Nuance is real and sometimes important. Subtle differences between two or more things can have a big impact. Ask any married couple if one spouse has ever gotten upset over a quip from the other: “It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it,” for example. But relying on nuance in binary matters in which something is either good or bad doesn’t fly and tends to come across as petulant and weak.
Democrats are facing that problem now with President Trump’s law enforcement actions in Washington, D.C., this week. While opinions by those on the political left remain somewhat divided, critics who are relying on nuance in their response to the president’s move aren’t doing themselves any favors.
The administration’s actions to address the city’s dangerously high crime rate is entirely legal yet some Democrats are in high dudgeon over Trump’s decision. The problem for them is less what he’s doing and more how he’s doing it, but the argument rings hollow because crime is one of those binary situations. Is crime good or bad? It’s bad of course so in this case, nuance doesn’t really come into play.
Criticisms of Trump also beg the simple question of who is being harmed by his actions. Are local citizens harmed by this temporary additional law enforcement presence? Perhaps local businesses are hurt by it. Maybe tourists will be less inclined to visit our nation’s capital. Clearly, anybody who lives, works or visits the city is a beneficiary of Trump’s decision.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t some harm to others. Democrat politicians have been compelled to cede a little bit of their power for a month. Their reputations are also subject to harm because the administration’s response to the city’s murder rate shines a light on their historically feckless approach to law and order.
Playing the nuance card in this case is unwise. People can point out small differences in the mechanical execution of better law enforcement but that argument doesn’t mean much to anybody who’s ever been mugged or robbed or carjacked or worse in recent years. Indeed, it prompts many people to reflect on their past experiences, sometimes going back many years. A lot of people this week, including reporters and cable news commentators, have revealed their own brushes with lawlessness in D.C. I have a few of my own, but I’ll spare you from those stories.
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If Democrats aren’t complaining about nuance, they’re throwing rocks at President Trump for things he hasn’t done. The rhetoric is masquerading as policy or toughness or something else but it doesn’t really move the needle on the underlying issue; crime is a problem and Democrats are not effectively addressing it.
Democrat nuance arguments aren’t limited to the administration’s efforts to fight crime in Washington. Many are relying on nuance to try and explain the differences between congressional redistricting efforts in Texas and those previously enacted by Democrats elsewhere. Like Trump’s response to crime in Washington, everything the Texas legislature is doing is entirely legal, with the sole exception of Democrats fleeing the state to prevent a quorum and delay legislative action.
We’re seeing a similar dynamic in regard to immigration and deporting illegal aliens. Democrat Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama deported plenty of illegals but now, it’s a bad thing. While court challenges have been mounted against the administration in certain immigration cases, it appears the administration is largely going about the removal of illegals in accordance with black letter law. Like the bickering couple in the lead paragraph, the problem is not what Trump’s doing, it’s how he’s doing it. But that doesn’t wash with recent victims of crime committed by illegal aliens or those who have had a hard time finding a job because an illegal got it.
Nuance has become a refuge for those who have no better idea or alternative to something they don’t like. It’s nothing more than a veil for hiding Democrat hypocrisy, and a thin veil at that. It likely plays a role in the shrinking approval rating of the party, which is hovering in the low-30s, a figure that’s 15-20 points less than their Election Day base.
There’s a time and a place for nuance but this is not one of them. Nuance is no substitute for effective or popular policy, and if Democrats aren’t careful they will nuance themselves into irrelevancy.
Editor’s Note: President Donald Trump is returning Washington D.C. to the American people by locking up violent criminals and restoring order.
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