Chicago is My Kind of Town!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

In his never-ending quest to incite rioting in select American cities - those with large populations of people of color and Democratic mayors, this week Trump's tool at the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, authorized National Guard troops patrolling Washington, DC, to begin carrying loaded firearms.   According to reliable news reports the Guard have essentially been patrolling tourist areas of the nation's capital, places where crime is rare, an avoiding areas where they might actually prove useful - and the occupation has been a dud as far as images of crime and violence is concerned.  Maybe giving adrenaline-fueled young men weapons with real bullets can crank things up a notch or two.

Crime is down in Washington, DC, at a 30-year low, which Trump's own Department of Justice confirms, but that's not the point of Trump's vulgar authoritarian crackdown.  The primary purpose is to draw attention away from the sordid and scandalous sexual exploitation of minors by Jeffrey Epstein and his friends, one of whom has the power to launch government invasions of American cities to serve as news distractions.

In the last few days Trump has announced a short list of cities which can expect to be next in his military occupation of America.   Chicago appears to be at the top of the list, followed closely by New York City and Baltimore.   Cities where crime actually is a big problem, places like Memphis, New Orleans, and Jackson. Mississippi, are under GOP control and therefore will remain Gestapo free.

I was in Chicago for several days a year ago this month.  It was during the Air and Water show, and the city was packed.  I stayed in the heart of downtown at the famed Drake Hotel, the place where mobster Frank Nitti once had his office, which is right in the heart of downtown.  I walked the area around the hotel, ten blocks or so in all directions during the day and at night, and had meals at several outdoor venues - and felt totally safe the entire time I was there.   I also spent time on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan and never saw or experienced anything alarming - other than the bikes (in bike lanes) and mopeds zipping through traffic.  (The two-wheeled traffic will likely become the Guard's go-to easy target as they crackdown on people delivering food like thy have in Washington, DC.)

Chicago is a great American city - one of the very best!

My only negative memory of Chicago was the large "Trump" building downtown on the river's edge.  Other than that eyesore, its a great city - and I hope to make a return visit at some point in the not too distant future.

If OUR government wants to improve the quality of life in American cities, it should invest time, energy, and resources, in them instead of trying to subjugate their people with mindless toil and endless poverty.  Saving America's cities, if that is indeed what the Trump administration actually wants to do, will take planning and hard work - not bullhorns and bullets.

America needs more classrooms, and fewer ballrooms - more public transportation, and fewer military convoys - more child care providers, and fewer angry (or scared) young men with guns.

Being a pain-in-the-ass bully isn't going to fix a damned thing!