Maybe you didn't believe us when we pointed out in November 2023 that the left doesn't believe in the theory of cause and effect. (Details here.)
We quoted Blaze Media columnist Auron MacIntyre who accurately asserted, "The liberal mind identified cause and effect as an existential threat and decoupled the two long ago."
There is no other way to explain New York socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's proposal to abolish misdemeanor crime enforcement. Other than brain damage.
(Mamdani is a fountain of bad ideas. You can read our coverage here and here.)
PJ Media reports on Mamdani's idea, "'E-Z Pass for criminals' is the moniker critics have slapped on it, and they're right. New York already is at war, battling crime in the subway, illegal vending, homelessness, and drug abuse. When misdemeanor guardrails are stripped away, the floodgates are turned wide open.
" . . . This action means shoplifting, petty theft, drug possession, prostitution, low-level assault, and even some incidents of drunk driving no longer draw consequences, unless there is "major" injury or violence.
"Mamdani isn't proposing leniency; he's surrendering a city."
This is all so tiresome.
California tried the same lunatic policy, and it was a disaster the state has yet from which to recover.
"California's Proposition 47 reclassified a wide range of felonies after passing in 2014 and increased the threshold for felony theft to $950.
"It was sold as reform on paper, yet in reality, it became an invitation to corruption. As long as their haul fell under the magic dollar amount, shoplifters learned there was little to fear. Over time, police grew unwilling to waste their time with cases the courts wouldn't touch.
"Fallout was swift: Retail theft spiked, while stores closed. The chains Walgreens and Target took action: Walgreens abandoned entire neighborhoods, and Target locked items behind plastic."
California residents call the new law "the shoplifter's charter."
Conditions became so bad that even left stronghold San Francisco had second thoughts.
"The embrace voters gave the reform ultimately faded. Boudin was recalled in 2022, a stunning rejection in one of America's bluest cities.
"The people of San Francisco had grown tired of being test subjects in social experiments that worked wonderfully in academia but failed utterly in the real world."
"Reform" laws like this rest on two fundamental fallacies, both originating in higher education and left-wing think tanks.
The first is enforcing misdemeanor laws is "racist" because more minorities are arrested than white folks. This is false, particularly with regard to shoplifting calls.
There officers are responding to calls from store owners who are not going to let white shoplifters go while cracking down on BIPOC shoplifters.
They arrest the people who are committing the crimes.
Second, and probably more pernicious, is the brain surgeon heory of crime.
Here eggheads have decided that criminals specialize in crime like brain surgeons.
You won't find a brain surgeon stooping to remove a fungus-ridden toenail and you won't find a bank robber wasting his time on a five-buck bottle of shampoo.
This is a moronic idea because criminals hold all the laws of straight society in contempt.
A bank robber might not be holding up Wells Fargo that day, but he's fare-jumping, doing drugs, driving without a license, driving without license plates, shoplifting some deodorant or snatching someone's phone.
For some reason left wingers and "experts" can't seem to grasp the fact that enforcing all the laws gives society a change to catch all the criminals.
And not enforcing some of the law only encourages more lawlessness.
PJ Media suggests New York City voters do a "simple online search," but that's forgetting who runs Big Search. Even using DuckDuckGo the so-called alternative search gives one an anodyne AI result that claims:
'Crime Rates and Public Safety
"While Proposition 47 aimed to reduce incarceration rates, it has been associated with an increase in certain property crimes, such as larcenies and auto thefts. However, studies indicate no significant rise in violent crime linked to the measure.
"Financial Implications
"The savings from reduced incarceration costs are directed towards educational programs, mental health services, and victim support services, benefiting communities across California."
It didn't result in an increase in violent crime because it didn't deal with violent crime.
Why steal from people when you can clean out Walgreens?
We would suggest New York City voters looking for a more accurate report on the results of legalizing crime ask a former California resident how ignoring misdemeanors worked there, but unfortunately for New Yorkers, those folks have all moved to Florida or Texas.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.