Has anyone noticed that none of the trial-ballooned policy notions floated by staff surrogates for presidential aspirant Harris has gained any traction?This finger-in-the-wind approach enables the candidate to disclaim responsibility while signaling to backers a willingness to advance “forward-looking ideas” as our nation faces debilitating present-day divisiveness. I fear the stage is set for worsening insurrection.Continued lack of border discipline, failure to deal with Colorado gang activity, passive response to religious discrimination, and clamor for ancient-history reparations stand as evidence of lawlessness and self-gratification. Is ‘paternalism’ replacing ‘patriotism’ while the public sucks its thumbs? Government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” cannot preside over a worldwide welfare state. “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”Law and order, the essential foundation of our democratic republic, is under increasing attack by our own prosecutors, judges and jurists who somehow feel more sympathy for perpetrators than their prey. Phil Osifer