Wow. Just wow. Excerpt:
Distraught Chicago officials complained to Mayor Lori Lightfoot — as looting and rioting in response to George Floyd’s death swept through the Windy City — pleading for help and warning that the vulnerable had lost access to food and medicine.
According to a tape obtained by WTTW News of an online conference call among the city’s 50 aldermen and the mayor, one alderman could be heard weeping while others angrily decried what was going on in the city.
“My ward is a s–t show,” one alderman says. “They are shooting at the police.”
After the death of Floyd in police custody last month, riots and protests broke out in cities across the country, with many being overwhelmed by the scale of the looting and violence — even though largely peaceful protests have returned to the streets after that initial surge of unrest.
The call in Chicago was held Sunday, May 31. That day alone, there were 699 arrests — primarily looters — 132 officers injured, 48 shootings and 17 homicides, according to CBS Chicago, as well as widespread damage to businesses and other property.
Mayor Lightfoot’s reply has been less than sterling:
On the call, others took aim at Lightfoot herself for her response to the crisis. One man, identified by WTTW News as Ald. Raymond Lopez, demanded that Lightfoot develop a plan to stabilize Chicago’s neighborhoods for five days, calling his Southwest Side ward “a virtual war zone” where armed gang members were threatening to shoot black people.
When he demanded she respond to the remarks, Lightfoot told him he was “100 percent full of s–t.”
“Well, f–k you then,” Lopez responded.
This, True Believers, is a classical case of governmental autophagia. Chicago is descending into chaos, and the Mayor and aldermen are all pointing at each other.
Honestly, you didn’t expect any of these people to accept any responsibility for this mess, did you? Pols in our major cities seem to have gotten awfully good at abject fawning before angry mobs, but seem to have very little idea how to determine the causes behind the mob’s anger; they also seem all too willing to cave in to the demands of said angry mobs.
Because that always has worked out so well in the past.
Sooner or later, folks, someone will come along offering a solution to the ills of our major cities, if only the voters will concede complete power – or if they can seize total power through some other means. And, sadly, a fair number of people, especially people in the major cities who are tired of the nonstop cycle of crime and riots, will probably be accepting of the idea.
Because that always has worked out so well in the past.
Don’t think for a moment that this particular Rubicon can’t be crossed at the national level, either; a particularly talented demagogue could easily point to the success of totalitarian control of a major city and promise similar results on a larger scale, selling a level of security in return for the surrender of freedom. And again, a fair number of people who are tired of the animating contest of liberty and prosperity will probably be accepting of the idea.
Because that always has worked out so well in the past.
Chicago may well be a bellwether. Minneapolis, too. Watch those places closely over the next year or so.
