Corrupt Leaders
Part III Legacy Lies: Crime
Friday, February 23, 2001 700 p.m.
Between slinging White House furniture on the
U-Haul, arranging kickbacks for pardons, and plotting how to
upstage George Bush's inaugural day, King Corrupt found time
to have the White house issue a twenty-four point list of "accomplishments"
that he wanted to snatch from the rightful ownership of others
called "The Clinton
Presidency: A Historic Era of Progress and Prosperity."
In that official White House parody, it mentions
"the lowest crime rate in 26 years." Slick basically
says that he alone was responsible for this drop: "Because
of President Clinton's comprehensive anti-crime strategy of
tough penalties, more police, and smart prevention, as well
as common sense gun safety laws, . . . ."
I have yet to find one scholar or field professional
who attributed the drop to more police officers. The other three
items mentioned will also be exorcised from Slick's demoniacal
ritual of claiming credit for crime trends.
"Police
Officers"
Just like so many other segments of society it
impacts, demographics played one huge role—most likely the
key role—in this long decline in crime rates. As professor
Alfred Blumstein of Carnegie Mellon University noted, demographics
are a real key in crime trends. A previous increase in crime came
from the big bubble of baby boomers when, in 1965 through 1969,
there was an increase of 10.2 to 13.8 percent. This was from the
boomers reaching the crime-prone years of 15-25 and "civil
rights and Vietnam War protests increased" Blumstein said.
As the % males age 15-24 blue chart shows, these boomers are aging
and the percent of the population in crime-prone years decreased
before and during the Clinton years.
"There is a direct correlation
between crime and the number of young adults between the ages
of 18 and 24. In 2005, we'll have 20 percent more young adults
in this age range than we did in 1995."
Rosemary Erickson, Ph.D
Even all the corrupt Clinton cartel's activities
during Slick's eight years could not hold back the decline in
crime rates due to the simple fact there was a decline in the
highest crime-prone age group. As the red chart shows, homicides
per 100,000 population dropped in a trend similar to the drop
in the percentage of young males in the overall population.
Those boomers who caused the crime rate to go
up in the late 60s were the same boomers who aged and caused
it to go down during Slick's years. And the kids of these boomers,
"Bubble II," will cause the rate to go back up in
a few years, as Ms. Erickson noted. It is demographic trends,
not the number of police officers, that raises and lowers crime
trends.
Sorry, Slick. Strike one.
"Common Sense Gun Safety Laws"
Slick continually echoed the leftists slogans
about gun control. John R. Lott, Jr., author of More Guns,
Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws, notes
that the "states with the largest increases in gun ownership
also have the largest drops in violent crimes. Thirty-one states
now have [concealed weapons laws]. . . . Concealed handgun laws
reduce violent crime for two reasons: First, they reduce the
number of attempted crimes because criminals are uncertain which
potential victims can defend themselves. Second, victims who
have guns are in a much better position to defend themselves."
In May of last year, after the FBI released some
initial stats showing further declines in certain crimes, Slick
repeated his usual "more police officers, fewer illegal
guns" nonsense, but added and additional rib-breaking laugher.
He said further progress can be made on reducing crime from
"passing his remaining gun-control measures, like child-safety
locks. . ." I suppose he felt four year old kids would
start holding up ice cream shops if we did not pass his child-safety
lock laws.
Why did the liberal press treat this guy like
a god?
Swing and a miss—strike two.
"Smart Prevention"
I saw an ad recently that stated "because
of personal safety products available. . . violent crime, vehicle
theft, and personal theft has dropped to an all time low."
How many people had car alarms eight years ago versus today?
How many used The Club, pepper spray, stun guns, home alarms,
etc.? Did Al Gore invent all these things during the Clinton
regime to let Slick take credit for this? What about the continued
drift of people from the northern cities to the southern and
western rural areas?
Slick—that is strike three called.
"Tough Penalties"
I will leave the very fertile field of Slick's
liberal judge appointees to some other commentator. We know
he has an inability to know the definition of even two letter
words; therefore, I do not even want to attempt to take on his
reason for listing "tough penalties." Former Rep.
Bill McCollum last year attributed some of the decline to GOP
sponsored law that induced 27 states to impose longer prison
terms. The states, in turn, received federal money to build
prisons. Sen. Hatch rightly pointed out state and local progress.
Other contributing factors to the decline have been a decrease
in the popularity of alcohol use and crack and a big increase
in utilizing new technologies with law enforcement agencies.
Part I and Part
II of this series took on GDP growth and employment. We
can thank Ronald Reagan for steps taken with tax cuts and his
"tear down this wall" directive that laid the foundation
for long term economic health. Simple formula: better economy
= less crime. We can also thank corporate ingenuity for a role
in reducing the level of crime for the jobs businessmen created.
Issue 3 of
the Sentry showed some crime stats have been declining since
the Nixon and Reagan years. For the source claims of the Legacy
Lies series, see "The
Clinton Presidency: A Historic Era of Progress and Prosperity."
Finally, fill in the blank. The crime rate in
_________ fell 2.6 percent, continuing a downward trend from
last year's 21 percent drop. That is Singapore, folks. And guess
what? During the Asian crisis, their crime rate rose. Lately
in Singapore, the crime rate has fallen as the economy improves
from the Asian crisis. All of Slick's chest-thumping will not
change the fact the economy plays a big role worldwide in crime
trends. Individual leaders play a near negligible role in controlling
crime.
Strike four, Slick.
Joe six-pack would have been headed back to the
bench after strike three. But, like everything else, King Corrupt
gets that extra chance.
