There is a conspicuous absence of a democratic election in California's 12th congressional district, the birthplace of 'democracy in the streets' radical leftism.
Excellent reporting, Lee. As a long-time Bay Area resident, I have sadly seen the ravages unleashed by the Marxist, anti-police, and frankly, racist, ideologies that the far-left represents. I moved out of San Francisco in 2021 after 17 years there because that city, along with Oakland and Berkeley, is filled with virtue-signaling leftists who talk the talk but do not walk the walk. Leftists have governed SF, Oakland, Berkeley for decades and yet crime is still rampant, the schools are among the worst in the nation, homelessness is pervasive and on the rise, drug addiction is on the streets for all to see -- and these are the very problems they claim to care about!
The core issue, as you illustrated, is actually the rule of law. Ms. Simons, the BLM founders, and others of their ilk believe "white supremacy" is the source of all evil, that *all* police are "slave patrols" and should be abolished, and so on.
Thanks for exposing Ms. Simon and her hypocrisy. We need more such reporting from the Bay Area so the rest of the nation knows what's in store if far-left ideology takes over the governance of our cities, states, and nation. I consider myself a liberal -- and to use the cliché, I did not leave the Left, the Left left me.
Did not realize you lived and the Bay and left so recently. I’ve been here for about 11 years and the problems have become so much worse. One offshoot of economic inequality is the fact that a very tiny group of unaccountable elites are able to finance the extremism. The ramifications of these billionaire-backed policies fall on the least fortunate. It’s shocking to me — middle class, working class people want safety, prosperity, good public schools. But they are governed by a power structure completely divorced from reality. Everyone might be a Democrat here, but the education and status divide is massive. And the musical chairs nature of most elections here means that there is virtually no meaningful competition among our leadership. It is a provincial, almost aristocratic political class that constantly virtue signals about social justice while delivering only deteriorating quality of life and urban decay.
I'm technically still in the Bay Area -- just half-hour north of SF in Novato. But yes, I agree with you that the real problem is the lack of competition in elections. Trouble is, most sane (and not-so-left) Democrats have been leaving the area because of the crumbling of civic society and life. When I worked for years in downtown SF, I had a monthly pass to use BART to work and I used mass transit to get around everywhere in the Bay Area. Now, as you pointed out, BART is a complete mess. The homeless tents everywhere, the needles on the sidewalks, the open daylight car burglaries, those are the "achievements" of these lefty politicians.
In the 80s and 90s, I was a journalist in St. Louis and I used to cover East St. Louis, one of the worst all-black towns in the nation -- and most people I interviewed in the city wanted more police, not less, wanted drug dealing and addicts out of there, wanted better schools and teacher pay, clean streets -- same thing all people, regardless of race, want in their communities. Bay Area politicians have the means (money and know-how) to fix the problems, but they are incompetent and frankly, not interested in results, only in talking the talk.
yup. on the 'fringes here too" St Helena. I used to go to the "city" on a regular basis.. have not been in years now..used to fly from SFO. now use Sacramento only love to eat in Oakland. not now..and i would walk on water before I would ride BART
The low election turn out in urban areas is definitely contributing to the problem. A small number of activists can control elections in the area as a result. The same problem occurs every urban area in the US.
You say "... so virtually no meaningful competition among our leadership". If there is no competition, it's because the voters don't want competition. It's very fashionable to blame the rich, poorly informed voters, etc. Nope. All of these people live in San Fran and they deal with the issues every day. If the majority really, truly wanted change, they could vote the incumbents out and someone else in. But they either don't care or don't really want change. That's why things stay the same.
Voters cannot necessarily connect a problem with its beautifully-packaged source without the media. They don’t have the time to dig deep. Lee’s work needs to get in front of more voters, because the rest of the media seems to be part of the game.
The ones who get it don't vote because they realize that the "vote", at least in the USA, is just a reification of a much larger, more profound form of slavery.
I sure am thankful you're still living in SF. You're one of the rare, top notch, LOCAL journo's covering this decay. There are only a handful of you, but hopefully, your reach is wide.
What is the end point they seek after all this undoing? If there were the creation of a viable solution to militarized police to keep the peace it would make some sense, but I’m not seeing it. Are they making their own private armies while hoping the rest of us descend into chaos? I’d like to plan ahead...
Great point about creating enough disorder & crime that at some it will so bad that populace will call for the Feds to bring order to the Cities and Country. It will come with a further erosion of our Liberties to keep us safe. Isn’t it remotely possible that this is the reason the border has been thrown wide open with nearly millions of single young men from around the world coming here annually. I am fearful for our Country.
Lee, a very disturbing article to read as I sit in MN and fear that this state is headed down the same path. The US is following a Pied Piper of Marxist dogma into a downward spiral. The average citizen either does not see it as they struggle with their daily lives, do not believe they can change things with one vote and/or have lost all faith in Government and our leaders. One question that I never see answered is why do the elite and billionaires support these culturally destructive beliefs and WHAT benefit do they get out of it?
I can’t understand their motivation either. Do their bodyguards and personal police forces use Compassion Consultants to deescalate violent crime when they’re threatened or to protect their families? I doubt it.
oikophobia: the phenomenon of oikophobia, the dislike or even hatred of one’s own country or culture, which now seems so prevalent in western academic and intellectual circles as to be almost an orthodoxy or requirement for acceptance into the intellectual class....theodore dalrymple
"It turned out that that staffer was on loan from Gov. Newsom’s consulting firm, Bearstar Strategies, which manages the campaigns of much of the California Democratic establishment."
This is a different type of "self-dealing" I am hearing for the first time but is not surprising. The political party raises money and elects its candidates to office. The politicians form their own election consulting firms and take money from the party to elect coronated candidates. The owner/politician is enriched at the same time.
It will be like every other ideologue. There will be a big hubbub except the fact is they really are not skilled politicians and they don't have their shit together at all because they've focused their entire career on ideological bullshit rather than making real, fair change that actually speaks to real people.
She will no doubt fail miserably, like all the rest, simply because ultimately, she doesn't have her shit together and is happy to delude herself with something that's ultimately just another classic American scam.
“ The targeted campaigns to remove police are part of a larger liberal billionaire-backed vision to ease sentencing and reduce incarceration statewide through the whittling away of law enforcement and the lifting of criminal penalties.”
This! The part that I feel is lost on most people is that American Oligarchs will try to defund everything possible.
They use Republicans to defund healthcare, education, and social services to the bone. They use progressives to defund law enforcement and border patrol. Playing both sides to defund anything that is a social service which doesn’t benefit them.
It’s easy to be wealthy and defund police in Oakland and San Francisco if you live behind a walled garden and are immune to the consequences of your actions. Even better if you have the ability to jet off to your remote villa in Maui.
Thanks Lee. It is good to learn about political actor’s background, relationships, and support as you presented. I would love to see this about my congressional district, both incumbent and challenger.
Lee, the problem is not that abolitionists are against “fixing crime” as you put it. It’s that fixing crime would take a whole lot of time and money. More and more and more police and guns and military weapons have proven not to be the answer. Publicly funded housing and healthcare, decriminalizing drugs as well as price caps (rent and vacancy control, for instance) on necessities coupled with a guaranteed basic income on top of other social safety net policies would go a longer way toward fixing crime than policing.
Ally let me say in some ways I agree with you. We need better social programs. The little we do for new mothers and infants in this country is a scandal. Health care costs and housing prices are too high -- though we may disagree on some of the solutions to that problem.
But on policing, the dominant far left narrative is just plain wrong. Oakland, Calif. has 1.7 police officers per 1,000 residents, a shockingly low number. European cities have an average of 3.35 police per 1,000 residents -- so twice the number. And considering how Oakland has exponentially more property crime, violence and shootings than any major European city, this disparity is even more serious. The vast majority of victims of crime are the most vulnerable in society -- bus drivers, the elderly, low-income security guards, people living in poverty. California has hollowed out its police forces. It is a function of neoliberal austerity and extremist ideology funded by the billionaire class.
There is a way to do both, as all Nordic social democracies have shown. We can strengthen middle class economic protections and provide effective public safety. The idea one has to come at the expense of the other is a false choice in my opinion.
I didn’t know about the per capita difference in European cities. However, I don’t think Oakland’s crime numbers were any better before neoliberal austerity(a problem in its own right) hollowed out the police force. Also, European police don’t carry, or at least don’t use guns as often, and Europe doesn’t have the kind of mass incarceration that we do. Perhaps if we had all of it--the social programs, the decriminalization of drugs and decrease in outright stupid and disparately applied laws like loitering, trespassing, etc., decrease in surveillance, and a recognition that policing should be done as often as possible without guns, there wouldn’t be a need for an abolition movement. But in our presently constituted society, I think the emphasis in discussions about crime should be directed at policies other than more police or more police powers.
European police don't have guns because their citizens don't have guns. In Oakland, the criminals have guns. And, they use them against innocent people trying to work to pay the taxes that pay for all the free stuff you want them to have. What happens when those people can't safely get to work? Who is going to give them their free stuff?
Your solution is to give out more free stuff? Including housing, healthcare, and a guaranteed income? Should the legalized drugs be distributed for free also? How’s the massive reduction in law enforcement and criminal prosecutions working out anywhere? If you’re offering to pay for all the free stuff please send me a check, because I’ve been operating under the delusion that I have to keep a job and buy my own stuff, silly me.
San Francisco and Oakland have had rent control, social programs, publicly funded housing, free health clinics, Medi-Cal, CHIP (pregnant women/healthy baby programs), food stamps/SNAP, welfare payments, low cost public transportation for decades.
You now also have de facto drug decriminalization in the Bay Area through "harm reduction" programs that are publicly funded. There is also decriminalization for most crimes through "restorative justice," among other lenient treatment of criminals.
So all of the progressive elements are in place to "improve conditions." It's really difficult to see why it still hasn't work out for Oakland.
A good friend worked for three years at a city-sponsored free apartment complex where the only people denied a spot were convicted murders. Paid for with private donations, it was a new building, fully furnished with dishes, TVs, linens — and no restrictions on drug or alcohol use. She told me the police were there all the time and within those three years, the place was trashed. I have no answers to this problem that seems intractable but after working in detox and rehab for 20+ years, I know this : infantilizing and enabling people to avoid the realities of their choices will never work.
Not sure if you realize how unsuccessful publicly funded housing has been, just look at Cabrini-Green in Chicago. Obamacare hasn’t done much but drive up prices and cost billions. Even the $25B emergency fund is depleted. Government giveaways do not compel any individual to take responsibility for themselves, to become self-sufficient and independent. It allows them to become wards of the state, do the bare minimum necessary and complain when they do not “feel” they have been given enough or treated fairly. Decriminalizing drugs has not worked out well for the Northwest as some cities now attempt to roll back prior changes in law. People respond when there are expectation, responsibility and accountability (ERA). Those three words work for raising children, running a classroom, managing a department within a company and works for society. People just don’t like the responsibility and then being held accountable. You might ask how I know ERA it works, because I employed it in all the examples I cited!
It would be interesting for a journalism school to review a sample of newspaper reports on different topics and see the financial arrangements between the outlet and various funders. With the obvious changes in the business model of journalism, we often have biased reporting. Now I think both the funders and the reporters would say they are being fair, but that's not the way it looks to the rest of us.. in my world they are selling various narratives. The fact that anyone believes them to be true does not make them true.
Excellent reporting, Lee. As a long-time Bay Area resident, I have sadly seen the ravages unleashed by the Marxist, anti-police, and frankly, racist, ideologies that the far-left represents. I moved out of San Francisco in 2021 after 17 years there because that city, along with Oakland and Berkeley, is filled with virtue-signaling leftists who talk the talk but do not walk the walk. Leftists have governed SF, Oakland, Berkeley for decades and yet crime is still rampant, the schools are among the worst in the nation, homelessness is pervasive and on the rise, drug addiction is on the streets for all to see -- and these are the very problems they claim to care about!
It seems Lateefah Simon is a successor to the three founders of the Black Lives Matter organization and foundation -- those three women, as we all now know, were Marxists who cashed in and did things like buying a $6 million mansion in Southern California hosting parties and such. Just read the full story of BLM here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Lives_Matter_Global_Network_Foundation#Association_with_extremist_and_authoritarian_figures
The core issue, as you illustrated, is actually the rule of law. Ms. Simons, the BLM founders, and others of their ilk believe "white supremacy" is the source of all evil, that *all* police are "slave patrols" and should be abolished, and so on.
Thanks for exposing Ms. Simon and her hypocrisy. We need more such reporting from the Bay Area so the rest of the nation knows what's in store if far-left ideology takes over the governance of our cities, states, and nation. I consider myself a liberal -- and to use the cliché, I did not leave the Left, the Left left me.
Did not realize you lived and the Bay and left so recently. I’ve been here for about 11 years and the problems have become so much worse. One offshoot of economic inequality is the fact that a very tiny group of unaccountable elites are able to finance the extremism. The ramifications of these billionaire-backed policies fall on the least fortunate. It’s shocking to me — middle class, working class people want safety, prosperity, good public schools. But they are governed by a power structure completely divorced from reality. Everyone might be a Democrat here, but the education and status divide is massive. And the musical chairs nature of most elections here means that there is virtually no meaningful competition among our leadership. It is a provincial, almost aristocratic political class that constantly virtue signals about social justice while delivering only deteriorating quality of life and urban decay.
I'm technically still in the Bay Area -- just half-hour north of SF in Novato. But yes, I agree with you that the real problem is the lack of competition in elections. Trouble is, most sane (and not-so-left) Democrats have been leaving the area because of the crumbling of civic society and life. When I worked for years in downtown SF, I had a monthly pass to use BART to work and I used mass transit to get around everywhere in the Bay Area. Now, as you pointed out, BART is a complete mess. The homeless tents everywhere, the needles on the sidewalks, the open daylight car burglaries, those are the "achievements" of these lefty politicians.
In the 80s and 90s, I was a journalist in St. Louis and I used to cover East St. Louis, one of the worst all-black towns in the nation -- and most people I interviewed in the city wanted more police, not less, wanted drug dealing and addicts out of there, wanted better schools and teacher pay, clean streets -- same thing all people, regardless of race, want in their communities. Bay Area politicians have the means (money and know-how) to fix the problems, but they are incompetent and frankly, not interested in results, only in talking the talk.
yup. on the 'fringes here too" St Helena. I used to go to the "city" on a regular basis.. have not been in years now..used to fly from SFO. now use Sacramento only love to eat in Oakland. not now..and i would walk on water before I would ride BART
The low election turn out in urban areas is definitely contributing to the problem. A small number of activists can control elections in the area as a result. The same problem occurs every urban area in the US.
You say "... so virtually no meaningful competition among our leadership". If there is no competition, it's because the voters don't want competition. It's very fashionable to blame the rich, poorly informed voters, etc. Nope. All of these people live in San Fran and they deal with the issues every day. If the majority really, truly wanted change, they could vote the incumbents out and someone else in. But they either don't care or don't really want change. That's why things stay the same.
Voters cannot necessarily connect a problem with its beautifully-packaged source without the media. They don’t have the time to dig deep. Lee’s work needs to get in front of more voters, because the rest of the media seems to be part of the game.
When will black voters understand that these donors, politicians, and policies are destroying their communities?
Never. They have been getting the shaft for so long they just expect and accept it.
They won’t for obvious reasons....
The ones who get it don't vote because they realize that the "vote", at least in the USA, is just a reification of a much larger, more profound form of slavery.
So her election has been purchased.
I sure am thankful you're still living in SF. You're one of the rare, top notch, LOCAL journo's covering this decay. There are only a handful of you, but hopefully, your reach is wide.
Is Angela Davis a national treasure now? Someone blocked me on X because I mentioned she owned the guns used to murder a judge...am I the asshole?
What is the end point they seek after all this undoing? If there were the creation of a viable solution to militarized police to keep the peace it would make some sense, but I’m not seeing it. Are they making their own private armies while hoping the rest of us descend into chaos? I’d like to plan ahead...
Great point about creating enough disorder & crime that at some it will so bad that populace will call for the Feds to bring order to the Cities and Country. It will come with a further erosion of our Liberties to keep us safe. Isn’t it remotely possible that this is the reason the border has been thrown wide open with nearly millions of single young men from around the world coming here annually. I am fearful for our Country.
Exactly what I was wondering: what is the goal?
It’s sad to witness CA swirl down the drain
Another anti-democracy DEI grifter - the DNC is really showing its ass.
Lee, a very disturbing article to read as I sit in MN and fear that this state is headed down the same path. The US is following a Pied Piper of Marxist dogma into a downward spiral. The average citizen either does not see it as they struggle with their daily lives, do not believe they can change things with one vote and/or have lost all faith in Government and our leaders. One question that I never see answered is why do the elite and billionaires support these culturally destructive beliefs and WHAT benefit do they get out of it?
I can’t understand their motivation either. Do their bodyguards and personal police forces use Compassion Consultants to deescalate violent crime when they’re threatened or to protect their families? I doubt it.
oikophobia: the phenomenon of oikophobia, the dislike or even hatred of one’s own country or culture, which now seems so prevalent in western academic and intellectual circles as to be almost an orthodoxy or requirement for acceptance into the intellectual class....theodore dalrymple
"It turned out that that staffer was on loan from Gov. Newsom’s consulting firm, Bearstar Strategies, which manages the campaigns of much of the California Democratic establishment."
This is a different type of "self-dealing" I am hearing for the first time but is not surprising. The political party raises money and elects its candidates to office. The politicians form their own election consulting firms and take money from the party to elect coronated candidates. The owner/politician is enriched at the same time.
Nice work if you can get it.
It will be like every other ideologue. There will be a big hubbub except the fact is they really are not skilled politicians and they don't have their shit together at all because they've focused their entire career on ideological bullshit rather than making real, fair change that actually speaks to real people.
She will no doubt fail miserably, like all the rest, simply because ultimately, she doesn't have her shit together and is happy to delude herself with something that's ultimately just another classic American scam.
“ The targeted campaigns to remove police are part of a larger liberal billionaire-backed vision to ease sentencing and reduce incarceration statewide through the whittling away of law enforcement and the lifting of criminal penalties.”
This! The part that I feel is lost on most people is that American Oligarchs will try to defund everything possible.
They use Republicans to defund healthcare, education, and social services to the bone. They use progressives to defund law enforcement and border patrol. Playing both sides to defund anything that is a social service which doesn’t benefit them.
It’s easy to be wealthy and defund police in Oakland and San Francisco if you live behind a walled garden and are immune to the consequences of your actions. Even better if you have the ability to jet off to your remote villa in Maui.
Thanks Lee. It is good to learn about political actor’s background, relationships, and support as you presented. I would love to see this about my congressional district, both incumbent and challenger.
Check out their donors…
Lee, the problem is not that abolitionists are against “fixing crime” as you put it. It’s that fixing crime would take a whole lot of time and money. More and more and more police and guns and military weapons have proven not to be the answer. Publicly funded housing and healthcare, decriminalizing drugs as well as price caps (rent and vacancy control, for instance) on necessities coupled with a guaranteed basic income on top of other social safety net policies would go a longer way toward fixing crime than policing.
Ally let me say in some ways I agree with you. We need better social programs. The little we do for new mothers and infants in this country is a scandal. Health care costs and housing prices are too high -- though we may disagree on some of the solutions to that problem.
But on policing, the dominant far left narrative is just plain wrong. Oakland, Calif. has 1.7 police officers per 1,000 residents, a shockingly low number. European cities have an average of 3.35 police per 1,000 residents -- so twice the number. And considering how Oakland has exponentially more property crime, violence and shootings than any major European city, this disparity is even more serious. The vast majority of victims of crime are the most vulnerable in society -- bus drivers, the elderly, low-income security guards, people living in poverty. California has hollowed out its police forces. It is a function of neoliberal austerity and extremist ideology funded by the billionaire class.
There is a way to do both, as all Nordic social democracies have shown. We can strengthen middle class economic protections and provide effective public safety. The idea one has to come at the expense of the other is a false choice in my opinion.
I didn’t know about the per capita difference in European cities. However, I don’t think Oakland’s crime numbers were any better before neoliberal austerity(a problem in its own right) hollowed out the police force. Also, European police don’t carry, or at least don’t use guns as often, and Europe doesn’t have the kind of mass incarceration that we do. Perhaps if we had all of it--the social programs, the decriminalization of drugs and decrease in outright stupid and disparately applied laws like loitering, trespassing, etc., decrease in surveillance, and a recognition that policing should be done as often as possible without guns, there wouldn’t be a need for an abolition movement. But in our presently constituted society, I think the emphasis in discussions about crime should be directed at policies other than more police or more police powers.
European police don't have guns because their citizens don't have guns. In Oakland, the criminals have guns. And, they use them against innocent people trying to work to pay the taxes that pay for all the free stuff you want them to have. What happens when those people can't safely get to work? Who is going to give them their free stuff?
Your solution is to give out more free stuff? Including housing, healthcare, and a guaranteed income? Should the legalized drugs be distributed for free also? How’s the massive reduction in law enforcement and criminal prosecutions working out anywhere? If you’re offering to pay for all the free stuff please send me a check, because I’ve been operating under the delusion that I have to keep a job and buy my own stuff, silly me.
San Francisco and Oakland have had rent control, social programs, publicly funded housing, free health clinics, Medi-Cal, CHIP (pregnant women/healthy baby programs), food stamps/SNAP, welfare payments, low cost public transportation for decades.
You now also have de facto drug decriminalization in the Bay Area through "harm reduction" programs that are publicly funded. There is also decriminalization for most crimes through "restorative justice," among other lenient treatment of criminals.
So all of the progressive elements are in place to "improve conditions." It's really difficult to see why it still hasn't work out for Oakland.
A good friend worked for three years at a city-sponsored free apartment complex where the only people denied a spot were convicted murders. Paid for with private donations, it was a new building, fully furnished with dishes, TVs, linens — and no restrictions on drug or alcohol use. She told me the police were there all the time and within those three years, the place was trashed. I have no answers to this problem that seems intractable but after working in detox and rehab for 20+ years, I know this : infantilizing and enabling people to avoid the realities of their choices will never work.
People don't value "free" things.
Not sure if you realize how unsuccessful publicly funded housing has been, just look at Cabrini-Green in Chicago. Obamacare hasn’t done much but drive up prices and cost billions. Even the $25B emergency fund is depleted. Government giveaways do not compel any individual to take responsibility for themselves, to become self-sufficient and independent. It allows them to become wards of the state, do the bare minimum necessary and complain when they do not “feel” they have been given enough or treated fairly. Decriminalizing drugs has not worked out well for the Northwest as some cities now attempt to roll back prior changes in law. People respond when there are expectation, responsibility and accountability (ERA). Those three words work for raising children, running a classroom, managing a department within a company and works for society. People just don’t like the responsibility and then being held accountable. You might ask how I know ERA it works, because I employed it in all the examples I cited!
It would be interesting for a journalism school to review a sample of newspaper reports on different topics and see the financial arrangements between the outlet and various funders. With the obvious changes in the business model of journalism, we often have biased reporting. Now I think both the funders and the reporters would say they are being fair, but that's not the way it looks to the rest of us.. in my world they are selling various narratives. The fact that anyone believes them to be true does not make them true.
In reference to the “mass shootings” in Oakland, these wouldn’t happen to be “gang related”, would they?
I don’t mean to nitpick, but I don’t care for the vagueness of that term. If criminals are doing criminal “stuff”, then call it what it is.
If it’s a whack job shooting up a school, name it appropriately, please.