Free Republic

There was a time when the far left wing of the Democratic Party in San Francisco stood for something. Sure, they could be shrill, exasperating and self-righteous, but they took a stand. [snip] Because right now it looks as if their only commitment is to whatever is politically expedient. Ross Mirkarimi and District Five supervisor candidate Julian Davis have some serious defects. Each has been accused of mistreating women. But, hey, progressives say, they're our bad guys.

A stagehand working for a gay pornography company has sued his employers in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging he was forced to inject performers with a controlled drug to prolong their erections. According to the lawsuit, which was filed Friday, Ronald Baker of San Francisco claims he suffered emotional distress and anxiety-induced health problems when he accidentally pierced his finger in January after injecting a performer in the penis with TriMix, a prescription medication . . .

In a shocking end to the melodrama that has consumed San Francisco City Hall for the past nine months, the Board of Supervisors bucked Mayor Ed Lee late Tuesday night by giving suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi his job back. Four members of the board rejected Lee's call that Mirkarimi be permanently removed for committing official misconduct, an allegation that stemmed from a New Year's Eve fight with his wife for which he later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of false imprisonment. Lee needed nine of the 11 supervisors' votes to oust Mirkarimi. Supervisors John Avalos, David Campos, Jane Kim...

More than 2,000 worshipers filled St. Mary's Cathedral on Thursday to see Salvatore Cordileone assume his role as Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco, as several dozen protesters angered by his leading role in the fight against same-sex marriage demonstrated outside. "I know in my own life God has always had a way of putting me in my place - little and sometimes big ways of reminding me of my need to depend upon him and to attend to the work of my own rebuilding from within," Cordileone told the congregation. "I would say, though, that with this latest episode...

Supervisor Scott Wiener never wanted to propose a ban on public nudity. But support for his ordinance, which was introduced Tuesday, has become so widespread that even those who were reluctant to complain publicly are speaking up. And that means everybody. "I went to a brunch for the Folsom Street Fair," Wiener said. "And I was a little nervous. This was a full-leather crowd. Were they going to yell at me? But I had these big old leather daddies coming up to me and saying, 'Please do something about this.' " ...George Davis, a former nude candidate for mayor, sees...

In a lively and unusually civilized debate Wednesday, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney clashed on who would be the better champion of the middle class - a match that provided high drama but no critical game-changers. The former Massachusetts governor delivered a confident, often aggressive and energetic performance. It was among the best of his campaign and in clear contrast to the president, whose delivery was more muted, measured and, at times, meandering. The first of three presidential debates offered Americans their first side-by-side comparison of Obama and Romney and came at a pivotal moment in the 2012...

SAN FRANCISCO, September 27, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) - A pro-life billboard advertisement placed in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood was taken down following numerous acts of vandalism mocking the pro-life message, comparing the unborn to animals, and urging their murder. The billboard, which has been displayed in various cities, shows a black man holding a newborn baby and declaring “A Father’s Joy,” followed by a quote from the Gospel of St. Matthew: “And whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” At the bottom left of the display the logo of Pro-Life Across America is displayed, with a...

A San Francisco police officer shot and wounded an armed 22-year-old parolee in the city's Mission District late Thursday, prompting a protest by dozens of people hours later, authorities said. Another group gathered in the area Friday night, vandalizing banks and a restaurant. A plainclothes officer, part of a curfew enforcement team, shot the man after he allegedly pulled a Tec-9 assault-style pistol in the 200 block of 14th Street at 8:06 p.m. Thursday, police said. The wounded man, whose name was not released, was taken to the hospital. Police said his injuries were not life-threatening. Police described him as...

Janet Sluizer knew she was taking a bit of a chance when she turned to Craigslist this summer to find a tenant for her apartment in the Mission.What she didn't expect was that she'd be spending thousands of dollars in a struggle to evict a roommate who she says hasn't paid rent beyond the first month. "This is a nightmare,"Sluizer said. It's a nightmare that landlord advocates say is all too common in SanFrancisco, where 64 percent of residents rent. .....According to [Janan]New[executive director of the San Francisco Apartment Association], a combination of confusing rent ordinances and an abundance of...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chairwoman and congresswoman from Florida, was at ease this morning among a group of Democrats from deep-blue California. "Let me just tell you how much I appreciate the oasis of Democratic politics that California is," she said at a delegation breakfast on the final day of the Democratic National Convention. "I know that you all feel like you live in heaven."

UPDATE: In response to the uproar over his (below) comments Monday, California Democratic Party Chair John Burton issued this statement: “To correct press reports of my recent comments about Republican lies, I did not call Republicans Nazis nor would I ever. In fact, I didn’t even use the word. “If Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, or the Republicans are insulted by my describing their campaign tactic as the big lie – I most humbly apologize to them or anyone who might have been offended by that comment.”Charlotte – Greetings from the California delegation breakfast at the DNC where before he had...

The balance sheet on Barack Obama stands at zero right now. The country is evenly divided about his performance as president. And he’s tied in the polls with Republican Mitt Romney.“It’s a neck-and-neck race,” said Rick Snyder, Michigan Republican governor, in an opinion widely shared across the political spectrum.Let’s take a look at the Democratic incumbent’s assets as he heads into his party’s national convention in Charlotte this week — and his liabilities.Which way do you think the ledger of public opinion will eventually tip?ASSETS1. Most Americans still like him.Although the president’s personal approval rating has slipped from 79 percent...

<p>The speeches are over. The road blocks are dismantled. The delegates are heading out of town. As the debris of the week that was is swept away, let’s savor some of the high points and low points of the Republican National Convention.</p>

Recently, the Archdiocese of San Francisco, perhaps at the instigation of its incoming archbishop, Salvatore Cordileone, denied permission for drag queens to emcee at charity events in the community hall of Most Holy Redeemer, a Roman Catholic church in the Castro district. That prompted this letter to me from the Rev. Robert Warren Cromey, who will identify himself in the letter: "When I was rector of Trinity Episcopal in the late nineteen nineties, I conducted at least five funerals of drag queens in the church. They were usually held on Saturday afternoons. Neighbors' heads would lean out the windows in...

Most Holy Redeemer is at a crossroads. The Catholic church in the Castro district has arguably the largest gay parish in the nation, and controversial new decisions have members worried about leadership, policies - even that the church might be shut down. And it all began with drag queens. When the archdiocese refused to allow drag queens to serve as emcees for charity events at the church's community hall, it fed rampant paranoia about antigay sentiment. The decision was initially blamed on incoming Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage who has been championed by extreme conservative Catholic...

The renovation of Lafayette Park in Pacific Heights looked like one of those rare San Francisco projects that everyone liked.It will receive $10 million as part of a voter-approved parks bond. The neighborhood is so supportive it raised an extra $500,000 for a nature-themed playground. Even the city's famously fractious dog-walkers are happy - among the six community outreach meetings, one was devoted specifically to the designated dog area.The bathrooms will be renovated, paths will be repaved, tennis courts resurfaced, and a new picnic area will have an overlook with killer city views. One quarter of the park has been demolished and...

After 25 years in Washington, nearly half of it as the highest-ranking woman in American politics, Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi has learned the art of when to attack and when to pull back. The Democratic House minority leader, in an interview in her hometown last week, was asked about former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown's recent comment that President Obama has "lost his mojo" on the campaign trail and shows "no life, no personality and no real enthusiasm." Her answer was typically diplomatic. "I don't agree," she said. "I love Willie, but maybe he hasn't been to any of the public...

City official consults Ouija board before vote SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A San Francisco supervisor says he consulted a Ouija board before city leaders voted on whether to recommend naming a Navy ship after slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Supervisor John Avalos tells the San Francisco Chronicle (http://bit.ly/KnVnbu ) that he believes he made contact with Milk's spirit and that Milk spelled out letters indicating: "Good riddance to don't ask, don't tell." The Board of Supervisors approved the non-binding resolution Tuesday on a 9-2 vote. Milk was a city supervisor and former naval officer. He was fatally shot in...

The wacky and wonderful world of San Francisco politics once again went viral, this time after the City Insider and other local publications reported on Supervisor John Avalos’ remarks that he summoned the ghost of former Supervisor Harvey Milk to find out how the slain gay civil rights leaders would feel about having a U.S. Navy vessel named after him. During the City Hall debate Tuesday, supervisors said they conferred with Milk’s nephew, friends, former colleagues and compatriots, gay rights activists, the anti-war contingent and others on the issue; the affable Avalos, known around City Hall for his humor, said...

Safeway has enough on its plate - market share under siege, tough union negotiations, rumors of a takeover - without a senior executive putting his foot halfway down his throat, at its annual shareholders' meeting no less. Vice President and General Counsel Robert Gordon thought he was cracking wise with a lame joke involving the Secret Service, President Obama and two Arkansas razorback hogs deemed an "excellent trade" for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. Among the less-than-laugh-out-loud-responses was a letter from members of the Bay Area congressional delegation, led by Rep....