Let's Play "Compare the Headlines"

Federal agents raided MacArthur Park in Los Angeles today, and that’s shocking! It’s HORRIBLE! Why on earth would they do that?!?!?!? (MY GOD, THEY WERE EVEN ARMED!)

Also, here’s local NPR station KCRW, a very few months ago:

Opening paragraphs:

For more than a century, MacArthur Park, just west of Downtown Los Angeles, has been an urban oasis for residents of the surrounding Westlake District and the wider city. But in recent years, MacArthur Park has also become synonymous with fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that can be 50 times more powerful than heroin. Open fentanyl abuse is now so common, the drug might as well be an unofficial symbol of the park.

Scenes of fentanyl abuse, and what it does to the body and mind, are everywhere, with people passed out or staring dead-eyed as they clutch drug pipes and small containers of fentanyl residue.

More recently, the Los Angeles County DA’s office announced a bunch of felony indictments for an aggressive retail theft ring that used MacArthur Park to recruit and organize its army of professional thieves:

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced today that Blanca Escobar has been charged with receiving over $350,000 in stolen merchandise from retailers including Target, Macy’s, TJ Maxx, CVS, and Walgreens at her business near MacArthur Park.

“This case is an important step toward cleaning up MacArthur Park, a community that has long struggled with crime and safety concerns,” District Attorney Hochman said. “Combating organized retail theft in close partnership with LAPD and other law enforcement is a priority for my administration. My office will vigorously prosecute this case and send an unmistakable message to criminals: Retail theft will not be tolerated under my watch.”

Note that the DA called the indictments “an important step toward cleaning up MacArthur Park.” Why? Why did prosecutors think MacArthur Park needs cleaning up?

There’s an extensive menu of available videos on the decline of MacArthur Park. Sample:

You catch that? “LA’s Most Dangerous Neighborhood.” Here, watch one of those:

Google it yourself — and yes, use Google, the provider of acceptable search results. But use the tool to limit the date range of your search, and look for the things local media said before the ICE raid. It just goes on and on and on.

A law enforcement raid? In MacArthur Park? Ohhhhhhhhhh, WHY!?!?!?

Karen Bass is a sociopathic performance artist and a fool. You can’t possibly have enough contempt for this person. She couldn’t harm Los Angeles more if she was an actual enemy sent to destroy it.

The Blue Zones are insane. The constant recourse to performative and mindlessly oppositional behavior has driven them mad. This point can’t be exaggerated.