It’s All So Tiresome

Wow, a pallet of fresh bricks just arrived

Los Angeles was the flashpoint for an organized mob to go kinetic with ICE. The 21st century cycle of mostly peaceful protest started, but what’s the point? Americans across the political spectrum are growing weary of the cycle of unrest that has gripped cities in recent years, particularly the pattern of left-wing rioting, the inaction of Democrat-led local governments, and the subsequent, performative outrage when harsher measures (courtesy of President Trump) are used to restore order. This frustration stems from a perception that Democrat mayors and governors have, almost every single time, exacerbated chaotic situations by restraining law enforcement, only to later criticize federal intervention as excessive. Many see this as part of a broader media-driven narrative designed to undermine Trump’s policies and paint him as authoritarian, even when local leadership’s failures leave no alternative.

The exhaustion begins with the riots themselves. What often starts as protests and American are sympathetic to protests rooted in genuine grievances, frequently spirals into violence, looting, and destruction, coincidentally in urban centers governed by Democrats. Cities like Portland, Seattle, Baltimore, Ferguson and Minneapolis have seen prolonged unrest, with businesses burned, public property destroyed, and communities left forever scarred. For many Americans, the images of smashed storefronts and nightly clashes are not symbols of justice but of chaos that disrupts lives and livelihoods. The fatigue is compounded by the sense that these events are not spontaneous but encouraged by a permissive attitude from local leaders who prioritize political optics over public safety. It is 100% a choice. While L.A. sat and watched rioters throw bricks and rocks or launch fireworks at cops and ICE agents, New York’s Mayor Adams deployed the NYPD to deal with protestors.

A key source of frustration is the choice made by Democrat mayors and governors to allow and enable protests to become riots. In some cases, these leaders have issued explicit orders for police to stand down or adopt a hands-off approach, allowing volatile situations to escalate. Esch turn of the ratchet creates an environment for mass casualty events like a random bomb being left in a crowd. It is easy to remember, during the 2020 Summer of Floyd, that reports emerged of police in cities like Minneapolis and Seattle being instructed to avoid aggressive enforcement, even as rioters set fires and looted businesses. Seattle allowed CHAZ to form and left it to its own devices even with two murders to its credit. In Portland, Mayor Wheeler’s administration faced criticism for limiting the police response to ongoing violence in 2020 with federal buildings under siege and entire neighborhoods disrupted for months. These decisions are sold to us as a fear of alienating progressive activists or appearing unsympathetic to protest movements, but we all infer that it is Democrats using them to score points. These are progressive approved riots, and destruction is just collateral damage for the ultimate policy goals.

This inaction creates a demand for federal intervention. When federal forces, such as DHS agents, were deployed to cities like Portland in 2020 to protect federal property, the response from local Democrat leaders and their media allies was swift condemnation. Trump’s measures were framed as heavy-handed and authoritarian. For many Americans, these interventions appeared as a last resort to restore order where local governments had failed. The anger arises not just from the riots but from the hypocrisy of leaders who allow chaos to fester, then decry the inevitable cleanup as oppressive. This is an old playbook now, and the Color Revolution vibe is obvious.

This cycle is seen by many as part of a deliberate media messaging operation to attack Trump’s policies. The narrative follows a predictable script: protests transform into kinetic riots, local Democrat leaders restrain police to avoid “inflaming tensions”, riots escalate, and federal intervention becomes necessary. The media then amplifies images of federal agents confronting rioters, framing it as Trump’s authoritarian overreach rather than a response to local mismanagement. Oh no the unprecedented use of force to stop a city from burning! This is a heckin’ fascism!!! LBJ used federal agents to quell urban riots so much that when Nixon took over, a young Warren Christopher handed a stack of forms to the incoming administration that were how the federal government could quickly move in to restore order. Outlets critical of Trump rarely highlight the stand-down orders or the prolonged failure to restore order, instead focusing on dramatic visuals of federal forces to paint a picture of repression. This selective coverage fuels public outrage against Trump, obscuring the root causes of the unrest and the role of local leadership in its escalation. It is also losing its power thanks to the iPhone, livestreaming and everyone being online. We can see the antifa and Mexicans burning cars and throwing bricks at cops cars.

The frustration is particularly acute among Americans who feel caught in the bind that heads progressive policies win, tails you try anything else and we do a little political terrorism. We know what a protest is and it is not a riot. We know what protesting for grievances is and it is not protesting the deportation of murderers and rapists. People see Democrat mayors and governors as complicit in allowing riots to spiral through ideological alignment with activists. When police are told to stand down, it sends a signal to rioters that consequences are minimal, emboldening further chaos. Everyone else, often Democrat voters in these communities, bear the brunt of this inaction, watching their neighborhoods destroyed while leaders offer platitudes about “understanding the anger.” In Baltimore, Freddie Gray rioters were given space to destroy. When Trump or federal authorities step in, these same leaders pivot to outrage, accusing him of militarizing cities and doing a fascism, a narrative eagerly amplified by regime media outlets. We the poor little protestors with the backing of the mainstream media and all our local politicians are innocent angels suffering under Orange Hitler.

This dynamic has eroded trust in all institutions. Many Americans feel that Democrat-led cities are deliberately allowing unrest to escalate to score political points against Trump, knowing the media will frame federal intervention as the problem rather than the solution. The 2020 deployment of federal agents in Portland was portrayed as an invasion, yet it came after weeks of unchecked violence that local police were either unable or unwilling to stop that any American could watch on multiple livestreams. Similarly, the National Guard’s involvement in various cities was often met with criticism from local leaders who had “failed” to act earlier. For many, this feels like a manufactured crisis that is now old and tired: allow riots to burn cities, blame Trump for the response, and let the media spin the narrative.

The broader impact is a growing sense of cynicism. Americans are tired of the double standard and manufactured chaos that always comes from one source. They’re tired of media outlets that gloss over the destruction caused by rioters while fixating on the optics of federal response. They’re tired of the political gamesmanship that leaves communities in ruins with their little lives wrecked to score some policy point. For many, Trump’s harsher measures are seen as a necessary evil when local leaders abdicate responsibility. The real anger lies in the spreading perception that this cycle is not just a failure of governance but a deliberate strategy to weaponize chaos against political opponents, leaving the rest of us to pay the price. It is creating an annoyed and tired population who will not care when far harsher measures are deployed to bring rioters to heel.