Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot became a symbol of "progressive" misgovernance and intolerance. So when Chicago voters ousted her in the primary earlier this year, reform seemed to be in the air.
The hero: Paul Vallas, the 1990s-era CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, placed there by the corrupt but effective Mayor Richard Daley. Vallas is the latest in a long line of white liberal reformers.
Unfortunately, he was no more successful than his predecessors. He lost to Brandon Johnson -- a "defund the police" advocate and teachers' union organizer who is even further left than Lightfoot.
The city is basically done. Wealthy people and businesses, especially in real estate, are going to leave the city rather than face a slew of new taxes. The unions, which have destroyed schools, will rule.
And crime, which has skyrocketed out of control, will continue to be a terrible scourge. Millions of Chicagoans will continue to vote with their feet, as they have for two decades, moving to red states.
I used to live in the Chicago area. I left for ... California. It's run only slightly better than Illinois, and L.A. is a bit less dysfunctional. But it has weather, and a sense of freedom, even with taxes and rules.
The problem with socialism is that once it takes over a democratic system, it is nearly impossible to remove. It is the choice that ends all choices. But it is a temptation that may be impossible to resist.
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
An interesting weekend -- one of the last of Daylight Savings Time -- in which there is much to celebrate, much to contemplate, and a bit to worry about.
The Gaza peace deal is shaky, but holding, after the living hostages returned; the shutdown is still going on, with no end in sight; the China trade war is heating up; and the confrontation with Venezuela continues to escalate.
The "No Kings" protest was a dud, despite the media's attempt to inflate it. What I find fascinating is that the Democrats have basically stolen the rhetoric and the imagery of the Tea Party protests, circa 2009. They claim they are defending the Constitution -- just like the Tea Party did.
On the one hand, this is good. How wonderful to have a political system in which both sides, bitterly opposed though they are, articulate differences through the Constitution -- and not, as in so many other countries, outside it.
On the other, this is sheer hypocrisy for the Democrats. Not only did they malign the Tea Party as ...
