Isn’t it interesting? Joe Manchin announced over the weekend that he’s a West Virginia democrat, not a Washington democrat, and he has no interest in becoming one. Isn’t it interesting that 28 House dems are retiring in 2022? NYC filled more GOP in City Council seats than in the last few decades; only 5, but still made headlines. It’s also fascinating to see in NYC, a former lawmaker (moderate dem) has changed his party affiliation to GOP and is running in Brooklyn to take a re-mapped seat in his old district the state assembly. He is quoted in his statement: “I can’t believe everything that’s going on in the democrat party, all the calls to defund the police, the cancel culture. It goes against my character and my nature.” In fact, dem defections are happening at one of the fastest paces in decades.
So, my invitation is simple: All my “normal” dem friends (which I do consider ‘most’ of you to be normal), why not become a moderate GOP supporter instead? Not hard right. Not hard left. Just in that “Center Field” position that really seems to be ignored by the dem caucus, populated by most of us, and embraced by the GOP. You have a better home choice than the one you are currently registered with; really, you do.
And let’s not miss the chance to look at what far-left politics has done of late: So far this year, there have been almost 40 officers shot. We’re on pace for a 67% increase over last year, which was itself record-setting. It’s only early February.
Murder rates are up 50% over last year. And guess what: Last year (2021) 16 major cities all reported record-setting murder and violent crime rates. And now it’s running even higher? Wow. By the way – those are just the major cities; violent crime is up across the board.
Why is this happening? I point fingers squarely at the evisceration of laws, bail, and incarcerations, led almost entirely by far-left leaning city councils and district attorneys. There are pages, in fact volumes, of data to support this. But let’s just stay with the basics: When you lessen or eliminate penalties for crimes of any magnitude, study after study after study and time after time we see one thing: Criminals will escalate to more severe criminal activity. Repeat offenders will (most of the time) do one thing: Repeat. And by the way, this is not new data – we’ve known these facts for decades. We see it in bail reform and lessening of charges by district attorneys that releases violent criminals that should have been held, only to see them murder their prospective witnesses (several cases of this just in the last 12 months under these policies, including the one in New Jersey that happened the same NIGHT of his release).
But those that elected these people think that we can instead address the mental health issue and avoid “unnecessary incarcerations”. News flash, folks: Mental health or not, these people pose an immediate threat; not a long-term possible threat. So, until we have a “silver bullet” (so to speak) where we can plug their heads into immediate treatment that is proven immediately effective and takes away the imminent danger they pose, I’m sorry, they need to be removed from the society they threaten. Case after case of this… especially in the last 6-12 months: The Christmas parade killer in Wisconsin – long, violent wrap sheet, a DA who lessened a charge and necessary bail just a few days earlier, and a repeat domestic abuse event that then led to his speeding through a Christmas parade, killing several and injuring dozens. Mental health? Sure. Classify it however you like. But should he have not been on the streets? Absolutely.
The little girl shot last week in Chicago while walking with her mother: A gang member was targeted; the little girl was not even involved. He survived. She took two bullets to the head. This is a recurring battle between the Latin Saints and the Latin Kings. Mental health? No. Street thugs that can more easily get away with these crimes.
But the recent wave of “woke” district attorneys in these major cities (and yes, Denver, too) are determined to lessen charges for crimes (felonies migrated to misdemeanors, like the new DA in NYC just announced in January). They are determined to remove bail. They are determined to not prosecute a growing number of crimes. They are determined to release violent criminals back onto the streets. You probably didn’t know that of the 650,000 prisoners released annually, over 2/3 will be re-arrested within 3 years. Now, that said, we have a long way to go to help them be successful … after they have completed their sentence. That statement I stand behind. But the tactic with these new far-left “progressives” is to release far earlier, or in many cases these days, not even incarcerate or charge at all.
What’s the result of all of this? Demoralized and declining police forces. Barely-populated academies for new law enforcement recruits. Skyrocketing retirements. Criminals targeted police on the streets. And ultimately, a decline in our societal safety. This isn’t a forecast – this is today, and it’s growing. Biden went to NYC last week and said he’s throwing money at the problem, so we can get more cops on the streets. Here’s another newsflash, Joe: You can pour money into law enforcement and pitch that line all over the country and build it into your “American Rescue” $2T plan from early in 2021 all you want. But when you continue to vilify cops, remove their civil protections and place their entire retirements and livelihood at risk, and review body cameras for even a hint of the slightest misstep before you even start to look at the criminals they were encountering in the first place, well guess what: You don’t have any cops that want the job.
Common sense, folks. And there’s really only one group touting that today: Moderate GOP and their moderate Dem friends, who are really more GOP than they realize. Join us. Come on in! Water’s warm…
