A tragedy on top of tragedy unfolded over the weekend when four young women ages 16 to 20 were shot at a candle light vigil for two young men who died the day before. They died after the stolen car they were driving crashed into a house in Newark. One of the four girls was shot in the head and at least one of the victims is now on life support and the other three were in stable condition.

This kind of chaos and violence is not uncommon in Newark, but still heartbreaking and totally unnecessary. What is causing this kind of out of control mayhem? Well according to part of a statement from Mayor Ras Baraka, "we need to love our community harder". I don't envy the mayor having to try and come up with something meaningful to say after such a meaningless set of tragedies.

The Mayor's full quote:

"The shooting of four girls at a candlelight vigil was a cowardly act of hatred that pierced the hearts of all in our community. Our prayers go out to the four victims and their families. This is a time for our city and our families to come together, not to turn our pain and anger inward, but to love our community harder and work to bring the shooter to justice."

It is the typical inner-city double speak typical of most Democrat mayors of cities around the country. What they really should point to and try to remedy, but it's too difficult now and maybe even impossible, is the alarming rate of fatherless homes in many of our communities nationwide. The breakdown of the family and especially the absence of fathers in young men's lives is the root to most of the social ills in the inner cities and suburbs alike. But it's not politically correct to point that out. Yes, we live in a time where telling the truth is risky and wildly unpopular.

We keep paying young women to have babies who are ill equipped to bring children into the world outside of the check they get from the state. So you have the money from the government and the streets, but few intact families, which is what it takes to keep kids on the right track. They are some remarkable moms who manage to do a pretty good job of keeping it all together, but by nature, it's at least a two person job. Extended family is important too, but if that family is fractured and barely familiar to a kid growing up on the mean streets of Newark, their chances of staying out of trouble are seriously diminished. And it's not their fault. It's the fault of irresponsible behavior of adults who bring them into this environment and the fault of our government for rewarding the behavior.

What are we supposed to do, not support a young woman that has an out of wedlock pregnancy and child? YEP! Maybe if the families had to bear the burden and expense of doing it the way the rest of us rule following, tax-paying suckers had to do it, behavior will change. No one in today's political class has the courage to point out the obvious truth and take the tough steps to stop this cycle of dependence and misery. We hope for a full and speedy recovery for the four girls who were shot Saturday night. As far as a recovery for our political class and the chaos they have brought with their misguided compassion, there is very little if any hope for them.

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