Rahm Emanuel tells the truth about Chicago violence and gets fierce blowback

August 18, 2018
Rahm Emanuel tells the truth about Chicago violence and gets fierce blowback
By Thomas Lifson
A
https://www.americanthinker.com/blo...hicago_violence_and_gets_fierce_blowback.html

Chicago’s mayor evidently forgot one of the iron laws of the Democratic Party: no members of any victim class can be held responsible for any problems that result from their behavior. The ever expanding list of victim classes has grown from blacks to include all “people of color” (basically, everybody but Caucasians who implicitly are deemed “colorless”) even elite and privileged ones like Sarah Jeong, poor people, and people who choose sexual and gender adventurism, among others.



Perhaps it was the shock of seeing 75 people shot and 12 killed the weekend before last that impelled Rahm Emanuel to speak honestly about why such extreme violence is concentrated in a couple of neighborhoods.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel blamed the city’s massive crime problem on a “shortage of values” after at least 75 people were shot over the weekend.

“We have a heavy heart,” the Democratic mayor said at a news conference Monday. “Our souls are burdened. What happened this weekend did not happen in every neighborhood of Chicago but it is unacceptable to happen in any neighborhood of Chicago. We are a better city.” (snip)

Mr. Emanuel called on residents to “be a neighbor” and step forward if they knew anything about the perpetrators.

He also said placing the blame for the violence on higher summer temperatures, when crime typically spikes, would be a mistake.

“You can talk about the weather but the weather didn’t pull the trigger,” Mr. Emanuel said. “You can talk about jobs, and they count, but in parts of the city where there aren’t jobs, people did not pull the trigger.

“There are too many guns on the street, too many people with criminal records on the street, and there is a shortage of values about what is right, what is wrong, was is acceptable, what is condoned and what is condemned,” he said.

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Such common sense proved offensive. And now Emanuel is paying the price. The Chicago Tribune reports:

Democratic attorney general candidate Kwame Raoul on Thursday criticized Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s focus on a lack of morals in African-American communities struggling with gun violence, calling that approach “outright wrong.” (snip)

The criticism represents a prominent establishment African-American distancing himself from some of the mayor’s positions on policing and gun violence at a time when he and African-American opponent, Republican Erika Harold, are courting black voters across the state. Raoul’s comments also come at a time when Emanuel is working to rebuild his once-solid support among black voters, which has waned following the Laquan McDonald police shooting controversy.

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The shooting of Laquan, captured on body cam footage that was withheld from the public over a year, outraged many, and resulted in the imposition of new rules requiring extensive documentation from cops, diverting them into paperwork and potential legal liability should they practice proactive policing, attempting to identify threats before violence breaks out. This has only aggravated the incidence of violence breaking out.

During an appearance at the Illinois State Fair, the Democratic state senator from the South Side also disagreed with Emanuel’s opposition to a proposal that would require Chicago police officers to document every instance in which they point a gun at someone.

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The wannabe chief law enforcement officer of the State of Illinois is not alone in criticizing Emanuel:

Shari Runner, former president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League, deemed the remarks insensitive. "I cannot see the victims of racist policies and bigoted practices shamed by anyone who says they need to do better or be better in their circumstance. I won’t accept it,” Runner said

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The epidemic of absentee fathers in the black community is semi-officially forbidden as a topic of discussion, because it “blames the victims.” The prevalence of rap music with violent lyrics also cannot be mentioned as a possible motivation for violence among a particular demographic slice for the same reason.

America has embraced dysfunctional cultures, not merely in various ethnic groups, but in our public political discussions. You cannot solve a problem unless you correctly identify it. The prospects are that violence will spread (as it is already doing) in Chicago and elsewhere. The notion that some sort of victim status confers moral perfection on people is self-evidently ridiculous, yet is embraced by the commanding heights of the media and Democratic Party. Things will get worse before they get better – if they ever do.

Rahm is even trying to defend his honesty:

There was no response from the mayor's office to multiple requests for comment.

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And the violence continues to spread:

Last weekend, there was a string of shootings that killed one woman and wounded 27 others. The weekend before that, a burst of bloody violence left at least 11 people dead.

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Looks like several folks have Emanuel’s number and want him gone, sounds good if only for the unknown of who would replace him and would they offer a better situation for change.