The continuing unrest in Portland, Oregon, which has now lasted some 55 nights, exemplifies the breakdown of law and order that has become a daily occurrence in many cities with progressive mayors. Portland police are nowhere to be found at the sight of the protests outside the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse, a federal building. On June 26, President Trump issued an Executive Order sending federal troops to protect the courthouse—and so far, they have made at least 43 arrests. The President minced no words when he attacked the protesters as “anarchists and left-wing extremists” spurred on by “agitators who have traveled across State lines” to wreak havoc.

Both his words and his use of federal troops have provoked a fierce reaction. Writing in The Atlantic, Ronald Brownstein accused the President of driving an ugly wedge between Red and Blue America to boost his reelection chances this coming November. Similarly, The Atlantic’s Quinta Jurecic and Benjamin Wittes insist that it violates the rule of law for plainclothes federal agents to arrest local protestors and cart them away in unmarked vehicles. Meanwhile, Joe Biden accused the Trump administration of “brutally attacking peaceful protesters.” And Nancy Pelosi has likened the federal agents to “stormtroopers.”

This chorus of criticism rests on the assumption that all governmental processes should be transparent and above board, and that any federal presence in local communities only will further inflame a tense situation.