Emperor Daley's Old New Clothes

By Gerard Valentino

The media recently brought us news yet another senseless death took place on the killing fields of Chicago. Yet again, it was a high school age victim, and the altercation was gang related.

Unfortunately for Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, he won't be able to use this murder in his never-ending crusade to ban guns in the city. In this case, the young man who senselessly lost his life was beaten to death in a mass fight described as a "melee" by witnesses.

From the story:

No knives and no guns were used in Thursday's fight. Just fists, feet and boards. Derrion Albert, 16, was struck in the head by one of those boards.

Seconds later the honor student hit the pavement. That's when witnesses, who are other high school students, say gangbangers began stomping on and punching Albert.

There are so many ways in which this incident was a tragedy. First and foremost is the death of a 16 year-old young man who had his life in front of him. How such a loss damages society can't be quantified.

The sad fact is, commenting on how gang crime is destroying the fabric of one of the world's most vibrant cities is getting old for everyone concerned with stopping the violence. Mayor Daley's argument that the proliferation of guns in Chicago is responsible for the high crime rate, rather than the culture created in the city, takes a huge hit when young men are killed through other means. And it appears Daley and other anti-gun politicians know it.

Indeed, the Obama administration is receiving criticism from the gun ban lobby in the President's home state for only speaking out about violence in Chicago after an act of violence that did not include a firearm.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder plan to appear at City Hall with Mayor Richard Daley in what the Obama administration described as a search for solutions to youth crime. They also will meet privately with students and parents.

Chicago's violence has long burdened Obama's political career, including the embarrassment of a missed vote as a state senator that hurt his 2000 bid for Congress. Duncan, 44, a Chicago native and Obama friend, admits to "total failure" in curbing violence during his seven years as chief of the nation's third-largest school system, which serves more than 400,000 students, 85 percent of them living below the poverty line.

Some gun-control advocates question the administration's timing as Duncan and Holder arrive after a highly publicized beating that didn't involve a gun.

"Where there have been opportunities for the president to speak out about the issue of firearm violence, he has missed any number of opportunities," said Thom Mannard, executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.

Doing so in the Albert case "provides the cover" to address youth violence without confronting the gun lobby, said Mannard, whose group's board of directors included Duncan until he left for his current post.

Even Mayor Daley seems careful not speak out when young men are killed and the crime doesn't involve a gun. It's as if a murdered child is only worth exploiting if the young life is snuffed out through the pull of a trigger. If Mayor Daley spoke out under these circumstances, his long-held arguments that guns are the cause of crime, not criminals, would further expose him as the proverbial "emperor with no clothes." He can't admit that murders take place without a gun. It's just that simple in his mind.

In Daley's case, however, it's not a new occurrence for him to play the part of the hapless naked emperor. So, as usual, he requires his own classification and is truly the "emperor in old new clothes."

Basically, he's been naked for years and strutting around like he has the best clothing and the best appearance in his kingdom.

Standing in front of the media, or the citizens of Chicago, and stating that cultural deficiencies, a lack of workable social programs, or moral failings by the perpetrator are at the root of crime is the type of logical thinking that eludes Chicago's mayoral administration. Instead, they blame the proliferation of guns for all of Chicago's crime related ills. Even though there is a mountain of evidence to prove otherwise.

This tragic story does teach us, yet again, that one of the strictest bans on private ownership of firearms in the U.S. has failed. Not only did it fail to stop gun violence, but in this case honest, law-abiding citizens were forced to witness a brutal murder instead of having the means to stop the attackers.

Whether someone should have stepped in to save this young man is irrelevant. Thanks to the disarmament polices of the Daley administration, nobody had that option. They had to stand by idle while a young life was needlessly snuffed out.

Although Mayor Daley kept quiet about this murder, he will be standing in front of the media railing about the so-called scourge of guns in American before long.

And when he does, most likely he will be acting as the proverbial "emperor with no clothes."

Gerard Valentino is Buckeye Firearms Foundation Treasurer, and author of the Valentino Chronicles (paperback) now available through Amazon.com. His address is [email protected] and he invites comments.