> Doesn't seem like it's that hard to get a conviction. The US has a sociology problem, not a difficulty getting convictions problem. There are more people in

> Doesn't seem like it's that hard to get a conviction. The US has a sociology problem, not a difficulty getting convictions problem. There are more people in prisons in America because more people commit crimes in America, compared to those other places. And more people commit crimes than are caught and convicted. If the US was in fact a police state, those incarceration rates would be even higher. > there is utterly nothing exceptional about DC The subject under discussion is Trump having the National Guard to perform law enforcement duties. DC is indeed exceptional in that it is the only jurisdiction where he could do that. > it's miles safer than virtually anywhere in methville, Appalachia Factually untrue. The state of West Virginia, the archetype of "Methville, Appalachia", has a lower homicide rate than its vastly richer neighbor Virginia (almost twice as high of a median household income). > Should career criminals face fewer reprieves? Absolutely. > Is this an easy fix that Big Brain Trump is going to solve? LOL, no, give me a break. Given what we know of recidivism, Trump's brain does not need to be all that big to make a noticeable difference. In fact, you already touched upon the solution: just don't keep releasing multiple-times convicted violent criminals back into the population. A tiny fraction of the population is responsible for the majority of violent crimes. Just keep them away from the rest of society and you'll have made a big difference in the lives of the less well-off who, for the most part, have to live next to these people.