For Barbara Lee, free money is always available. It can be obtained via bribes, pay-for-play, political contributions (three words for the same thing), Congressional allocations or, best of all, philanthropic donations. Lee, like all progressive Democrats, sees money as something that’s her entitlement, to pay for anything she wants.
Taylor: Don’t forget Lee supported the hated Sheng Thao
Loren Taylor is smart to remind voters that Barbara Lee vigorously opposed the recall of Sheng Thao. Thao is the most reviled Oakland political figure in years. She’s so unpopular that, if she’s tried in the East Bay, her lawyers will ask for a change of venue. The recall’s margin of victory was 64%, a landslide indicating just how Oaklanders feel about her.
Cat Brooks takes aim at Loren Taylor
Cat Brooks has launched her expected attack on Loren Taylor. Why? Because she’s afraid he’s going to win. Desperately, Brooks is throwing out lie after lie (in her usual fashion), hoping to chip away at Loren’s support.
Newsom and the trans issue
Gov. Gavin Newsom has come under fire from the LGBTQ community for having the conservative commentator, Charlie Kirk, on his podcast, and especially for saying that he (Newsom) considers girls and women participating in female sports leagues “deeply unfair.”
Price can run, but she can’t hide
Somebody has to keep an eye on Pamela Price, as distasteful as that is. She’s plotting to launch herself back into politics, so we have to know what she’s up to, and publicize it: sunlight is the best disinfectant for mold.
You might have heard that she now has a podcast, like half the celebrities on Earth trying to stay relevant when they no longer are. “Hi, I’m Pamela Price,” she introduces herself, attired in her trademark fright wig, garish necklace, dangly earrings and colorful scarf. Framed certificates cover the wall behind her, to remind us that Price is a very educated woman. “This is all about raw, unfiltered conversations,” she tells us. “My goal is to help you navigate the complexities of today’s world,” she informs us, patronizingly.
Well, that’s not true. Her goal is to propagandize, to stir up racial resentment, to keep her in the public eye and, in her fantasy, to run again for District Attorney and get back on the public payroll. My goal (this is Steve talking) is to prevent that from happening.
Her March 11 podcast, “Who Will Save Oakland?,” begins with an interview with Pamela Drake, an influencer partially responsible for creation of the odious Oakland Police Commission. Drake also is actively campaigning for Barbara Lee for mayor, leaving the question “Who will save Oakland?” a foregone conclusion. The conversation quickly devolved to Price’s and Drake’s shared hatred of the police. Price tried to discount all the crime in Oakland with the lame observation that Oakland is no different from other large urban areas. “Things happen in cities,” she said, attempting to normalize the carjackings, murders, muggings and smash-and-grabs which, of course, increased during her tenure and led to her recall.
Price wasted no time getting to her favorite lie: that her recall was due to “oligarchies” of outside billionaires whose money “bought an election in Oakland.” Drake, of course, took the bait. “They [the billionaries] can buy recalls. They were able to harness anger and discontent.” Drake put the blame on “the tech bros,” whom she savaged as wanting to control everything when, in fact, Price was recalled by more than 60 percent of registered Alameda County voters who are not “tech bros” but were fed up with her lenient treatment of criminals.
But Price just couldn’t let go of her police bashing. “How did we end up where every dollar in the budget is prioritized for police and fire?” a softball question she asked, with the wonderment of a child asking what Santa does the other 364 days of the year. “I’m not even sure I understand it myself,” Drake replied. She defended spending money on the Fire Department, but—true to her woke ideology—continued attacking the Oakland Police Department because “we haven’t had political leaders” who could control OPD spending.
This is me, Steve, again. We’ve heard this crap over and over again about how expensive OPD is. But what we never hear from these cop haters is why Oakland has to devote so much money to policing. We live in an out-of-control violent city, where there are thousands of sociopaths who would literally rob and steal everything they can, were it not for the police. But Price doesn’t live in the same reality as you and I. “There needs to be a sea change in the culture of the [police] department and the leadership,” she declares. What Price means, of course, is that OPD should stop arresting lawbreakers. That is the premise on which all her views are based. She has never resolved the inherent contradiction in that position, contradictions that are apparent to most Oaklanders. We want safety. Price wants fewer, less effective cops. That’s why we recalled her.
When she had exhausted every woke cliché about cops, Price abruptly shifted to the topic of the Democratic Party, beginning with the widespread observation that “Right now, the whole country is pretty much fed up with the Democratic Party.” She is correct, but Price and Drake can never acknowledge their roles in why that is so. Drake bizarrely launched an attack on Eric Swalwell, who supported Price’s recall and may sue her for defamation.
But who cares what either of the Pamelas has to say? Pamela Price is a disgraced, has-been nothingness, utterly rejected by the rational voters of Alameda County. Pamela Drake is someone few of us have ever heard of, an irrelevance recruited to give some credibility to Price’s podcast.
It didn’t work.
Steve Heimoff