Monday, June 22, 2020
I was surprised when I read about the number of murders that took place in Chicago over the weekend of 20-21JUN2020. At least sixteen people were killed, and about thirty were injured. Two of those people were shot in the head during a drive-by. Hitting two targets in the head from a moving vehicle is the work of a very lucky, or expert shooter. Let's hope that it was luck. The alternative might be a bit too troubling for me to handle on a Monday. The most astonishing part of the story, however, was Mayor Lori Lightfoot's (aparently no relation to Gordon Lightfoot) response to the Governor's mobilization of a small number of National Guardsmen.
Apparently, the Mayor was more concerned with the "optics" of soldiers on the streets of Chicago, than with all that blood flowing down the storm drains. This is Clown World. In any sane society, this ineffectual politician would have been removed from office. Also, more would be done in order to protect the civilian population. There would be more troops on the streets, and the police would be making mass arrests of suspected gang members.
Of course, we can't do this because we live in a polite, democratic society. It doesn't matter that there is nothing polite about America, that this was never a democracy (a synonym for mob rule), and that the Republic collapsed in 1865. Still, we have to pretend that these events do not demand a serious response because decisive action might hurt the feelings of a politician that is little more than an affirmative action appointee, and the sentiments of her voters (a mob that really shouldn't even be allowed to vote).
Here is a link to the story:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/16-dead-at-least-30-injured-in-second-straight-weekend-of-violence-in-chicago