As IF Times

link Anthony Weiner: poster child for mistrust – baltimoresun.com.

People get tired of this story because it is so base.  Weiner himself perpetuates the saga by virtue of not resigning after the queasy details of his personal peccadilloes have been revealed.  Otherwise, it would have been  old news by now and people would have moved on to the next scandal.

Now the story takes a different dimension.  The focus is no longer on Weiner, it now shifts to the constituency that he represents because there are reports that by a simple majority there, people support him.  This is the root of some of the malaise that infects society at large. The cliche goes that people deserve who they elect and this gets proved again and again.  Less than a year ago Charlie Rangel, the permanent Democratic fixture in New York was censured for all kinds of offside activities while sitting as a congressman.  Avoiding taxes was one such issue, which is only noteworthy because he was one of the authors of the federal tax code.  Lovable Chuck managed to ‘golly gee, shucks” his way out of that one.  The lovable rascal didn’t have to resign, because, well he’s so gosh darn charming and the people loved him.  Besides, his explanations for his transgressions were all innocent enough:  He forgot, or didn’t understand the complexities of his tax issues.

Mr. Weiner, to his credit did a full mea culpa.  There was no room for misunderstandings, no accidents, no reasonable explanation of his recreational proclivities.  Despite his impressive Pinocchio impersonation, the people in his district still think enough of Weiner to allow him to represent them.  He’s still their boy!  This is great for Weiner, because now, he doesn’t even have to pretend to be sane!  His public knows that he’s warped  and they don’t care!  Not that this is a big surprise, given his New York district, which, like San Francisco on the other side of the country support their own varieties of mixed nuts.   What this means however, is that for the rest of the population, they must endure policies passed in no small part by the input of these flaky representatives.  Essentially, the wacko predilections of these districts are transmitted to the nation as a whole, truly a tyranny of the minority. 

This also means that crafting rational policies to deal with large scale social and financial issues are entirely moot excercises.  Obviously, trying to reason with people of these constituencies would be like explaining string theory to monkeys.  It’s very much a mob mentality.  To attack the leader of the mob, regardless of how eminently unlikeable their personalities, is to attack the mob itself.  I’m sure even Weiner is surprised by all of this support.   People can take encouragement by these episodes.  This means that anyone but anyone can run for public office.  As a matter of fact, they should actually publish a picture list of requirements to make it simpler for those who can’t read, (incidentally not a dis-qualifier).  Apart from shallowness of character, extreme narcissism and lack of any rational judgement, pants being on fire would be good credentials to have.  The major stipulation is that you need to bring along  a few million voters who are just like you.   Next thing you know, Alec Baldwin will be running for mayor of New York….

link Emanuel Vows ‘Full Force’ Of Law Will Bring Street Thugs To Justice « CBS Chicago.

It’s apparent that the affluence of Chicago society has impacted the normal hunting and grazing habitats of the urban youth.  Pushed out by encroaching urbanization and development, these otherwise peaceful urban, disadvantaged youth are now seen foraging far away from their normal habitats of the south side.  Unable to get their normal supply of food, drugs and money from their usual constituency, these helpless creatures have moved bravely on to the more affluent areas of the city for easier prey. 

Unaccustomed to dealing with wild creatures from years of brainwashing and complacency by cultural conditioning, the residents of the affluent gold coast and northern beaches are easy pickings for the swarms of displaced youth.  Whereas natural  survival skills would normally kick in when confronted with a gang of unfriendly natives, resident victims now have no response whatsoever, as if they were Wildebeest on the Savannah. 

Sympathetic to the plight of the poor displaced youth, who according to authorities are only exhibiting natural survival behaviour, many sociologists are pushing for more money to be made available to the urban poor.  One such expert, Dr. Del E. Rious stated,

“…The present difficult economy has rendered the usual victims of the inner city youths with less and less money to steal.  While food stamps are plentiful, the lack of hard currency to buy drugs, oversized sneakers and bling are presenting the youth gangs with few options but to forage further afield for more lucrative and easier prey.  The residual effects of the Bush years have caused desperation to manifest among the restless kids.  Tourists are simply seen as easy and prime targets for them…”

When one of the youth mobsters were asked why they were picking on innocent citizens and tourists, he responded, “Cuz they gots the money fool!”. Local police have been overwhelmed with the sudden spike in gang activity and many have attributed this in some part to global warming.  A unnamed police spokesman said,

“We haven’t seen this kind of mass predatory activity since the 1970’s.  It is no coincidence that the City of Chicago has experienced its warmest temperatures since that time and we are seeing a corresponding spreading of mob activity outside of their habitual haunts…”  In that vein, local activists are lobbying the federal government to supply air conditioners to the ‘hood areas in order to stem the migration to the wealthier suburbs.  The same police spokesman added, “…we must do something, the youth mobsters can’t help themselves, they are only reacting to basic natural survival instincts…”

At the moment, the mobsters are being shot with tranquilizer darts and then returned to their home areas, but many residents fear that this will not discourage them as they get bolder and bolder.  Visitors and residents are encouraged to always have a roll of twenties on them to placate the youth gangs if they are confronted.  In fact, they are encouraged to simply tape the money to their arms and back for easy and quick removal. It is thought that this is only a mild seasonal nuisance that will subside with cooler weather.