Frank Vernuccio | On September 11, 2020

Several key elected officials have performed terribly in office, but the media has failed to react to their fiascos.

There is a distinct difference between the worldview held by politicians and most pundits, and that of the average citizen. The inability of the former to recognize the wisdom of the latter is seriously harming the nation.

Politicians and many of those who make a living out of writing or broadcasting about them focus on career issues, party politics, or furthering an ideological perspective. To some extent, that blinds them to the actual performance of the individuals in question. That has never been more clear than in the rapid decline of key American cities over the past several years.

The nation’s metropolises, particularly those administered by leftist and progressive mayors, have been besieged by nearly unprecedented disorder and maladministration in recent years. From coast to coast, mobs have burned, looted and assaulted innocents. Rather than staunch the bleeding, mayors whose loyalty lies not with their citizenry or the law have stood by, too frightened of being accused of offending the supporters of groups such as Antifa and Black Lives Matter to do their job adequately.

In Portland, rioters have attacked a government office building as well as a federal courthouse. In Seattle, an entire portion of the city was completely taken over by leftist mobs. In New York City, the most famed shopping districts were looted. The massive increases in shootings and other crimes have brought the Big Apple to its knees. In Chicago, the body count of murders resembles that of a small war.

It would be reasonable to assume that the elected officials at any level, and particularly those in the affected cities would move forcefully to both counteract the onslaught on their own, and accept any assistance they could obtain from Washington.

Stunningly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called federal law enforcement agents “Stormtroopers” when they attempted to defend federal facilities from the rioters.

Chicago’s’ Mayor Lightfoot has criticized her own citizens who seek to defend themselves from criminals, and has opposed Washington’s assistance. Seattle’s mayor failed for a prolonged period to clear the invaders away from the district they occupied. Portland’s mayor is sympathetic towards Antifa. It is clear that New York’s mayor considers appeasing radicals more important than insuring law and order.

Those who have the front-line duty of protecting the residents of these and other besieged cities have been attacked by their own local governments. Police chiefs in both Portland and Seattle have resigned in protest. Both are female, and one is also black; any claim that these law enforcement heads are somehow biased on race or gender is ludicrous. The New York City Police Force, almost universally recognized as the most fair, most professional and most accomplished in the world has, under the de Blasio Administration, become demoralized and hamstrung.

These Mayors, as well as Speaker Pelosi, have pushed aside the needs of the citizens and the local businesses that serve them. They have done so in the pursuit of their personal and party goals and loyalty, despite the massive harm it has caused.

One would assume that these acts of outright incompetence or malfeasance would be highlighted by a media that likes to consider itself a watchdog for the public good. But the reality is that most major outlets have abandoned their journalistic ethics and side with the leftist/progressive movement. The fact that the socialist goals invariably lead to disaster appears to be irrelevant to them. The terrible practice of creating racial animosity adopted by the left to divide and conquer America is swept under the rug by those who care more for promoting their preferred candidates and ideology than serving the public or preserving the nation.

Frank Vernuccio serves as editor-in-chief of the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.

Originally published on Townhall Finance.

Frank Vernuccio

Frank Vernuccio serves as editor-in-chief of the New York Analysis of Policy & Government (website usagovpolicy.com). He is the co-host of the syndicated radio program, Vernuccio/Novak Report, and is also a contributor to Fox News. His columns appear in many newspapers. After graduating Hofstra Law School, he was a legislative editor for a major publishing company, then served in both Republican and Democrat Administrations. Following the 9/11 attack, he was appointed to run the hard-hit Manhattan branch of the New York State Workers Compensation Board.