Violent crime is way down in this country from the levels seen in, say, the 1980s. And yet, the GOP can’t stop talking about it; campaign commercials all over the country are full of it. Why?
Part of it, of course, is to emphasize the GOP’s status as the swaggering daddy party that kicks the butts of the evil outsiders. In the absence of a conspicuously successful war against a foreign enemy, that will have to suffice. But part of it is a reflection of what is on TV. The local news everywhere I go is dominated by stories about crime, and, of course, so is the entertainment programming. No wonder people have the inaccurate impression that criminals are running wild in the streets; in the virtual world, they are.