When George W. Bush invaded Iraq in March, 2003, protesters shut down San Francisco. Tens of thousands took the streets; Market St. was closed for 24 hours. Hundreds were arrested. Similar actions happened around the country.
That invasion, of course, involved troops on the ground, and was a spectacular failure.
Now Donald Trump is bombing Iran, and (so far) hasn’t send US soldiers into that country, and we haven’t seen mass protests—yet. That’s in part because in 2003, we all knew what Bush was about to do, and had time to prepare: I remember writing editorials in the Bay Guardian weeks in advance saying that the minute an invasion happens, we should all walk out of work and take to the streets. Trump sprung this on everyone without warning.
Also: We are, I think, so weary of outrages—the deportations, the killings, the end of due process, the decimation of climate science, the attack on education and free speech, the decimation of Gaza, the racism and undermining of women’s basic rights to body autonomy, the oligarchy and corruption … it’s endless.
But we have a chance to show widespread opposition to All Things Trump with the Saturday/28 nationwide No Kings rallies. Two events happen in San Francisco: A main rally starting at 11:30 am at Embarcadero Plaza, and a No Kings human banner at Ocean Beach, starting at 11am.
The Democratic Party, which is poised to win the Congressional midterms, has a long history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. If the candidates manage to turn some of the energy of the protests into organizing and votes in November, they could see substantial gains.
Or the leaders could ignore the grassroots once again, and lose races they had every chance to win.
Nasty hit pieces in political campaigns often come late, just before ballots drop, when the candidate under attack has less time to respond. But the Big Tech and Big Real Estate allies of State Sen. Scott Wiener aren’t waiting until the last minute; they just sent out a hit piece on Saikat Chakrabarti implying that he lives in Maryland, not San Francisco.
The piece repeats, and (as usual for this sort of thing) exaggerates reports in the SF Standard that Chakrabarti filed paperwork saying that a house he bought for his parents in Maryland was his primary home.
Some mortgage lenders charge different rates for primary and secondary homes, and some states give tax exemptions for primary residences. (In Maryland, the Homestead Exemption caps property tax increases for primary homes at 10 percent a year).
Chakrabarti says he made a mistake, that he never lived at the Maryland house, and that he never filed for a tax exemption. He gave the Standard a loan document that said the place was not his primary residence.
(I don’t understand why someone worth more than $100 million would take out a loan to buy a $1.6 million house, but I don’t live in that world.)
This question of filing for primary residences has become a classic issue that politicians, including Donald Trump, have used to attack their foes.
Chakrabarti says he has lived in SF since 2019. Records at the Department of Elections show that he started voting here in 2020, and voted in every local and state election since. (If he voted here and didn’t live here, that would be way more serious than the homestead paperwork.)
Chakrabarti has played almost no role in local politics except for supporting the corporate democrats for County Central Committee and Sup. Bilal Mahmood, who ousted the one democratic socialist on the Board of Supes.
A Political Action Committee called (sorry, but it’s true) “Abundant Future” paid for the ad. A quick look at federal election records shows that the PAC has exactly six donors, who represent the cream of tech and real estate in San Francisco, starting with Chris Larsen, Gary Tan, and Dianne Wilsey. Also: Jeremy Stoppelman, the CEO of Yelp, and Jeremey Liew, a tech investor.
Together they have put up 235,000, and while they have reported no spending yet, that’s clearly money to help Wiener.
The piece, which appears to be aimed at younger voters (I didn’t get one, neither did my partner, but younger people I know did) dropped the same week that Wiener held a press conference with Tan to announce legislation that will help tech startups.
The Issues and Resolutions Committee of the Democratic County Central Committee will hear arguments for and against the Overpaid CEO Tax Monday/23. The measure is backed by labor groups, and is an effort to blunt the impacts of Trump cuts on essential services. It’s another modest effort to tax the very rich and the biggest corporations in San Francisco.
The right wing of the party controls the DCCC in San Francisco, but it’s going to be hard for even the so-called “moderates” to side with the Chamber of Commerce over most of the labor unions in town. Or maybe not. You can watch the discussion here.
Full disclosure: My daughter works for Connie Chan for Congress.
