Because the riots we’re seeing in California, and if I can predict the future (as this column’s deadline comes before the scheduled Saturday, June 14th, 2025, riots), coming to a town near you, are but a symptom (and warning) about our limited form of government that no longer knows any limits.

It’s like these folks get elected and think they can do whatever they want with the power and money that comes with their new position to force their agenda down the throats of the citizenry and not have any consequences for doing so.

And this may come as a shock to you, I don’t mean President Donald Trump. Ironically, it’s not about power and money for him, as he came into office (again) with plenty of the latter, and his election gave him all the former any man could ever ask for.

Whether you see it or not, he’s losing plenty of money while on the job and exercising very little power over the citizens he’s sworn to protect and defend.

Go ahead, outside of the left’s talking points, lawfare and projection, tell me where I’m wrong. But you don’t get to use talking points, lawfare or projection in doing so.

Mind you, I am not saying Donald Trump is some angel. I’ve written columns warning about the dangers of electing him in 2016 and again in 2024. On the first run my warnings were about giving a narcissist the most powerful position in the free world. To my surprise, he governed conservatively and constitutionally for the majority of his first term.

Was I wrong? To paraphrase the latest leftist phrase, I was mostly wrong.

Then came Covid-19.

And my fears about Donald Trump came to life as he fell into the trap of unlimited power during a crisis (no matter how manmade and self-induced it was), which can be turned on the people. It came in two ways: 15 days to slow the spread and we can’t get back to normal until we get the vaccine.

Both of these took control out of the hands of the citizens and put the people’s very life and liberty even more under the iron fist (and whims) of government. And even though they didn’t “make a law” on either mandate, they put all the power and control solely (and don’t forget cash flow) in the hands of government. And as always happens, the collectivists jumped on the opportunity. Because absolute control, which is the power over life and death, is their ultimate goal.

And while I could write a hundred columns about the abuses of power over the Covid “pandemic,” this column is about the control Covid gave leftist (and more than a few conservative players, see: Kuhr, Jeff for a local example) governors, commissioners and mayors through “emergency powers” and how they are still being abused on the citizens to this day. If you’d like another local, “emergency” example, have a look-see on the success of our fair city in managing the homeless crisis.

Because that’s all this whole “immigration” thing is about: Who controls it.

And government lust for control knows no bounds. Just look at how it runs the pot, booze, gambling, tobacco and petroleum industry across the country. Yes, those “businesses” are all run by the government. Now you may argue without government “oversight” these “vices would run amok in society. I’d argue, amok they indeed run because that’s how government wants it. I mean, outside of petroleum, our founders loved to partake in all of them at the nation’s founding. But they used them freely, not for control as government has “progressed” to doing.

After all, “Give them bread and circuses” is an adage for a reason. And while we can’t necessarily apply it directly to illegal immigration, there is a connection related to who runs the business – along with the bread and circuses we call “protests,” which we now apparently organize across the country instead of passing out flyers to come to the Colosseum. Then again, this isn’t exactly Maximus Decimus Meridius as the headliner in your program; it’s more like Minimus Maxipadius Manipulatus. And sadly, “they” are legion.

Simply put, the illegal immigration “emergency” is government created and controlled. After all, who are the promoters of both the influx of illegals and the “protests” we are all about to witness across the country? The folks who are truly in control of the progressive left either through power, position or the almighty dollar.

And what does the left need most in order to declare its emergency related to illegal immigration? That’s right. Illegal immigrants. And nothing attracts illegal immigrants more than the benefits wasted through tax dollars in “sanctuary” cities and states while placing both illegals and those in power above the law.

And where is this all located? In democrat city and state strongholds. Strongholds that are paid for by billionaire benefactors on the left.

Ironically, the only person trying to put a stop to it is another billionaire who came to power, but through the vote of the people: Donald Trump. And all he’s trying to do is enforce the law. You know, the laws those on the left keep breaking.

And we’re gonna see a lot more lawbreaking as the summer heats up and the circus comes to town.

In Christ and Freedom.

Craig Hall is owner and publisher of The Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com