The Blue State Problem

Liberals are having a harder time avoiding culpability in the ongoing crisis of homelessness in their cities—especially after a spate of unfriendly media attention took to the airwaves, across a spectrum of formats ranging from the satire of HBO to the strict seriousness of the Grey Lady.

First came John Oliver, in the clip above, who calls out progressives in liberal cities for "Reagan’s attitude from a Whole Foods crowd." The evidence: clips of residents in Texas and California who object to the location of affordable housing in their neighborhoods.

Then came The New York Times, in a video helmed by Johnny Harris.

The video is supplemented by a brief article written by Harris, along with Binyamin Appelbaum, which includes this concise summary of the failings of Democratic leadership in liberal cities:

In key respects, many blue states are actually doing worse than red states. It is in the blue states where affordable housing is often hardest to find, there are some of the most acute disparities in education funding and economic inequality is increasing most quickly.

It's fair to say that neither of these criticisms are leveled not just at elected officials, but the people living in these communities, pulling the levers of Democracy one way, while virtue signaling another.