From the Halls of Montezuma to the Streets of Los Angeles

The Marine Hymn is one of the most recognized songs and serves as the oldest service hymn in America. Its opening line honors the famous battles of the U.S. Marines, from Montezuma to Tripoli.

After this week, it may be time for a remix, updating the Shores of Tripoli to the Streets of Los Angeles. L.A. is burning this week. It’s not “peaceful protests” as media cranks claim on live television, with burning cars, looting, and rioting in the background.

One might call it an insurrection. Not the January 6 type with grandmothers welcomed into the U.S. Capitol by Capitol police. Instead, the L.A. protesters are disrupting the lawful activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), removing illegal, potentially dangerous, and criminal aliens from America.

The L.A. rioters are described in a Craigslist employment ad as the “toughest badasses in the city (Los Angeles),” offering $6,500-$12,500 in weekly compensation, presumably to attack law enforcement and create general mayhem and destruction.

California officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, did nothing but fan the flames, blaming President Trump for their ineptitude, reminiscent of their response to the Pacific Palisades fires last year.

Nature and President Donald Trump abhor a vacuum; as a result of absent California leadership, Trump fulfilled his presidential oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States” by sending in the National Guard to quell the riots, violence, and destruction.

For the media and Democrats who are not familiar with the Constitution and presidential duties, the preamble describes these concepts: “insure domestic tranquility,” “promote the general welfare,” and finally, “secure the blessings of liberty.”

What’s happening in L.A. this week is the opposite, hence Trump is fulfilling his constitutional duty. Is a U.S. president sending the National Guard to suppress a riot a new concept? Hardly. There is ample precedent.

Eisenhower in Little Rock in 1957; Johnson in Detroit in 1967, and in Washington D.C., Chicago, Detroit, and Baltimore in 1968; Nixon at Kent State in 1970; Bush in L.A. over the Rodney King verdict in 1992; Obama in Ferguson in 2014; and Trump in 2020 regarding multiple George Floyd protests.

What about the U.S. Marines?

During the Rodney King riots of 1992, President George H.W. Bush invoked the Insurrection Act and sent 1,500 Marines and 2,000 National Guard troops to quell the unrest. In contrast, Trump has been more restrained, having deployed only 700 Marines thus far.

This is a risky situation for Trump and the Democrats. Things could certainly go south for either side, but I believe Trump is more likely to emerge from this in a better position than the Democrats.

A YouGov poll of 4,200 adults found that “Americans are not backing the Los Angeles protests with only a third taking the side of those standing up against the ICE deportation raids.”

Trump has the backing of America by a 2-to-1 margin. When it comes to who should take responsibility, California should, and they dropped the ball.

“When asked who should take the lead in the response against the protests, 56 percent said it was the responsibility of state and local authorities, versus 25 percent who backed the federal government’s involvement.”

Trump could certainly abandon L.A. and California to their own folly. After all, they voted for this by electing Newsom and Bass. But Trump is acting as the responsible parent, setting boundaries for unruly, irresponsible, and self-destructive teenagers.

CNN also reluctantly reported that Trump’s net approval on immigration is now +1 compared to -21 in June 2017. Additionally, Trump’s overall approval in the Rasmussen Reports Daily Presidential Tracking Poll remains at or above 50%.

Trump’s opposition includes Democrats who advocate for open borders and will go to great lengths to defend criminal illegal aliens, like the infamous “Maryland Man” returning to the U.S. to face myriad charges of human trafficking. How many illegal aliens are voting in U.S. elections for Democrats?

The Wall Street Journal and Chamber of Commerce crowd are hand-wringing over Trump’s bold actions, preferring the status quo of Republican presidents managing America’s decline while maintaining a steady supply of cheap labor.

But Americans are fed up with this foreign invasion that is destroying American culture and lives, while politicians write sternly worded letters and tap dance on the Sunday morning talk shows, yet otherwise do nothing.

Until Trump, who is calling for the U.S. Marines to restore, as he frequently tweeted, “Law and Order.” What’s the alternative? Status quo?

Trump was elected, as he stated in a 2016 campaign speech, with a primary goal: “Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People.”

That’s what Trump is doing with the support of most Americans. It’s time to send in the U.S. Marines and update the Marine Hymn!

Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a physician and writer.

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