Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Name-Checking And Concern-Trolling Chicago -- Will It Ever Stop?

Here we are, in the wake of another mass shooting.  The shooting on the Las Vegas Strip at a Country Music Festival is going down in U.S. history as the worst ever.  As of now, 59 people are dead, and hundreds are injured, and recovering from their injuries.

Of course, this means that conservatives take their lead from the blood-soaked terrorist organization disguised as a lobbying group, the National Rifle Association, or NAMB... er, NRA.  We have seen the usual talking points, including the "thoughts and prayers" comments from the Republicans.  As a side note, let me add this:

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS FROM REPUBLICANS ARE USELESS.  They have blood on their hands, as well.  The NRA has bought them, lock, stock and barrel.  To hear them talk about "thoughts and prayers" is beyond infuriating.  As a Christian, and especially as a minister, I'm not dismissing the power of prayer.  My faith tells me that there is supernatural power in prayer.  But my teachings ALSO inform me that "faith without works is dead."  That's Scripture, according to James 2:26.  And the website "GotQuestions" elucidates on this point by stating "Faith without works is dead because it reveals a heart that has not been transformed by God."  Don't tell me about any conservative "thoughts and prayers" when they continue to accept NRA blood money and parrot the same NRA talking points, especially in the wake of tragedies involving guns, and propagate obscene lies about President Obama planning a massive gun grab, because screw the Constitution.

But I digress.

My point here is that, as usual, Chicago has become the favorite talking point to deflect from any legitimate conversations.  It started in earnest with President Obama, with GOP idiots (and some "woke" folks -- but that's a point for another time) saying that President Obama didn't magically fix Chicago since he became President of the United States.  It's become a classic Battle Cry of the Stupid Conservative:

REASONABLE PERSON:  We need to do something about crime.
Conservative:  OH YEAH?  Well what about Chicago?  Crime is skyrocketing, and President Blackie McBlackenbush did nothing to fix it!

RP:  Black Lives Matter is holding a march to protest police brutality.
Con:  OH YEAH?  Why aren't they marching in Chicago against the killings?!

Even Dolt 45, aka the President, is no stranger to name-checking and concern-trolling Chicago.  He made the "hellscape" of Chicago a cornerstone of his campaign, and he continues to mention Chicago in situations that don't call for it.

This brings us to the present day.  Enter sentient colostomy bag, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, daughter of evangelical charlatan Mike Huckabee and Press Secretary to the President.

"I am not a very smart woe-man..."
After this weapons-grade moron (who almost makes you long for the days of Sean Spicer hiding in a bush, dodging reporters) said that we shouldn't politicize the massacre, she said this in regards to a conversation about gun laws.

"I think if you look to Chicago, where you had over 4,000 victims of gun-related crimes. Last year they have the strictest gun laws in the country and that certainly hasn't helped there, so when that time comes for those conversations to take place, then I think we need to look at things that may actually have a real impact."

Then, she followed it up by saying this:

I think that the problem there is pretty clear that it’s a crime problem. I think that crime is probably driven more by morality than anything else...

If Huckabee is going to concern-troll and name-check, she should at least come close to getting her facts right.  Yes, Chicago has strict laws.  But guns still find their way here.  Why?  Because neighboring states have gun laws that are a lot more lax.  For example, if someone wanted to, they could hop right across the border to avoid the soda-pop tax get a gun.  Even as far back as 2012 - 2013, there were indicators that traffickers were using an informal Dixie Pipeline to transport guns from southern states (again, with very lax gun laws) to here.  Thankfully, lots of people, including my Congressman Robin Kelly, pushed back with factual information.

I'm under no delusions that my fair city is a utopia where gun violence is a thing of the past.  Chicago, like every major city, has its issues, and issues involving gun violence and the Black community cannot be resolved with simple slogans and finger-pointing.  And it would be nice if we had a President of the United States who didn't feel the need to scapegoat and play the blame-game when things got hot.  And we could have had that...

...but her emails.

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