Back in 1971 Clint Eastwood starred in a movie about a tough and uncompromising cop who cared little for the niceties of due process and possessed a complete lack of empathy for criminals. The underlying message of the movie, neatly summed up in his gruff observation that “the law’s crazy” when he is chastised for failing to obtain a search warrant while trying to save a kidnapped and tortured girl, is that good men sometimes have to bend the law to stop bad people from harming the innocent and vulnerable, so the pointless blather of those who elevate circuitous legal process over swift justice must silenced with a single shot from the hero’s iconic .44 Magnum pistol.

The Dirty Harry movies were, of course, a Hollywood fantasy. The vast majority of police officers in America are conscientious and well-trained professionals who carefully follow the rules because they understand their duty is to protect the rights of the accused while properly gathering evidence for the courts to examine. However, the continued popularity of this bit of violent escapist cinema—there were, after all, four sequels—speaks to an undercurrent of cold anger among law-abiding American citizens.

We will hold faith with our judicial system only if two outcomes are prioritized: The guilty are punished and the innocent protected. Having failed, at least according the perceptions of the vast majority of our citizens, in this duty for many decades, it is little surprise that activist judges and progressive prosecutors are increasingly viewed with a disdain and disgust by those who are forced to bear the brunt of soft-on-crime policies. This frustration shows up in poll after poll and perhaps goes far to explain why, despite the constant efforts of process-oriented Democrats to stigmatize him, Donald Trump’s predilection for rough justice and swift consequences continues to be popular with many Americans who firmly believe that criminals are coddled and victims are forgotten.

A prime example, of course, is the glaring contrast between the sympathy Democrats lavish upon illegal immigrants and their lack of interest in those assaulted, raped, or murdered by these same precious illegals, which has struck a sour note with many Americans who, truth be told, no longer trust Democrats to put America and Americans first. The telling moment in this year’s State of the Union speech when President Trump asked members of the Senate and Congress to stand if they agreed with the seemingly obvious statement that “The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens” (and every Democrat but one remained glued to their seats) created a contrast that is hard to forget—and which will be endlessly replayed in campaign ads leading up to this year’s midterm elections. Democrats complained that President Trump’s request was a cheap political ploy, but even with the passage of time, it still seems utterly incomprehensible that standing for Americans over illegal immigrants was not their automatic response.

Their mealy-mouthed defenses of the many rights of those who flagrantly break our laws and strike fear into our communities—whether it is crashing our borders, battering women, selling drugs, or shoplifting from a local store—transform many Democrats into the scholarly but ineffectual judge in Dirty Harry who forgets the young rape victim suffocating in a shallow grave while obscenely seeking to protect the man who assaulted her and buried her alive. At a certain point it is appropriate to direct your rage at those who harm others, but the entrenched dogma of the Left is that the victimizers are the actual victims, which is an insult to those who are daily traumatized, injured, and killed by the sociopaths Democrats are determined to continue to protect.

Democrats and their many clueless Leftist allies are still oddly convinced Americans will learn to love muggers, carjackers, rapists, murderers, and thieves. Having now waited a decade in vain, convinced that Donald Trump’s poor manners and lack of respect for his political opponents will eventually turn voters against him, Democrats are appalled that poll after poll shows many voters actually like having a President who is willing to take names, speak plainly, and kick butts. Whether he is directing ICE to aggressively deport illegal immigrants, criticizing judges who seek to circumvent the law through convoluted and evasive rulings, or insulting the intelligence of Blue State prosecutors and Mayors who believe filing criminal charges is authoritarianism, Donald Trump has transformed the Presidency into a 50-state Sheriff’s office that has been both implacable and effective. This drives his political opponents, who are daily seeing their control of our dialogues on social and cultural questions concerning crime and morality slip from their grasp, to employ a fusillade of lies that are driven by despair and fear for their political survivals.

Strong and ruthless leadership will always make some people nervous; however, weak and ineffectual leadership terrifies many more because they do not feel safe and fear for the future of our nation if we fail to hold the line against crime and chaos. The panic now exploding in Democrat-run states and cities that have belatedly discovered people will readily move elsewhere if their high taxes don’t guarantee safety for themselves and their loved ones is becoming comical, but it has not yet convinced the true believers to stop protecting the criminals who are ruining the lives of so many Americans. The open-hearted generosity and tolerance that has always characterized our nation and citizens has been stretched to the breaking point by the consequences of many decades of insane academic theories about the root causes of criminality and the supposed possibility of rehabilitating those conscienceless monsters who contemptuously rob us of our health and happiness.

With all apologies to The Rolling Stones, few of us have any sympathy for the Devil, and we much prefer our judges and prosecutors make abundant use of our jails and prisons to keep the worst of us off the streets of our communities.