This has been a banner few months for “The Squad.” The one male member of the frighteningly incompetent, unethical and offensive band of far Left Democrats of Color disgraced himself by setting off a false fire alarm to try to block a vote in the House and claiming it was an accident, an obvious lie. Rep. Tlaib got herself censored for publicly advocating wiping Israel off the map. Rep. Omar recently proclaimed that her first loyalties were to Somalia rather than her adopted country, the U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, by most estimates the dumbest and least qualified of the gang, is being investigated by the Justice Dept, for misusing campaign funds. AOC, of course, is perpetually ridiculous. Let’s see, what has she done lately? Oh, she’s accusing Israel of “genocide” because it is waging war against the region that launched a surprise terror attack against its civilians, as it should and must. It’s an ignorant and indefensible position, but that’s Rep. Ocasio-Cortez. She’s like that pretty much all the time.

Yet amidst all of this, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass) has been out of the limelight, and not keeping up her end of the bargain in behaving appropriately Squad-like. I’ve been disappointed in her. Fortunately, she came out smokin’ this week, accusing Walgreens of engaging in a “life-threatening act of racial and economic discrimination” in its decision to close one of its branches in Boston’s overwhelmingly black neighborhood of Roxbury. 

“Walgreens is planning to close yet another pharmacy in the Massachusetts 7th. This time on Warren Street in Roxbury – a community that is 85% Black and Latino,” Pressley said during a speech on the House floor. She called the closure “part of a larger trend of abandoning low-income communities…These closures are not arbitrary and they are not innocent.” No, they are necessitated by local populations encouraged by demagogues like Pressley to believe that there are no obligations that go along with the benefits of society, and that if you’re black, businesses are duty bound to lose money for your benefit.

Companies, not just Walgreen’s, are abandoning areas where there is rampant shoplifting and crime. If community leaders want to persuade companies to serve their areas, they need to take measures to make their areas conducive to profitable business. Pressley was a vocal advocate of defunding the police, and areas like Roxbury are particularly wounded by inadequate law enforcement that goes hand in hand with inadequate respect for the law.

In Portland, the one of four REI sportswear stores is closing permanently. Since Mayor Ted Wheeler (Guess which party!) allowed his city to slide into anarchy during the George Floyd freakout, the Pearl District branch has endured the highest number of thefts and break-ins in its 20-year history. The reasons for that store’s demise are identical to what doomed the Roxbury Walgreen’s, but its locale is about 75% white with a lot of shoplifters roaming around. The Pearl District can’t claim racism, of course.

Pressley, who, like most if not all of The Squad, is a crypto-Communist, believes that businesses have an obligation to lose money and endanger employees for the benefit of those who refuse to be responsible citizens. It was good to hear from her again, and to know she’s not out of the running yet for Most Unethical Squad Member. She still has some catching up to do, and its a tough field. I have faith in her.