The left sees Donald Trump’s attempted takeover of Washington law enforcement as part of a multifront march to autocracy, “vindictive authoritarian rule,” as one activist put it. And as an extraordinary thing to do in rather ordinary times on the streets of the capital.

To the right, it’s a bold move to fracture the crust of Democratic urban bureaucracy and make DC a better place for White people to live.

Where that debate settles — if it ever does — may determine whether Washington, a symbol for America in all its granite glory, history, achievement, inequality, and dysfunction, becomes a model under the imprint of Trump for how cities are policed, cleaned up and run, or ruined.

Under the guise of his Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, Trump put some 800 National Guard troops on

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