It’s maybe an indication of our nonsensical political occasions that the silliest of theatrics can reveal probably the most critical of truths.
Simply have a look at San Francisco.
As my Instances colleague Julia Wick reported this week, conservatives — lengthy satisfied that town by the Bay is a progressive hellhole of homelessness, unchecked crime and drug habit — are holding their collective noses to cheer for the 49ers in Sunday’s Tremendous Bowl. Something to keep away from pulling for the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and Travis Kelce and his girlfriend, the ever present Taylor Swift.
That is, after all, the pure end result of the various inescapable MAGA conspiracy theories floating round social media, most of which insist Swift, Kelce and possibly the NFL are scheming with Democrats to defeat Donald Trump and ship Joe Biden again to the White Home in November.
“I ponder who’s going to win the Tremendous Bowl,” trolled Vivek Ramaswamy, the obnoxious former Republican presidential candidate and vice presidential hopeful. “And I ponder if there’s a serious presidential endorsement coming from an artificially culturally propped-up couple this fall.”
To not be outdone, whoever runs the massively standard and aptly named far-right X account Finish Wokeness posted: “What’s taking place with Taylor Swift just isn’t natural and pure. It’s an op. All of us really feel it. Everyone knows it.”
And so now now we have influencers like Rogan O’Handley (a.okay.a. DC Draino) providing a two-week truce with San Francisco to encourage extra People to root for the 49ers.
“Mr. Pfizer and his girlfriend are going to tour the nation as ‘world champions’ serving to elect Joe Biden,” he posted. “WW3 will possible observe in a 2nd Biden time period and tens of millions will die. The destiny of the free world rests upon your shoulders.”
In response to such bewildering backhanded compliments, Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) instructed my Instances’ colleague Wick that it was “a bit of unusual to see individuals who often hate San Francisco now cheering for San Francisco.”
In response to his response, I say it’s clear these folks haven’t been paying consideration. As a result of if that they had, they wouldn’t hate San Francisco. As a result of they’d know that a number of the insurance policies being floated within the metropolis recently are extra consistent with the politics of a far-right conservative than an uber-left progressive.
Whereas these of us in Los Angeles have been busy electing an abolitionist to the Metropolis Council, San Francisco began by ousting its reform-minded district lawyer and has moved on to ramping up the criminalization of homelessness and drug habit.
Why that is taking place — at the least on the floor — has rather a lot to do with Mayor London Breed. She has by no means actually been a progressive. However for the reason that pandemic, she has moved even additional to the rich and arranged proper, making an attempt to assuage more and more fed-up residents and, within the course of, win an uphill battle for reelection.
To that finish, when voters recalled Chesa Boudin as district lawyer in 2022, Breed backed former prosecutor Brooke Jenkins. Since then, Jenkins has come underneath hearth for all types of non-progressive issues, together with the time she mentioned the quiet half out loud by supporting frequent sweeps of encampments as a result of unhoused folks “should be made to be uncomfortable” to just accept provides of shelter.
In the meantime, Breed emerged as an early and vocal advocate of getting the U.S. Supreme Courtroom to determine, as soon as and for all, whether or not it’s unconstitutional for cities within the West to clear encampments from public property. And, in January, the excessive court docket introduced that it might certainly evaluation rulings from the U.S. ninth Circuit Courtroom of Appeals, which has lengthy maintained that it’s merciless and weird punishment to disclaim unhoused folks someplace to sleep.
You wouldn’t realize it from watching Fox Information or following the social media posts of MAGA-types, however Breed has hardly been alone amongst Democrats in complaining in regards to the tents on sidewalks and RVs underneath freeways, and the way the courts have restricted their skill to do a lot about it.
Reasonably, it has been progressives — the individuals who apparently not dominate politics in San Francisco — who’re truly uneasy in regards to the can of worms the conservative justices on the Supreme Courtroom are about to open. Even L.A. Mayor Karen Bass mentioned final month that she’s involved about cities turning “within the route the place we then start to criminalize people who find themselves unhoused as a result of we are able to.”
However I digress.
Extra causes for the far proper to rethink leaving their coronary heart in San Francisco:
The coverage of getting police arrest not simply drug sellers, however drug customers, holding them till they’re sober after which making an attempt to pressure them into therapy — , as a result of that labored so properly through the battle on medication. All in an effort to eradicate the very actual downside of open-air drug markets, which conservative commentators like to mock.
There’s additionally the upcoming poll measure that may require adults receiving welfare to endure substance abuse screenings and, if they’re discovered to be addicts, must enroll in therapy to maintain getting monetary advantages.
“No extra ‘something goes’ with out accountability,” Breed instructed the San Francisco Chronicle, in phrases straight out of the Reagan period. “No extra handouts with out accountability.”
Clapping again on these accusations of lawlessness, there’s additionally a plan to ask voters to ease each the boundaries on police car pursuits and the reporting necessities on officers’ use of pressure.
And only a few days in the past, Breed introduced that she’s backing a poll measure that may intestine elements of Proposition 47 — the 2014 regulation that’s usually criticized by tough-on-crime Republicans as a result of it turned easy drug possession and property crimes price lower than $950 into misdemeanors.
The brand new measure would make it simpler to throw the proverbial guide at folks, particularly those that promote fentanyl.
“We’re making progress on property crimes,” Breed mentioned, in keeping with my Instances colleague Anabel Sosa. “However the challenges we face associated to fentanyl and arranged retail theft require actual change to our state legal guidelines.”
I could possibly be flawed, however that actually doesn’t sound like one thing somebody who’s mayor of a progressive hellhole would say.
So worry not, trolls of far-right social media and believers of MAGA conspiracy theories. On Sunday, safe in these critical political truths, you’ll be able to root for the 49ers guilt-free — and possibly even for San Francisco the opposite 364 days of the yr.
Travis and Taylor have already got sufficient followers.