The Myth of Draconianism

[Draggingtree]

Chronicles Magazine

The Myth of Draconianism

BY PEDRO GONZALEZ March 1, 2023

On the evening of Jan. 16, 11-year-old Brexialee Torres-Ortiz was walking home with a gallon of milk for her family in Syracuse, N.Y. As she strolled along Oakwood Avenue from the corner store near her home, a car pulled up and stopped about 100 feet away. Passengers exited the vehicle and opened fire, shooting her twice. Police officers rendered aid on the scene as best they could before an ambulance rushed her to Upstate University Hospital, where she died of her wounds.

Investigators believe the incident was gang-related and that another person nearby was the real target. That person was shot in the leg but survived. In any case, the death of Torres-Ortiz marks another entry in the log of daily tragedies in the lives of Americans living in a country that seems to be ceding control of its streets to crime.

 But that reality is certainly not what people are led to believe these days. Most Democrats and many Republicans have embraced the soft-on-crime zeitgeist to one degree or another. Even former President Donald Trump made it easier for felons to fly the federal coop. Indeed, there is little difference between the crime policies promoted by George Soros, who is aligned with Democrats, and those promoted by the Kochs,