Today's award goes, jointly and severally, to the Washington D.C. City Council.
The D.C. City Council voted 11 to 2 to override Mayor Muriel Bowser’s veto of their bill to decriminalize fare evasion on the metro on Tuesday, prompting the District to join the likes of California, Seattle, Portland and New York where such measures have already been enacted.
“With today’s vote, the Council sent a clear message that it is committed to progressive criminal justice reform that dismantles the systemic racial and economic injustice that has only harmed our communities,” said Nassim Moshiree, Policy Director of the ACLU of the District of Columbia. “We once again extend our deepest gratitude to Councilmember Charles Allen for shepherding this bill in the council, to Councilmember Trayon White for introducing it and to all of the Councilmembers who stood firm in their vote.”
Trayon White made headlines earlier this year when he accused Jews of controlling the weather.
. . .
Proponents of the decriminalization bill, including White, cited a disproportionate effect of such laws on people of color.
“I’ve seen with my own eyes and read stories,” said White at a previous meeting of the D.C. City Council. “91 percent of citations given were issued to black people.”
Councilmember Brianne Nadeau also supported the legislation, tweeting, “The more we commit to using the lens of race equity in all we do in government, the sooner we will be able to rectify the real crime here, which is perpetuating racist government systems in our own government.” She and other supporters of the bill used the hashtag #ItsNotFare to show their support.
There's more at the link.
If there's a poster child for abysmal stupidity, the D.C. City Council appears to be a strong contender for the position. Let's be blunt: fare evasion is theft, pure and simple. If you decriminalize theft, why should anyone refrain from stealing? If I were an ordinary, honest, law-abiding commuter on the D.C. metro, why should I pay my fare from this day forward? The council has just told me in no uncertain terms that it's not wrong to do that!
As for alleged racial animus in the situation, that's ridiculous. Did it ever occur to Councillor White that the reason "91 percent of citations given were issued to black people" is simple? If 91% (or thereabouts) of the perpetrators were from one racial group, of course they're going to get that proportion of citations! I used to deal with the same complaint from family members of incarcerated convicts when I worked as a prison chaplain. I tried to explain to them that "the system" wasn't racist: that the reason proportionately more of the USA's black population was locked up, compared to other racial groups, is that proportionately, on a per capita basis, the black community committed more of the crimes in this country. That's not a racist statement; it's a factual one. Ask the FBI if you don't believe me. Law enforcement knows the truth all too well. It's just that it's politically incorrect to talk about it.
The D.C. City Council have just ensured that the money to operate and maintain the city's metro service will no longer come from those who use it. Instead, the council will have to gouge taxpayers even more, to cover the costs that their own stupidity and fecklessness have ensured can't be paid any other way. Genius! Sheer genius!
Peter
9 comments:
If it were something exclusive to DC, I'd say just get rid of the fares and let DC tax its residents for the service. Unfortunately the Metro covers the surrounding area as well and is financed by Maryland and Virginia, too. The Metro is already woefully short of revenue and falling behind on maintenance even as it expands. Apparently it's going to get even worse, financially. It sounds like a disaster in the making for everyone to watch.
In DC public schools, only 1 in 6 8th students who begin 8th grade will go on the graduate from high school. Estimates are that only 40% of DC public high school graduates can read, write, and do basic math without a calculator.
At least the black Democrats on the city council take care of their own. It's tribal (racial), all the way down.
The inevitable consequences are completely unforeseeable. Just bad luck. Could happen to anybody. Like when they undid all the good that the school reformer did a few years ago after they fired her.
Isn't it wonderful, that you can get to Caracas from DC by subway?
Hey Peter;
I would say that I am surprised..but I am not. I have seen so much stupidity in the past 30 years and it gets worse. It isn't just a DC problem, it is a problem with most major cities. The powers that be cater to the criminal underclass because they derive their power from them and want to get reelected. They live for the here and now, future repercussions don't factor into their thought process.
That racial makeup of criminals is one of the reasons behind California's decriminalization of so many crimes, like armed robbery and assault. Their prisons are swollen to capacity with thugs, so some bright person came up with the idea of not making them criminals in the first place. Fining them will work, more money for California.
Sensible, right? Bread and Circuses...
God, I weep for the Decline and Fall of the American Empire...
Would it not make more sense just to remove the ticket machines and turnstiles?
I live in Portland area and did not know they made the MAX "free" as well.
I just looked it up. The MAX (Portland) does not have turnstiles. Its a light rail system that is not on a separate grade in most cases. It is open platform, making payment based on the "honor" system, with random checks for enforcement. The state court system ruled against the random checks in a case about 6 months ago, effectively making the system "free".
Just wait until one of those bright bulbs on the council realizes that turnstiles discriminate against those "differently abled", since only those physically fit can get past them without paying.
With all the other stupid stuff happening now, I'm reminded of the answer to the question, "how did you go broke?", to whit, "Slowly at first, then, all of a sudden..."
I'm beginning to think this may be the start of the rapid onset part of the fall of the US....
God help us all.
Post a Comment