San Francisco Voters Recall School Board Members, Send Message to Democrats Nationwide
[guest post by Dana]
Boy, if this isn’t a wake-up call for Democrats (especially progressives), I don’t know what is. When something like this happens in the bluest city in one of the bluest states, you better believe it’s a BIG deal – especially when an overwhelming majority of residents voted “yes” to recall three eligible school board members:
San Francisco voters have recalled three school board members who spurred a parental backlash for pursuing the renaming of schools and other progressive policy changes as classrooms remained empty during the coronavirus pandemic.
Initial returns Tuesday night showed that voters overwhelmingly voted “yes” to recall Alison Collins, Gabriela López and Faauuga Moliga, three of the board’s seven members — 79 percent voted to remove Collins, 75 percent to remove Lopez and 73 percent to remove Moliga. The early results were dramatic enough that backers quickly declared victory and Moliga acknowledged his apparent defeat
If you recall, last year the San Francisco school board came under fire for prioritizing – during a pandemic – the renaming of 44 city schools because they found them offensive. Said schools included those named after former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. Go figure that parents, already frustrated by COVID-19 school closures and struggling with online learning and the accompanying challenges, became enraged at the board as a result. So much so that they determined it was necessary to recall the board’s eligible members.
Also, ousted member Alison Collins had already come under fire for making racist comments targeting Asian Americans. She was also pushing to eliminate merit-based admission standards at Lowell High School where the majority of students are Asian American:
The vice president of the San Francisco Board of Education once wrote a long Twitter thread accusing Asian Americans of using “white supremacist thinking to assimilate and ‘get ahead,'” and comparing them to a “house n****r” (she added the asterisks and did not spell out the word).
Collins wrote that she was “looking to combat anti-black racism in the Asian community at at my daughters’ mostly Asian Am school,” because “Many Asian Ss and Ts I know won’t engage in critical race convos unless they see how they are impacted by white supremacy.”
…
“Many Asian Am. believe they benefit from the ‘model minority’ BS,” and “many Asian American Ts, Ss, and Ps [teachers, students and parents] actively promote these myths. They use white supremacist thinking to assimilate and ‘get ahead.'”
It’s not a stretch to assume that Collins’ comments galvanized Asian American voter turnout. Collins had filed a ridiculous $87 million lawsuit against her fellow board members when they voted to strip her of her vice-president title and committee involvement after her offensive comments became known to them.
Mayor London Breed, who backed recalling the three members, commented on the recall election results:
“The voters of this City have delivered a clear message that the School Board must focus on the essentials of delivering a well-run school system above all else,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who supported the recall, in a statement. “San Francisco is a city that believes in the value of big ideas, but those ideas must be built on the foundation of a government that does the essentials well.”
Note:
Board of Supervisors president Shamann Walton had slammed the recall effort as being pushed by “closet Republicans and most certainly folks with conservative values in San Francisco, even if they weren’t registered Republicans”
Rationalizations like this will only continue to hurt Democrats. It makes them look weak and whiny, and without any awareness of the devastating impact their misplaced priorities had on all parents – left, right, and center – during a pandemic. Personally, I tend to believe that parents of every political stripe want to see their children receive the best education in the best setting possible. Spending precious time doing dumb stuff like renaming schools during a pandemic when children are being adversely impacted by school closures, only reinforces the urgent need to recall any eligible board members. It’s good to see that so many voters in San Francisco agree that children should be the priority, not the political fancies of its school board members.
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (5395f9) — 2/16/2022 @ 10:53 amWow… that ” recall Alison Collins, Gabriela López and Faauuga Moliga, three of the board’s seven members — 79 percent voted to remove Collins, 75 percent to remove Lopez and 73 percent to remove Moliga”.
If that’s not a precursor to a massive anti-incumbent wave coming in November, I don’t know how to understand this one.
whembly (7e0293) — 2/16/2022 @ 11:10 amVoters in San Francisco rejected the Democrat Party’s racist politics and its strident anti-intellectualism. This is a good thing. A very good thing. Parents will fight for their children.
Democrats need to smarten-up and stop scapegoating white and Asian kids for the achievement gap.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 2/16/2022 @ 11:16 amBut what will Rip Taylor post as a headline?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 2/16/2022 @ 11:24 amBreed will appoint the replacements who will be just like those who they’re replacing…DIE proponents, Communist-praising Leftists
Horatio (1ba8a0) — 2/16/2022 @ 11:32 amAn observation from this anti-Trumper.
Democrats do not understand a key aspect of the culture war — you can’t hide from it, you can’t ignore it, it’s always in your face. Your kid is bringing home a philosophy that racism is a guiding principle of how Americans live, and the civic virtues of the founders are a fraud. You go into work, and HR makes you sit through diversity training, which pitches much the same message. Then you turn on the telly for some relaxation and the comedy is woke unfunny naggery and the drama pauses for moments of boring wokedom and the news — oh, don’t bother. Even your emoji use is suspect (according to npr).
Speaking as a white guy — at best, it is annoying to have constant reminders that you have all this privelege. If you are a white guy from a broken family or impoverished home, this particular message has to be infuriating.
And all of this is deemed VERY IMPORTANT when there are more serious things going on.
It used to be you could ignore culture war annoyances. The woke really must want to tank the Democrats, because they make this impossible. H
Appalled (1a17de) — 2/16/2022 @ 11:49 amThe elimination of merit-based admissions is based on the idea that it is the school that makes the quality of the students, not the other way around. Pretty much like “people with houses are middle-class” as opposed to “middle-class people have houses” — which 2008 should have put paid to.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/16/2022 @ 12:12 pmIf that’s not a precursor to a massive anti-incumbent wave coming in November, I don’t know how to understand this one.
It was a local election, with the typical low turnout EXCEPT among highly-organized and motivated Asians. This may result in some other local changes (e.g. Ms Boudin) or even the city government, or it might not, depending on who is motivated to vote.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/16/2022 @ 12:15 pmBreed will appoint the replacements who will be just like those who they’re replacing
I pretty much doubt it. They will all be vetted on the matters of dispute, as the mayor does not want to face the same mob at the polls.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/16/2022 @ 12:16 pmThe problem with “wokeness” is not that there isn’t a case to redress unequal opportunity, nor that racism doesn’t exist. It’s that they just cannot leave the baby in the bathwater. Fix things that ARE broken, fine, but it really isn’t helpful to try to “fix” the past, or punish people for things that stopped happening decadess ago (and they they may have had a hand is stopping).
I think it is the typical problem of the young — the inability to separate the recent past from the distant past. FDR and Lincoln were not contempories.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/16/2022 @ 12:21 pmShe’s not up for re-election this year. The replacements will be. They’ll have their own DIE/CRT issues which will be kept muted or publicly palatable until they’re re-elected
Horatio (1ba8a0) — 2/16/2022 @ 12:31 pmThey will be replaced by more cautious progressive democrats not conservatives. Hakeem jefferies d-ny is funding a pact 5,000 to each corporate establishment democrat being primaried in deep blue district instead of funding democrats in swing districts. The party establishment is more worried about the left taking over the democrat party then losing the house to republicans!
asset (0010dd) — 2/16/2022 @ 12:36 pmBoy, if this isn’t a wake-up call for Democrats (especially progressives), I don’t know what is. When something like this happens in the bluest city in one of the bluest states, you better believe it’s a BIG deal – especially when an overwhelming majority of residents voted “yes” to recall three eligible school board members.
Yep. The $15-a-pint-ice-cream-queen’s home turf, too. But fellow cone-licker Joe has her back…
“I trust his judgement.” – Nancy Pelosi
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 2/16/2022 @ 12:42 pm@6 Conservatives have a poor understanding of power politics in the democrat party. Low turnout election except for motivated asians. The democrat base is more progressive then their elected officials with the exception of a few enclaves on the left coast seattle, portland, sf/oakland and la. On the east coast and to a lesser extent midwest chicago/detroit are still run by the entrenched democratic establishment machine. AOC and the left are slowly primaring them out thanks to the progressive democratic base voters who the party machines try to thwart.
asset (0010dd) — 2/16/2022 @ 12:49 pm> The democrat base is more progressive then their elected officials with the exception of a few enclaves on the left coast seattle, portland, sf/oakland and la.
Even in SF, the base was more progressive than the elected officials until 2018 (when the progressives secured a majority on the board of supervisors and control of the DA’s office), and the mayor remains more conservative than the base voters.
Were I still in SF I would have abstained on this issue entirely; I don’t have any contact with the schools so i’m in no position to judge the quality of their governance.
aphrael (4c4719) — 2/16/2022 @ 12:51 pmHere in Virginia, the House and Senate backed Gov. Youngkin’s mask mandate views and voted to end it. Democrats are quite muted as they are figuring out the rest of America blames them for their policies that have harmed schoolchildren.
Remember – Democrats will try to do an about-face quickly on masks and the mandates surrounding them as we get closer to midterms. Don’t let them do it. They own it, as well as the spurious science that surrounds their usage.
They are the party of masks, face shields, and wearing scuba gear all at once.
Hoi Polloi (ade50d) — 2/16/2022 @ 12:53 pm> I pretty much doubt it. They will all be vetted on the matters of dispute, as the mayor does not want to face the same mob at the polls.
SF Mayoral elections are in odd numbered years. Mayor Breed was first elected in a special election in 2018 (the previous Mayor had unexpectedly died), in which election she was the standard bearer of the (for San Francisco) centrist, business-friendly wing of the party; she very narrowly defeated progressive standard-bearer Jane Kim in the last round of ranked choice voting. She was re-elected in 2019, when she got *seventy percent* of the vote on the first ballot.
She’s up for re-election in 2023.
aphrael (4c4719) — 2/16/2022 @ 12:55 pmThe party establishment is more worried about the left taking over the democrat party then losing the house to republicans!
As well they should be, as “progressives” are generally unable to govern, being innumerate and exclusively right-brained.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/16/2022 @ 1:08 pmAOC and the left are slowly primaring them out thanks to the progressive democratic base voters who the party machines try to thwart.
Please tell them to hurry. I can think of nothing quite so destructive to a party as having the wingnuts in control (see Goldwater, McGovern, Trump).
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/16/2022 @ 1:10 pm#14
I understand the deep desire for purity among the progressives. We all want our perfect worlds. But anybody’s perfection has to be imposed on people who have a different view of perfection, and who may well be driven to the other party by the presumptions of the pure.
The only reason I don’t support the GOP is I believe that its presumptive Presidential candidate prefers authoritarianism and will use extra-legal means to impose it and the GOP, as currently constituted, is all shucks fine with that.
Appalled (1a17de) — 2/16/2022 @ 1:10 pmThe only reason I don’t support the GOP is I believe that its presumptive Presidential candidate prefers authoritarianism and will use extra-legal means to impose it and the GOP, as currently constituted, is all shucks fine with that.
Shorter: he’s a businessman; a capitalist.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 2/16/2022 @ 1:16 pmThat was somebody excuse – I am not sure if it was Trump or somebody else – for saying something on Saturday Night Live – somebody offered money if they did it.
Ah, here it is:
https://www.thewrap.com/larry-david-to-collect-5000-for-calling-donald-trump-a-racist-on-snl
Here’s the video:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/youre-racist-trump-fends-mock-heckler-larry-david-snl\
At 3:39 Donald Trump said “As a businessman, I can fully respect that.”
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 2/16/2022 @ 1:29 pmAlaska has a different voting system:
Primary: Top four candidates (who can be labeled with 1) a party or faction name, 2) no affiliation or 3) with the word nonpartisan) go on to general election day runoff, decided by ranked choice voting.
In Nevada there is a petition to do the same thing except it would be the top 5.
In Virginia the Republican Party had a convention to avoid fringe candidate winning the nomination,
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 2/16/2022 @ 1:32 pmThe three members who were removed won election in November 2018, because they were the top three in a very crowded field: Their winning percentages were, rounded off, 15% (Collins), 14% (López), and 13% (Moliga).
There were 19 candidates on the ballot.
Jim Miller (edcec1) — 2/16/2022 @ 1:33 pmI think two congressional Districts had lines drawn to somewhat help incumbents not lose primaries to “progressives”: Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney.
Some adjustments were made to the maps after incumbents got to see them.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 2/16/2022 @ 1:35 pmElected first past the post with 15.02%, 13.73% and 13.2% is ridiculous.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 2/16/2022 @ 1:37 pmApparently a person could vote for only 1 (with tree elected)
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 2/16/2022 @ 1:38 pmI think this is such a red flag for Democrats going into the midterms. If there is one thing that they are obviously losing influence over, it’s schools being closed because of Covid-19. I suppose masking is in the same basket too. It will be interesting to see how this plays out given some teacher unions in blue states still resisting in-person school/no masks.
Dana (5395f9) — 2/16/2022 @ 1:40 pm#27 Sammy – The total population of San Francisco (city and county) is about 874 thousand; the total vote in the school board election was 817,920.
Jim Miller (edcec1) — 2/16/2022 @ 1:49 pmAs a fan of the “Maltese Falcon”, I am disappointed to see that the only private investigator on the ballot, Paul Kangas, got just 1.71 percent of the vote.
Jim Miller (edcec1) — 2/16/2022 @ 2:00 pmSo they culd vote for three. Votes were maybe nearly random.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 2/16/2022 @ 2:05 pm#30
No voter wants to be told that their elected official isn’t going to play the sap for them…
(There’s no avoiding the fact that Sam Spade is a Class A Heel, no matter how much he dresses it up.)
Appalled (1a17de) — 2/16/2022 @ 2:13 pmBetween the clusterf***ery of the education establishment and the pernicious effects of social media, I don’t know how anybody dares to have kids these days. Perhaps we should change “There’s a sucker born every minute” to “There’s a sucker birthing every minute.”
norcal (2c7427) — 2/16/2022 @ 2:16 pm#21 —
What’s your argument? I’m no fan of the “government should be run like a business” line of patter.
Appalled (1a17de) — 2/16/2022 @ 2:20 pm@34. What’s to argue- the party was tracking to nominate a fella like him. The research data showed it was coming and the swelling populist cycles confirmed it– it just happened to be Trump who came up as the three cherries on this pull. You either let this run its course to burnout– or realize it is a basic realignment change. Welcome to 1964.
Regardless of D or R ideology, the rare Confluence of Incompetence now runs unusually deep. Usually benchmarks the end of one era and the transitioning into another as realignments occur. Certainly ends post-WW2 mind sets and puts tyhe period at the end of the phrase, ‘The American Century.’
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 2/16/2022 @ 2:31 pm@30. It’s the stuff that dreams are made of. 😉
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 2/16/2022 @ 2:32 pmThe republicans will hit bottom just before the election and the dems will keep the house and senate.
mg (8cbc69) — 2/16/2022 @ 2:39 pmThe amount of hate that is going to transpire between the stupid party is going to be most entertaining.
Orange Man
vs
Cocaine Mitch
So much implosion to view.
Who cares who wins, This is the entertainment business, they haven’t had a budget since who gives a schiff.
Populism is just a synonym for simple-mindedness. It attracts people who don’t really understand how the world works. They blame bad politicians and the “system”, when in reality it’s the voters who are the problem. Politicians are constantly seeking to please their constituents. After all, they want to be re-elected. The problem is that the people want contradictory things; they suffer from cognitive dissonance. Leaders try to give the people what they want, but, a benefit here has a cost there. There are always tradeoffs. Simpletons can’t quite grasp it.
norcal (2c7427) — 2/16/2022 @ 2:48 pm@38. Populism is just a synonym for simple-mindedness.
Then you must be a populist; as that’s simplistic. 😉
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 2/16/2022 @ 2:51 pmFeinstein’s approval ratings hit an all-time low; Harris underwater, poll says
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 2/16/2022 @ 3:00 pmIn other news, water is wet…
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 2/16/2022 @ 3:03 pm‘But [Feinstein’s] most recent campaign, in 2018, when she was 85 years old, rankled some in the state; now, at age 88, she is the oldest sitting senator and has had to swat down speculation about her retirement numerous times.’
And then there’s this loaf of old sourdough:
https://www.life.com/people/life-with-hillary-portraits-of-a-wellesley-grad-1969
Recognize the pattern; crusty and stale.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 2/16/2022 @ 3:08 pm33% of *Democrats* disapprove of Feinstein. The party’s electorate has shifted in ways that she hasn’t, and most people I know think she’s senile.
Feinstein is ripe for an attack from the left if she chooses to run again in 2024. Personally, I think she should have retired in 2018, and I voted against her in both elections on that basis.
Padilla is doing much, much better.
aphrael (4c4719) — 2/16/2022 @ 3:17 pm> Breed will appoint the replacements who will be just like those who they’re replacing
No. Breed is smarter than that, and less “principled” than that (I don’t mean she lacks principles, I just mean she is politically flexible when it comes to self-preservation).
And if she weren’t, Ron Conway’s minions would help with that.
The school renaming thing was exactly the sort of stupid things our local big fish in small ponds tend to get up to, it is mostly a groupthink problem, from what I can tell.
And Collins, at least, absolutely should have gone far earlier. The ironic thing is that she’s mostly been pushing measures that are more “Republican”-flavored than any of the others.
A big part of this is the same sort of free-floating anger at the untenability of the current C19/school situation attaching to anyone who gives them a reason. But another big part was stupidity, and I’m not sad to see these clowns go.
Not personally invested, other than liking my town (no kids). But I like seeing people with no business in their positions losing them.
john (cd2753) — 2/16/2022 @ 3:51 pmThe fewer crossover voters there are, the more extreme candidates are likely to become because if there is no crossover, there’s no motivation to moderate and every motivation to gin up enthusiasm with extreme rhetoric to increase party turn out.
Nic (896fdf) — 2/16/2022 @ 5:15 pmThen you must be a populist; as that’s simplistic. 😉
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 2/16/2022 @ 2:51 pm
You mean like blaming Reaganomics for everything?
norcal (2c7427) — 2/16/2022 @ 6:18 pm@46. More like Reaganoptics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpwJ1n7g1pM
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 2/16/2022 @ 6:28 pm@47 🤦♂️
norcal (2c7427) — 2/16/2022 @ 6:36 pm@48. Clean-up on Aisle Ronnie: the trickle has been downed. 😉
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 2/16/2022 @ 6:45 pmWe get the same garbage with party primaries with, for example, 30 million votes, that’s less than 10% of the population, giving us a choice between Hillary and Trump. At least California has the cans of recalls and propositions to tie to the dog’s tail when needed.
nk (1d9030) — 2/16/2022 @ 7:24 pmGood for them. It’s up to each party to fight its own extremists. Republicans can’t do anything about Dem extremists, and vice versa. That’s why until the GOP starts supporting instead of punishing people like Cheney who oppose the insurrectionist Trump-cult, I’ll be stuck voting for candidates from the second worst party. And yes, mg, as little as I think of Democrat policies, I couldn’t be happier with my vote to defend the underpinnings of our republic. Given another 100 chances I’d do it again 100x.
lurker (59504c) — 2/16/2022 @ 8:41 pm40% of application for vote by mail are being rejected for the texas primary. These voters had to show state id before they could even be put on the vote by mail. You have to show from a doctor that your handicapped or prove you will be out of state to be even eligible to vote by mail. If you renewed your license you will be rejected if you don’t put your old drivers license number on ballot.
asset (dde113) — 2/16/2022 @ 9:19 pmI understand the deep desire for purity among the progressives.
“Purity” is the hallmark of 3rd parties. You want pure progressive, sign up with the Greens. But beware, they may cancel you for not wanting everyone to ride bicycles and give up meat.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 12:35 amI don’t have any contact with the schools so i’m in no position to judge the quality of their governance.
So what? When the people who DO have that contact are screaming, it’s pretty self-involved not to take notice that the school board is using its power to act out ideology, instead of doing the job they were elected to do.
Just the utter idiocy of replacing merit-based admissions with “random” drawings, under the lame idea that it is the school that excels, not the students it admits, should be enough to toss these folks to the curb.
But then I’m not a progressive, so what the F do I know about how progressives “think.”
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 12:41 amThe only reason I don’t support the GOP is I believe that its presumptive Presidential candidate prefers authoritarianism and will use extra-legal means to impose it and the GOP, as currently constituted, is all shucks fine with that.
Trump will not be the candidate. Many knives are out. You don’t see them, and neither will Trump. Perception is not his strong suit. And when he’s down, he’ll get kicked to sh1t.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 12:44 amThere were 19 candidates on the ballot.
But each voter could only pick one. This allowed some ability for minority viewpoints to come onto the board. It didn’t, but that was primarily because the Chinese candidate self-destructed (no doubt with the help of her opponents), and because it’s San Francisco.
I suspect that next time the Chinese voting participation (and number of Chinese candidates) will be much higher.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 12:51 amI think this is such a red flag for Democrats going into the midterms.
I think that suburban/soccer moms are going to trend GOP more than they’ve been doing. And consider what two-worker families have been through, what with needing to supervise their kids.
It is even possible that California might have some upsets, assuming the GOP doesn’t run the usual wingnuts.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 12:54 amSo they could vote for three. Votes were maybe nearly random.
You’re right. They could vote for three. A terrible system, allowing some voters to vote a slate and get three representatives, while everyone else gets none. Should be unconstitutional. One person, one vote, one representative (at most).
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 12:57 amPopulism is just a synonym for simple-mindedness. It attracts people who don’t really understand how the world works. They blame bad politicians and the “system”, when in reality it’s the voters who are the problem.
“Populism” is what happens when the politicians DON’T do what the people want, and keep on not doing it for long enough that it dawns on the “simple-minded” “who don’t really understand how the world works” that they are getting screwed.
So the first guy who realizes that he can get in front of the lynch mob gets elected, and does what the People want — ream everyone a new assh0le.
Problem is that such people are generally incapable of building something to replace it.
Trump was quite good at destruction, and he annoyed all the right people among the former elites. But he left a mess. Biden is trying to rerun the 1970s, as if Reagan never happened, but it’s going to end in tears. It is left to be seen whether someone creative will follow him.
Magic 8-ball says “ask again later.”
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 1:07 amPadilla is doing much, much better.
Never mind he’s a crook and willing to use state funds to subsidize partisan activities. Wikipedia:
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 1:12 amThe fewer crossover voters there are, the more extreme candidates are likely to become because if there is no crossover, there’s no motivation to moderate and every motivation to gin up enthusiasm with extreme rhetoric to increase party turn out.
Which is why a vote-for-1, three-elected system is better than a slate election. Slate elections always end up like this, with one faction winning everything.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 1:15 am40% of application for vote by mail are being rejected for the texas primary. These voters had to show state id before they could even be put on the vote by mail. You have to show from a doctor that your handicapped or prove you will be out of state to be even eligible to vote by mail. If you renewed your license you will be rejected if you don’t put your old drivers license number on ballot.
A number of states have these provisions for “absentee ballots” with some actually requiring that the person be absent or unable to vote in person. Pennsylvania has, in its constitution, strict requirements (that were ignored in 2020, apparently unlawfully). Can’t change the past, of course, but a recent state appellate court decision said that the constitution has to be followed going forward.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 1:18 amIf you renewed your license you will be rejected if you don’t put your old drivers license number on ballot.
Your DL number changes on renewal in Texas? What an odd system that can only complicate policework.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 1:20 amSigh. I see it’s time to bring out the wise words again:
It’s not the system or the politicians. The problem is the voters and the “climate of opinion”.
Does anyone really think that the politicians are going AGAINST the people’s wishes? No way. They do their darndest to please as many people as they can so as to get re-elected. The problem is that the people want contradictory things, or things that backfire.
norcal (2c7427) — 2/17/2022 @ 1:21 amDoes anyone really think that the politicians are going AGAINST the people’s wishes?
They are doing what SOME of the people want, mainly those able to donate money to their cause. Most of the voters are unorganized, or tribal.
“Money is the mother’s milk of politics” — Jesse Unruh, who knew LOADS more about politics and elections that Milton Friedman. If you listen to libertarians about politics you will (always) come to wrong conclusions.
What happened is that the Democrats (and mainly Bill Clinton) saw that pandering to the upper-middle class worked wonders for the GOP and copied them. So we got to the point where both parties saw a rising stock market as the be-all and end-all, and didn’t care that their constituent’s jobs were disappearing overseas, or that tradesmen were being undercut at home by (mostly illegal) immigrants with far lower expectations.
“People don’t eat in the long run, they eat every day.” — Harry Hopkins
When they finally found a politician who professed to care (not that it was a big secret if you listened to talk radio), the flocked to his cause. Pent up frustration is a powerful draw to the polls. People tired of tweedledum vs tweedledee finally had another choice.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 1:39 amShorter: Politicians who attempt to ignore the Trump Lesson will fail. They don’t have to embrace Trump, the man, and should not cast their pearls before him. But they do have to understand why such a very flawed man won election when everyone understood that he was flawed.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 1:43 amBecause the main opponent was perceived as being even more flawed.
Sammy Finkelman (46ec7d) — 2/17/2022 @ 6:39 amIt is simpler to restrict supply of tradeanen by unnecessary licensing requirements.
Sammy Finkelman (46ec7d) — 2/17/2022 @ 6:42 amBecause the main opponent was perceived as being even more flawed.
Her main flaw was that she represented the status quo, and voters did not want that. They didn’t much care for her King-of-Id campaign slogan “The peasants are revolting!” either.
Kevin M (38e250) — 2/17/2022 @ 9:56 am> So what? When the people who DO have that contact are screaming, it’s pretty self-involved not to take notice that the school board is using its power to act out ideology, instead of doing the job they were elected to do.
It’s San Francisco. Someone is always screaming about *something*. If I took the time to fully understand everyone’s screams, and understand the context of the issues they’re screaming about, and understand the arguments on the other side of the screams, I would be unemployed and homeless because it would consume all of my time and make it impossible for me to work.
And if I vote based on the screams without taking the time to understand and make a reasoned judgment rather than a reflexive reaction, I am not voting responsibly.
So on school issues, I *generally* abstain. I don’t have the information to make a good decision, acquiring that information is time consuming and difficult, and participating in the election would simply be injecting random noise and interfering with the decision making of those who *do* have the information.
aphrael (4c4719) — 2/17/2022 @ 11:53 amWell, be fair. If the primary were today, Trump would almost certainly be nominated to run for his second term in office — or, as some QAnoners will probably start to say, his third.
The trouble for him is, it’s a long way to 2024. He’s got a lot of legal troubles between now and then, just for a start. And who can say what else will change in a couple years?
Demosthenes (3fd56e) — 2/17/2022 @ 9:49 pmHe’s got a lot of legal troubles between now and then, just for a start. And who can say what else will change in a couple years?
Demosthenes (3fd56e) — 2/17/2022 @ 9:49 pm
All these legal troubles are nothing but The Swamp throwing anything they can at the godsend Mr. Trump, because they are scared of a second term. Can’t you see it, Demosthenes? Do the scales need to fall from your eyes?
norcal (2c7427) — 2/17/2022 @ 9:58 pmnorcal, I’m pretty sure you’re joking…but it’s a measure of just how far overboard half the commenters here have gone that I can’t be totally sure.
Demosthenes (3fd56e) — 2/17/2022 @ 10:22 pmDoes anyone really think that the politicians are going AGAINST the people’s wishes? No way. They do their darndest to please as many people as they can so as to get re-elected. The problem is that the people want contradictory things, or things that backfire.
mg (8cbc69) — 2/18/2022 @ 3:26 amPut the bong down. Every politician tells the truth and does not lie, ok. Put the bong down.
The thing with “legal troubles” is that Trump may be skylined but he is by no means low-hanging fruit. No Letitia James or Cyrus Vance is going to find him easy pickings.
nk (1d9030) — 2/18/2022 @ 6:17 ammg, this could have been Souter or Roberts part deux, or in DCSCA terms “He is They!”
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-02-18/judge-luttig-conservative-ted-cruz-mentor
urbanleftbehind (c073c9) — 2/18/2022 @ 6:36 amA judge ruled that Donald Trump and his two oldest children must testify in the civil investigation being conducted by New York State Attorney General Leticia James on the grounds that t doesn;t matter that she has an animus towards him, and he and theycan always take the 5th amendment.
The accusations that seem to be being developed against Donald Trump’s business seem to be based on the idea that some assets were overvalued (for the purpose of taking loans or for insurance) They are accepting all the lower values.
They seem to be concentrating on a few instances where the higher evaluation looks like it could be based on a false statement of fact.
1) The square footage of his Penthouse at the top of Trump Tower was tripled.
2) In a parcel of real estate that had alow value for tax purposes, but was later donated to the state and a high value assigned to it, this was done with claim there were potential development rights. But zoning already prohibited it, (of course waivers are always possible)
Sammy Finkelman (46ec7d) — 2/18/2022 @ 8:31 amnorcal, I’m pretty sure you’re joking…but it’s a measure of just how far overboard half the commenters here have gone that I can’t be totally sure.
Demosthenes (3fd56e) — 2/17/2022 @ 10:22 pm
Yes, I was joking. The best satire is hard to detect, right?
norcal (5948da) — 2/21/2022 @ 10:51 pmDr. Gaufman has a good thread on the Russia-Ukraine.
Paul Montagu (5de684) — 2/21/2022 @ 11:22 pmWhat a penetrating comment, aphrael. You have spied a pearl in a bed of seaweed. Thank you, for pointing it out.
felipe (484255) — 2/22/2022 @ 3:46 am