The Two A-Words

ANTIOCH. Let’s talk about it. First, we condemn the texts sent by those idiot cops. Let justice take its course. Probably many of the cops ought to be fired, and they should not have the ability to become police officers elsewhere. I hope that the Justice Department does not put a special monitor over the Antioch Police Department, for we see how damaging, in every respect, that has been here in Oakland. But if they do, so be it. John Burris, the ambulance-chasing lawyer who has got rich off suing police departments, is working on this right now.

Cop-haters everywhere will celebrate the Antioch revelations as further proof that (as they put it) “All cops are bastards.” It is this lie we should shoot down. You’ll hear it from Cat Brooks and Carroll Fife. You’ll hear it from Nikki Bas. Of course, they may not say so with those particular words, but it will be implied in everything they say about the Oakland Police Department. We, the educated public, know better. What happened in Antioch is an anomaly. A few bad apples don’t spoil the entire barrel. The Antioch cops got caught up in an emotional response to the tragedies they experience every day of their working lives. The department will change. Meanwhile, don’t let anyone get away with the lie that “Antioch” proves that all police are racist homophobic misogynists. The anti-police crowd thrives on (and makes money from) propaganda. Don’t believe anything they say.

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A’s. As many of us feared, the Oakland A’s are going to Vegas. This City Council never, not for a minute, intended to approve Howard Terminal. Nor did the current Mayor. They all had to pretend they did, but with every passing week, their pretense became shabbier. I believe Libby Schaaf wanted to keep the A’s, but she was a weak, irresolute mayor, unable to persuade a woke City Council of the importance of the A’s to Oakland. Now we have Thao, a hater of the Oakland A’s, which she sees as a plaything of White billionaires.

Carroll Fife lies when she tweets “My heart goes out to those mourning the loss of the Oakland A’s and their decision to move to Las Vegas, but with every cloud comes a contact high.” Fife hated the idea of Howard Terminal from the start. She, too, sees everything in terms of racial grievance, and a fancy new ballpark didn’t fit in with her plans to make a race revolution in Oakland. Fife would have preferred the Howard Terminal area to turn into another Wood Street—and maybe, now, it will. The “contact high” Fife speaks of is code for “We won this round, kids. Let’s not stop now.” She will continue to carve her path of racism and destruction across Oakland, like a tornado, until there is nothing left but rubble, with Carroll Fife perched on top of a steaming pile of nothing.

 Steve Heimoff