It’s bad news that Bas holds a significant lead over her opponent, John Bauters, going into the runoff for Alameda County Board of Supervisors in District 5.

Oakland city officials always say they’re serious about stopping sideshows. But the evidence is to the contrary: the City Council has put so many restrictions on cops that sideshows largely continue unabated—even as other cities in the region really are cracking down on these dangerous and illegal activities.

I don’t know exactly what went down in that confrontation between Vincent Williams III and Tu-Ha Ak last year. Neither do you or anyone else. The only ones who know whether or not Ak “pushed, choked and punched” Vincent, as Vincent alleges, are Ak and Vincent.

The Washington Post published an article with a tantalizing headline: “Killings by police brought reforms. Fear of crime is unraveling them.”

My task in writing this daily blog is to debunk the perfidious lie that has become so entrenched in Oakland that some credulous people actually believe it. Like a metastasizing cancer that has sunk into the marrow, blood and sinew of our body politic, this Big Lie is killing us. More people than ever understand this truth, thank God, but there are still others who can’t or won’t. For this reason it’s important to call out the Lie, wherever it turns up, which is usually from “progressive” politicians and a gullible media.