For Dems, It's Only a Matter of Crime

July 8, 2021

Now that America's crime wave is coming home to roost, the Left is pumping out ridiculous excuses faster than you can say "defund the police." It's Republicans' fault, the White House insists! It's the cops' fault, the media says! Or, it's no one's fault -- the violence isn't real! But the people's choice award had to go to MSNBC's Joy Reid, who compared the whole crisis to Shark Week. Because apparently, homicide and summer go together like Jaws and Richard Dreyfus.

As clever as their explanations may be, they're no substitute for the truth -- which is that there's only one group to blame for the bloodshed on our streets, and that's the party who spent the last year encouraging it! Democrats own this massive spike in violence, and voters know it. From local mayors to the party's presidential nominee, the far-Left has spent the last 13 months catering to the pro-lawless, anti-police mob. And now that the country is reaping what Democrats have sown, they're desperately trying to convince America that a) they care; and b) they had nothing to do with it -- both of which stink of insincerity.

All most people have seen these last several months is a Democratic Party bent on demonizing law enforcement, minimizing the madness (or outright supporting it), and pushing a wildly unpopular agenda that makes our communities unsafe for everyone. In other words, they don't think the Left is trying to fix our problems. They are our problem. And as recently as this weekend, the country's absentee leader, didn't want to be bothered. "I want to talk about happy things, man," Joe Biden said. "It's the holiday weekend. I'm going to celebrate it. There's great things happening." Tell that to the families of the 230 victims who were shot and killed while the president was busy lighting sparklers.

In places like Chicago, local Democrats can't believe their ears. "... [T]he mayor's policies have... put the entire city under siege," Alderman Raymond Lopez (D) fumed, "spread[ing] fear and violence into every neighborhood." And yet, when the president touched down in the Windy City to meet with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the subject -- much to the Chicago Tribune's dismay -- was never even broached. In other cities, like New York, the tension between the national Democrats and local party is palpable. Former police captain Eric Adams's (D) stunning primary win in the Big Apple was the biggest sign yet that there's major trouble ahead for Democrats. His winning platform -- focused almost exclusively on curbing crime -- turned out to be a major repudiation of the Left (and a sudden wake-up call to party headquarters).

"If black lives really matter," Adams argued, "then it means that we won't have senseless gang violence in New York, Chicago, Atlanta. I say that it's time for us to stop believing that we should have the right tweets. We should have the right safe streets." No wonder the Democrats are sweating bullets, Michael Goodwin wrote. "Those same voters chose Adams in big numbers and cited growing crime in their neighborhoods as the reason. They don't want less policing -- they want more and better policing."

And what does the Left want? Open borders that let gangsters, drugs, and traffickers into our country. Fewer guns for lawful citizens to defend themselves. Gutted police departments that let thugs and criminals rule our streets. "And what we are seeing now is city after city, New York being the kingpin, they're becoming killing fields," FRC's Ken Blackwell lamented on "Washington Watch." "We are now watching the Left slowly draining opportunity out of our society. They are looking for a radical transformation of our constitutional republic, making it one that's run by a one-party governed federal or central government. And death and destruction are the results."

Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) is the perfect example of what shouldn't be done. For the last four years, he's basically been dismantling the law enforcement system in New York -- pushing through laws that let violent criminals out of prison and back on the street. It's a classic move of the Left. They create a huge mess from their outrageous policies, then turn around and say that they have to spend someone else's money to fix the problem.

And frankly, the Left wouldn't even care about the spike in crime if it weren't proving to be a political crisis for them as well. When even the New York Times is asking, "Do liberals have an answer to violent crime? And if so, what is it?" Democratic strategists have to be worried that their majorities are in danger. They've already alienated law enforcement and everyone involved in public safety. Now they're losing homeowners, suburban moms, small business owners -- who can't thrive in lawless chaos. The next shoe to drop may be black voters, who care just as much -- if not more -- about keeping crime off their streets. And that will be next to impossible with police forces that have been defunded, demoralized, dispirited, and discredited.

New York City is down about 1,500 officers right now, thanks to the billion dollars officials slashed from the budget and the number of disgruntled officers who are retiring. In Chicago, they're down 700. In Los Angeles, 600. Our police force isn't simply walking away -- they're leaving. After this past year, they're not going out on a limb to be aggressive in enforcement, because the local administrations don't have their back. Why should they risk their lives, their retirement, and their families' futures if liberal leaders are going to cut and run on them? That has to change -- and soon -- or else Democrats aren't just going to have a political problem. They're going to have a national one. And they'll have no one to blame but themselves.