The chickens continue to come home to roost for progressive cities. While it is tempting to make remarks about savoring the schadenfreude of the various moments, karma being a b***h, or getting what one voted for, it is more like driving by a fatal car accident on the highway. Mainly because for every arrogant progressive who is getting a proverbial snootful from the uptick of crime due to Democrat policies, there are people who are getting caught in the crossfire.
Lately, Philadelphia has been in the news for riots, a motorcyclist smashing the back window of a car with children inside (and dropping his gun), and the murder of a left-wing journalist. New York’s woes persist. Even as Governor Kathy Hochul was grudgingly forcing herself to admit that open borders may have been a bad idea, another homicide was entered into the Big Apple’s Roll of Shame. Thirty-two-year-old Ryan Carson was stabbed in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Monday night. Carson was anti-cop and identified as a member of Antifa. He got to experience the fruits of his beliefs firsthand.
And then there’s Portland, Oregon. Oh, Portland, Portland, Portland. When was the last time you made the news for anything other than being a lead story in someone’s daily doom scroll? I can’t remember, either. And I doubt things are going to change.
News Nation reports that on Monday, Portland’s safety commissioner, Rene Gonzalez, announced via social media:
Our 911 system is getting hammered this morning with a multiple person incident — multiple overdoses in northwest park blocks. Please do not call 911 except in event of life/death emergency or crime in progress (or chance of apprehending suspect). For non-emergency please use 503-823-3333.
Appearing on the show “On Balance,” Gonzalez told host Leland Vittert that the system was swamped and something had to be done. She said that Measure 110, which decriminalized the possession of drugs and reduced many felonies to misdemeanors, was supposed to provide support services to addicts. However, the effort was curtailed due to the arrival of COVID-19.
But not everyone in Portland is using drugs. The city is home to law-abiding citizens. So why should they not have access to 911 because the system is overloaded with overdoses? Gonzalez told Vittert:
You know, the combination of Measure 110 and the 9th Circuit law on outdoor camping has really tied the city’s hands to address these issues. Frankly, we were probably too tolerant and accepting as a city even without those things on some of these behaviors that really destroy livability for everyone else,” Gonzalez said.
It’s going to take multiple steps (to fix). There’s no two ways about it, and you need all levels of government working in the same direction. We’ve been pushing certain forms of judicial reform for the last decade in the state and in our county. We’re now paying the piper for that. Some well-intentioned things have had some really negative impacts.
Gonzalez admitted that the city needs to focus its efforts on “families and entrepreneurs and those who build organizations in our policy discussions.” He said too much emphasis has been placed on the users and migratory homeless.
Related: Data Shows America’s Crime Spiral Correlates With BLM Riots
Yes, someone needs to tell New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, Portland, and pretty much all of Southern California that this is what a progressive utopia looks like. Needles, feces, crime and all. I find no reason to rejoice in the misfortunes of Leftist cities, since if the Democrats have their way, we will all be living in some version of Portland in another ten years.
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