A Little Rebellion Is a Good Thing

“I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.” Thomas Jefferson in a letter to James Madison.

“The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” — James Madison, Federalist 45

Interesting that two of our nation’s Founders can shed light on the problems we face today. The current federal intrusion into local law enforcement is not justified. The Trump administration knows that sending in the armed forces to deal with a political situation would be intolerable to just about everyone. That was demonstrated when the idea was floated earlier after the Lafayette Park incident.

Yet because of the Department of Homeland Security, a hastily formed cabinet department created in the aftermath of September 11, the tools for repression are available. For the first time in our history, we find ourselves with a national police force that is ill-suited for local police work. The alphabet soup of border agents, immigration, drug enforcement, etc. have never been trained to respond to civil protest.

U.S. Marshals date back to 1789, and the Secret Service, formed to combat counterfeiting, was established in 1865. Those were our federal enforcement officers until the 1930s when the FBI was created. The two quotes above are perfect together to help us understand the reaction to the…