From John Kass, a lifelong reporter in Chicago:
Chicago is falling apart. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s completely out of his depth. He was unequipped for the job and his campaign was all about slogans, Marxist rhetoric from his allies in the Chicago Teachers Union, and race. Now those who can are in a rush to leave. His administration is falling apart. And the city is falling apart rapidly…
The public schools prepare Chicago schoolchildren only for prison, not success in life. Public transportation is dangerous and filthy and smells like a urinal. Only the poor use it or those who have no other choice. The city government is a billion dollars in debt. And the public schools are a billion in debt. Where’s the money? Johnson has no clue. …
Chicago, already plagued by violent crime, will get worse beginning Sunday. That’s because Johnson let the contract for the revolutionary crime-fighting technology called ShotSpotter to lapse without a replacement. Although it alerted police to gunshots and helped police make arrests, Johnson derided it as “walkie talkie on a stick.” …
Black aldermen, representing black residents who are most often the victims of violent crime, have tried to keep ShotSpotter alive, knowing that it could lead to more arrests of racial minority gang members, but Johnson has promised to veto any plan to save it. And corporate media types tie themselves up in knots trying to explain a simple, but terrible truth:
The mayor of Chicago would rather protect the violent over his citizens. He’d rather embrace repeat gang offenders than the people who need his protection.
