It’s tough to live anywhere, but it is especially difficult in a Democrat-run big city. They pride themselves on their wokeness. Their soft crime policies have repeatedly victimized business owners and residential areas.

It is particularly noticeable in cities such as San Francisco where car thefts and smash-and-grabs are commonplace, homelessness is rampant, and street-pooping and open-air drug usage are the norm. Even the police have been targeted for burglaries at certain locations.

Oakland is yet another California city run by Democrats, which has seen its quality of life decline over the years. It is due in part to the Defund the Police activists and other “community leaders”, who insist that average citizens are willing to give up the reasonable security expectations funded by taxpayers, which they would never do.

Even the local NAACP has called out the woke D.A. Pam Price and the “Defund” activists are responsible for the rapid deterioration of Oakland’s crime rate. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has sent 120 additional California Highway Patrol officers to Oakland to help the struggling police department combat crime.

Newsom is, as we know, part of the Golden State’s problem. This can be seen by reading between the lines in the story of Cybelle’s Pizza in Oakland, run by immigrants from other countries who came to America to find a better future, only to have their pizzeria robbed multiple times.

A masked robber, after initially jumping over the counter is pushed by a worker who reaches under the counter and grabs a hammer. This seems to scare away the intruder.

The guy returns in a few moments. The man grabs the cash register as the worker yells 911 and raises the hammer.

A cook throws a green bin of recycling in the direction of the robber as the two fight over the register.

They were using what they had on hand. “We don’t like to leave the cashier alone,” [owner Elizabeth] Sanchez stated.

In the article, it was noted that this was not the first time their business had been targeted. In some cases, the robbers had a successful heist.

Cybelle’s Pizza workers in Oakland fend off alleged robber with hammer and trash bin https://t.co/AQQjKUpbMG

— SFGATE (@SFGate) February 6, 2024

Sanchez is worried that she may have to shut down the restaurant and give up her American Dream:

Sanchez and her staff are on the job seven days a week, without a day off. She is frustrated and fears that the store may have to shut down.

“As a Mexican immigrant and as an immigrant from Mexico, this is the American dream I have. Where is it going? “I believe it is going in the garbage now,” she said.

To borrow a phrase from my RedState co-worker Bob Hoge, this is Gavin Newsom’s vision for America. The state is happy to welcome everyone, whether they are illegal or not. But when people come to his state to improve their lives and those of their families, they are repeatedly victimized by the criminals and system, to the point that they might have to give up their dreams.

Gavin Newsom can send all the CHP officers he has in Oakland, but that won’t solve the problem. The only way to turn the tide is for the city’s leadership to change from the top down. Oakland voters must decide if, now and not later, they are willing to accept this situation just to keep a Democrat as mayor or if real change is what they want.

There is no middle ground here. The reality is that if woke Democrats are in power, it will only get worse. This is the truth. That’s it.