Amid a crime wave in which carjackings have risen 101%, thefts have gone up 44%, and sexual assaults are up 6%, Chicago’s new mayor, Brandon Johnson, seems to be mad that so many people are criticizing him.
He tweeted on Monday, out of nowhere, “The City of Chicago is the greatest city in the world. People are going to have an assessment of who we are because we’re important to the entire country and the global economy. Anybody can critique the Cubs or the White Sox or my administration, but what are you willing to do?”
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The next day, he continued in a similar vein, randomly tweeting that “The soul of Chicago is in all of us. That's why I made it my life's purpose to serve the greatest city in the world. Together, we will build a safer city by investing in our people. That means affordable housing, living wages, youth employment, & developing all our communities.”
Platitude after platitude after platitude.
We know he cares about the city, that he believes it's the “greatest city in the world,” and that he wants to invest “in our people.” But, at the end of the day, these are just words. The real test of a mayor is what action he is actually taking to address the problems in the city — whatever they may be. The issue right now is that Mayor Johnson has been saying a lot but doing almost nothing.
For example, prior to Memorial Day, he held a huge press conference about the city’s public safety plan for the notoriously violent holiday weekend. When it came to substance, though, there was little to be found. Unsurprisingly, the weekend ended with 60 shot, 12 fatally. In general, Mayor Johnson mentions crime frequently. However, he often simply reverts back to platitudes about “disinvestment” rather than laying out a specific plan to combat it.
In some ways, due to his progressive bona fides, he is stuck between a rock and a hard place on the issues that matter to the city, such as crime. On one hand, he has advocated for defunding the police in the past and still advocates a more “holistic” approach to crime. But, at the same time, we know that increasing police presence and prosecuting more aggressively reduces crime. And when people are being killed and robbed every day in your city at alarming rates, refraining from using all tools at your disposal, even when it runs counter to ideological purity, becomes a major burden.
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Recognizing this, one Chicago outlet ran a headline reading “Johnson's ambitions prepare to meet Chicago's reality” as he took office.
Mayor Johnson, so far in his tenure, seems to have made the decision to go heavy on platitudes and light on action. The reason is simple: Progressive dogma is much better suited for college classrooms and nonprofit organizations than for governing. Unfortunately, Chicago continues to learn that the hard way.
Jack Elbaum is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.