It's bad enough that the liberal governments of most of our major cities have made it almost impossible to do business in those jurisdictions. It's bad enough that rampant theft, open-air drug markets, and rampant drug use have made these cities unlivable. But it's somehow worse, isn't it, when the capital city of the greatest nation in the history of mankind is sunk into this same quagmire? I mean, if there is one city that should stand as a shining example of the best humanity can achieve, shouldn't it be Washington, D.C.? Well, that's not what's happening.

First, we read that a District of Columbia taco stand owner, to simply stay in business, is forced to spend $4K a month on private security.

Bo Blair, who owns the Surfside Taco Stand and several other establishments across Washington, told FOX Business he is spending $4,000 per week on private security as the District deals with spikes in carjackings, muggings, and other crimes.

"It's not sustainable," Blair told correspondent Griff Jenkins on Thursday as he stood outside his Dupont Circle taquería. 

"Hopefully we can get through this crime crisis and we won't have to do that in the future. The total amount of money we spent on security for this year at all the locations was over $450,000," he said.

Have I ever pointed out that one of the few legitimate roles of government, at any level, is to protect the liberty and property of citizens? The District's government, like so many municipal governments around the nation in these troubled times, is utterly failing here. And the District is utterly out of control.

Carjackings alone have more than doubled over the past year in Washington, with the latest figure for 2023 sitting at 928. Two hundred and fifty-four homicides were also recorded in the District this year, a nearly-one-third increase.

As if that weren't bad enough, a District Uber Eats driver has had two cars stolen - in one day.

This isn't sustainable. Something has to give.

We have discussed, time and again, what is causing these problems in our major cities. The malefactors perceive the soft-shelled invertebrates that run those cities, especially those who fill the prosecutorial and judicial roles, as not being any threat to their activities, and so grow bolder by the day. There is nothing about this that bodes well for our nation's cities or the honest, law-abiding folks who live in them.

This kind of thing will continue until a sea change takes place in our nation's urban areas. This kind of thing will continue until the fear the people of these cities feel when confronted with undeterred criminals is relieved and until the criminal element themselves are the ones who live in fear, fear of capture and punishment. 

Were I to conduct a cause analysis into the problems in our major cities, one of the first cause/effect chains I’d look hard at is the ‘urban policy’ path.  We’ve seen these results time and again, in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, and many other places.  But I’d also look hard at the educational pathway.  Our big-city schools are failing, horribly, with some of them cranking out only single-digit percentages of graduates that are proficient in math and English.  That can’t help.

Add in the inexplicable growth of a toxic, brutal, misogynistic urban “thug” culture, and you have a recipe for trouble.

Our cities need reform. In law enforcement, in the courts, in the schools, and most of all, in the culture. Voting can help; throwing out the bums who have driven our cities to this pass can't possibly hurt. But now things have gone too far for this to be the only solution.

I hope this happens. I'm afraid it won't. Get out of the cities!