By now, most people are familiar with the extreme liberal reaction to the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer on May 25, 2020. Democratic-controlled cities and states, taking their cue from Black Lives Matter activists, went on a nationwide campaign to purge law enforcement in the belief this would somehow alleviate the bloodshed. Not only did the plan fail spectacularly, but rarely have American streets been so violent.
As the unchallenged capital of liberalism, California has not escaped the fallout. Not by a long shot. The homicide rate has reportedly risen in the Golden State by a shocking 52 percent since 2019. The Hollywood Reporter, citing police data, writes that violent crimes are up 25 percent over the past 12 months. Even in Beverly Hills, the exclusive zip code of top celebrities, perpetrators are showing a level of brazenness never before seen in these parts.
That much became apparent on December 1, when the philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, wife of famous music executive Clarence Avant, was shot and killed at her home during a burglary attempt. The tragic twist to the story is that the man accused of the murder, Aariel Maynor, 29, had been just released from prison on parole – too early, critics contend – in what appears to have been yet another case of liberals coddling criminals to the detriment of society.
To add insult to injury, just hours after Avant, 81, was murdered, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, who the Heritage Foundation has described as a “Soros-backed rogue prosecutor,” was advocating for the elimination of additional prison time for criminals found guilty of brandishing a firearm during a crime.
While it remains unclear what the long-term consequences of this kid-glove approach will be for the political left, one thing is beyond doubt: Many Democrats are responding to the uptick in crime in ways that place them directly at odds with their progressive beliefs, most notably on the question of gun control. Despite the Second Amendment being a source of contention for the left, liberals are now actively purchasing firearms and enrolling in shooting classes.
LA County Sheriff Alejandro Villanueva told the New York Post that his department has received 8,105 concealed carry weapon applications and approved 2,102 of them since he entered office in December 2018, compared to his predecessor having issued 194 permits in four years.
While some of those numbers certainly include conservatives, Joel Glucksman, a private security executive, clarified that liberals have shelved their political beliefs out of concern for their safety when he told The Post: “Even hardcore leftist Democrats who said to me in the past, ‘I’ll never own a gun’ are calling me asking about firearms.”
Aside from arming themselves, Californians are investing heavily into expensive security accessories, like bullet-proof cars, safe rooms inside of their homes, bunkers, and private security firms to patrol their neighborhoods around the clock. And not a little ironically, considering the Democratic Party’s move to grant thousands of illegal migrants entry into the US from south of the Rio Grande, palatial properties are being surrounded with barbed wire fences, security cameras, motion detectors, and large dogs.
With no loss of hypocrisy, wealthy liberal homeowners can readily appreciate the importance of protecting their homes with every technological innovation under the sun, yet when it comes to protecting the American border they defer to the vacuous platitudes of political correctness.
When they are not purchasing firearms, millions of Democrats have opted to pull up stakes altogether, fleeing their sunny state for safer pastures. A study carried out by U-Haul, the transport giant, showed that California – where stealing merchandise worth under $950 is now deemed a misdemeanor – experienced the largest mass exodus of residents last year, followed by Democrat-controlled Illinois and New Jersey. Meanwhile, the top five states to experience the largest net-migration were all Republican strongholds: Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Ohio, and Arizona.
These radical changes now affecting the lifestyles of many liberals almost make them indistinguishable from conservatives. And that forms the basis of the question now haunting political pundits: With a liberal exodus into conservative states underway, will those Democrats fleeing blue cities and states box up their politics and bring them along, thereby having the effect of changing the political face of their new homes, or will they embrace the political traditions of their new homes that made such a move desirable in the first place?
It’s a question that promises to shape the face of American politics into 2022 and beyond.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
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