Today, Philadelphia faces its day of reckoning. In fact, it faces two days of reckoning.
Today and Friday, the Select Committee appointed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives will take testimony on the impeachment of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner at the Navy Yard.
I have pushed to have the testimony in Philadelphia and, even though I’d like to see it held in a place like Kensington which has been ravaged by Krasner’s non-enforcement of laws, I understand why the Navy Yard was chosen. It’s a location that is a quasi-military base and it is a remote location.
I believe that it will take a massive security effort to prevent the hearings from being shut down. Krasner supporters are used to shutting down any speech they don’t like and then celebrating their shutdown success.
Krasner suddenly also wants to speak at the hearing. His lawyers have even contended that the committee should get one-third of the speakers, Krasner should get one-third, and the citizens of Philadelphia should get the remaining third.
I don’t agree. We have heard enough from Krasner. Today and tomorrow, we hear from the survivors, from his victims, and from those who have worked in his office and can recount how he has systemically undermined the justice system.
On the eve of the committee’s hearings, the Philadelphia police reported close to 400 homicides in the first nine months of the year. Also, Steve Keeley of Fox 29 got the Philadelphia Police Department head of forensics to reveal the department as of last week had recovered 22,000 shell casings from shooting scenes. 22,000!
Yet even this statistic didn’t make front-page news in Krasner’s Philadelphia.
I plan to broadcast my radio show from the Krasner hearings. I want to speak up about the biggest problem with the opponents of these hearings: The fact they repeatedly tell the public that this is an attack on democracy by forces outside of Philadelphia.
Of course, we are not a democracy but a republic. There is not a mechanism for impeachment under Philadelphia laws but according to the Pennsylvania constitution, there is a mechanism for impeachment at the state level.
I predict what we’ll hear is a recounting of all the pain and heartbreak that could have been avoided if Krasner just fulfilled his oath of office, prosecuted violent criminals, and kept them in jail. We’ll hear that Krasner has stated on multiple occasions that he won’t prosecute felons who are illegally carrying weapons in a serious way but knocks it down to a summary offense. We’ll hear that the survivors of victims don’t feel that Krasner’s office respects them and communicates with them. We’ll hear from store owners who can’t run a business because Krasner won’t prosecute shoplifting.
I’ve been told there will be national coverage of the hearings. The narrative will connect the proceedings to the national debate about crime policy and the midterm elections. It will also spill over into the Fetterman v. Oz U.S. Senate race. Oz has closed the gap by emphasizing how radical Fetterman is on the crime issue. It is a fair point to say that Fetterman has practiced Krasner’s tactics in his role as the head of the Pennsylvania Parole Board.
I’ve covered a lot of big events in my 30 years of doing talk radio. I’m anticipating this proceeding because I believe that, after the testimony has been taken and a report is released, Larry Krasner will be impeached.
It will not stop the pain of the survivors or victims but it tells Krasner and Philadelphia that we still are a state of laws.
