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D.C. Is a Total Mess and It Isn’t Just Crime

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon

It’s been nearly one week since President Donald Trump fulfilled his campaign promise to take back Washington, D.C., America’s capital city, and return it to the people of the United States. 

"I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our Nation's Capitol from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse,” Trump said from the White House briefing room, no doubt receiving cheers from living rooms across the country. “The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogotá, Colombia," Trump continued. "The number of car thefts has doubled over the past five years, and the number of carjackings has more than tripled."

The move comes five decades after Washington, D.C. was given a chance at self-governance, which was contrary to the U.S. Constitution and the determination that the District would remain a federal jurisdiction. 

“Cut it how you like, but the fact will remain: the people of Washington, D.C., have no greater capacity to avoid direct federal rule than did the erstwhile denizens of the Northwest Territory. Per the plain terms of the U.S. Constitution, Congress has plenary power over ‘the Seat of Government of the United States,’ which is not a city, or a state, or even a reservation, but a special district like no other in the land,” National Review aptly explains. “If the national legislature wishes to, it can delegate some of its power to a council or a mayor or an emissary in a pointy hat. But it is not obliged to do so, and if, according to its judgment, any existing deputation has become intolerable, it can abolish or limit it at will. In D.C., home rule is a luxury, a privilege, an indulgence. It is not a right.”

Families can’t visit. It’s embarrassing to host foreign leaders. Young people can’t go out at night. Armed carjackings and murders happen at all hours of the day, in neighborhoods all over the city. Parks are occupied by homeless encampments. Enough. 

The police department, one of the most important institutions in any functioning and safe city, is corrupted, cooking the books on data to create an illusion on paper of lower crime. Prosecution is a joke, and an inoperable crime lab put cases on hold for four years. 

"A D.C. police commander is under investigation for allegedly making changes to crime statistics in his district. The Metropolitan Police Department confirmed Michael Pulliam was placed on paid administrative leave in mid-May. That happened just a week after Pulliam filed an equal employment opportunity complaint against an assistant chief and the police union accused the department of deliberately falsifying crime data, according to three law enforcement sources familiar with the complaint," local NBC 4 Washington reports. "The union claims police supervisors in the department manipulate crime data to make it appear violent crime has fallen considerably compared to last year."

The response from Democrats and liberals living in Washington, D.C. is one of delusion. Starting with the Mayor. 

"Washington, DC is a beautiful city. DC is home to 700K people and welcomes millions every year. We have the #1 park system, fantastic public schools, and a tremendous public transportation system. And we are at a 30-year low in violent crime. It's important for all who live here and visit to know how beautiful our city is and how proud we are of all that we've accomplished," Mayor Mural Bowser said in response to Trump’s take back. 

The parks are filthy, and the public school system is a total failure. 

In English literacy, an average of just 33 percent of students in grades 3-12 “met or exceeded expectations.” In math, the average sits at just 26 percent. For both, this means more than 70 percent of students are dramatically failing. 

The city is a mess. On every level. The experiment of D.C. governing itself, led only by Democrats, has failed. 

For years, Washington, D.C. has been a failed state and a disgrace. The Nation’s Capital belongs to all Americans, and thanks to President Donald Trump, it will finally be safer and more prosperous. 

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