Americans are "not alarmed enough" by President Donald Trump's federalization of the National Guard to secure Los Angeles, conservative columnist William Kristol claimed in a new piece for The Bulwark.
Kristol invoked President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 that freed "all persons held as slaves," claiming that Trump was trying to undo the historical document's declaration that "the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons."
"One might call [Trump's directive] the Usurpation Proclamation," Kristol wrote. "And while this weekend’s mobilization of two thousand National Guard troops in Los Angeles has alarmed many observers, I suspect we aren’t alarmed enough by this presidential order, which has implications far beyond this one action in one place."
Kristol pointed out that Los Angeles and California are not specifically mentioned anywhere in Trump's memo invoking the National Guard.
"Trump’s mobilization order is in no way limited as to time or place," Kristol wrote. "It is an open-ended authorization for the secretary of defense to mobilize as many troops as he wishes for as long as he wishes, and to deploy them anywhere he wishes within the United States. And these military personnel can be deployed not just where protests have occurred, but anywhere protests 'are likely to occur based on current threat assessments and planned operations.'”
Kristol wrote that it would be up to Congress to "clarify limitations on the use of the military," but he feared it was unlikely.
"Let’s see how many Republican members of Congress are interested in such legislation," Kristol wrote. "For now, at least, they’re more likely to cheer Trump on."