was throwing the gun away and raising his hands. Despite the tragic death of the boy, this was clearly an incident that the police should be responding to.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, over the protests of the Chicago City Council and the Chicago Police Department, ended the use of Shotspotter in September of 2024, with critics of the program heaping praise upon Johnson. A victory for the chaos crowd.
But now homicides are up 35% in Chicago for the year. There is strong evidence that Chicago is missing the Shotspotter technology, with unreported homicides and shootings around the city.
Chicago Alderman Ray Lopez has negotiated a free pilot program with Shotspotter competitor Alarm.com in his 15th Ward. That sounds like a good deal. Perhaps this program will be cheaper, more effective, and less “racist”. Who could argue against free?
The answer: Mayor Brandon Johnson. Not wanting to face the press, he sent his Deputy Mayor for Community Safety, Garien Gatewood, out to say that there will be no free trial in the 15th Ward and that Lopez has no authority to run his own program. Typical and disturbing.
Mayor Johnson is allegedly trying to find a replacement for Shotspotter, but this is not an encouraging sign of his commitment to public safety. Try harder, Mr. Mayor. The safety of Chicagoans depends on it.
Oh – and consider resigning. That might be the best thing you could do for public safety in your city.
Thanks for reading The Ops Desk. Stay Safe!
Chris,
Mark Levin had an interesting in depth look at the 14th Amendment on one of his Jan. 2025 weekend tv programs on FOX. There is a clause in the 14th Amendment ("and subject to the jurisdiction thereof") & a history to that clause that makes it questionable if it applies to illegal aliens. I had mixed "feeings" about it anyway before listening to Mark Levin, but there may well be a legal argument against birthright citizenship for illegal aliens.
Now I think there are "legal considerations" which the Supreme Court needs to evaluate. Perhaps that is what President Trump hoped for in the first place. Chris, I think watching Mark Levin's Jan. 2025 weekend tv program about it will give you another legal perspective, particularly if you are an "originalist" Constitutional supporter. I had no idea that it was trying to correct something--I had no
idea it was trying to make sure former slaves in the USA would have the right
to citizenship--a worthy cause indeed.
So the mayor unplugged Shotspotter because he said it was active in neighborhoods that were mostly minorities causing a disproportionate number of police response.
This mayor, a democrat appears to be against having the police protect all the citizens of the city.
In my opinion Shotspotter is a realtime community Police response. A good thing overall. Sounds like if this proactive tool was used in predominately White neighborhoods, the mayor would be outraged.
Let’s face it, the mayor is a regressive dysfunctional leader who has failed in his #1 mission, Public Safety.
🤡🔥