A relatively recent video has been making the rounds on the Internet, featuring Kimberly Klacik, a woman who is running for Congress in Maryland's 7th District, which includes Baltimore's north and west sides gerrymandered with some of its suburbs to the far north and west. THIS is the video that made her a star. THIS is the video that got her a speaking slot on the opening night of the Republican National Convention.
And this is the video I'm going to systematically destroy.
"Do you care about black lives?" she says in the video. "The people that run Baltimore don't. I can prove it. Walk with me. They don't want you to see this."
She then proceeds to be seen walking through Baltimore. "The real Baltimore," she says. And in the background are clearly seen some obviously run-down, unkempt, falling-apart properties. Although, it's somewhat difficult to see these because she's wearing a fire-engine-red dress that's more appropriate for a nightclub than a run for Congress. And far be it from me to objectify women for what they wear - I've always hated men who do that. But it's more than fair to ask, just what type of message is she really trying to send, here? Or is she merely trying to make sure that all the men don't click "Skip Ad?"
"This is the reality for black people every single day," she continues. "Crumbling infrastructure, abandoned homes, poverty and crime. Baltimore has been run by the Democrat Party for 53 years. What is the result of their decades of leadership? Baltimore is one of the top 5 most dangerous cities in America. The murder rate in Baltimore is 10 X the U.S. average. The Baltimore poverty rate is over 20%. Homicide, drug and alcohol deaths are skyrocketing in our city."
Is she right? I'll take a look at the statistics she quoted in a moment, but first I want to tackle her first point, that Baltimore has been "run by the Democrat Party for 53 years." Here's the kicker:
NO! Baltimore has NOT been run by the Democrats! Not for 53 years, not for a long time!
"But wait!" I hear you say, "Sure it has! The last Republican mayor of Baltimore was Theodore McKeldan who left office way back in 1967. It's been nothing but Democrats ever since! The 7th Congressional District has been controlled by Democrats since 1953, ever since a 7th district was added following the 1950 census! The other district representing Baltimore, the 3rd, has been Democratic since 1927! Didn't Elijah Cummings die in office here? Wasn't he replaced with another Democrat? How can you say Democrats don't run Baltimore?"
Because cities are not truly run by the local politicians who are elected there, that's how!
What really governs a city are state and federal interests. Most roads, bridges and infrastructure projects are funded by state and federal money. Most jobs programs and housing programs are also run by state and federal interests. Most laws are passed at state and federal level. And the decisions which determine whether jobs in the cities rise or fall are all made in state capitals, or in Washington D.C. When it comes right down to it, a mayor doesn't have much power to do jack shit! And whatever aldermen he has under him don't have much power, either. Oh, they can raise some local sales taxes. They can decide where parking meters go. They can charge fees for municipal services or levy stadium taxes. They can appeal to the state and the federal governments for aid. But if those funding sources dry up, if it's all their property taxes can do to pay for police and fire protection, well then they are S.O.L.! If they can't afford to buy more buses, buses simply don't get bought. If they can't afford to hire more people, people aren't hired. The residents of every city pay far, far more in state and federal taxes than either of them ever pays back in, and it's been that way for a very, very long time! A city's government is kept on two leashes, and those leashes get smaller and smaller every year!
Guess why?
The current governor of Maryland is Larry Hogan, a Republican. His predecessor, Martin O'Malley, was a Democrat, but before that, it was Bob Erlich, another Republican. That's two Republicans to one Democrat since 2003. And during the Republican administrations of Maryland, each governor has enjoyed the support of George W. Bush and Donald Trump, respectively. During these times, Baltimore, and indeed every city, did not fare as well.
May I also remind you, Maryland was the state where Nixon's vice president, Spiro T. Agnew, was governor. If you think his presence is not still felt in Maryland politics, you are mistaken.
So you see, cities are not "run by Democrats." Oh, they may have a Democratic mayor, or a democratic Congressman, and it may stay that way for decades, but these by themselves "rule" nothing, or at least nothing much.
For Klacik to march through the dilapidated sections of Baltimore and have the absolute nerve to say, "Look what Democrats have done," is one hell of a bullshit lie!
NOW, we can handle the stats. She says that Baltimore is one of the top 5 most dangerous cities in America. That the murder rate is 10 X what it is nationwide. That poverty and drug rates are going up. And yeah, she's right. Baltimore is a pretty dangerous city. What it needs to fix that problem is a real jobs program and some immediate federal hiring to put people to work right away, and reduce crime. It needs better schools to make sure the economy of Baltimore is strong when the next generation comes of age. It needs more housing to bring the cost of rent down. And potential entrepreneurs need federally insured, low-interest loans to start their own businesses. Unfortunately, under Trump and Hogan, we have a president and governor who don't care, as well as a HUD secretary who doesn't believe in housing, an education secretary who wants to destroy education, and a secretary of the USDA who doesn't believe in food stamps.
How the fuck is THAT supposed to help?
And what exactly is Klacik offering? MORE rollbacks? She doesn't bother telling us what alternatives she actually has, if any.
"Do you care about black lives? I do!" she says. She then points out, correctly, that the vast majority of crime is perpetrated against black people. "So why don't we do something about OUR cities?" She asks.
Like what, Kim? Like support a president who gives clear support to the Nazis of Charlottesville?
I don't doubt her sincerity. I think she genuinely does care - mistaken though she might be. And her pitch MIGHT actually work - IF there were a different president representing the Republican Party in the Oval Office. If such a rational Republican president were there, and said something like, "We acknowledge the mistakes of our past. The Southern Strategy was wrong. So I'm going to lead our party back to its anti-slavery roots and build a more diverse and strong America!" That would be a GREAT pitch! Hell, I might even vote for that over Joe Biden!
Unfortunately, Klacik has chosen the wrong moment in history to make such a pitch. She is NOT striking while the iron is hot! Hell, the iron is about as cool as it gets!
She asks various black people on the street if they want to "defund the police." They all answer no. But I, myself, said in an earlier blog post how stupid the phrase "defund the police" is. This ad proves I was right when I chided my fellow leftists about that. We DO want to reform the police, and demilitarize many of the things that police are over-assigned to do. But we don't mean "defund" outright. Oh, yes, I've heard many of my fellow liberals say, "YES, we do!" But this ad is exactly why they're wrong.
See? I don't just scold conservatives.
"It's not just Baltimore," Klacik says. "The worst place for a black person to live in America is a Democrat controlled city. It's 2020. Name a blue city where black people's lives have gotten better. I'll wait."
Challenge accepted! Here's one: LONDON. How about VANCOUVER. Or Oslo, Paris, Sydney and Berlin?
And you might say, "But Eric, none of those cities are in the United States!" Well, exactly! Because those cities all have governments with strong social programs, and their right-wingers are at least respectful enough to not constantly get in the way!
"Look at this!" Klacik says as the camera shows one broken thing after another. "How are children supposed to live here and play here?" And she might have a good point, except Scopes pointed out that the video only shows a limited area of a two-block stretch, and keeps looping that area over and over again. If you look closely, you can see the same overgrown foliage in several different shots. It's hard to believe how bad Baltimore really is when Kim won't even show us all of it.
Okay, that's nit-picky. And I'll grant Klacik the argument that many places in pretty much all inner cities are dilapidated and in need of repair. We all know how run-down our cities are. So let's ask the corporate tightwads to loosen up a percentage or two so that we can fix that! Private industry won't move on it. That takes too long. The buildings must be repaired first before the businesses move in, that's just plain how it works. Only a government can invest in a community quickly, and that means, yes, Democrats, not Republicans.
At the federal and state level.
"Democrats think black people are stupid. They think they can control us forever; that we won't demand better and we will keep voting for them - forever; despite what they've done to our families and our communities."
Well, I've already debunked the "despite what they've done to our families and communities" part. Scratch past the surface of that argument and there's an elephant, not a donkey. But what really riles me is where she says, "Democrats think black people are stupid." Fucking really? Isn't it more of an insult to black people's intelligence to ask them to vote for an alternative - without actually providing one? Couldn't she have asked people to vote Republican down-ballot, but support Joe Biden, just as so many other Republicans are doing to save their own party? Isn't asking anyone, much less a black person, to not vote for the racist numbskull in the White House, a smart thing?
"I'm Kim Klasik and I'm running for congress because I actually care about black lives. All black lives matter. Our communities matter. Baltimore matters. And black people don't have to vote Democrat," she concludes. Well, fine. But for Klasik's argument to work, she needed to add six more words to her ad. Just six more little words:
"I'll stand up to Donald Trump."
What? Those six words are missing? Aww, too bad. Well, there went her entire argument.
But honestly? Part of me hopes she runs for president in 2024.
Eric
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