Chicago's Mayor Has Everyone Up In Arms

George Shay of Chicago Contrarian has the details. The Red Dawn of Realism: Why Brandon Johnson’s Base Is Fleeing Chicago's Progressive Circus

While I don't think Chicago is going to flip Red, I do think the Machine is seriously broken.

The 911 system is broken, not because of the 911 Center, or the operators, or dispatch, but because there are not enough police to maintain law and order. They can't investigate crimes, let alone respond to a crisis. (Click thru for those details. Call 911, and there is no patrol unit available to respond.)

By allowing our police districts to consistently fall into RAP [Radio Assignment Pending] status, the current administration has achieved something historic. They have bridged the traditional divides of Chicago geography. The South Side mother tired of local community centers being converted into unvetted migrant shelters now shares the exact same grievance as the Lincoln Park resident watching businesses shut down due to unchecked violence. They are both looking at a government that takes more and more of their money and, with property and other taxes, gives them more and more lawlessness in return.

As for the breakdown in the system:

The breakdown in the 18th District is a direct symptom of prioritizing political theater over core municipal functions. When an affluent North Side neighborhood experiences a two-hour window where zero police units are available to respond to an active, 50-person brawl, the social contract is completely broken.

It used to be a wonderful city. I went to college there. I worked there for a number of years. I spent Saturday afternoons in the art museums, and Saturday nights in the clubs. Now you couldn't pay me to set foot in the city, or at least not in any of the places I used to frequent.