Well, the geniuses in the Democrat party have made their bed in Chicago for the 2024 Democrat National Convention.  It will be interesting watching them try to lie in it.  What with the homeless sleeping in O'Hare National Airport, the infrastructure crumbling, and the crime rate soaring, who would have thunk the Grand Pooh-bahs of the Left would have selected Chi-town rather than someplace safe and aromatic, like San Francisco?

Chicago has an unfortunate Democrat National Convention history.  The scenario is oddly familiar.  In 1968, our nation was in the midst of riots and aggressive protests following the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.  Today, the riots devolve from Antifa and anti-racists.  Back in '68,  Mayor Richard Daley had the convention center ready to rumble:

The convention was among the most tense and confrontational political conventions ever in American history. The convention's host, Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago, had refused permission for "anti-patriotic" groups to demonstrate at the convention, and had the International Amphitheatre, where the convention was being held, ringed with barbed wire while putting the 11,000 officers of the Chicago Police Department on twelve-hour shifts. In addition, there were 6,000 armed men from the Illinois National Guard called up to guard the International Amphitheatre, giving the feeling that Chicago was a city under siege.

Chicago remains a city under siege.  Just like in 1968, The Democrats appear to have an incumbent president who won't be vying for renomination, and that will add to the tension.  The convention may not have histrionics to measure up to the protests and performance art of the Chicago Seven, but it should be fun to watch.  Is there a modern-day figure who could compare to Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, or Bobby Seale?  The stage is set, and more will be revealed.

Short of holding the nominating convention someplace safe (like a red state, perhaps?), the Donkeys didn't have much of a choice.  Seattle and Portland are burned out husks after their failed Summers of Love, and the New York police and prosecutors are preoccupied with framing Donald Trump when they're not busy releasing murderers and rapists on their own recognizance.

What about Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta, or Newark?  Even the Rottweilers roll up their windows when they drive through these hellscapes.  There's always St. Louis, but since the Ferguson/Michael Brown riots, St. Louis remains the only city in America that shows up on the worst crime on Earth top ten list.

When even an icon like Jussie Smollett isn't safe on the demeaned streets of Chi-town, you know that most regular folks will need to be packing heat on their way to the Subway for the sandwiches that made Jussie and Jarrod famous.

The questionable judgment of the denizens of the City with Broad Holsters is reflected in their voting habits: on what other planet could Brandon Johnson succeed Lori Lightfoot as mayor?  It won't be long before the Grifty City–dwellers will be chanting in unison; "Let's go, Brandon."

Considering the fact that Chicago has the worst roads, the most toll booths, the nation's second highest sales tax at 10.5%, and the nation's highest gas prices outside the People's Republic of California, it would be difficult to select a worse city to shoehorn your convention into.

As former residents of Indiana, we would make the four-hour trip to Chicago twice a year — once at Christmastime and once in the summer.  Not anymore.  The Coney dogs and pizza are still world-class, but we can't afford to dress our family in Kevlar to shop at Marshall's or Bloomingdale's.  Even the CEO of the Magnificent Mile seems worried:

"Violent crime has been up and that's what has us concerned," Bares said. "Carjackings, recovery of guns, some shootings, those kinds of things." 

Maybe the conventioneers and the city's mothers and fathers have more faith in state's attorney Kim Foxx, a George Soros protégée, than we do.  But the odds in favor of a crackdown on crime in Chicago before the convention' are about equal to the odds of Joe Biden winning the decathlon in the next summer Olympics.

The stage is set.  Only this time, the City that Works will be supporting the protesters and disrupters rather than foiling them.  Grab some popcorn, and be grateful that you won't be there.

Ralph Alter is a modern art dealer and a regular American Thinker contributor.

Image: David Wilson.