Last night I opined that the big loser in the Baltimore situation is the African-American community in that city and nationwide.

That's because in order to succeed in America, you have to be competitive in the economic marketplace.

And that message is not getting through to many Americans.

Simply put: The government cannot provide prosperity, you have to make it happen.

False promises from politicians are really damaging America.

In Baltimore, the economic situation is dire and the crime problem in the African-American precincts is a scandal.

But most black citizens are honest, hard-working people and they are looking for opportunity.

But the rioting has now diminished that opportunity big time.

For example, Baltimore is a big convention city.  Twenty-nine meetings were set for this year alone -- an estimated $138 million to Baltimore in convention business.

But now conventions are starting to cancel.

The Baltimore Orioles, a big revenue driver for the city.

Today the Orioles played a game in front of zero spectators, nobody allowed into the park.

So all the vendors, many of them young people, will lose a payday.

And they'll lose three paydays over the weekend, as the Orioles were supposed to play Tampa in Baltimore but are now moving the games to Florida.

I could give you scores, pardon the pun, of other examples.

It is a fact that irresponsible criminals in Baltimore have once again hurt good folks, this time on a mass level.

The city will take years to recover.

That means more poverty, more law breaking, more deprivation.

And that means more confrontations with the police.

Look, inner city policing is perhaps the most difficult job in the country.

That being said, there is no excuse for brutality, and any kind of police violence -- unless in self-defense -- has to be adjudicated.

It is quite clear that many African-Americans believe they are not treated fairly in the criminal justice system.

So our elected officials must now deal with that on a factual basis.

In Baltimore the elected officials are primarily black, as is the leadership of the police department, so the race card is hard to play.

Nevertheless, we hear some really dumb things from politicians.

Here's one of them:

BALTIMORE CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT BERNARD C. "JACK" YOUNG (D): “I made a comment out of frustration and anger when I called our children 'thugs.'  They're not thugs.  They're just misdirected.  We need to direct them on a different path by creating opportunities for them because they see hopelessness.”

With all due respect, the government cannot create opportunities for young people who are uneducated, disrespectful, and unmotivated.

That is impossible.  Personal behavior dictates failure, and no phony promise will change that.

So let's stop making false promises and excuses.

Like this one:

CNN last night

BALTIMORE CITY COUNCILMAN CARL STOKES (D): “No, of course it’s not the right word to call our children ‘thugs.’  These are children who have been set aside, marginalized, who have not been engaged by us.  No, we don't have to call them thugs.”

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: “But how does that justify what they did?  I mean, that's a sense of right and wrong.  They know it's wrong to steal and burn down a CVS and an old person's home.  I mean, come on.”

STOKES: “Come on?  So calling them thugs - just call them n******.  Just call them n******.”

A very emotional statement by Councilman Stokes.  But again, if the children have been marginalized in Baltimore, it is largely the fault of their parents -- not the country, not the police.

Again, the city of Baltimore has been run by black politicians and the Democratic Party for decades.

So who exactly is marginalizing the children, forcing them to commit violent crimes?

Who?

And that's the memo.