San Francisco

John McCain’s Challenge

To win the election, John McCain must distance himself from President Bush and the Republican Party. Can he succeed? Based on comments from nervous Obama supporters over the weekend, one would think that the nation’s electorate has forgotten the past eight years and is immune from learning that McCain voted with Bush 90% of the time. Post-convention bounce notwithstanding, McCain’s effort to represent “change” while having backed Bush’s foreign and economic policies, and his attempt to propose a new course while his Party’s base is happy with the status quo, makes his candidacy an uphill battle.

But McCain’s challenge is not unprecedented. In 1988, Vice-President George H. W. Bush gave a highly praised acceptance speech in which he vowed to usher in a “kindler, gentler nation,” a not so subtle criticism of the Reagan years. Bush essentially argued that he had acted the good soldier by standing by President Reagan despite differences on issues, and used his convention speech to tout his own biography as an honored World War II fighter pilot. Despite the nation’s troubled economy, and the Iran-Contra, HUD, Savings & Loan and other scandals that had created an aura of corruption around Republicans, Bush easily defeated Democrat Michael Dukakis in that November’s election. Can McCain follow the elder Bush in overcoming seemingly insurmountable electoral challenges, or are the current times much worse and the Democratic nominee too strong for history to be repeated?
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With Focus on Obama, Local Ballot Measures Struggle for Attention

As I’ve written before, San Francisco has 22 local propositions in November—coming dangerously close to Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s pledge that “we will not go beyond Proposition Z.” Many are basic ‘house-cleaning’ amendments that wouldn’t generate much attention—regardless of what else was going on in that election. But others are more substantive, and were placed on this particular ballot for a reason: Barack Obama will bring out many progressive voters, creating a ‘coat-tail’ effect that could reshape San Francisco politics. Ironically, however, voters won’t be paying attention to most local measures—because the presidential race will hog the spotlight. Only two propositions are likely to generate buzz and whose outcomes are still in doubt: Proposition H (the SF Clean Energy Act) and Proposition V (opposing the School Board’s plan to phase-out JROTC.) (read more)

Enough of Sarah Palin!

I’m sick to death of Sarah Palin. It’s less than a week since she spoke at the GOP (God-Obsessed Party) convention in St. Paul and already I just want her to shut up and crawl back under the Alaskan rock she was found under by John I-can’t-remember-how-many-houses-I-have McCain. That is, if one of Palin’s oil company buddies hasn’t already drilled under that rock.

I was better off when I didn’t know about the first-term governor of our most northern state who’s allegedly going to bring the Republicans into the 21st Century, at least in terms of women and the next-to-highest office in the land. (read more)

No on 8 Campaign Office Opens in the Castro

Under very short notice, over 100 activists came out on Saturday morning in the sweltering heat to celebrate the opening of a "No on 8" campaign headquarters in San Francisco. Activists have already been working for months to build up a grassroots operation to defeat the anti-gay constitutional amendment, but now they will have a spacious centrally-located office to organize. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Assemblyman Mark Leno, Supervisor Tom Ammiano and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums worked up the crowd with reminders of this historic struggle--and how a defeat by the radical right would be a huge setback for the LGBT community. Phonebankers, precinct walkers and other volunteers are needed between now and November 4th to defeat this initiative. To get involved, come by the office at 2278 Market Street, 2nd Floor (between Noe & Sanchez.) (read more)

Georgia Congressman Calls Obama "Uppity"

As first reported in The Hill, a Washington DC newspaper, Georgia Congressman Lynn Westmoreland used the racially-tinged word “uppity” yesterday to describe Barack and Michelle Obama. While discussing Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican National Convention, Westmoreland was asked by reporters to compare her with Michelle Obama. “Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Senator Obama,” he said, “they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they’re uppity.” When asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.” The word “uppity” has long been used by whites as a derisive term for successful African-Americans. “It's code for, ‘he ought to stay in his place,’” said former White House consultant David Gergen, as quoted in The Hill. “Everybody gets that who is from a Southern background.” (read more)

Sarah Palin and Creationism

Reportedly, Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin is a creationist--or at least she advocates teaching creationism alongside evolution in the public schools. I, therefore, conclude that she believes that Charles Darwin's tested theory of evolution is on the same scientific level as creationism. But just what is creationism?

The Bible (Genesis) tells us that God created heaven and earth and all contained therein in six days. (God rested on the seventh day). Genesis is treated by most scholars as an allegory, not literally true. Remarkably, creationists like Palin believe the Bible is literally true. While most Americans probably agree that God was responsible for the creation of life on earth, many disagree on what happened next. Creationists believe that humans and other living things have stayed the same since creation. (read more)

The Bad Plus Comes to Yoshi's

Forget categories and catch phrases – the sound of The Bad Plus is distinctive, eclectic and formidable. The Bad Plus have exploded all notions of what a jazz piano trio should sound like – whether at outdoor rock festivals, jazz clubs or symphony halls. The Los Angeles Times ranked the trio “among the leaders of what might be called the Nu Jazz movement.” Newsweek declared their 2005 release Suspicious Activity? to be “among the freshest sounding albums of the year.” And according to Rolling Stone, “By any standard, jazz or otherwise, this is mighty, moving music … hot players with hard-rock hearts.” In short, a diverse array of music lovers has been seduced by The Bad Plus and their earnest, dizzying musicianship. (read more)

The Best Man – “Politicians Gone Wild!”; Yellow Jacket –“Nail Biting!”

THE BEST MAN – Dirty Tricks in the Backroom

STARRING: Charles Shaw Robinson (Candidate Russell) – “Perfection.” Tim Kniffin (Candidate Cantwell) – “A Major Presence.” Deb Fink (Mrs. Cantwell) – “Dazzling, wonderful!” Charles Dean (ex-president Hockstader) – “Gripping Performance.” Emilie Talbot (Mrs. Russell) – “Compelling.” Also starring with “Grade A” performances is: Michael Patrick Gaffney, Brendan Kussman, Elizabeth Benedict (various roles), Michael Cassidy and Jackson Davis (various roles). All give amazing, unique and magnificent performances. (read more)

ACORN Takes On Wachovia Bank

As families face foreclosure due to predatory lending and sub-prime mortgages, San Francisco ACORN went to Wachovia Bank yesterday with a simple goal: have the bank manager fax their list of demands to the company’s C.E.O. As the 4th largest bank in the Bay Area, Wachovia has repeatedly refused to work with families after brokering loans with incorrect incomes and balloon payments—risking the homes of those like Bayview resident Jackie Phillips. ACORN’s demands to Wachovia are: (a) negotiate loan modifications to save dozens of Bay Area families; (b) a six-month moratorium to get work-out options for sub-prime borrowers; (c) release data on how many foreclosures Wachovia has vs. amount of workouts; and (d) work with the community to set up a second-chance program for families. Incredibly, the Manager of Wachovia Bank refused to fax Jackie Phillips’ letter to the C.E.O.—and instead called the police. For two hours, ACORN held a boisterous sit-in at the bank—even chanting “fax it and we’ll leave!” so the bank could get back to business. The Bank then kicked out members of the press who were covering the protest—saying it was “private property.” Finally, at 5:45 p.m., after calling the Corporate Headquarters in North Carolina, Wachovia’s manager agreed to fax the letter to the C.E.O. (read more)

Without Transit Funding, State’s Smart Growth Efforts Not Enough

‘Smart growth’ received a flurry of coverage over the past couple weeks, due largely to an important bill just passed by the state legislature to encourage denser development throughout California. Yet a crucial element of this year’s budget debate remained conspicuously absent from much of this coverage—the proposal to slash public transit funding in 2008-09. Treating transit like an afterthought is nothing new for the state (just last year, for example, the Governor robbed $1.25 billion from public transit coffers). But as a bipartisan consensus begins to gel around addressing climate change through land use decisions, it seems remarkable that perhaps the most essential component of making smart growth work—dependable, affordable and convenient public transit—is getting the short shrift. (read more)

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