This is not a rebel song

Unfortunately, it's also not the famous song by U2. Saturday Bloody Saturday was followed by Sunday Bloody Sunday and as of 5am this morning, Monday looked to be a pretty damn bloody Monday. I don't have much else to say about it except that it's pretty damn depressing.

This article by Larry Eichel should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the dynamic between the two Philadelphias that exist today. He asks the question, "how long between the two worlds collide?" John Baer got an email from a reader that he put in his column that says the same thing, in a brutally honest way:

Several folks suggest I tell "the truth" about killings in the city, more than 200 this year, headed toward breaking last year's 380, the highest number in eight years.

I'm told that "the truth" is that the gun crisis is blacks shooting blacks, and that until or unless it spreads to the suburbs or whiter neighborhoods there'll be no real solutions.

I've noticed that people don't tend to comment on this blog when I talk about issues, even issues as serious as this one. I've always just assumed it's because most people who are reading this blog are politics enthusiasts who stumbled here by accident while they were searching for Tom Ferrick's blog. If they happen to see that I wrote about one of the Dirty Half Dozen, they'll stop and throw in their two cents. Most of those comments have been thoughtful, reasoned arguments on behalf of their favorite guy or against their least favorite.

We need that thoughtfulness now.

They won't admit it, but those candidates do stop by every once in a while, again probably only because they stumbled across it after googling their own names. Use this forum to tell them how you feel about the fact that Philadelphia has the highest murder rate of the top 10 cities in the country. One of those guys, or maybe someone else we haven't met yet, will be the next mayor and will need to solve this problem.

If you want a little background, Wendy made it easy for us by compiling a quick glance at each of the potential candidates' records on dealing with violent crime.

You can also check out WHYY's Special Online Violence Project. I'll draw special attention to the comments left by some of the site's visitors. Let's spend the energy that we use debating the merits of the candidates on debating the merits of the ideas that are out there.