Disgusting

We have yet another violent incident in North Philadelphia. A man shot dead - assassinated - in broad daylight. A child wounded. Yawn. No doubt the standard empty expressions of outrage will be followed by equally empty proposals from the empty suits in City Hall and the Inquirer editorial department for more police and more gun control. Meanwhile nothing changes. When the next outrage occurs, the empty suits will point their fingers at Harrisburg, or D.C. and whine about how they could fix the problem if only they could get the tools (read: MONEY) they need. This is not only contemptible - it ought to be considered criminal negligence.

There are four “actors” in this tragedy: The good people who live in the afflicted neighborhoods, the criminals who terrorize them, the police and the government of the city.
Of these, only one – the police – are acting in good faith. Obviously, the criminal gangs that are running sizeable portions of the city cannot act in good faith. The true failures however are at the bottom and the top. The people who live in these areas bear a good deal of the blame. They refuse to help the police. So they have no one to turn to. Yet, they DEMAND protection from the very institution they refuse to help. If the people will not get involved, help the police and stand up for themselves, NOTHING CAN CHANGE. At the other end you have the elected government of the city, who will not tell this basic truth to the residents. They make angry demands for more state/federal money for police and stricter gun control laws (which haven’t worked ANYWHERE). Knowing full well that even if they got what they wanted, it wouldn’t make a whit of difference. They are actively perpetuating the conditions that guarantee more of the same in the North and South West.

Let the Mayor and city council blame Harrisburg and DC. We know where the real blame belongs.

It’s disgusting.