{"id":2458334,"date":"2025-07-11T08:14:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T12:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/furor-over-macarthur-park-illustrates-lefts-departure-from-reality\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T08:17:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T12:17:52","slug":"furor-over-macarthur-park-illustrates-lefts-departure-from-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/furor-over-macarthur-park-illustrates-lefts-departure-from-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Furor Over MacArthur Park Illustrates Left&#8217;s Departure From Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffuror-over-macarthur-park-illustrates-lefts-departure-from-reality%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2458334&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article critiques a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-holds-first-rally-since-mar-a-lago-raid-campaigns-for-doug-mastriano-and-dr-oz\/\" title=\"Trump Holds First Rally Since Mar-a-Lago ..., Campaigns for Doug Mastriano and Dr. Oz\">recent federal raid<\/a> on MacArthur Park, describing it as a politically motivated and ineffective operation that sent a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/larry-oconnor-merrick-garland-is-a-petty-vindictive-little-man\/\" title=\"Larry O\u2019Connor: Merrick Garland Is A Petty, Vindictive, Little Man\">symbolic message<\/a> but resulted in no arrests or meaningful law enforcement. The raid was widely anticipated, and the park remains plagued by serious issues such as violence, filth, and despair, highlighting the failure of local and state governments to address these problems. The author accuses mainstream media,notably The New York Times,of misrepresenting the park as a peaceful,family-amiable place,comparing such portrayal to journalistic fabrications. The piece argues that political debates are stalled because critics refuse to acknowledge the park&#8217;s reality and because symbolic gestures replace substantive solutions. it further touches on broader cultural and political dysfunctions, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >including contentious public health measures related<\/a> to COVID-19 vaccines, suggesting that ideological fervor and performative politics have replaced genuine discourse. Ultimately, the article laments a societal detachment from reality across media, academia, and government, leaving critical issues unaddressed.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The federal raid on MacArthur Park is a political layup, but no one will take it. A giant, clumsy operation, it was meant to send a message, and it resulted in no arrests.<\/p>\n<p>It was telegraphed, with signs posted around the park by activists warning that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was coming, and the use of horses means the Border Patrol equestrian units had to stage nearby and unload horse trailers. There was no danger that this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/150-missing-children-found-in-tennessee-as-part-of-operation-volunteer-strong\/\" title=\"150 Missing ... Found In Tennessee As Part Of \u2018Operation Volunteer Strong\u2019\">law enforcement operation<\/a> would result in any&nbsp;<em>law enforcement<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>There&rsquo;s a long and not-obscure history of policing as symbol performance and the use of federal agents as narrative instruments, and it&rsquo;s the last thing MacArthur Park needs. I&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/chrisbray.substack.com\/p\/photo-essay-los-angeles-city-government\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">went there<\/a>&nbsp;on the night of the raids, and the day after, and the park and surrounding neighborhoods went right back to being filthy and dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration&nbsp;<em>sent a message<\/em>&nbsp;and then . . . left. If you oppose Trump, this is your opening. Here it is. Easy shot.<\/p>\n<p>The reason no one is taking the shot in any meaningful way is that the moment requires critics to&nbsp;<em>start from reality<\/em>. MacArthur Park is dirty, dangerous, violent, a site of ruin and despair, a place of death &mdash; the coroner was hauling the body of a young man out of the MacArthur Park light rail station yesterday, while I was there &mdash; and a symbol of failure.<\/p>\n<p>Now, here&rsquo;s <em>The<\/em>&nbsp;<em>New York Times<\/em>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/hn61u\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explaining what happened<\/a>:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/07\/localimages\/https-253A-252F-252Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-252Fpublic-252Fimages-252F22020a6e-842e-4d0f-9e27-e9921eea699e_1006x584.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Yes, MacArthur Park, a quiet neighborhood hub where gentle immigrant children play happily in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility. And then suddenly, armed men on the march!<\/p>\n<p>Famously, <em>New York Times<\/em>&nbsp;reporter Jayson Blair was fired over a long series of invented scenes, writing stories that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/media\/2003\/may\/12\/pressandpublishing.usnews\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">described his visits to places he&rsquo;d never been<\/a>. He filed moving reports about his long discussions with wounded Marines who had never met him, and he sat on the porch with Jessica Lynch&rsquo;s family, watching cattle graze in nearby pastures &mdash; which didn&rsquo;t exist.<\/p>\n<p>Writing about children playing in the peace and quiet of MacArthur Park is Jayson Blair-level invention. They&rsquo;re faking the world.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/repswalwell\/status\/1942698047110353221\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Similarly<\/a>:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/07\/localimages\/https-253A-252F-252Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-252Fpublic-252Fimages-252F89236aa2-d357-45a2-bce7-01d457d04fca_820x714.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/07\/localimages\/https-253A-252F-252Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-252Fpublic-252Fimages-252F89236aa2-d357-45a2-bce7-01d457d04fca_820x714.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>As always, read the replies, which are radioactive with well-informed hostility.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/07\/localimages\/https-253A-252F-252Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-252Fpublic-252Fimages-252Ff6dc7443-9f6f-4510-9249-ef853d5fc3a9_832x590.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/07\/localimages\/https-253A-252F-252Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-252Fpublic-252Fimages-252Ff6dc7443-9f6f-4510-9249-ef853d5fc3a9_832x590.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>Excellent use of sources and numbers in these:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/07\/localimages\/https-253A-252F-252Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-252Fpublic-252Fimages-252Febe29b64-9520-44cc-8f99-90e53bd4adc4_632x1356.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/07\/localimages\/https-253A-252F-252Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-252Fpublic-252Fimages-252Febe29b64-9520-44cc-8f99-90e53bd4adc4_632x1356.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>So the&nbsp;<em>political disagreement<\/em>&nbsp;&mdash; is this kind of performative raid a useful response to the crisis at MacArthur Park? &mdash; never arrives, because expressing the disagreement can&rsquo;t begin until one acknowledges the fact of the crisis, criminally neglected by the governments of Los Angeles and California. People who live by the empty deployment of performative symbols have no place to stand to criticize the empty deployment of performative symbols.<\/p>\n<p>This is precisely what happens in America now, over and over and over and over and over. Donald Trump is proposing $9 billion in vicious Nazi rescissions, PEOPLE WILL DIE!!!!!! Okay, so what do you propose to do about $37 trillion in federal debt? IT&rsquo;S RECKLESS TO CUT ANY SPENDING AT ALL, AT LEAST&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/townhallcom\/status\/1940137395518869616\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">14 MILLION PEOPLE<\/a>&nbsp;HAVE ALREADY DIED!!!!!<\/p>\n<p>The discussion never begins, because the vaudeville impedes the curtain. Trump is tying Penelope to the train tracks again. Hysterical symbols fly around an information vacuum. We&rsquo;re arguing about nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Federal health agencies have withdrawn the recommendation that children and pregnant women receive the mRNA injections mislabeled as Covid-19 &ldquo;vaccines&rdquo; even though they&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TKFWGvvlVLI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">don&rsquo;t prevent transmission or infection<\/a>, and a coalition of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/make-a-wish-ceo-says-only-vaccinated-sick-kids-to-get-wishes-with-air-travel-large-gatherings\/\" title=\"Make-A-Wish CEO Says Only Vaccinated Sick Kids To Get Wishes\u00a0With Air Travel, Large Gatherings\">public health organizations<\/a> is suing to get a court to force them to recommend the shots again. News stories&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/shots-health-news\/2025\/07\/08\/nx-s1-5459978\/rfk-jr-vaccine-pediatrics-public-health-lawsuit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explain<\/a>&nbsp;that the plaintiffs are concerned about the government&rsquo;s failure to perform the correct symbols, leading to the wrong psychological orientation:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/07\/localimages\/https-253A-252F-252Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-252Fpublic-252Fimages-252F5f75a8ac-67fb-4ce8-9365-12144abe03bf_1332x248.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/07\/localimages\/https-253A-252F-252Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-252Fpublic-252Fimages-252F5f75a8ac-67fb-4ce8-9365-12144abe03bf_1332x248.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>A growing body of entirely mainstream research, undertaken at major universities and highly regarded hospitals and published under conditions of peer review at respected medical journals, warns that the mRNA products have deeply troubling effects. A recent&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.journalofinfection.com\/article\/S0163-4453(25)00067-2\/fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">example<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AlexBerenson\/status\/1942231865743532428\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">highlighted<\/a>&nbsp;by Alex Berenson:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/07\/localimages\/https-253A-252F-252Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-252Fpublic-252Fimages-252F111de460-3b5e-4941-81e0-c1834f6f4b9d_1552x376.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/07\/localimages\/https-253A-252F-252Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-252Fpublic-252Fimages-252F111de460-3b5e-4941-81e0-c1834f6f4b9d_1552x376.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>Take more &ldquo;vaccine,&rdquo; get a much higher risk of infection. That&rsquo;s &hellip; not how that&rsquo;s supposed to work? But government has to recommend the &ldquo;vaccine,&rdquo; because vaccines are science, and you have to Believe In Science. You have to be a&nbsp;<em>believer<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The casting out of mRNA unbelievers, the aggressive and insane insistence on MacArthur Park as a sylvan paradise where happy children play in an atmosphere of peace and quiet, the grim certainty that absolutely nothing in the federal budget can ever be cut without MURDERING ALL THE CHILDREN: None of this is&nbsp;<em>argument<\/em>. It&rsquo;s a cultural crisis pretending to be political conflict, an epistemological implosion that manifests in bumper stickers and condescending social media rants. Well, and tenure.<\/p>\n<p>We&rsquo;ve been emptied.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SwipeWright\/status\/1942659954864759145\/photo\/2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Seen on X<\/a>, usefully quoting&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=8xOvkh5PwU0C&amp;pg=PA20&amp;dq=christopher+lasch+%22control+has+become+their+obsession%22&amp;hl=en&amp;newbks=1&amp;newbks_redir=0&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiUndWnwLCOAxWjtokEHVVNHtEQuwV6BAgFEAg#v=onepage&amp;q=christopher%20lasch%20%22control%20has%20become%20their%20obsession%22&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Christopher Lasch<\/a>:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/07\/localimages\/https-253A-252F-252Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-252Fpublic-252Fimages-252F5b24c8f3-1d30-4782-832e-9de55f0843af_2048x1194.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2025\/07\/localimages\/https-253A-252F-252Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-252Fpublic-252Fimages-252F5b24c8f3-1d30-4782-832e-9de55f0843af_2048x1194.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>MacArthur Park &ldquo;is a playground, a picnic spot.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s a paradise for children, if we can just get the mean federal agents to stay away.<\/p>\n<p>A series of overlapping status groups in media, academia, and government have seceded from reality. This fact hangs in the air like smog.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article is republished, with permission, from <a href=\"https:\/\/chrisbray.substack.com\/p\/this-is-not-politics-and-it-perfectly?publication_id=484195&amp;post_id=167926672&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=k64i1&amp;triedRedirect=true\">the author&rsquo;s Substack<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Chris Bray is a former infantry sergeant in the U.S. Army, and has a history PhD from the University of California Los Angeles. Find his Substack, &#8220;Tell Me How This Ends,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/chrisbray.substack.com\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal raid on MacArthur Park was clumsy, symbolic, no arrests<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2086,"featured_media":2458336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Macarthurpark.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546,33651],"tags":[5129,58887,4188,5894,34832],"class_list":["post-2458334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","category-the-western-journal","tag-left-wing","tag-macarthur-park","tag-media","tag-politics","tag-public-opinion"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Macarthurpark.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458334"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2458338,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458334\/revisions\/2458338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2458336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}