As Hurricane Erin spawned rip currents and high surfs and threatened flooding along the North Carolina coast, Gov. Josh Stein declared a state of emergency Tuesday and placed swift-water rescue teams and National Guard troops on standby.

He did not send N.C. Guard troops to Washington, D.C.

Good for him.

However, six other states did, piling on more unnecessary military force in a trumped-up emergency on the streets of the nation’s capital that is more about political theater than substantive solutions.

The governors of Mississippi, Louisiana, Ohio, West Virginia, South Carolina,o and Tennessee, all of whom are Republicans, have committed to sending Guard troops to D.C.

South Carolina is deploying 200 troops to Washington; Tennessee, 160; Louisiana, 135; Mississippi, approximately 200

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