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Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol - I keep getting asked why I'm so angry about repeat-offender crime.
This photo is why.
I grew up in a country where childhood felt free.
Not perfect, free.
We hopped on our bikes after breakfast and didn’t come home until the streetlights flicked on.
No phones.
No “Find My iPhone.”
Just a bunch of kids pedaling through the neighborhood, cutting through yards, racing down hills, stopping at a friend’s house because you saw their bike thrown in the grass out front and knew they were home.
We went to public pools with a diving board and a high dive.
We played soccer in the front yard with whoever happened to be outside.
Kids you knew from school, kids you only knew because you saw them every summer riding past your house.
Parents talked on the porch, or they didn’t...
...because it was normal to assume your kids would ALWAYS come home in one piece
That’s the America I knew.
My kids are not growing up in that America.
I don’t get to just be “the parent yelling, ‘Be home by dinner!’
I have to be the parent running risk calculations in my head because ALL OF US PARENTS know all the public spaces are no longer safe.
There’s no headline for “Another neighborhood kept their kids indoors today.”
But that loss is real.
It’s a slow, quiet theft of my kids childhood.
A childhood I once had, that was beautiful... that they will never know or experience.
So when I talk about repeat offenders... when I post the screenshots of their 50+ arrests EVERY DAY...
It’s because I want my kids, and your kids, to have what we had.
I want the BIGGEST concern at a park to be a skinned knee, not a stabbing.
Streets where the sound of bicycles and laughter is louder than sirens or the screams of a drug addict.
This is why I won’t shut up about it.
I’m not asking for a perfect world.
I'm just asking for the radical idea that childhood should be safe enough to look like this picture again.
https://x.com/mattvanswol/status/1988331163111301522
Matt Walsh @MattWalshBlog -
https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1987979533119598884
Mayor Brandon Johnson @ChicagosMayor - On behalf of Chicago, I want to thank, honor, and remember the women and men who have served our country in every branch of the Armed Forces. We are grateful for you, your service, and your sacrifice this Veterans Day and every day.
https://x.com/ChicagosMayor/status/1988369479219433656
Mayor Karen Bass @MayorOfLA - Today, thousands of Angelenos gathered in the San Fernando Valley to honor the courage, sacrifice, and service of our nation’s veterans at the 22nd Annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade, the largest celebration of its kind in Los Angeles County.
From World War II to Operation Enduring Freedom, generations of veterans were recognized by the community they helped protect.
We extend our gratitude to the Flores family, who founded this parade in memory of their son Alfred, and to Grand Marshal Martin Lopez, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran whose service reflects strength and dedication.
As we celebrate our veterans, we are also listening to Angelenos who share their thoughts, experiences, and questions about how the city can continue to better serve those who have served us. Our commitment remains the same: to ensure every veteran has a home, access to healthcare, and the dignity they deserve.
https://x.com/MayorOfLA/status/1988360303650935290
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