04-03-2025
With terrible timing, Wu blunders on crime
'My condolences and all of our thoughts,' she said as the cameras rolled, 'are with the family of the individual whose life has been lost.' She used her opening words not to praise the quick-thinking cop who likely prevented one or more homicides, not to reassure the public that Boylston Street was safe, not to express compassion for the two people who were nearly stabbed — not even to announce that, as with all police killings, an investigation was immediately being opened.
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No: Wu's first instinct was to offer condolences for the knife-wielding aggressor who had been killed before he could commit homicide.
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As a matter of simple empathy, it is natural to offer words of comfort to the loved ones of someone who has died suddenly and terribly. Whatever wrongdoing Jaramillo may have been involved in, there is no reason to be unkind to his family as they
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Even before the shooting, Wu was scheduled to appear Wednesday at a high-stakes hearing on Capitol Hill. She has been summoned, along with the mayors of New York, Chicago, and Denver, to testify Wednesday before the US House Oversight Committee about the city's so-called sanctuary policy and its impact on public safety. The committee's Republican majority has been touting the hearing as a showdown that will link the Democratic mayors to dangerous crimes committed by immigrants without legal status.
In reality, Boston is not notorious for harboring criminal offenders;
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I doubt that Wu intended to suggest she cares more about criminals than about victims. But it isn't hard to understand how such a subtext could be inferred. Expressing sympathy is a natural human response, but the wrong context and timing can transform a moment of compassion into a political liability. Wu's words reinforced that Democrats and progressives have
But the mayor's miscalculation on Boylston Street is a reminder that in our unforgiving political climate, every utterance can ignite partisan flames. Now, her impending congressional appearance becomes even more daunting. With critics poised to seize on every nuance, she faces the double challenge of defending both her policies
and
her lapse in judgment.
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