Another violent year in Chicago has concluded. There are really no words to describe 792 MURDERS, and over 4,170 people shot. If you factor in the armed carjackings, the Counties 1,600 opioid deaths from overdoses and the 8,200 deaths from COVID-19 the word slaughter crosses one’s mind. Cook County’s final total of over 970 murders, somehow didn’t even register as far any outrage from any county politicians. The old ostrich theory on display for all to see, HEADS BURIED DEEP IN THE SAND. Oh! sure, there was a demonstration against violence, organized by the usual assortment of priests and local reverends, and neighborhood activists, but as I looked on I did not see one county or city politician among the 150 or so participants. As usual, the demonstrators carried banners with the names of the dead and called for the end of the violence. Heavy press coverage showed the weeping mothers, loved ones, and friends of the dead and the usual competition by the march leaders to get before a camera and pontificate and express their outrage.

One might ask why these marches always take place in areas miles and miles from where the mayhem is devastating entire neighborhoods and not in the killing zones where the mayhem is taking place on a daily basis. One westside neighborhood finished the year with 100 murders, at least 15 miles from the Gold Coast neighborhood where the marchers inexplicably choose to invade. Newspaper stories and editorials gave the annual end of the year numbers of murders, and folks shot and as usual gave the same solutions all Chicagoans have been hearing ad nauseam for some 60 years. In order to stop the violence, we must address the ROOT CAUSES.

Through all of this and the so-called list of Root Causes, I never once heard the words GANG VIOLENCE. Astonishing as that may sound it’s true. Anybody that does not know that Gang Violence is the number one driving factor for the mayhem that has gripped the city since the early 60s has to either have an agenda of some sorts or is a complete imbecile. Groucho Marx back in the day had a Television Quiz Program called “You bet Your Life.”  It featured a 3 or 4-minute interview with Groucho, if at any time the contestant uttered what was called THE MAGIC WORD he or she would be awarded $100.  This word was selected before the show and was unbeknownst to the contestants. I’m guessing that all of Chicago and Cook County politicians would never have collected Groucho’s $100.

Newspaper editorials, and one story after another, and not one mentioned the Magic Word GANGS. One editorial always seems to seek out members of academia for the usual ROOT CAUSES spiel, the  University of Chicago Crime Lab, Loyola University to name a few, Professorial Local Gadflys who seem to draw the press like flies on stinky stuff whenever they need a quote. Their usual theme is of course those ROOT CAUSES. I’m guessing here but I’m thinking they never met a gang member (except maybe Congressman Bobby Rush who founded the Black Panther Party in Chicago back in the 60s and was its defense minister) and it’s estimated that there are close to 150,000 of them in the city alone. At least they have something to say on the matter, most politicians are adhering to the old Mafia Dictator, Tony (Big Tuna) Arccardo’s famous saying”A FISH WITH HIS MOUTH CLOSED NEVER GETS CAUGHT.” President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the Great Society Movement in 1964-65. Fifty-Five Years of addressing those “ROOT CAUSES” such as poverty, unemployment, missing parents, lack of education, unsympathetic cops, and scores more, simply haven’t come near stopping the slaughter for the past 6 decades. The gang lure has captured the hearts and minds of thousands of our youths and fighting them with words and speeches and billions of dollars have not worked.

Whether  State, City, and County politicians in what many people call the most corrupt in the country are suffering from nervous shakedowns or are just plain spineless is difficult to differentiate, and of course, we cannot overlook clueless. The fact is the gangs are having their way and at some juncture, there has to be a tipping point. What will it be? Chicago has a mayor along with many other pundits looking to deflect any type of blame by saying the Covid-19 Virus is mainly responsible for the horrid numbers of killings and shootings. Ask yourself this, what about the years from 2016 to the beginning of 2020 when there was no VIRUS?  2016 had the most murders and shootings for over 20 years. The following years were not much better. From 2016 thru 2019 the city averaged 651 murders a year, and 3,421 people shot, add to the record number of armed carjackings up 130% from the previous year, and it becomes extremely difficult to buy into the IT’S THE VIRUS BULLSHIT. All of that violence is 78% to 82 % GANG RELATED. The ROOT CAUSE is the refusal to recognize the gangs are at war and no one in power is challenging that power.