Wednesday, February 09, 2022

Shootout In Seattle--Where will It End?

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KIRO 7 News reported, "A shootout on Seattle's Capitol Hill overnight has the neighborhood on edge."

Seattle and Capitol Hill, of course, became infamous as "CHOP" then "CHAD," then Jenny Durkan called it a "Summer of Love."

It was anything but "love." After people were shot and killed, and the police were driven from the neighborhood precinct, authorities finally moved out the occupiers.  

Jenny, the former mayor of Seattle, has moved on, the press has moved on, but crime has not. 

If there's any question about the crime rate, read the newly published, in-depth Washington State Crime Report.

And listen to Seattle's new mayor: "When I see what I continue to see out here, I can't sleep at night."

Have you ever wondered why nearly all of our country's most crime-ridden cities are run by leftist Democrats?

A closer look is revealing.

Be informed, not misled.

Crime is rising.

KIRO 7: "The Seattle Police Department blotter says 911 calls started coming in at about 2:30 early Sunday morning.'"

"Officers," they say, "got there quickly and encountered people fleeing on foot and in vehicles. Someone left a bullet riddled-vehicle behind---it was still running some 12 hours later."

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, a Democrat, condemned the continuing spike in crime just last week, saying: "The fact of the matter, we have seen an increase in violent crime."

Indeed. Shootings alone were up a record 40% last year according to the "Crime In Washington 2020 Annual Report.

If you live in Washington State you may want to take a look at the report. It's not encouraging, but it's very informative.

If you live in Seattle, you may want to duck. 

Although over 40 gunshots were fired, fortunately, no one was injured in this latest crime episode. Some said it reminded them of an old west-style shootout.

Misael Dominquez's restaurant has been in the area for ten years and he says he's never experienced a gunfight like this one. He says he "was lucky" his restaurant was closed at the time.

Laughing nervously, he says, "I don't know what to do I mean seriously, I don't know what to do."

On top of this shootout, his restaurant has been repeatedly vandalized over the past six months. His windows have been shattered five or six times.

He's contemplating closing his business.

Kyle Dukart lives across the street in an apartment. He was asleep when a bullet shattered his living room window. "I've lived in this neighborhood four or five months now," he says, "and I've never heard gunshots before this."

He says, "There was actually a bullet laying on my living room floor."

The press and the leftist politicians always blame the "guns," not the individuals who misuse the guns.

A solution?



Seattle Police Department has formed a Gun Violence Reduction Unit to address the problem. 

Radical left progressives are well known for always working toward solutions, but never finding one. Always claiming to be "making progress" but never arriving at any measurable mark of achievement.

Last year CBS noted that the number of homicide victims in Philadelphia is up 35%.

The City of Brotherly Love now has the highest murder rate in the country per capita of the country's 10 largest cities.

On December 8, 2021---two months ago yesterday, the New York Post published this headline: "A Dozen Cities Set Annual Murder Records With Three Weeks Left In 2021."

The Post continued:

At least 12 major US cities have already set historical murder records in 2021, even as three weeks remain in the year.

Philadelphia, the nation’s sixth-largest city, recorded 523 murders as of Dec. 7, surpassing its formal grim milestone of 500 murders, which was set in 1990, police data showed.

The City of Brotherly Love had recorded significantly more murders in 2021 than New York City’s 443, despite having approximately six times fewer residents.

It’s terrible to every morning get up and have to go look at the numbers and then look at the news and see the stories. It’s just crazy. It’s just crazy and this needs to stop,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, reportedly said after his city broke its own infamous benchmark.

Quoting ABC News, the Post said: "Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; St Paul, Minnesota; Portland, Oregon; Tucson, Arizona; Toledo, Ohio; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Austin, Texas; Rochester, New York, and Albuquerque, New Mexico also had their deadliest years on record." 

Five of those cities topped notorious benchmarks that were set in 2020, the article said. All of them were led by Democratic mayors, as are the vast majority of US cities.

Takeaway

Clearly, the policies of the radical left "progressives" are not working. They have never worked for anyone except those who seek personal power rather than service. The institutions of our society were built by God-fearing men who founded this country and framed our founding documents relying upon the eternal values and principles of God's Word.

How could we expect anything other than the results we're experiencing.

Patrick Henry, one of America's Founders, said: "When people forget God, tyrants forge their chains."

We have forgotten Him, and there are those working at the forge---even as we speak.

We must have policy changes, and those come by changing leaders, electing those who hold to fundamental, conservative, biblical policies.

Christians must be involved.

In 1877 our 20th President, James Garfield, wrote in a "Century of Progress"---published in the Atlantic, "Now more than ever the people are responsible for the character of their Congress."

That could apply to mayors and governors as well.

Garfield said, "If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption."

He continues to say that the future of our country is in the hands of the citizens and their vote will chart our course.

This is true.

But the greater Truth is that our future lies, not merely in the hands of the citizens, but in their hearts.

Rev. Charles Finney, the great Presbyterian minister, and educator, said this:

"If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discernment, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in Christianity, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it."

It's time for the church to awaken and rise---and take our God-ordained role in a failing, self-destructing culture.

Be Informed. Be Engaged. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful.