Election Day 2022 is on November 8. That’s right around the corner. This week’s column is an appeal to voters in all 50 states to vote for the candidates on the local, state, and national level who are most serious about fighting crime.

By following that advice, does that mean more Republicans than Democrats will be elected? Yes, almost certainly, it does. This is where Republicans might want to stop reading, because to them, less crime and more Republicans in power is a win-win. More pointedly, then, the rest of this column is an appeal to Democrats, to forego their partisan loyalties and vote for the candidates most likely to restore safety – and sanity – to our country.

Many Democrats aren’t even aware of certain laws that have taken effect in progressive-run cities throughout the United States, with obvious consequences already significantly materializing. In such cities, shoplifting is no longer a crime. That’s right, you read that correctly: if you walk into a drugstore and steal a candy bar, a pack of razors, or a clock radio, it’s no longer against the law. Sure, the storeowner may file a civil suit against the thief, but who’s going to go to sue over a Milky Way bar? Besides, the offender could simply give it back at that point.

Countless videos available on YouTube and elsewhere depict hordes of looters openly sticking merchandise into their pockets or walking out with it fully visible in their hands, past store employees – even security guards – who just sit there and watch. Remember, they can’t call the cops because if it’s not against the law, the cops can’t do anything about it! And they’re not going to risk life and limb to try to stop the thieves; it’s certainly not worth doing so based on the paltry wages they’re paid. Besides, it’s not even their own merchandise, so the cost isn’t coming out of their own pocket.

In other situations where certain acts are still considered crimes, meaning the perpetrators can indeed be arrested, police departments are handcuffed when it comes to detaining them. Instead, in places like New York City, they’re given ‘desk appearance’ tickets and released on the honor system, whereby they promise to return to court on a specific date.

Significantly, these releases are not just for stealing an apple from the grocer, but also for crimes such as grand larceny, assault, and possession of drugs or firearms.

Not coincidentally, there’s a great deal of overlap insofar as these sprawling metropolitan areas are not only petri dishes in which to grow young locals into criminals, but also Sanctuary Cities that provide Persons Here Illegally (PHIs) immunity from immigration authorities. If a PHI swipes a laptop from the shelf at Walmart, that doesn’t qualify for arrest at all. But if he punches an employee who tries to stop him, that’s assault, which means it’s still a crime in the law-and-order Big Apple.

The judge will throw the book at him – actually, just a page; AKA, will give him a ‘desk appearance’ ticket if he pinky swears to return on the designated date. As to whether he’s here in the United States illegally and subject to deportation? Oh, the cops can’t ask him such things, how rude!

These are not fabricated tall tales; they’re facts. Progressives ought to think about that, because it’s Democrats who allow such conditions to exist.

I won’t use the remainder of this column to try and convince Democrats to adopt Republican views on all other issues – heck, not even I agree with Republicans 100 percent of the time – but I hope they’ll revisit their priorities. Democrats probably vote the way they do because they believe the Republicans don’t care very much about the poor, the sick, and the downtrodden, or about the environment, or justice for all.

Democrats, more so than Republicans, fight for a woman’s right to choose, for tougher emissions standards on automobiles, equal pay for equal work, and ending corporate welfare. Some are also offended by things such as designated men’s and women’s bathrooms, but not most.

And, of course, there’s that “orange-haired monster.”

Although I don’t agree that Republican-controlled branches of government are quite the nightmare Democrats envision them to be, I can understand.

Suppose, however the situation were reversed. Suppose Republicans were the party of desk appearance tickets and Sanctuary Cities, but remained Republican in every other way, from rampant oil drilling to trickle-down economics, but the Democrats were the true party of law and order, I’d vote for the Democrats in a nanosecond.

That’s because, while I stand on particular sides of the fence on just about all issues, I can see the logic on the other side too – whether it’s abortion, the environment, gun control, or the size of government. Not so with turning a blind eye to rampant lawlessness.

I’m encouraged that stories about lifelong Democrats who are abandoning their party specifically because of this issue are increasingly popping up. Not because I hope this will lead to decades of Republican domination, but because I want to see our nation’s greatest cities be safe again, for all of their inhabitants and visitors.

When we hear about Americans who don’t have a roof over their heads, or can’t afford to go to a doctor when they’re sick, or are the victims of vicious racism, we wonder aloud: “how can such things happen in this day and age?” We ought to spend more time asking that same question regarding victims of violence and most tragically, homicide.

A staunch Democrat friend of mine once said: “the biggest civil right of all is the right to stay alive.” I wish more Democrats realized that.