Detroit: the past, present, and future — or lack thereof — of “Progressivism:”
When people ask me why I moved from liberal to conservative, I have a one-word answer: Detroit. I grew up there, on a middle-class grid street in northwest Detroit and a curving street in affluent suburban Birmingham, and I got a job as an intern in the office of the mayor in the summer of 1967 when Detroit rioted. I was at the side of Mayor Jerome Cavanagh and occasionally Governor George Romney during the six days and nights in which 43 people, mostly innocent bystanders, died. I listened to the radio in the police commissioner’s office as commanders announced, shortly after sundown, that they were abandoning one square mile after another. The riot ended only after federal troops were called in and restored order.
— Michael Barone, “The Unheavenly City,” the Claremont Review of Books, June 20th.
[W]hat Detroit is facing is not really that unique. In fact, Detroit is a perfect example of what the future of America is going to look like. We live in a nation that is rotting, decaying, drowning in debt and racing toward insolvency. Already there are dozens of other cities across the nation that are poverty-ridden, crime-infested hellholes just like Detroit is, and hundreds of other communities are rapidly heading in that direction. So don’t look down on Detroit. They just got there before the rest of us.
— “Rotting, Decaying And Bankrupt – If You Want To See The Future Of America Just Look At Detroit,” Michael Snyder at the Zero Hedge econoblog, June 17th.
Netroots Nation, the annual convention of progressive political activists, will hold next year’s meeting in Detroit. That is, provided Detroit is still in Detroit next year. So much progressivism to implement and so little time left!
— “Perfect match: Netroots Nation to be held in Detroit next year,” Twitchy, last night.
Update: The 2011 video in which Glenn Beck compared and contrasted Detroit with Hiroshima — and likely unnerved the inhabitants of both cities — may not be playing in the embedded version, but it appears to still be online here.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member