(Zero Hedge)—This week the Democrat mayor of Arcadia, CA pled guilty to charges of acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China. Prosecutors alleged that from 2020–2022 (pre-mayor but continuing into her time in office), she and an associate operated a website promoting pro-China propaganda at the direction of PRC officials, without registering as a foreign agent.
She faces at up to 10 years in prison for the crime, and it raises questions about how many more US mayors are on the payroll of foreign governments. But this scandal, like most scandals surrounding Democrats, will probably be erased from public discussion and forgotten within days. It’s a tale that keeps repeating over the last decade and the lack of scrutiny (or pattern recognition) is leading to devastating consequences for the US as a whole.
The common reaction among many conservatives when they come across such news is to dismiss it as predictable. “The idiots living in that city got exactly what they voted for…” is the often heard retort. The implication being that it’s “not our problem” and that leftists should be allowed to rot in the hellholes they created for themselves. But the truth is, it is a problem, for the entire country.
It’s difficult to determine when it became fashionable for conservatives and centrists to abandon the fight for America’s cities, but the consequences are spreading like a cancer into the political sphere. Leftists view these cities as victories. They see them as “territories, or “home bases” where they can launch assaults on various targets without fear of serious prosecution.
Allowing this takeover to continue should be treated as embarrassing by anyone with a modicum of moral clarity.
Failing metros also represent symbols of embarrassment on the global stage. When people around the world see the fentanyl zombie hordes of San Francisco or Philadelphia, that image sticks in their minds as a meme for the US.
In August of 2025 when the White House intervened to stop the out of control crime in Washington DC, Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser and the media fought tooth and nail to prevent outside enforcement. Bowser’s administration is facing scrutiny after it was revealed that the MPD was allegedly rigging data in order to hide the increasing violent crime rate.
It should be noted that Trump’s federal actions cut total crime by 19%, homicides are down by 36%, violent crime is down 6% and robberies are down 25%. There has been no rebound, and residents continue to express their thanks for Trump stepping in.
But one city being removed from chaos is not enough; the cancer is metastasizing.
Democrat Socialist (communist) mayors are embedded across the country and the results are increasingly ugly. Mayor Brandon Johnson in Chicago is reportedly stopping local police from investigating and arresting people involved in spontaneous teen riots across the city.
Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez, a Democrat, says that Chicago is in for a “very long, very brutal” summer of street takeovers if the mayor doesn’t get a grip on the situation. He said policies in Chicago prevent police from correctly handling the violent teen mobs seen in recent months. These mobs are largely made up of black teens, and under the concept of DEI, they get to do whatever they want.
In New York under Zohran Mamdani, the mayor is giving regular speeches about “peace and harmony” under Islamic immigration. Meanwhile, malicious mobs of leftists and Muslims are now prowling NYC neighborhoods attacking random Jewish people, police and anyone wearing MAGA clothing. Law enforcement is reportedly being held back from any meaningful response.
Under far-left Mayor Katie Wilson, who was living off her parent’s money at age 43 before she was elected, Seattle is witnessing a mass exodus of businesses and higher income taxpayers. The city was already facing a detrimental budget deficit, but now it is also facing substantial job losses. Even Starbucks, which got it’s start in Seattle, is leaving for Tennessee. Wilson’s response? “Good riddance…”
In other words, she’s happy about the economic destruction of the city she has been charged with managing.
It is important to realize that leftists view chaos and the deconstruction of the existing society as a good thing. They applaud high crime, mob violence, economic decay and foreign corruption. The faster the plunge happens, the sooner they can build their delusional equity-based Utopia. Once this fact is understood, everything they do makes perfect sense.
But there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Far-left DEI Mayor Karen Bass of LA is facing significant competition in the 2026 election race. Her failures in the Palisades fires, rampant homelessness, violent crime and overall mismanagement of city infrastructure might have awakened residents of the city to the idea of voting outside the Democratic Party.
Conservative candidate Spencer Pratt is surging in the polls. After the latest public debate, 89% of voters picked Pratt as the winner. Though Bass continues to lead with 40% of voters polled, Pratt’s run is exposing weaknesses in the armor of Democrat controlled urban areas. At the very least, far more people than expected are fed up with leftist leadership.
