But it isn't like this is a new problem in the big D:

"Detroit has, historically, been one of the more violent cities in the U.S.," says Megan Wolfram, an analyst at iJet Intelligent Risk Systems, a Maryland-based risk-assessment firm.  "They have a number of local crime syndicates there - a number of small gangs who tend to compete over territory."

You mean like the fact that some of these gangs are Mexican drug cartels?  Seriously,

Though nationwide crime was down 3.5% year over year in the first six months of 2008, the cities atop our list illustrate a disturbing trend:  All 10 of the most dangerous cities were among those identified by the Department of Justice as transit points for Mexican drug cartels.

And the fact that Detroit is a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants probably doesn't help matters any.  I mean, what were they thinking over there when they decided to become a safe haven for illegals?  Which, of course, assumes they were thinking.  In deference to the Quirk Objection, I shouldn't assume the presence of an organ not already in evidence, especially when it comes to the brains of Detroit's City Council.

Detroit was, during the first half of last century, quite the boom town (or so I've been told).  But, since the 1960s, it's been in a downhill slide into an urban wasteland.  The report cites rapid suburbanization, outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, and federal programs that exacerbated the situation by creating a culture of joblessness and dependency.  And while that's very true, we should also note the fact that the Detroit Mayor's Office has been a Democrat-only club since about the mid-sixties.

This just happens to coincide with another area in which Detroit leads the nation (yet another one we'd rather not brag about) . . . Detroit is the poorest major city (population over 250,000) in America; as defined by the percentage of the population living below the poverty line.  And what do the ten poorest cities in this country have in common?  They typically don't elect Republicans to the mayor's office!  I kid you not.  If we include Pittsburgh, which is eleventh on that list (and hasn't elected a Republican to any city office for 65 years), then we have empirical proof that Democrats cannot be trusted to lead their constituencies into anything other than poverty.  And that proof is iconic in Detroit.

"Factories that once provided tens of thousands of jobs now stand as hollow shells, windows broken, mute testimony to a lost industrial past," wrote Thomas J. Sugrue in his book The Origins of the Urban Crisis.  "Whole sections of the city are eerily apocalyptic."

And according to Kym Worthy, it's not getting any better anytime soon:

"Detroit has trouble showing improvement in its crime rate because dedicated, desperately needed, and appropriate resources are not invested in public safety.  Painfully, it is not a priority," says Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Kym L. Worthy.  "I wish that those with the resources would view domestic terrorism like they do terrorism across the water.  It used to be that we were keeping our head above water and treading quickly.  Now we are drowning, and no one seems to really care.  All they tell me to do is cut some more."

So Detroit, once Michigan's crown jewel, is now Exhibit A in the case against the sustained leadership of the Jackass Party.

And while you're thinking about that, let me direct your attention to the video below from CMT's Video Replay.  In it John Rich explains the thinking behind his song "Shutting Detroit Down."  I think it's worth a view.

And of course, the video itself follows.  (Seriously, country fan or no, is this not the song that absolutely captures the heart of our frustration?)