The Terrible Truth

and you need to hear it

A digital acquaintance posted this week about the murder of a Chicago-area college student who was killed by an illegal immigrant who has a second criminal case on his docket. He failed to show up for his most recent court date, because why would he bother, which might prompt sane people to ask why this man was free in the first place.

The answer begins by understanding that Chicago is a sanctuary city within a sanctuary state. The answer concludes by implying that the needs of the illegal are greater than the expectations of the taxpaying citizen. My friend referred to this incident as one among many “isolated failures. They reflect a governing philosophy that deprioritizes enforcement and treats public safety as negotiable.”

Let me present an alternative viewpoint. This murder and other similar incidents are not failures as the word is defined. They are intentional outcomes. I can almost hear the horror and see the pearls being clutched. “Alex, how could you possibly say that?” Because when the usual reasons for why things happen don’t add up, one must consider alternative explanations. And when you strip away the excuses and the lies and the rest, what remains is probably the truth.

The people who run govt at all levels are not stupid. Many are educated at elite institutions and presumably understand both cause and effect, and correlations between actions and likely outcomes. The reality that you may not want to hear is this: There are people within the political and legal systems of this nation who are perfectly okay with a certain number of Americans being murdered by either illegals or by domestic criminals who should have been in prison instead of running loose, terrorizing citizens.

Make no mistake, this is a form of terrorism, one we do not discuss often enough. Terrorism is not just swarthy bearded guys named Ahmed Al-Kaboom wearing suicide vests and motivated by jihad. It’s also guys – and it is mostly men – who refuse to fit into polite society and who have learned that they can do almost anything and face very little chance of even being arrested, let alone convicted and sentenced to long stretches in prison.

This is domestic terrorism and it is not only meant to instill fear, but to also send a message to the law-abiding that their govt cannot and, often, will not take steps to protect them. Whether the victim is a Ukrainian immigrant in Charlotte, a retired professor in Auburn, this college student in Chicago or another in Georgia, the result is the same: innocent people were killed by either career criminals who were released into the public or imported criminals who the system also let set free.

What exactly is the acceptable number of Americans murdered by people from either group? The correct answer is and should be zero, but reality says otherwise and the toll keeps climbing on an almost daily basis. Again, the elected and the appointed officials, and the prosecutors and judges involved are not ignorant people. Why then do they value criminals and illegals over you?

Senseless tragedies are bad enough when there is no possible way to prevent their occurrence. But outcomes that were easily predictable but allowed to happen anyway are another matter. These results do not stem from incompetence, bad policy, poor judgment, or inexperience. They are the product of intent. They arise from political choices. Deliberate, conscious, calculated choices.

Tape this next to your computer screen: foreseeable consequences are never accidental. Your govt, my govt, has put into motion a series of measures that are guaranteed to end with people who are minding their own business being harmed or killed. It may well be the most depressing realization you’ll have all year. It violates every expectation that citizens have of the govt that their taxes fund.

This does not apply to every single person working in every single jurisdiction, but does it have to before the number of victims becomes too big to ignore? Is there such a point, or do we give a pass to the people behind the policies because they represent our team or echo our sentiment regarding immigration or the justice system?

I’ve often thought that the best way for people to change their minds about policy ideas is for them to be personally affected by the results. That’s not something I wish for, but people don’t learn when others suffer. They are far more likely to excuse the result as a case of insufficient funding or improper oversight, or they deviate into psychobabble about root causes as if the criminals involved have no agency. That’s nonsense. The crimes are as deliberate as the policies that enable them, and both will continue as long as the perpetrators do not fear the potential repercussions and the policy-makers do not fear you.