Last week we were treated to headlines about riots in a city that had chosen to defund the police.  There were rowdy crowds, blazing fires, and people vandalizing police cars.  You know, just good, clean fun.  The headlines didn’t identify the location of the rioting.  Was it Seattle, Washington?  Portland, Oregon?  No.  Surprisingly, the rioting took place in Texas.  More specifically, in that portion of the State of Texas where the Woke imbeciles are in charge.  The State’s capitol.  Austin, in Travis County.  Austin, the liberal backwater of Texas, decided to defund the local police department by taking away one-third of its budget.  Add to this a George Soros funded district attorney, who spends his time prosecuting police officers instead of criminals, and you’ve sown the seeds for the unrest we saw last week.  The riot has been variously described as a street racing incident, or a street closure incident.  In truth, it looked like open warfare.  A screaming mob threw rocks and bottles at police, attacked police cars, and shot lasers and fireworks at the police.  Several officers were injured.  Meanwhile, in a scene that resembled what might happen if all the residents of an insane asylum were released and issued smart phones, maniacs drove cars at high speed, round and round in circles, while asylum patients inside the circles shot videos of the mayhem.  Occasionally, the cars went out of control and struck one of more of the mental defectives, sending them sailing into the crowd.  At least two of the numb-sculls were set, or managed to set themselves, on fire.  What else is there to do on a Saturday night?  Take a look.

The scene brought to mind the words of a fictional Texas law enforcement officer.The street festivities blocked traffic on major roads in Austin, and spilled out onto Interstate 35.  Austin Mayor Kirk Watson called the incidents “illegal and outrageous” (you think?) and said “they will result in arrest.”  The Austin police must have given significance to the fact that the Mayor said “arrest” instead of “arrests” because, despite the fact that there were hundreds of rioters, many of whom were carrying phones containing video footage proving their guilt, Austin police arrested only two people.  The Mayor went on to say he was relieved that property damage was limited, but the real damage to life and property cannot be calculated, as 911 call volume went up dramatically, and the rioting prevented police from responding to emergencies.  The larger problem isn’t the fact that a crowd in Austin went berserk and created a dangerous spectacle, the problem is that the participants no longer think that they’re doing anything wrong, and actually believe that it’s their right to do as they please, the public be damned.  One of the rioters who was interviewed afterward said it all when he advised the Austin police to “just stay in their lane.”  Can you imagine that?  In Texas no less?  Let’s hear again from Sheriff Buford T. Justice –

And that’s the point.  If this can happen in Texas it can happen anywhere, and the combination of rioters who think it’s their right to run amok, impotent police, and prosecutors who refuse to enforce the law sets the stage for the complete breakdown of society.  I’m once again reminded of the 15th Century words of Thomas Hobbes, who described the breakdown of civil law and society as a return to “the state of nature,” resulting in a “war of every man against every man.” “In such condition, there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain; and consequently no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”  Hobbes could have been describing the current condition of every major city in this country.  But we don’t have to let Hobbes’ dystopia be our future.  There’s still time to put the inmates back in the asylum.  Texas Governor Abbott has been criticized for failing to step in to stop the chaos in Austin.  He has the resources.  The Austin police may be unable to take action, but Texas has the Texas Rangers, and the Texas Highway Patrol (State Police).  In truth, there are fewer than 100 Texas Rangers, but that’s enough.  A legend from the 1890’s recounts a town calling on the Rangers to put down an impending riot.  The local Sheriff met the train, and only one man got off.  The Sheriff asked, “They only sent you?”  The Ranger replied, “One riot, one Ranger.”  There are, however, nearly 3,000 State Police, and this nonsense needs to be stopped.  It won’t be easy, it won’t be pretty, and the usual Woke suspects will scream bloody murder, but screw them.  If law enforcement cowers in fear at the prospect of being criticized for merely enforcing the law, then we’re through, and get ready for Hobbes’ state of nature.  The Woke imbeciles make the mistake of believing that they represent the majority of public opinion.  They don’t.  Woke idiocy is not the mainstream, its just louder than the majority of people who simply want a peaceful, safe, and orderly environment in which to earn a living and raise their families.  We used to say, “the law’s the law.”  Lately, in a world where looters are allowed to empty retail stores without fear of arrest, we’ve clearly lost our way.  It’s time for the silent majority to stand up, speak up, and put an end to the chaos that threatens to destroy society in the name of equity, whatever the hell that means.  Permitting criminals to run amok, and the homeless to crap in the street is neither equitable nor compassionate.  And forcing the law-abiding people who are the ones funding this insanity to live in fear is an outrage.  If we wait to restore sanity, we are playing with fire.  As Thomas Hobbes also noted, “Hell is truth seen too late.”  And if any of the Woke imbeciles object to the restoration of law and order, I direct them to Sheriff Justice, who will overrule their objections very succinctly –