A rule of thumb among progressive mayors whose cities are awash in chaos is to virtue signal on some unrelated topic. On Wednesday Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson did just that: he called for a ceasefire in Gaza. This action makes him the biggest city mayor to do so.
Johnson said at a news conference:
I condemn the actions of Hamas, but at this point now I believe we’re looking at 25,000 Palestinians that have been killed during this war and the killing has to stop. So yes, we need a cease-fire.
He didn’t say where he got that 25,000 dead number, but it’s from the Gaza Health Ministry, which on Sunday claimed that the death toll passed 25K. They would never, ever inflate any numbers, would they? *eyeroll*
What good will Brandon Johnson’s declaration do? Certainly Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu couldn’t care less what the Chicago mayor says. Johnson’s goal, apparently, is to influence leaders at the DNC and Democratic federal officials to pressure Joe Biden into pressuring Netanyahu.
Johnson’s expression of hope for such an impact was borrowed straight from the leftist playbook:
I wish I could give you maybe an answer to what impact it will have on other people who make decisions, but I can say from a very personal note: I know that for Black liberation we had to make statements that maybe not in the immediate it had an impact.
But I’m not mayor of the city of Chicago if people weren’t pushing the government to recognize people’s humanity and understand the value of what liberation — what it means for people, groups and nations. And in this instance, people should be liberated.
But those high-flying words about “liberation” mask Johnson’s real intent, and it’s political in nature. For starters, Chicago will host the Democratic National Convention in August. Plus, Cook County has the most Palestinians of any county in the US. Johnson’s call also corresponds with the Chicago City Council making its own ceasefire resolution on the same day.
Rather than an expression of benevolence towards Palestinians in Gaza, Johnson’s statement was sheer political posturing.
Consider that in 2023, Chicago racked up 646 total homicides. That represents a 12% decrease from 2022, when the city had 738 killings, so that’s an improvement, right? Kind of like Democrats who gaslight us that the economy is just swell — you’re imagining those high prices at the grocery store and the gas pump. Hey, at least they’re going down!
Chicago Mickey T-shirt for sale at HeyJackass.com.
Just since Monday, the city sustained the following: drive-by and road rage shootings; the sexual assault and strangulation of a woman; a bank robbery; a stabbing on a public transit train; and a teenage boy who killed another teenage boy. And that’s just some of the mayhem.
But let’s focus on calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Social media wasn’t buying Brandon Johnson’s virtue signaling.
Whew! I was beginning to worry that Chicago was going to shit until I saw this call from our great @ChicagosMayor. The south side will sleep well tonight.
— Tesla Tex (@TeslaTex22) January 24, 2024
Mayor Brandon Johnson should stick to #Chicago politics, it looks like he's failing miserably on the local level.
Parts of Chicago are a war zone.
— Colorado Charlie Lee (@ColoradoCharlee) January 24, 2024
Black residents on the West and South Sides of Chicago are already furious with Brandon Johnson over the illegal migrants he placed in their neighborhoods, giving them use of their buildings and parks. They’re so angry, in fact, groups of them are suing the city.
As Cata Truss, a woman plaintiff, told Olivia Reingold of The Free Press:
There’s a humanitarian crisis in the black community. But every time we have a need in our community, we’re told that there are no funds. There’s no money for us.
Yet about 35,000 illegal migrants have received resources like laundry services, mental health screenings, and rental support. But when the city decided to turn old schools and park buildings into migrant shelters, residents took action. As a result, the city of Chicago is facing seven lawsuits pushing back against these uninvited guests. Some residents are even turning against Johnson, Joe Biden, and the Democratic Party.
Truss said she plans to vote Republican come fall, since Trump took border security seriously:
We built this country on our backs, and they have left us out here to dry. The black vote is no longer etched in stone.
The lawsuits may have gotten Brandon Johnson’s attention. On Wednesday he announced that he’s been conferring with IL Gov. J. B. Pritzker on getting new migrant shelters placed outside of Chicago.
In the meantime, though, Johnson is burnishing his virtuous bona fides as a progressive mayor who thinks that somehow, just maybe, he might influence the bigwigs of his party to pressure Joe Biden into making Netanyahu acquiesce to a ceasefire in Gaza. Even though just a few short days ago Hamas rejected a ceasefire proposal from Israel so they can retrieve their hostages.
But Brandon Johnson isn’t the only blue city mayor with an extreme lack of self-awareness. Also on Wednesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued an advisory officially designating social media as an “environmental toxin.”
Priorities, people! Priorities!
Featured image: “Brandon Johnson, candidate for Mayor of Chicago” by Steven Vance is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Cropped.
Cameron says: Well, he does have a point about social media being a toxin.
As for the black community’s anger over this? May I ask why you supported him? You knew that this was going to happen.
GWB says: What is it with Chicago mayors and their freaky hair? Mayor Groot was on the far end of the spectrum, but Johnson’s hair is going that way, too.
Do Chicagoans not know how to groom and care for their hair? Or is it merely a side effect of having their heads so far up their … fundaments all the time?
GWB says: the killing has to stop
Says who? Why is it moral to you that all killing must stop (not to mention the hypocrisy), even punishment for heinous atrocities?
Because Progressivism is an evil heresy of Christianity is why. It’s not interested in real justice, just in making everyone placid and compliant.
those high-flying words
Are word salad, with a high content of rhetorical e. coli.
The black vote is no longer etched in stone.
It never should have been. The tribalism inherent in black votes for Democrats for a century is exactly how you got to where you are – further back than you were when the civil rights movement started.
Free your mind.
Mark F says: I bet Mayor Johnson has not asked any Palestinians to review Chicago Public Schools sex ed classes, If he had I bet there would be a fatwa issued against him and Chicago’s school system. I think Mayor Johnson’s efforts would be better directed toward eliminating Chicago’s nickname of “Chiraq.”
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