"CHICAGO – Two Illinois lawmakers say violence has become so rampant in Chicago that the National Guard must be called in to help.
Chicago Democratic Reps. John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford made a public plea to Gov. Pat Quinn on Sunday to deploy troops.
The request comes amid a recent surge in violent crime, including a night last week that saw seven people killed and 18 wounded, mostly by gunfire.
Fritchey says Chicago has had 113 homicide victims this year. He says the police department has done a commendable job, but its resources are stretched thin.
Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis says he appreciates the lawmakers' frustration and willingness to help, but doubts the National Guard is the best answer.
A message left for Quinn wasn't returned Sunday."
A small number of poor people, living under the death state, gather into criminal syndicates to fight for control of the dregs of the drug trade, working for fabulously wealthy crime lords in a pyramid scheme to make Goldman Sachs and Amway proud. Amid that violence, other poor people kill each other in the urban pressure cooker of the stratified, caste and class ridden death culture. Some, not content with impoverished enfranchisement, seek redress through re-appropriation. Or vanish into narcotic escapism.
Solution, as proposed by government apparatchiks?
Militarize the urban environment.
America, fuck yeah!
PS: the Pentagon and DARPA already have cyberwarfare planning in the works, y'know, for security from domestic threats to order.
Crow's Eye: Maintaining a commitment to Pointless Acrimony™ and Hate Filled Invective™! Also available in corvid mischief and traditional sly dog's mistrust.
3 comments:
The "war on drugs" has failed to contain the violence it has created in Chicago, so of course the only possible answer to said failure is to escalate the "war on drugs". More state violence against its own citizens, funded by these same citizens tax dollars.
Pay no attention to Portugal, which decriminalized all drugs in 2001 in a shift in policy to focus on treatment and prevention instead of jailing users, and has subsequently seen a drastic drop in substance abuse, deaths due to overdose, illegal drug use among teens, and HIV infections from dirty needles.
No, in America, it's considered completely radical to treat a health issue such as drug addiction like the health issue it is, and if you suggest as much some "concerned parent" will quickly lob the "you want to sell drugs to school children" accusation at you, thereby instantly invalidating your entire viewpoint (at least in the media and the numbed minds of the American public). So instead, this health issue must continue to be addressed---with extreme violence---under the criminal justice system, even in the face of the complete and utter failure of the "war on drugs" to accomplish any of its own stated objectives.
Bottom line, the "war on drugs" is just another war to America---and it just so happens to be the most convenient war to maintain, as drugs will always be around to "fight"---and you know how much we loves us some war.
America, fuck yeah.
Completely agreed, A. And now we've got some Donkey pwogs begging the death state to militarize murder prevention.
I thought of this blog post again this morning when I saw an article on the AP (of all places) entitled Study links drug enforcement to more violence.
"The surge of gunbattles, beheadings and kidnappings that has accompanied Mexico's war on drug cartels is an entirely predictable escalation in violence based on decades of scientific literature. ... In 87 percent of the studies reviewed, intensifying drug law enforcement resulted in increased rates of drug market violence. ... None showed a significant decrease in violence."
Obviously to anyone who knows the history of alcohol prohibition this is all a no-brainer, but I was still shocked to see the AP carrying a story that had some common sense in it.
Cue the Esteemed Imperial Apologist with the Ph.D. and big title over at The Heritage Foundation to explain to us know-nothing nobodies how the answer to violence is---you guessed it!---more violence:
"[The Obama Administration] must ... resist the siren calls for decriminalization of marijuana and other dangerous drugs. ... U.S. drug policy must also answer to a chorus of domestic tinkerers, libertarians, and hedonists who believe in the necessity of a massive paradigm change away from the 'failed drug war.'"
The "failed drug war"---in quotes no less!---has to be my favorite part.
And yes, I know that Dr. Walser's article was released 6 days before the AP article, but the timing is still priceless.
Oh, and by the way, Dr. "Walser's interests and emphasis in policy research include defending the values of freedom and individual liberty", according to his page on The Heritage Foundation---unless you are a (non-alcohol, non-caffeine, non-nicotine, non-FDA-approved) drug user or a drug addict, in which case he wants to take away your freedom and individual liberty, hopefully using as many automatic weapons as possible.
Reading what these people write versus how they perceive themselves really makes me want to pull out my hair sometimes.
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