DeeGeesLifeBlog ~ Life as Art ~ Or is it Heart?

Without morals a republic cannot subsist for any length of time. They therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure, and which inspires to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments. ~ Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Signatory of the Declaration

For years and years and years it seems, Chicago has been front page and center in the decline and fall of many Democrat-run municipalities amongst which, of course, are the already-devastated communities (in descending order) of Detroit, Oakland, Memphis, St. Louis, Cleveland, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Birmingham, Newark, and Kansas City, Missouri. Bear in mind that the main contributing factor in the decline of these cities is the reality that:

• Detroit hasn’t had a Republican mayor since 1961;
• Oakland, CA has been a Democrat stronghold since 1977;
• Memphis in Democrat hands since 1991;
• St. Louis has been led exclusively by Democrat mayors since 1949;
• Cleveland, no Republican mayor since 1989;
• Baltimore, Democrat-led since 1967;
• Milwaukee, which has elected only Democratic mayors since 1908;
• Birmingham, which has been Democrat-run since 1975;
• Newark, a Democrat bastion since 1933; and
• Kansas City, Missouri, which has not seen a Republican mayor in a quarter-century.

On the other hand, New York City, which in the early 1990s transitioned away from nearly half a century of Democrat leadership, serves as a case study not only of how left-wing law-enforcement policies helped breed crime and chaos for a long period of time, but also how the cessation of those policies caused crime to plummet almost instantly. From 1946 through 1993, New York was led in succession by seven Democrat mayors, but when Republican Rudi Giuliani replaced Dinkins as mayor in 1994 he quickly transformed New York into the safest big city in America.

Detroit devastation under Democrat mayors…

Chicago, however, copying an old familiar refrain, has been led exclusively by Democrat mayors since 1931. Under the “progressive” policies of such notables as Richard J. Daley, Michael Bilandic, Jane Byrne, and Harold Washington, the city’s economic and social fabric decayed markedly during the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. These trends were accompanied by a steep decline in Chicago’s population, which fell from 3.62 million in 1950 to 2.78 million by 1990. Due to the continuing social, economic, and crime-related challenges faced by Chicagoans, more than 200,000 people moved out of the city during the first decade of the 21st century—an exodus exceeded in magnitude only by the former residents of Detroit.

The overriding reality that has had a more major impact on life in Chicago, however, is crime. Since the mid-1970s, the annual homicide tally within the city has ranged between 435 and 970, with the trends and fluctuations more or less mirroring those observable nationwide. Today Chicago ranks among the most dangerous cities in the U.S.  Blacks, who constitute roughly 35% of Chicago’s population, commit 76% of all homicides in the city. By contrast, whites, who are 28% of the population, commit 4% of the homicides.

Driving the trend of high crime rates in Chicago’s black community is a high incidence of single motherhood; between 75% and 80% of the city’s black children are born out-of-wedlock. Sociological research has demonstrated conclusively that growing up without a father is a far better forecaster of a boy’s future criminality than either race or poverty. As Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Rector notes, “Illegitimacy is a major factor in America’s crime problem. Lack of married parents, rather than race or poverty, is the principal factor in the crime rate.”

As John Kass writes in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune: “The dead multiply in Chicago, the fruit of the gang wars ripening in August. With at least 78 killed so far, August is the deadliest month in nearly 20 years, according to a Tribune analysis. It’s all but certain that the city’s homicide total will push beyond the 491 dead of last year”. [the numbers were updated overnight at Hey Jackass to 91 homicides; 15 further homicides in the period 8/28 – 9/3; and total homicides thus far this year 497]

“Back in the day, the shooter was typically a male black between the ages of 17 and 23, and the victim was typically a male black between the ages of 17 and 23. So what’s changed since the ’90s? Not much, the same social pathology, and the police are expected to clean it up”.

“Some call it ‘gun violence,’ a definition greatly appreciated by Democrat politicians like those at City Hall. They can point to guns and take that voter anger over homicide numbers and channel it into a safe space”.

“But there are plenty of guns in the suburbs, and suburbanites aren’t slaughtering each other.  It’s the gang wars”. [end quote]

The most accurate statement on the fallacy of gun control yet. Suburbanites have guns; generally lots of guns. People target shoot. They hunt. They have guns to protect their homes. Some of them carry them legally every day.

Yet, they don’t go out shooting up neighborhood parks. They don’t shoot neighbors on their patios, or while they’re walking their dog. They don’t get drunk and ride motorcycles down the streets shooting guns in the air while yelling, “Yahoo!” Many Chicago suburbs haven’t had a murder in years, some even decades.

To view video click here

It isn’t the guns. It’s the people. It’s a culture of violence in the neighborhoods on the South and West sides. It’s the way of life in a street gang where life has no value. Check the stats again on Hey Jackass and you’ll see that 90% of all shootings in Chicago are gang-related according to the Chicago Police.

If Chicagoans want to stop the carnage, they need to lock up the gang members for life, no parole. They need to crack down hard on street gangs. Make the war on gangs a real war. Stop being accepting of irresponsibility. End the “gangsta” mentality. Stop treating it as normal. It breeds gang members.

Teenage girls getting pregnant is morally wrong. Tell them so. Again and again. Impose a curfew. There is no reason 14-year-olds should be wandering the streets at 2:30 in the morning. Hold parents accountable for their children’s actions as well as the children. Put God back into the schools.

But until they rid the city of the infestation of gangs, nothing will change. And if they continue electing Democrat Mayors and state government overseers year after year, after year, you can G U A R A N T E E that nothing will ever change. Ever.

Double Guaranteed.

Our ancestors established their system of government on morality and religious sentiment. Moral habits, they believed, cannot safely be entrusted on any other foundation than religious principle, nor any government secure which is not supported by moral habits. Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens. ~ Daniel Webster

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See Chicago Gangs No Longer Fear Police

See also Toxic Government By Democrats In Chicago

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Soli Deo Gloria!