For the last few weeks progressive media in the East Bay have been pushing a narrative that there’s a powerful anti-Recall movement afoot, in response to the efforts to recall Pamela Price and Sheng Thao. This story is little more than a wishful fantasy on the part of anti-recallists; but it is true that the pro-Thao and pro-Price forces are panicking, and will stop at nothing to keep their leaders in power.
Typical of the propaganda is KQED, which has moved further to the left over the years than any other local media outlet. Under the banner headline “Anti-Recall Movement Picks Up Steam in Alameda County,” their story claims that a “bubbling up of new energy” is fueling Recall opponents. An anti-Recall umbrella group, “Respect Our Vote—No Recalls” is rehashing the tired, discredited claim that outside “billionaires” are paying for both recalls. They’re recruited the services of the disgraced former Oakland mayor, Jean Quan, who once led a defund-the-police march in downtown Oakland, a major reason why she failed to win re-election. If Jean Quan is the best they can do, then Pamela Price and Sheng Thao should start looking for new jobs.
Then there’s KALW radio, which claims it “nurtures underrepresented voices.” Their headline is “East Bay’s anti-recall movement is gaining momentum.” For this, they cite an article in the ever-dependably woke Oaklandside as proof of their assertion. According to Oaklandside, the Recalls are not about public safety (although we all know that’s precisely what they’re about) but “an oligarchy issue,” to quote an anti-recall activist, Pamela Drake. By oligarchy, of course, Drake reverts to the “outside billionaires” lie. What is it with these progressives that they just can’t accept the truth that crime is the number one issue on the minds of Oaklanders, which is why ordinary people are contributing such large amounts to the Recalls.
One thing in particular that strikes me with these progressives is how much they’re recruiting the Black churches to support them. With all due respect to those churches, it seems to me they’re against the recalls because both targets are women of color. If Price and Thao were White males, the churches would be clamoring for their heads; after all, Black people in the flatlands are suffering from the crime wave even more than, say, wealthy Hill dwellers. There’s a lot of cognitive dissonance going on when Black people who are asking for greater police protection (which they deserve) go to a pro-Price rally. Black people are naturally opposed to conservative Republican politics (as well they should be), so when the progressive activist, Pamela Drake, calls the Recalls “a major conservative threat to voters’ rights in Oakland and Alameda County,” she’s playing good politics. The only problem is that it’s a lie. In interview after interview, Recall supporters have told journalists that they’re not billionaires, not from out-of-town, and are lifelong Democrats. Yet this is something progressives just can’t accept. (Or reporters, for that matter, who keep repeating the woke lie.)
If the upcoming elections accomplish anything, I hope it will be a permanent break between ultra-woke progressives and mainstream Democrats. The wokes are driven by nothing other than racial grievance, which is far from the most important issue to ordinary voters. It’s clear that in every U.S. city where wokes have seized power, they’ve left ruination in their wake, including heightened racial division. If I have one message I’d like on my tombstone, it’s this: You can be liberal and at the same time be anti-woke. Racist politics and politicians have wrecked Oakland, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, Washington D.C. and others. The only weapon the wokes have left is to accuse their critics of being MAGA billionaires. It would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous.
Steve Heimoff