The foofaurauw over President Trump’s federalization of law enforcement in our nation’s capital – note the spelling – has been characterized by clashing claims about the actual state of law and order in the District of Columbia. I’m not privy to the source material, so I can’t comment on the veracity of any particular claim. But I can comment on what political power centers attract. I’ve seen it in capitals from coast to coast.

     In a capital city, an observer will nearly always find two zones:

• The political zone;
• The rest of the city.

     The political zone is distinct from the rest. It’s typically clean and orderly. Nice, well-tended buildings with door guards and metal detectors. It’s well policed. And the people you’ll find there are predominantly white and directly associated with the government, either as office holders, appointees, employees, or lobbyists. (Neglect the tourists; they’re a transient crowd.)

     The rest of the city tends toward squalor. It’s dirty. The buildings are ratty-looking. The police are few and sparse. In the case of Washington D.C., the population is predominantly black and heavily dependent on government assistance.

     There’s no real mystery about it. Grifters and gimme types will always be attracted to centers of power. The powerful are able to “help” them. Thus, over time a slum will accrete around a capital. The Capitol itself – note the spelling – will be protected from the slum’s encroachment. Can’t let the Men Who Matter be troubled by such things; they’ve got a country to run.

     Some of those Men Who Matter will make use of the poverty and squalor of the slum district. Human distress can be exceedingly useful to a power-seeker. That doesn’t help either.

     While I applaud President Trump’s avowed intention to clean up D.C. and make it a safe city, I doubt he can change the power dynamic that created the conditions there. Perhaps Horatio Bunce could tell him why, though the president would probably continue on the course he’s already set. Donald J. Trump hates crime and disorder. Unlike the rest of us, he can do something about it, in the near term at least.