I keep on telling myself that the citizens of cities in decline don’t “deserve” to suffer the consequences of elections. After all, in most cases, the majority of the people living in those cities actually didn’t vote for the idiots who wind up in office. If the people who did suffer alone, I would be fine with it, but Mayors like Brandon Johnson in Chicago (and Lori Lightfoot before him) were elected mainly on the backs of votes from public sector unions and people who reflexively vote Democrat (or who inhabit the cemeteries of  Chicago.

Yes, but…there should be a mass movement of peasants with pitchforks storming Chicago’s City Hall. The people who run the city are whiny, disgusting racists who destroy what they touch and blame others for their failures.

RIGHT OUT OF LIGHTFOOT'S MEDIA PLAYBOOK… Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson must have taken former Mayor Lori Lightfoot's media training class at Harvard because he's doing the EXACT same thing she did when she was criticized– – cry racism and whine about Republicans for his… pic.twitter.com/klH7F1KjAb

— Reporter William J. Kelly #thatreporter (@Williamjkelly) November 29, 2023

After the disastrous reign of Lori Lightfoot, the voting public in that City decided to install an even worse Mayor. Brandon Johnson is, if anything, less competent and more racist than Lightfoot, and because of that, he spews even more disgusting bile at his fellow citizens than she.

Facing a crime, illegal migrant, and urban decline problem that is only matched by Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco, Johnson has decided to blame White Supremacists for his failures.

I suppose if you count Joe Biden, he may have a point, but otherwise, he is blowing smoke.

If you listen to his rant, he comes across as a cut-rate, less intelligent Malcolm X without the charm. Whatever his vices, Malcolm X at least taught his followers that they have to embrace their own agency and build successful lives without depending on others. Johnson spends his energy spewing anger and assigning blame without presenting even a bad plan for fixing things.

“It’s not my fault! It’s whiteys!”

It’s not quite clear to me what his argument even is. Either the White people of Chicago are destroying the city they live, work, and invest in out of spite, or Johnson imagines that crackers in Kentucky spend time and resources (which they don’t have) plotting to destroy Chicago.

Neither makes sense, but making sense is not the point. Assigning blame and claiming victimhood is. Victimhood is the ultimate currency in Democrat circles.

The people of Chicago need solutions, not excuses. And if polling is any indication, Black Americans are finally getting tired of the blame whitey shtick. They may believe that White people don’t like them, but they are clueing into the fact that Democrats are using them and delivering nothing but pain. They have noticed that things were better under Trump, and even if the majority will stick with Democrats for the time being, the relationship is fraying.

It is easy for Republicans to underestimate the power and influence of the public sector unions in big cities. They are the primary reason why Democrats have an electoral lock. While progressives are a substantial voting bloc and add their muscle to the unions, the fact is that the unions are the base of the Democrat Party in cities and nearly guarantee the election of radicals. That is why Johnson is in the Mayor’s office.

Given this fact, it’s hard to see how any sane person could win in many of these cities. Rahm Emanuel was the last sane (if politically unpleasant) Mayor of the city, and he alienated the unions and was forced out because of that. He crossed the unions–particularly the teachers’ union, and couldn’t survive the confrontation.

Given these facts, it’s hard to see how any major city with powerful unions will recover. New York City has the best chance for various reasons (yes, that seems odd, but it is a very diverse city with powerful unions, but large voting blocs are less obviously in the thrall to government largesse).

The message, it seems to me, is that sane people should leave. It is a shame because these cities could be jewels in the crown of America. Still, it’s hard to see how they can overcome their political liability of public sector union domination.

The political marriage between the unions and the progressives is poison. These cities seem likely to die a slow death like Detroit did.

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