Signs Of Hope For Democracy?

Democracy dies when people believe their votes don’t matter. That’s why the chaos engulfing our major cities is a hopeful sign for democracy—these people are learning the hard way that their votes do matter. And lessons learned the hard way last the longest in consciousness.

Yesterday and today there were three stories that hold out the promise for lessons being taught—it’s up to democracy whether these will be lessons learned. We’ve all heard about “Soros DAs”. There are some ten of them in major cities around the country, busily freeing violent criminals to prey upon the citizens.

Texas’ largest county sees more than 150 killed by suspects out on bonds, victims group says

Houston, the largest city in Texas, closed out 2021 with 473 murders, a sharp jump from the year prior

Harris County has a Soros DA—Kim Ogg. Among examples from the article:

Houston Police Officers' Union @HPOUTX

Randy Lewis should never have been free. Now an innocent woman has been murdered. Everyone deserves better. This is absolutely shameful.

Joe Gamaldi @JoeGamaldi

The monster who stabbed, murdered, robbed an innocent 80 yr old grandmother over the weekend, has been arrested 67 times! And was out on 2 felony PR bonds! The colossal failure of bail and CJ reform in Houston is on full display here. Innocent people are dying. This has to STOP!!

Not to be outdone by the rest of the country, New York City elected a knucklehead who will continue De Blasio’s policies, but claims he’ll be tough on crime. Manhattan also voted overwhelmingly for a Soros DA:

Manhattan’s ‘progressive’ new DA Alvin Bragg just gave a green light for anarchy

Old: If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.

New: If you can’t do the time, Alvin Bragg will be there for you.

That much just became clear, as the newly minted Manhattan DA issued marching orders to his hundreds of assistants and support staff.

“Let’s do our very best to keep people out of jail, kids. And let’s really, really not sweat the small stuff.”

OK, Bragg didn’t actually say that — but it pretty faithfully paraphrases the guts of a staff memo Bragg issued Monday, the first business day of his four-year term.

Specifically, Bragg says his office “will not seek a carceral sentence” for anything short of murder or deadly assault (“carceral” being progressive double-speak for prison). Also, he says minor crime won’t be prosecuted at all.

In other words, jail is to be reserved for ax murderers and their ilk; armed robbers and heavyweight drug dealers are to be minimally inconvenienced — and just forget about the quality-of-life law enforcement that was the beating heart of the Giuliani-era rescue of New York City decades ago.

…

Apparently Manhattanites haven’t been paying attention to what’s been going on in their own city—much less around the country. They’re about to learn a lesson on the law of cause and effect. They’re about to discover that things can get much worse than they ever dreamed, but … also that their votes matter. This is very progressive, if you think about it.

Anyone familiar with Illinois knows that the Chicago (i.e., government) Teachers Union pretty much runs the state. In fact, Fatboy Pritzker—whose presidential aspirations were brutally lampooned by Tucker Carlson (“a walking co-morbidity”)—and his Dem legislators last year expanded the power of the government teachers to strike. That’s right—they put it into law, presumably so no judge could intervene on behalf of the citizens who didn’t vote for this craziness.

The result was predictable. As Chicago learned last night:

CPS Cancels Classes Wednesday As Teachers Refuse To Work In Schools Until COVID Cases Fall Sharply

Chicago Teachers Union members voted to work remotely until a COVID-19 work conditions agreement is reached with CPS or the city’s positivity rate falls below 10 percent. It's at 23.6 percent currently.

Having shut the schools down for a year and a half under the Covid Regime, the “teachers” apparently decided they didn’t like this in person teaching stuff at all. They wanted to zoom out again. The city tried a hard line, and the “teachers” told them to shove it, so the schools are closed—well, except for meals and injections.

The move to refuse to work in-person at schools was approved by 73 percent of voting teachers union members Tuesday night. Union officials did not provide a timeline when they announced the vote tally, saying instead the action would be in place until COVID-19 cases drop or they come to a reopening agreement with Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

…

CTU leaders said in a statement they made the decision to return to remote learning “with a heavy heart and a singular focus on student and community safety.”

“Let us be clear. The educators of this city want to be in their classrooms with their students. We believe that our city’s classrooms are where our students should be. Regrettably, the Mayor and her CPS leadership have put the safety and vibrancy of our students and their educators in jeopardy,” union leaders said.

Right. And if you believe that …

You’re probably wondering what future the parents foresee for their “students” if they don’t get some sort of minimal education. The fact that the city even attempted a hard line with the “teachers” tells you pretty much all you need to know about the quality of “zoom education”. Maybe the parents, seeing the organized looting of Chicago businesses by street gangs see that as the growth industry for their kids. If so, I suspect they’re about to learn a hard lesson, as businesses flee the city. Did I mention that Cook County as a Soros DA? Yep, Kim Foxx of what’s-his-name fame. Votes matter.

Even Chuck Schumer is learning that lesson:

Alayna Treene @alaynatreene

Kyrsten Sinema reiterated during yesterday’s virtual Democratic caucus lunch she will not support any effort to get rid of the 60-vote threshold, according to two sources familiar with the call

axios.comOmicron, snowstorm thwart Schumer’s midterm year quick startBad weather, Omicron and flight delays have left Capitol Hill a ghost town.

Read the whole entertaining story here:

Kyrsten Sinema Tells Chuck Schumer to Pound Sand and Leaves Democrats With Nowhere to Go

Couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy—or party.

When you think about it, maybe Sinema did the Dems a favor. With the free time they’ll have—now that they won’t be “legislating” jack—they can devote their time to convincing the country that their policies aren’t to blame for the vanished quality of life in America.