Tuesday, December 05, 2006

A Bleak Midwinter's Pick Me Up

Blogging has pretty much slowed to a standstill here. Maybe I am just mired in post-election lassitude. The Democrats control Congress and my Milwaukee Panthers are, to put it gently, in a (2-7) "rebuilding year." (I thought the Packers were as well, but it now seems to be more of an "imploding year.")There are, all around us, signs and warnings; trials and tribulations.

Still, I'm stirred by some potential good news. In finally rousing himself to face the crisis that isn't in Milwaukee's central city, Mayor Barrett has announced a program that at least suggests that it might avoid the same old deadends of midnight basketball and make-work jobs. That the Safe Streets Milwaukee program will focus on prosecution and faith-based organizations suggests that it may emphasize treatment of the causes (yes, that's what I said) rather than symptoms. Although the left generally talks about getting at the "root causes" of poverty, it begins with the assumption that the two things that cannot be foundational are culture and the lack of public safety. That has been a tragic mistake and maybe we are seeing the beginning of a new way.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great! The ministers can cast out devils and then the crime problem will go away. Tax-funded ignorance and superstition are sure to solve our problems.