Rupert’s Journal left out the main reason cities are dying. Crime. Democrats in 2020 declared an open season for riots, which destroyed large sections of Portland, Seattle and other liberal citadels.

Democrats adopted BLM — a black supremacist organization — as its summer-long pet. BLM extorted millions from corporations. Fortunately, the money went into the pockets of the BLM organizers and not into the election of more outright communists as mayors and DAs.

The New York Times cheered on July 9, 2020, “N.Y.C. Paints ‘Black Lives Matter’ in Front of Trump Tower. The public art project is the latest battle in a feud between President Trump and Mayor Bill de Blasio.”

Democrats sent an invitation to criminals who RSVP’d with the looting of stores, carjackings, and the sucker-punching of little old ladies.

[The looting continues to this day, in fact, especially in San Francisco. The media calls it “shoplifting,” but as videos attest, what actually transpires is large-scale pillaging of retail outlets without any response at all. Democrats have made urban cores safe for looting, and the incentives Democrats set have created a looting industry. Cities that allow this will never rebound. — Ed]