The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

Oakland California is a perfect example of the destruction that leftists and their policies can wreak on a city. The current slide into third-world sh*thole status is driven largely by the progressive elites who fund "Defund The Police" initiatives and other patently insane policies. But Oakland has long been a hotbed of leftist politics, driven by a cabal of powerful unions that were unabashedly socialist.

Sadly, Oakland had tremendous opportunity. After the 1906 earthquake that decimated San Francisco, Oakland was the recipient of a huge influx of people and money. Its port and shipbuilding were vibrant industries, and its ample land, in comparison to San Francisco's tiny footprint made it a natural industrial base for the Bay Area.

But the unions, black nationalism (The Black Panthers), Hispanic nationalism (La Raza!), the politics of division, and the lunacy of the Bay Area conspired to destroy everything good about Oakland. It has lost industry, port volume, culture, sports teams (all three have left or are leaving!), and the middle class. Oakland is left with a core of wealthy elites in the hills, who are rarely touched by the rampant crime caused by the policies they champion. And then the vast underclass that is ripe for manipulation by the many NGOs and unions that have sucked the city dry. Oakland has a huge government that operates as nothing more than a source of sinecures for the connected. Its schools are failed, its police are hamstrung, its city services are non-existent, businesses are fleeing, crime is completely out of control, and the city council spends time on geopolitical issues to fire up its base of the hard left.

Hamas Supporters Come Unhinged Over City Council Resolution Condemning the Terrorist Group

The city council was considering a resolution to demand the release of the Israeli hostages that Hamas kidnapped during its surprise attack on October 7 and also the restoration of critical infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

When one member of the city council suggested including a line condemning Hamas as a terrorist organization, the far-leftist pro-Hamas folks went ballistic in their effort to defend the group. One individual insisted that rightly characterizing Hamas as a terrorist group is “ridiculous, racist, and plays into genocidal propaganda.”

Another Hamas supporter claimed the terrorist group is a “resistance organization fighting for the liberation of the Palestinian people.”

A woman spoke up and parroted the ridiculous claim that “Israel murdered their own people on October 7th,” pretending that Hamas did not deliberately murder Israeli civilians.

An Arab woman claimed that condemning Hamas “is very anti-Arab racist.”

There is no way out of Oakland's spiral into complete collapse. The only challenge is whether it will decay the way Detroit has. I doubt it, since it doesn't have as far to fall!

posted by CBD at 11:00 AM

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