Before I even got to the actual article, I had a suspicion of what it was related to. "the city council is ideologically committed to reducing the role of the police, and new police officers are reluctant to work for the city" - it's the idea that some how law enforcement is a vestige of white supremacy. So they'll cut off a necessary piece of society that holds it together. The idea that all crime, criminals, and imprisonment in the modern age are a result of systems of white power is such a canard. Glad I don't live near people who are so committed to their ideology, that they'd be willing to literally sacrifice their own constituents in the process. Well I feel sorry for the law-abiding citizens of Oakland... they certainly don't deserve that abuse of power.
As Barack Obama once perfectly state, "Elections have consequences." I would steer clear of national media telling you that 'crime stats are down'. As the article points out, crime 'stats' are not the guide. When you use your own eyes, read local articles, talk to neighbors and family members all around this country, listen to your own gut, you know that crime is not down.
But elections, and their pursuant policies do have consequences. What has happened in Oakland is the most horrific. But is it any different than what we've now seen for years in San Francisco, large chunks of Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, St. Louis, New Orleans, Chicago, Chicago, Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, Newark, Philadelphia and others? What is the common denominator (I ask again)? The types of crime may vary, but the levels of disgust rising as civil society plummets is the same. Just who is making the policies that turn these cities into places where you are not sure when you leave the house what you are about to run into?
Democrats run all of these cities. Democrats have run California as a One Party State for years now. If you the people want real change, you have to change your mindset. The people telling you for years that 'those other guys' are racists who want to put you in slavery and the very ones destroying your schools, your neighborhoods, your families, your lives. You're like Charlie Brown to their Lucy. How many times are you going to run up to that football to kick it, only to have it pulled away again?
The changes start with you, in your neighborhood, in how you vote. If you really want change, I mean...REALLY. then you have to change how you think and act.
I was about to make this very comment. The fallacious notion that "crime is down" is based on FBI reporting. There are so many political implications of crime reports that no one should believe any of them.
in addition to the points that you make about Democrat-run cities, the recent wave of Soros-supported prosecutors in multiple big cities have taken a "no-prosecution" approach. Plus there is the "no-bail" movement. All in all, living in a Dem-run big city with a Dem-prosecutor is terrible right now. What will be the result? Private vendettas, with people exacting vengeance for crimes.
Oakland has actually had some pretty decent mayors in the past, including Jerry Brown and Libby Schaff. It's gone downhill significantly since the BLM riots and the covid lockdowns. Homelessness is rampant and in some ways it seems like anarchy. A lot of us avoid Oakland as we travel around the Bay Area if we can avoid it. Now the current Mayor is under investigation after an FBI raid of her home. It's going to be awhile before things start to improve. If Harris ever makes it to the presidency she will make sure things get a lot worse by empowering the BLM victimhood insanity. Another reason to make sure she doesn't get any closer to the office.
San Fransicko and Brokeland more and more over the 17 years Ive lived here. Still love it but the problems are ridiculous, increasingly spectacular, and so fixable with better government.
When black leaders arise who are willing to declare that letting too many black kids grow up without fathers is a far worse crime to commit against them than any evil deed or incorrect thoughts by any conservative or Republican they are likely to encounter in peaceful, productive daily life.
I sort of agree... Except that we almost never get any serious conservative candidates on our ballots. We can't vote for something different if it never appears on our ballots. Candidates for things like: DA, city council, mayor, state representatives, etc. are all liberals. The choices are between: democrats (mostly liberal), progressive liberals, green party, socialist, etc. There are often NO candidates that identify as Republican, Libertarian, etc. If we are lucky, we might get an "Independent" every once in a while. Additionally, the GOP has basically "abandoned" the SF bay area. There is a CA GOP, but they mostly support candidates in areas of CA that have a more reliable history of voting in some conservative candidates (like areas of Central CA, or some areas north of Sacramento). Sometimes in the Silicon Valley area you will get an independently wealthy person who leans conservative and has enough free time and wealth to support a political campaign. Those people often won't even run as "Republican." They might run as an Independent. We have a lot of voters that think "Republican" is a dirty word, but if you actually put a "D" or an "I" next to a candidates name and they had sensible, conservative-ish policies, could get elected.
My problem with Fox news and other conservative media and groups that criticize the SF Bay Area is this: Don't just endlessly run video of homeless encampments. Please, please, please help identify and support viable conservative candidates that are willing to take the risk of running for election here. People are fed up with the crime, the homelessness, the high cost of housing, the endless bureaucracy, the continual funding of things that we already know don't work... Let's pressure the CA GOP to actually back serious candidates in the SF bay area. Let's get BIPOC conservatives. Let's get libertarian-leaning folks that are open to drug legalization, gay marriage, support abortion rights, etc. who also support deregulation, lower taxes, saner policies on crime, mental illness, etc. I will even take sane, centrist Democrats (e.g. Mayor Adams in NYC) over the progressive craziness here in the SF bay area.
The city council's recent Gaza resolution was the absolute last straw for me. I was so angry about that. We have streets with such terrible potholes that I have to drive down them at 5 mph or less and it's been that way for years. I see huge numbers of homeless encampments under freeway on and off ramps daily. The Citizen app transmits news of violent crimes within a 5 mile radius of my location (when I am in Oakland) about 2-3 times per hour. And the city council wants to spend hours addressing a conflict across the world that has been going on for centuries? Are they delusional? Are they sane? What are their priorities?
Sometimes the answer to a problem is deceptively simple: people committing violent crimes should be arrested and incarcerated so they cannot prey on innocent victims.
Anyone that's not voting for people that support those policies deserve what they get.
Oakland was once a vibrant city. I worked there in the mid 1990's and it was safe to walk from downtown to Jack London Square at night. Now it's not even safe to sit in your own home. Pathetic.
The political leaders of Oakland represent the people. I have watched interviews with citizens of Oakland. My conclusion is that there should be an exam for people interested in voting. There was a reason the county’s founders developed an electoral vote and had state legislatures
select Senators.
Believing in the will of the people is a lofty idea, but the lack of intelligence and degree of susceptibility of voters means we need to make sure voters are ‘qualified’.
Feral blacks are a significant social problem, but sociologists are too authoritarian to talk about the problem, much less study it.
used to live there. 100% self-inflicted. yup. great article.
Before I even got to the actual article, I had a suspicion of what it was related to. "the city council is ideologically committed to reducing the role of the police, and new police officers are reluctant to work for the city" - it's the idea that some how law enforcement is a vestige of white supremacy. So they'll cut off a necessary piece of society that holds it together. The idea that all crime, criminals, and imprisonment in the modern age are a result of systems of white power is such a canard. Glad I don't live near people who are so committed to their ideology, that they'd be willing to literally sacrifice their own constituents in the process. Well I feel sorry for the law-abiding citizens of Oakland... they certainly don't deserve that abuse of power.
I couldn't care less.
i hope the demonrats win next election so the idiots that vote them in can suffer a lot more
Part of the problem is father-less households, where kids have no control, and run wild.
Part of the problem is the "no snitchin'" ethos, where there is no trust of the cops and no one reports anything.
As Barack Obama once perfectly state, "Elections have consequences." I would steer clear of national media telling you that 'crime stats are down'. As the article points out, crime 'stats' are not the guide. When you use your own eyes, read local articles, talk to neighbors and family members all around this country, listen to your own gut, you know that crime is not down.
But elections, and their pursuant policies do have consequences. What has happened in Oakland is the most horrific. But is it any different than what we've now seen for years in San Francisco, large chunks of Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, St. Louis, New Orleans, Chicago, Chicago, Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, Newark, Philadelphia and others? What is the common denominator (I ask again)? The types of crime may vary, but the levels of disgust rising as civil society plummets is the same. Just who is making the policies that turn these cities into places where you are not sure when you leave the house what you are about to run into?
Democrats run all of these cities. Democrats have run California as a One Party State for years now. If you the people want real change, you have to change your mindset. The people telling you for years that 'those other guys' are racists who want to put you in slavery and the very ones destroying your schools, your neighborhoods, your families, your lives. You're like Charlie Brown to their Lucy. How many times are you going to run up to that football to kick it, only to have it pulled away again?
The changes start with you, in your neighborhood, in how you vote. If you really want change, I mean...REALLY. then you have to change how you think and act.
I was about to make this very comment. The fallacious notion that "crime is down" is based on FBI reporting. There are so many political implications of crime reports that no one should believe any of them.
in addition to the points that you make about Democrat-run cities, the recent wave of Soros-supported prosecutors in multiple big cities have taken a "no-prosecution" approach. Plus there is the "no-bail" movement. All in all, living in a Dem-run big city with a Dem-prosecutor is terrible right now. What will be the result? Private vendettas, with people exacting vengeance for crimes.
Great additional points. Plus, love your moniker.
And yet an average house costs a million dollars?!?! Except this beautiful mid century fixer for a mere $575k. I don't get it. https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/6007-Johnston-Dr_Oakland_CA_94611_M18995-12670?from=srp-list-card
Oakland has actually had some pretty decent mayors in the past, including Jerry Brown and Libby Schaff. It's gone downhill significantly since the BLM riots and the covid lockdowns. Homelessness is rampant and in some ways it seems like anarchy. A lot of us avoid Oakland as we travel around the Bay Area if we can avoid it. Now the current Mayor is under investigation after an FBI raid of her home. It's going to be awhile before things start to improve. If Harris ever makes it to the presidency she will make sure things get a lot worse by empowering the BLM victimhood insanity. Another reason to make sure she doesn't get any closer to the office.
San Fransicko and Brokeland more and more over the 17 years Ive lived here. Still love it but the problems are ridiculous, increasingly spectacular, and so fixable with better government.
When black leaders arise who are willing to declare that letting too many black kids grow up without fathers is a far worse crime to commit against them than any evil deed or incorrect thoughts by any conservative or Republican they are likely to encounter in peaceful, productive daily life.
…. There is a chance for renewal even in a despairing city like Oakland.
What does it take to get voters to stop electing the people who immiserate and endanger them?
Zero sympathy.
Aren't the citizens of Oakland partly to blame?
Haven't they just kept electing and re-electing the same type of "progressive" politicians for years?
I sort of agree... Except that we almost never get any serious conservative candidates on our ballots. We can't vote for something different if it never appears on our ballots. Candidates for things like: DA, city council, mayor, state representatives, etc. are all liberals. The choices are between: democrats (mostly liberal), progressive liberals, green party, socialist, etc. There are often NO candidates that identify as Republican, Libertarian, etc. If we are lucky, we might get an "Independent" every once in a while. Additionally, the GOP has basically "abandoned" the SF bay area. There is a CA GOP, but they mostly support candidates in areas of CA that have a more reliable history of voting in some conservative candidates (like areas of Central CA, or some areas north of Sacramento). Sometimes in the Silicon Valley area you will get an independently wealthy person who leans conservative and has enough free time and wealth to support a political campaign. Those people often won't even run as "Republican." They might run as an Independent. We have a lot of voters that think "Republican" is a dirty word, but if you actually put a "D" or an "I" next to a candidates name and they had sensible, conservative-ish policies, could get elected.
My problem with Fox news and other conservative media and groups that criticize the SF Bay Area is this: Don't just endlessly run video of homeless encampments. Please, please, please help identify and support viable conservative candidates that are willing to take the risk of running for election here. People are fed up with the crime, the homelessness, the high cost of housing, the endless bureaucracy, the continual funding of things that we already know don't work... Let's pressure the CA GOP to actually back serious candidates in the SF bay area. Let's get BIPOC conservatives. Let's get libertarian-leaning folks that are open to drug legalization, gay marriage, support abortion rights, etc. who also support deregulation, lower taxes, saner policies on crime, mental illness, etc. I will even take sane, centrist Democrats (e.g. Mayor Adams in NYC) over the progressive craziness here in the SF bay area.
The city council's recent Gaza resolution was the absolute last straw for me. I was so angry about that. We have streets with such terrible potholes that I have to drive down them at 5 mph or less and it's been that way for years. I see huge numbers of homeless encampments under freeway on and off ramps daily. The Citizen app transmits news of violent crimes within a 5 mile radius of my location (when I am in Oakland) about 2-3 times per hour. And the city council wants to spend hours addressing a conflict across the world that has been going on for centuries? Are they delusional? Are they sane? What are their priorities?
Sometimes the answer to a problem is deceptively simple: people committing violent crimes should be arrested and incarcerated so they cannot prey on innocent victims.
Anyone that's not voting for people that support those policies deserve what they get.
Oakland was once a vibrant city. I worked there in the mid 1990's and it was safe to walk from downtown to Jack London Square at night. Now it's not even safe to sit in your own home. Pathetic.
The political leaders of Oakland represent the people. I have watched interviews with citizens of Oakland. My conclusion is that there should be an exam for people interested in voting. There was a reason the county’s founders developed an electoral vote and had state legislatures
select Senators.
Believing in the will of the people is a lofty idea, but the lack of intelligence and degree of susceptibility of voters means we need to make sure voters are ‘qualified’.
Democrat-run cities have hostages, not citizens. As long as there are people who can't or won't leave, they keep their power.