So, apparently, Baltimore has been this gem on the Chesapeake that is immune to criticism because…Democrats run it. No, it’s because President Donald Trump decided to take a swing at Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), whose district swings into parts of the city. Baltimore has a crime problem, it’s corrupt, and it’s rat-infested. These were things that Trump pointed out that sent the Democratic Party into meltdown mode. You bet the accusation of racism were hurled. Here’s the problem: what Trump said is virtually true. Ex-Mayor Catherine Pugh resigned over a scandal concerning sales of her children’s books. Homicides are sky-high. And yes, there are rats. Lots and lots of rats; this isn’t new, folks. They made a documentary about it two years ago (via Baltimore Sun):
It started with a rat trapped inside Theo Anthony's outdoor trash can.
"Absolutely, what you see is really how it came about," the Baltimore-based filmmaker says of his first documentary feature, "Rat Film,"…
"I had come home one night, and I heard this sound in my trash can. So I whipped out my cellphone and just started filming."
That brief footage, of the trapped rat desperately trying to jump a few inches higher than conventional wisdom says a rat should be able to jump, kicks off an 80-minute rumination on Baltimore's decades-long battle against its unwelcome rodent population, and some disturbing parallels Anthony discovered with the ways city leaders have tried to deal with various urban situations.
And yes, even ex-Mayor Pugh noted the rats:
FLASHBACK: Fox 45 news report in September 2018 with Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh:
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 28, 2019
Mayor Pugh:
"What the hell? We should just take all this shit down.”
"Whoa, you can smell the rats." pic.twitter.com/BqhsL2Dsx7
Oh, and former President Barack Obama noted Baltimore’s decay as well (via Daily Caller):
After the Baltimore riots in 2015, President Barack Obama spoke about communities in the major Maryland city that are struggling with “abject poverty,” “no investment,” and drugs.
Obama partially blamed the riots on the lack of opportunity in Baltimore communities, pointing out the high rates of crime, substandard education, and drug abuse.
Riots are more likely to occur “if you have impoverished communities that have been stripped away of opportunities, where children are born into abject poverty, they’ve got parents — often because of substance abuse problems, or incarceration, or lack of education themselves — can’t do right by their kids,” Obama said at the time.
So, is Obama canceled now? These are facts. It is true that Baltimore is a trashcan city. There are s**thole countries. Sorry, no one is ever going to convince me that Haiti is a paradise. Baltimore is total garbage. Trump called it out. And now Democrats just have to deal with it.
