THIS WEEKEND IN AMERICA – OVERNIGHT:  Daniel Patrick Moynihan once warned of "defining deviancy down," by which he meant the tendency to get used to low standards or poor behavior.  I fear we're seeing that in America right now.  From Fox: 

Police in New York City and Chicago are reporting another wave of weekend violence.

A spokesperson for the New York City Police Department told Fox News that there were at least 16 shooting incidents and 5 homicides in the Big Apple just on Friday and Saturday.

According to the New York Post, which cited police sources, a 42-year-old man was killed and a 28-year-old female bystander was wounded in a broad-daylight shooting outside a Bronx church on Saturday. The man was found unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds in front of the Church of St. Anthony of Padua just after 2:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the woman suffered minor injuries when three bullets grazed her body. Both victims were taken to Lincoln Hospital, where the man was pronounced dead. The woman was treated for her wounds and released, police said.

Other victims over the weekend reportedly include a 23-year-old man who was shot in the back; a 19-year-old man shot in the back in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx; a 26-year-old man shot in the right thigh by a gunman who fled in a gray sedan and a 40 year-old who walked into Wyckoff Heights Medical Center after being shot in the foot.

Shooting incidents in New York City are up 68% year-to-date, according to the latest NYPD crime data, with a total of 602 incidents reported compared to 358 as of the same period in 2020. Within the past month alone, shootings incidents are up about 31%, with a total of 153 incidents reported compared to 116 incidents reported during the same period in 2020.

Meanwhile, police in Chicago reportedly said that, as of Saturday, at least three people had been killed and 34 had been injured in shootings across the city over the weekend.

A shooting on the city's South Side on Saturday resulted in one person killed and at least nine others injured. The victims, all of whom are adults, were reported to be in either "fair" or "good" condition after being transported to local hospitals. One 29-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center after she was shot in the leg and abdomen.

Other victims over the weekend include a 30-year-old man who was shot in the ankle; a 32-year-old man who was shot in the hand and leg; a 46-year old man who was shot in the buttocks; a 26-year-old man who was shot in the leg; a 34-year-old woman who was shot in in the left arm and shoulder; a 23-year-old man who was shot in the arm and leg; another 23-year-old man who was shot in the foot; and a 27-year-old man who was also shot in the foot.

According to the Chicago Police Department's latest available crime statistics ending June 6, shooting incidents are down 8% over the past month compared to the previous year, but are up 17% year-to-date.

COMMENT:  Five years ago, New York was the safest large city in America, thanks to the work of Mayors Guiliani and Bloomberg, and the great effort of the New York Police Department.  Now, under the non-leadership of Marxist Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York is returning to the bleak days of the 1970s.  All the progress made is being erased.

Chicago is under the nitwit leadership of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who checks off three treasured boxes in the Democratic Party's list of qualifications:  She's black, she's female, and she's gay.  She is presiding over a city that is plagued with troubles, and she doesn't seem to have the will to solve them.

The picture is similar in many other Democrat-run cities.  The predictions for this summer are grim, and people seem to be accepting them.  Is this the "new normal"?  We may find out in next year's midterms.

June 13, 2022