Get the Witch! (Hey, Why is No One Reacting?)
The religious zealots lost their leverage in San Francisco
A fascinating attitude adjustment has happened in San Francisco, California. The slurs that a small group of radical activists hurled at people used to elicit fear and cause great harm no longer have the same impact.
Fascist, TERF, racist, right wing, tech elite, homeless hater…and on and on. Even a year or two ago being labeled in such ways would be cause for alarm. It was painful, especially when people knew none of it was true. Protesting, though, made no difference and usually made everything worse.
Now the accusations are being ignored, and the accusers are openly mocked. The vast majority of the city’s residents know it’s all too dumb, too wrong.
Insults Met With Mirth, Not Dread
The fact is, a rapidly declining few are reacting to accusations made by radicals, and that includes people who are running for office or promoting specific measures that will benefit the city. They’re not apologizing or explaining. No weepy open letters promising to do better. Nothing. The majority have simply stopped caring and are refusing to capitulate to the howling mob. San Franciscans have collectively shrugged.
Such a non-reaction must be baffling if not infuriating for those who have become accustomed to a strong and swift backlash. It seemed like just yesterday that branding people a [fill in the blank] would make them sweat and retreat. When it did, the claimants gained strength and sought ever more victims to bring down with increasingly outrageous indictments. If you didn’t align or conform, look out. They’d go after your reputation if not your livelihood.
So why, in 2024, did their influence come to a halt?
Answers Found in the Past: The Salem Witch Trials
There are striking similarities with the 1692 witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. As any school kid knows, it was a shameful time in the newborn country. Religious hysteria engulfed the tiny colony when a few teenage girls pointed at certain community members, accusing them of the crime of witchcraft. The incriminated suffered imprisonment, torture and very often brutal deaths. Almost no one was safe. Terror spread as the teenagers pointed at more “witches,” who desperately but futilely tried to prove innocence. Eventually 20 humans (and two dogs) were executed.
Nothing lasts forever. In 1693, when the drunk-with-power teens turned their sights on the governor’s wife, the witch trials almost immediately ceased.
History, of course, repeats itself.
The New Era
After too long of not being free to speak honestly, the floodgates of truth have burst in San Francisco. It's exciting too hear people so candid:
Offering algebra in 8th grade is equitable
Wanting clean, safe communities is normal
Businesses of all sizes are important
Women are entitled to their own spaces
Public safety depends on supporting the police and bolstering the ranks
Most thieves are not stealing to feed their families
Harm reduction has failed, as thousands of addicts needlessly died
Drug dealers are exploitive and must be stopped
Housing first policies are not reducing homelessness
Results from the March 5 mid-term election caught some by surprise, including legacy media. The San Francisco Chronicle led with a particularly bizarre headline:
The San Francisco Standard recently published an opinion piece from ousted District Attorney Chesa Boudin, about people who protested Judge Ryu’s decision regarding a case put forth by the Coalition on Homelessness that made it harder to clear encampments:
“In behavior reminiscent of Trump’s attacks on a judge whose ruling he disagreed with, San Francisco’s elected political elite protested outside the federal courthouse…”
As someone who was there that day - Boudin was not - I know this description is fraudulent. The Trump reference was designed to intimidate. It didn’t work. People just rolled their eyes.
The crowd outside the 9th circuit
Pictured: Tom Wolf, Richie Greenberg and me.
Pictured: Chinatown leader Leanna Louie
Of course that hasn’t stopped some who haven’t accepted their impotence. On X, the Democratic Socialists of America, San Francisco posted their recommendations for the March election. The image depicted police officers as pigs, a tired old trope that only made them look silly.
All of these propositions passed with ease.
Too many in the media and on the hard left are embarrassingly out of touch with reality. The timing for a news outlet that digs deep, sticks to the facts, and won’t waste time on nonsense couldn’t be more perfect. Watch for the Voice of San Francisco, launching in April, 2024.
The change in San Francisco? It must be witchcraft.
Believe it or not, Nancy Pelosi canvassed the Mission District and Excelsior in 2020 to see who voted for Trump in the presidential election. They are observing what's on the horizon. But if they want to regain their credibility they need to tone down the crazy and listen to those of us who want San Francisco to be the safe and happy place it's always been. I look forward to an interview with Mark Farrell. :)
The Pelosi, Jerry Brown, Newsom political machine is not yet broken down.
Maybe San Franciscans are being shamed into something that looks a little bit more like common sense, but I'm not convinced.
Mayor - hopefully soon to be former Mayor- London Breed has been bragging about her accomplish-ments lately, though not attempting to explain why all of these positive reports so conveniently coincide with her re-election campaign. It would be great to not see her on TV anymore. And then we'd expect the good news to continue from there.