![\"Murders](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dougsbriefcase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Credit-progress-illinois.jpg\")
<\/a>Mur\u00adders in Chica\u00adgo and the bank\u00adrupt\u00adcy of Detroit raise uncom\u00adfort\u00adable ques\u00adtions for Democ\u00adrats who have held pow\u00ader in these cities for decades. [Cred\u00adit: Progress Illinois]<\/p><\/div>Rahm Emanuel pre\u00adsides over a shoot\u00ading gallery.\n
Before becom\u00ading May\u00ador of Chica\u00adgo, Emanuel\u2019s career had been one of unbro\u00adken suc\u00adcess: from finance direc\u00adtor of the Clin\u00adton cam\u00adpaign, to senior advis\u00ader in the Clin\u00adton White House, invest\u00adment banker, Con\u00adgress\u00adman, and ear\u00adly backer of Barack Oba\u00adma against his for\u00admer polit\u00adi\u00adcal patrons, the Clin\u00adtons, a move that result\u00aded in his being named Chief of Staff in the Oba\u00adma White House.<\/p>\n
Reli\u00adably pro\u00adgres\u00adsive and stub\u00adborn\u00adly prag\u00admat\u00adic, Emanuel seemed espe\u00adcial\u00adly well suit\u00aded to the may\u00adoral\u00adty, which demands that ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy work at the pot\u00adhole lev\u00adel. To his con\u00adster\u00adna\u00adtion and sur\u00adprise, it has not.<\/p>\n
Homi\u00adcides are its most obvi\u00adous fail\u00adure. Last Decem\u00adber 28, 40-year-old Nathaniel Jack\u00adson became the city\u2019s 500th mur\u00adder vic\u00adtim <\/a>in 2012, the first time since 2008 that the body count had reached that mile\u00adstone. There were 5 more <\/a>before the year was out. Most of the deaths were the result of shoot\u00adings, most of the dead from the city\u2019s African-Amer\u00adi\u00adcan pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion. There were 433<\/a> the year before. This year\u2019s total will prob\u00ada\u00adbly dip below 500 again. Through July 21, there have been only 228 mur\u00adders<\/a>. Only.<\/p>\n The decline is large\u00adly attrib\u00adut\u00adable to rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly low casu\u00adal\u00adty totals in Feb\u00adru\u00adary (14) and March (17). This kept the body count for the first three months well below that of 2012. Some blame milder tem\u00adper\u00ada\u00adtures<\/a> for last year\u2019s surge of win\u00adter\u00adtime mur\u00adders, though even the envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adly-con\u00adscious may\u00ador did not pin them on glob\u00adal warming.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t hes\u00adi\u00adtate, how\u00adev\u00ader, to claim that his crime-fight\u00ading strate\u00adgies are work\u00ading. The New York Times oblig\u00aded him last month with a head\u00adline, \u201cChica\u00adgo Tac\u00adtics Put Major Dent in Killing Trend<\/a>.\u201d In ret\u00adro\u00adspect, the \u201cdent\u201d looks more like a nick. The week\u00adend after the Times ran the piece, there were 36 shoot\u00adings, includ\u00ading a bloody Fathers Day <\/a>on which 6 died and 13 were wound\u00aded. All told, there were 45 homi\u00adcides in May and 43 in June; this month\u2019s toll is like\u00adly to sur\u00adpass both. It stood at 42 as of July 21<\/a>.<\/p>\n The \u201ctac\u00adtics\u201d the may\u00ador is employ\u00ading look more like the Bagh\u00addad coun\u00adterin\u00adsur\u00adgency than city gov\u00ader\u00adnance, with mobile police units deploy\u00ading to neigh\u00adbor\u00adhoods where shoot\u00adings have recent\u00adly occurred or are expect\u00aded to occur. Parts of the city, in short, have been reduced to war zones. Lit\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly. The Amer\u00adi\u00adcan death toll<\/a> in Afghanistan since 2001 stands at around 2,000; more than 5,000 peo\u00adple have been killed in Chica\u00adgo over that same peri\u00adod of time.<\/p>\n This descent into may\u00adhem pre\u00adced\u00aded Emanuel\u2019s tenure. There were many more mur\u00adders in the ear\u00adly 1990s, when incar\u00adcer\u00ada\u00adtion rates were low\u00ader and shock trau\u00adma units less adept at keep\u00ading shoot\u00ading vic\u00adtims alive. Rahm, as the Pres\u00adi\u00addent he once served is fond of say\u00ading, \u201cinher\u00adit\u00aded\u201d all of these prob\u00adlems. So why not fol\u00adlow the President\u2019s lead and blame his Repub\u00adli\u00adcan pre\u00adde\u00adces\u00adsor? Because William Hale Thomp\u00adson<\/a>,<\/span> the last Repub\u00adli\u00adcan may\u00ador, left office in 1931. Democ\u00adrats have run the city for 82 years, with a sin\u00adgle fam\u00adi\u00adly \u2014 the Daleys \u2014 in charge for 33 of those years.<\/p>\n Detroit has a sim\u00adi\u00adlar polit\u00adi\u00adcal pedi\u00adgree. When its last Repub\u00adli\u00adcan may\u00ador, Louis Miri\u00adani<\/a>,<\/span> left office in Jan\u00adu\u00adary 1962, Detroit had the nation\u2019s high\u00adest per capi\u00adta income<\/a>. Today its $14,717 per capi\u00adta income <\/a>ranks it among the poor\u00adest local\u00adi\u00adties in the nation, lag\u00adging even oth\u00ader rust-belt towns like Erie (PA<\/span>), Buf\u00adfa\u00adlo (NY<\/span>) and Can\u00adton (OH<\/span>). On a glob\u00adal scale, its per capi\u00adta income ranks low\u00ader than those of 88 coun\u00adtries<\/a>,<\/span> includ\u00ading Latvia, Botswana, Lebanon and Mexico.<\/p>\n In tout\u00ading his first term accom\u00adplish\u00adments, the Pres\u00adi\u00addent said last Octo\u00adber that he\u2019d \u201crefused to let Detroit go bank\u00adrupt<\/a>.\u201d Vice Pres\u00adi\u00addent Biden joined in mak\u00ading this a point of con\u00adtrast with his oppo\u00adnent, Mitt Rom\u00adney. Dur\u00ading his debate with Rep. Paul Ryan (R\u2011WI<\/span>), the Vice Pres\u00adi\u00addent charged that Mitt Rom\u00adney \u201cwould let Detroit go bank\u00adrupt<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Turns out that Detroit\u2019s fate nev\u00ader real\u00adly hinged on the out\u00adcome of the Pres\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial elec\u00adtion. In its bank\u00adrupt\u00adcy fil\u00ading, the city dis\u00adclosed that it was $20 bil\u00adlion <\/a>in debt and has no means of repay\u00ading its 100,000 cred\u00adi\u00adtors<\/a>,<\/span> many of whom are owed pub\u00adlic pen\u00adsions. The list of its fail\u00adures is by now famil\u00adiar to most read\u00aders and needs no recount\u00ading. [Here are 25 facts about Detroit<\/a>,<\/span> for those in search of even more depress\u00ading reading.]<\/p>\n