It's easy, living out here in the Alaska woods, to feel a little disconnected from American urban life. To be honest, most of of the time I'm glad of that, if only because my wife and I are away from the noise, the people, the stink of a city. Because of that, I may seem an odd one to be writing about the state of America's urban areas. I had a mostly rural youth, and while I lived and worked in urban areas for many years, now I'm back where I belong, in a house out in the woods. Oh, we have our troubles out here in the rural areas as well; every place does. But all in all, most of us stick together, look out for one another, and get by pretty well.
So why am I concerned about America's cities? Because, throughout America's history, the cities have been vital parts of the American culture, the American way of life, and of American prosperity. For many years, America's great cities were the world's great cities: San Francisco, Chicago, and New York, just to name a few. But these cities are now falling apart; under decades of Democratic rule, and with incompetent leadership, they have fallen far and fast, to the point where they may be beyond the point of no return.
Case in point: Our national capital, the District of Columbia. This is a particularly sad case, as the District was the nation's first planned city, deliberately carved out of two states to be a stand-alone entity, the home of our national government. However, today, crime has run amok on the streets of the District, and the city's municipal government appears unwilling or unable to address it.
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In 2023, before President Trump resumed office, the most recent year for which solid stats are available, the violent crime rate in the District was 207.4 percent higher than the national average. Rates of property crime were 124.7 percent higher. These numbers, by the way, come from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program, which has issues of its own, so if anything, DC's numbers may be underreported. But even if we take the FBI's numbers at face value, the District is still in serious trouble. In 2023, over half of all the violent crimes were robberies. Almost 40 percent were aggravated assaults, and roughly 3 1/2 percent each were rapes and murders. Of non-violent crimes, almost 70 percent were larceny/theft; almost 25 percent were motor vehicle thefts, including carjackings, and 5.7 percent were burglaries.
If the District were a state, as the fever dreams of Democrats would have it be, then it would have the highest violent crime rates of any state, by a wide, wide margin.
President Trump has threatened to take control of the District, which was originally run directly by Congress. He's taking steps to ramp up federal law enforcement in the city. That may be what's required. How has it come to this?
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The District's location was chosen personally by President George Washington. The city was officially founded in 1790, on land ceded by the states of Maryland and Virginia, so that no one state could claim to house the nation's capital city. The city was designed by a French architect, one Pierre Charles L'Enfant, who laid out the boulevards and ceremonial spaces of a spacious capital city, the pride of our newly founded republic. The city always had its issues, the climate chief among them; European diplomats in the 19th century considered the United States an undesirable diplomatic post because of the summertime heat, humidity, and the accompanying malaria-spreading mosquitoes. In time, though, as America spread across the continent, after America emerged as an industrial and military power after Teddy Roosevelt's Great White Fleet, after the world wars, the District became what the founders wanted: The capital city of the greatest nation since the Roman Republic - indeed, the greatest nation in human history.
The capital city of the United States of America, still the greatest nation in human history, should be a shining example for the rest of the world. It should be a peaceful, prosperous place, a showcase of American culture, of American enterprise, of the fruits of American liberty. It should be a place where American citizens and visitors alike can walk safely, day or night, to take in the many wonders of the leading city of the republic. Instead, the District is what it is: A city in chaos, with the highest crime rate in the country, a place where law-abiding citizens cannot walk or drive without fear. That's intolerable.
Fortunately, in the case of our national capital, there's a solution. Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 of the Constitution gives Congress legislative power over the District:
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards and other needful Buildings.
In 1973, Congress passed the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which placed much of Congress's authority over the District instead in the hands of a municipal government, including a mayor and a city council. Congress still has authority over the District, and local ordinances passed by the municipal government still require review by Congress. This experiment, though, has clearly failed. The local government of the District has failed in the one primary goal of government: To protect the liberty and property of the citizens.
If we are to fix our nation's capital, to make it a peaceful, prosperous, and safe showplace as befits our great Republic, it's time Congress repealed the District of Columbia Home Rule Act and took back direct control of the national capital city.
