To the Editor:

In his letter to the editor (‘On Scaros’ Comments about New York City’, Mar. 16), Bill Tragos was critical of two items I wrote: my March 2 column (‘From ‘Fun City’ to ‘Slash and Suckerpunch City’), and a letter to the Wall Street Journal (‘A 2024 Nightmare Scenario?’ Mar. 6).

The column is available in full context to TNH readers and speaks for itself, so there’s no need to revisit it here. The Journal letter, though, is not, and so I felt compelled to respond.
My letter was based on Journal columnist William Galston’s description of the eve of a second Donald Trump inauguration, foreseeing tens of thousands of troops patrolling major cities, arresting more than 100,000 apoplectic Americans who took to the streets. My response to Mr. Galston was: “you aren’t saying all that only to get my hopes up, are you?“
Mr. Tragos asks two excellent questions that deserve an answer: would such a scenario make me happy, and what if instead it’s Trump who loses and his supporters are the ones who take to the streets?”

Generally, demonstrations sadden me, because I don’t like to see people so upset. However, whether pleasant or not, when demonstrations are peaceful, they’re legal. But when they turn violent – as in the summer of 2020 by fringe leftists in numerous large cities or on January 6 by Trump supporters, in both cases the lawlessness stemming from a tiny fraction of the crowd – then I want the bad guys to be thrown in jail, regardless of party or cause.
What I hope for, then, is not lawbreaking, but intestinal fortitude by those in charge to arrest, prosecute, and convict the lawbreakers.

Constantinos E. Scaros