When Chicago’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot was sworn in as Mayor of Chicago, she was asked about the City notorious epidemic of violence and what she proposed to do about it.  Her answer was not surprising since she was a progressive liberal who probably believed the late Father Flanagan, the founder of Boys Town orphanage in Douglas County Nebraska who once famously said”THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A BAD BOY.” Lightfoots answer was that”CHICAGO IS NOT GOING TO ARREST IT’S WAY OUT OF THE VIOLENCE PROBLEM.” She extended the library hours, opened and set up youth camps where Chicago’s youth could gather and make nice, with various sports and other cultural activities. All well-intentioned without question, however, the reality soon set in.

In 14 Months since she has become Chicago’s mayor, the cities violence has taken a stunning upward surge. Somehow the gangs and their affiliates ignored the libraries and all those other opportunities to make nice and decided to wage a war on each other that has the entire city stunned. Since January, over 9 people a day have been shot, and 332 have been murdered, 1,700 have been wounded and the trend is spiraling upward at an alarming rate. See the illustration above. In just one week 150 people have been shot and 25 souls were murdered. Victims included a 3-year-old and several teens under 17. Last month saw 95 murders and over 450 people wounded. The worst May violence in 60 years.

This past weekend not to be outdone by  Fathers Day weekend in which there were 15 murders and 95 people shot, another 18 souls were murdered and 48 were wounded. Stunning numbers even in a war zone to be sure. Writing about the violence week after week to some might seem like “beating a dead horse, but the reality seems to have completely transfixed the elected Politicians who continue to be in a state of bewilderment. A scapegoat needs to be uncovered and very soon or the folks in Chicago are going to get a clue that YES indeed (sorry Father Flanagan)  there are hundreds of bad boys running loose and terrorizing a once great City to the point people in the neighborhoods are in fear of their lives and rightfully so.

People often ask what is the solution.? There is no one sure-fire solution but a big, big step would be to arrest the shooters and violent criminals and hold them accountable for criminal behavior, stop releasing violent offenders on low bonds, and no bonds, especially those who are arrested for crimes with guns. Prosecute those who are arrested and seek the maximum prison time. The Cook County  Criminal Justice  System is completely broken and in the hands of politicians who favor the criminals over the victims, and it’s just a repeat cycle as everyone can plainly see by the violence numbers Chicago is enduring.

Something is very wrong with the theories that there is no such thing as a bad boy, (believe me only evil people kill like they have been doing and will continue to do) or everyone deserves one chance after another, is nothing short of insane thinking. Imagine a Governor releasing over 4,000 convicted felons and over 65 convicted murderers because of a worry that they might be vulnerable to the VIRUS  and not realize they are heading right back to the same neighborhoods they previously terrorized. Cook County has over 5,000 people on the home monitoring program, that is not being monitored, this includes people charged with murder and other serious felonies.

Last week President Trump sent a letter to Governor Pritzker and Mayor Lighgtfoot denouncing the unprecedented violence taking place against Chicago’s citizens and offered FEDERAL HELP in formalizing a plan to stop the shootings and killing that are grossly out of control. Their response was that the President was JUST TRYING TO DEFLECT HIS BAD RESPONSE ON THE VIRUS. Insane thinking by two very clueless politicians who are dancing a political dance while blood is running all over Chicago’s streets. Two classic politicians that are either clueless or totally incompetent. How many more need to die at the hands of THUGS who are in control of entire neighborhoods. Next weekend is the 4th of July, I’m betting they are ecstatic that it is only a 3 day weekend. The search for a proper Scapegoat is most likely underway.