When hyper-partisanship denies facts
Democrats have totally failed in the most basic duty of government, especially local government: Provide law and order.
I kicked a hornet's nest on Threads when I posted an image of discarded needles on the sidewalk in Bloomington, Indiana. I took the picture after visiting the Farmer's Market, and was shocked to find this across the street from City Hall. Leftists erupted in furious anger. Unable to address the facts, they resorted to mockery, distractions and outright lies.
Let's deal with the most absurd objection first: No one believes these are insulin needles. We do not have people with diabetes losing their needles on city sidewalks. As I have reported before, city parks staff picked up over nine thousand needles from the homeless encampment in Seminary Square Park alone from 2020 through 2024. Those numbers are directly from city government itself, via a FOIA request. We have a major crime and drug abuse problem in Bloomington. Democrats are to blame, because of their soft-on-crime policies that have allowed crime and drugs to run rampant, turning city parks into no-go zones.
The second objection is that this is fake news. No, I did not find something on Facebook and share it. I personally took the picture on a Saturday morning. I have no reason to fabricate it, because city government's own data on needles collected in city parks is far more damning than the picture and video I took. Unless you are going to accuse the Democrats running city government of fabricating their own data about needle collection, then there is no reason to dispute the photographic evidence I provided.
The third objection is that Indiana is a "red state." Yes, Indiana is dominated by Republicans, with Republicans holding 70 of 100 seats in the House and 40 of 50 seats in the Senate. But state government does not control local government. Indiana, like every other state, has local government with responsibilities and authority. This includes township government, city government and county government. Home rule is not unlimited, but state government does not control the day-to-day operations of local government in any of Indiana's 92 counties and hundreds of cities and towns. It is illogical and anti-factual to blame the incompetence of the Democrats running Bloomington city government on the Republicans running state government.
Democrats have allowed this to run rampant. They have allowed criminals to trash parts of the city, leaving needles and human feces on the ground. Democrats have totally failed in the most basic duty of government, especially local government: Provide law and order. The fact that Leftists are desperate to deny these obvious facts, even in a city where they do not live, speak volumes about how they feel about law-abiding citizens abandoned by city government and the political damage this shameful incompetence does to the Democratic Party.
