Cal Thomas: Not my kind of town anymore

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Today is Thursday, April 20th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Paul Butler.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Up next, WORLD commentator Cal Thomas on the so-called Teen Takeover in Chicago. He says that as long as Democratic politicians make excuses for such behavior, they’ll never fix the problem.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: Last weekend, the Mayor-elect of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, responded to a group of teenagers who attacked property and assaulted pedestrians and drivers with what sounds like justification for their behavior. While saying he does not “condone the destructive activity” (there’s a euphemism) and that it “has no place” in Chicago (when it increasingly does), Johnson added, “it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities.”

Well, the second part of his statement nullifies the first, doesn’t it?

Two teens were shot during the incident. Fifteen people were arrested.

I am betting there are other teenagers in those “starved communities” who don’t behave the way some of their peers did. Besides, with Democratic mayors running Chicago for as long as anyone can remember, which party should be blamed for the lack of nourishment? The last Republican mayor left office in 1931.

To watch video of the melee is to see what anarchy looks like. In the chaos reportedly organized on social media, teens can be seen jumping on top of vehicles while others attack innocent victims. A Tesla, said to be worth $120,000, was vandalized. Johnson has said he won’t hire more cops.

The weekly shootings and murders in Chicago have become so routine that it rarely makes national news. Newsweek noted: “The number of homicides in Chicago hit a 25-year high in 2021 with more than 800, according to the Chicago Police Department. That number decreased to 695 last year but is still far higher than when outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot took office in 2019. Crimes including carjackings and robberies have also increased in recent years.”

The cure to lawlessness is not to indulge the lawbreakers by justifying or seeking to explain their behavior. It is to enforce the law. Doing so serves to tell others there are consequences for illegal behavior and justice will be swift and certain. Without law enforcement there is no glue that can hold a city or a society together. Hundreds of Chicago police officers have left the force and the city is having trouble recruiting replacements. Is it any wonder with the “defund the police” movement and growing disrespect for those who protect and serve?

When lawless behavior is tolerated and leaders who are supposed to keep neighborhoods safe effectively see lawbreakers as depraved because they are deprived, to quote lyrics from “West Side Story,” it is a virtual guarantee that some will run wild. As the Proverb says: “Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint.” (Proverbs 29:18)

Chicago voters are largely to blame for the mess in their city. They keep electing leaders like Brandon Johnson and Lori Lightfoot. Do they expect different outcomes?

In a famous song about Chicago, Frank Sinatra sings: “One town that won’t let you down, it’s my kind of town.”

Not anymore.

I’m Cal Thomas.

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