The Democratic Party has now finished all four nights of
its national convention. There was endless talk about how terrible President
Trump is -- to be expected in a convention nominating a candidate to challenge
a sitting president. In his acceptance address, nominee Joe Biden discussed
"four historic crises" -- the coronavirus pandemic, the economic
plunge, "the most compelling call for racial justice since the 60s,"
and climate change.
But did viewers hear a word from Democrats
about the crisis of violent crime and unrest plaguing some of
the nation's major cities? No. Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis, New
York, and other cities have experienced alarming spikes in violent crime, as
well as, in some cases, general civic disorder.
The Democratic convention took place on
Nights 82, 83, 84, and 85 of rioting in Portland. On
Thursday night, as Biden spoke, a crowd returned to the U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement building where a riot had been declared the night before. A
confrontation ensued that ended in tear gas fired by Federal Protective
Services officers, whose job it is to safeguard federal buildings around the
country. Also in Portland, the disorder has moved from the central location
-- the federal courthouse -- where it took place for so many nights out to
various neighborhoods around the city.
In Chicago during the convention, the
city council called a special meeting to consider declaring a state of
emergency over the violent crime problem. "The rounds of looting, civil
unrest, and one of the most violent summers in years prompted the call for the
meeting," reported Chicago television station WLS. July was the
city's "most violent month in 28 years," according to the Chicago
Tribune.
As the city suffered, Mayor Lori Lightfoot
defended a police department policy banning protests from the block where she
lives. "I have a right to make sure that my home is secure,"
Lightfoot said. Indeed she does. But what about everyone else in Chicago? The
moment might have been grimly funny had Lightfoot not been so clueless about
the violence consuming her city.
In New York, the spike in shootings continued
during Democratic convention week. Shootings in July were up more than 200
percent from the last year, and homicides up 50 percent -- all after Mayor Bill
de Blasio slashed the police budget, weakened police crime-investigating
abilities, and freed prisoners across the city. "The shootings came as
residents around the city have been banding together in an effort to stop the
violence," AM New York reported. That's a sign they have lost
confidence in the police, who in turn have been handcuffed by the mayor.
Did viewers of the convention hear about any
of this? No. Biden said not a word, unless he was
referring to riots as "the most compelling call for racial justice since
the 60s." Both former President Barack Obama and former First Lady
Michelle Obama slammed Trump's use of force to break up a protest near the
White House, with Mrs. Obama saying that children across America watched in
horror "as pepper spray and rubber bullets are used on peaceful protesters
for a photo-op." But on the wave of rioting and violence that has wracked
America's cities? Nothing.
Of course, all the cities involved --
Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, and others -- are controlled
by progressive Democrats. Indeed, the breakdown of order in those cities can be
seen as a glaring failure of progressive governance on the issue of public
safety. And the most energetic voices in the Democratic Party are not calling
for the restoration of order -- they're calling to defund the police.
So it’s no wonder Democrats didn't talk about
it in public. Doing so would highlight one of the party's
failures and also showcase a division among Democrats about whether to create
conditions, by defunding the police, that would invite even more disorder. But
next week is the Republican convention. Speakers will have a chance to focus on
events in the cities -- and warn that the disorder could spread in a Biden
administration. And the political debate will be joined, heading toward
election day.
