Burning Baltimore - The Left Has Failed - Update: Baltimore Relative Calm

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Better In Baltimore Thousands of additional law enforcement officers managed to restore relative calm to the streets of Baltimore last night. While the riots have captured the nation's attention, there is a teachable moment here with many lessons about the left's failed policies.

• A senior law enforcement source in Baltimore alleges that Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake ordered police officers to stand down Monday night. If there is evidence of such an order, local businesses owners who suffered damage during the riots should sue the mayor.
• Mayor Rawlings-Blake and City Council President Jack Young apologized for calling the rioters "thugs." The mayor said, "There are no thugs in Baltimore." According to Mr. Young, "They're not thugs. They're just misdirected" -- comments so breathtaking they need no commentary.
• Fox News reports there is evidence that unknown "professional agitators" who used social media to stoke rioting in Ferguson were doing the same in Baltimore. The FBI is sending agents all over the country to investigate local police forces. Is anyone going after the individuals and/or groups who are inciting violence and causing unrest in our streets? By the way, rioting broke out last night in Ferguson. Two people were reportedly shot.
• Obama finally condemned the rioting as counterproductive, but true to form he also blamed Republicans in Congress for not spending billions more on so-called urban investments. Let me reiterate: Democrats dominate Maryland. The state has had only two Republican governors since 1969. The city of Baltimore has had a Democrat mayor since 1967, a mere 48 years! Virtually every key position in the city is held by a liberal Democrat.   If lack of "investment" is the problem, reporters should be asking Democrat officials in Maryland, "Why haven't you made those investments?" The same party, the same ideology has controlled Maryland for decades. The left owns this disaster.

4/28/2015: We reported yesterday that Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said something extraordinarily stupid over the weekend about giving "those who wished to destroy space to do that." Her office is still trying to clarify exactly what she meant.

But as the rioting raged last night, it was increasingly obvious to everyone that her "hands off" policy was doing just that -- giving thugs the space to destroy.

I was stunned as I watched dozens of policemen retreating early in the day when confronted by a mob of teenagers. Those images signaled that there was no serious effort to stop the rioting. They stoked the flames and inspired others to take to the street.

As of this morning, at least 15 policemen had been injured, six seriously. More than 140 cars were set on fire, at least 15 buildings were burning and more than 200 people had been arrested.

Classes were cancelled today. A curfew is now in place. Governor Larry Hogan has mobilized the National Guard and is temporarily moving his offices from Annapolis to Baltimore.

During a press conference last night, Governor Hogan said that President Obama called him. "He [Obama] said, 'I assume that you and your team will be exercising due restraint,'" Governor Hogan said. "I assured them that we were. . . . but I also assured them that we weren't going to standby and allow our City of Baltimore to be taken over by thugs." Good for him!

The Left Has Failed! Here's something to ponder: For more than half a century, the ideas of the left have prevailed when it comes to how best to help minorities and deal with poverty. Virtually every big city is run by the left and has been for decades.

Conservatives have put ideas on the table -- from educational vouchers to enterprise zones to programs that rebuild minority families. In almost every case, the left has rejected such ideas, frequently labeling those suggesting them as racists.

The bromides being offered on most networks this morning were more of the same failed liberal policies or worse. There was the usual bashing of police. (By the way, a majority of Baltimore police officers are minorities.)

There were calls to end enforcement of drug laws, which many commentators said result in minority youth developing criminal records. But allowing more kids to get hooked on drugs will not help them or society at large.

And, of course, there were calls to throw more of your hard-earned tax money at the problem.

But virtually nobody brought up the things that could make a real difference. How about pursuing policies that hold black men responsible for the women they impregnate and the children they father?

Ironically, the Supreme Court heard arguments today on whether men should marry other men, while a major problem bedeviling our cities is men failing to marry women. The research is clear that children raised in fatherless homes are at greater risk for behaviors counter to a stable, healthy life.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts urged parents to "Take control of your kids." One mother has become an instant celebrity for attempting to do just that.

There is no discussion of the culture many young people are immersed in -- a culture that promotes violence and objectifies women. And, of course, no one dares to say that for the last six years we have had political leadership that appears to fan the flames of racial tensions rather than appealing to our better angels.

Does President Obama feel no responsibility, as the first man of color in the White House, to appeal to minority youth to stop destroying the few businesses that exist in their communities?

Of course, we are also living in a time when the left regularly tries to guarantee that no one is exposed to Judeo-Christian ideas in the public square. If Martin Luther King, Jr., were alive today and wanted to tell children in a public school that they were all created in the image of the God of Abraham, there would be lawsuits from radical secular groups.

Some wise sage said many years ago that what prevents men from acting like animals is the fear of punishment in this life or in the next. The mobs in the streets of Baltimore last night clearly thought they had no reason to fear either.
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Gary Bauer is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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