XPost: alt.news-media, msnbc.breakingnews
On Aug 14, 2025 at 1:30:44 AM PDT, "Ubiquitous" <
weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
MORNING JOE host Mika Brzezinski appeared to realize too late that in their zeal to oppose President Donald Trump at any cost, Democrats were charging headlong into the "trap" of defending the violent crime that Trump had promised to stop in Washington, D.C.
Brzezinski and former "Hardball" host Chris Matthews were discussing President Trump's takeover of law enforcement in the capital city, and the oppositional stance taken by many prominent Democrats and media talking heads
-- and they came to the conclusion that what the American people would see was Democrats siding with criminals in their efforts to get Trump.
For Matthews, the sticking point was the murder rate. "The murder rate -- you
can't keep saying violent crime is down, but the murder rate's up," he said. "To the average person, the murder [rate] is about life and death. You don't brag about a rising murder rate."
"And the Democrats -- I agree with you, Mika -- have fallen into the trap of defending what's indefensible," he added.
"It's a trap! Yes, it's a trap," Brzezinski replied. "I mean, it -- it's not a winner politically to say, 'You're wrong, look at the data.' Because if one
violent crime happens in a very heavy populated part of the city, people hear
about it and it's visceral."
"They don't want it, and they want to -- they'll gravitate to the person who appears to be doing something about it," she concluded.
Meghan McCain was among those who had already noticed a number of Democrats going in that direction, and she commented on the trend: "Since 2020 -- I will NEVER understand democrats messaging of 'murder and crime is actually not a big deal.' And why they continue to double, triple, quadruple down on it."
A number, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), have insisted that the crime rate in the nation's capital is at a 30-year low --
Even if it is at a 30-year low, what they don't tell you is that it's still a fuck-ton higher than most other major cities, including cities where terrorism is prevalent. All that telling us it's at a 30-year low does is highlight how insanely high it's been for the last 30 years.
Right now the Washington DC murder rate is 29-31 deaths per 100,000 people.
For comparison, Baghdad, Iraq's murder rate is 7-10 deaths per 100,000 and Kabul, Afghanistan in 3-5 per 100,000. And that's when we're at a 30-year
low!
but reports have also circulated suggesting that those numbers come from a D.C. Metro Police report that may have downplayed violent crimes in order to make the city appear safer on paper.
Plenty of whistleblowers from DC's Metro PD have come forward with detailed receipts showing how the department routinely falsifies crime stats to make things seem better than they are. They log attempted murders as "injured
person brought to hospital" and shootings as aggravated batteries rather than "assault with a deadly weapon" or "attempted murder". One of the top police commanders is currently suspended and under criminal investigation for falsifying crime stats.
And that doesn't even take into account the crimes that aren't reported
because the public doesn't have any faith that the system will do anything about it. We see this in L.A. all the time. Everyone from managers of Target and Walmart to the little corner mom-and-pop stores have repeatedly told the media in various stories about L.A. crime that they don't bother to report theft, shoplifting, or even assaults any more because it's nothing but a huge waste of time. The cops don't even come out, they just direct you to the LAPD website to fill out a report, so you know there will be zero investigation.
And every crime that's not reported is one that occurred but will not be in
the crime stats. That's how you can have crime stats that show crime is leveling out or even decreasing while thugs are running rampant all around
you.
So all this "but crime is at a 30-year low" crap is just nonsense. People have eyes. They can see what's going on in their neighborhoods. Lying to them (and the rest of the country) with fake crime stats, which even if they were accurate still doesn't paint a pretty picture of DC, is gaslighting of the highest order.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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