Mendocino County Today: Friday 11/8/2024

Clear Skies | Serenity Found | Palace Update | Reflection | Top Performers | People Too | Ethical Investing | Wap | Runway Reconstruction | Acorn Day | Compost Opposition | Moo | Redwood Sculptor | Ed Notes | Training Bender | Early Logging | Biden Banner | Yesterday's Catch | Canadian Border | Lurie Elected | Liberty | Wine Shorts | Depressing | Found | Fight On | Fly Catchers | Live Local | False Prophet | Maybe Not | ICBM Test | Break | Nitwit Kimmel | Creative Talk | Prison Labor | Cyanide Pie | Lead Stories | Reunited | DNC Autopsy | Teatime | Cultural Despair | Sadism | Hawk Hook | Leaflets Aloft

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HIGH PRESSURE continues to clear skies and bring chilly overnight temperatures. Light rain is possible Saturday in Humboldt and Del Norte. A larger system arrives Sunday night and Monday, bringing widespread rain and gusty southerly wind. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A nippy 38F on the coast this Friday morning. Dry today, maybe a sprinkle this weekend, then rain on Monday. Dry Tuesday then rain on Wed & Thur. Or so they say.

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MISSING AT-RISK TEENAGER SOUGHT

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is requesting assistance from the public regarding an at-risk missing juvenile from the San Diego area.

Missing Juvenile:

Serenity McKinnon

17-year-old white female

5’06’’ tall – 192 pounds

Brown hair with pink tints – Hazel eyes

McKinnon was reported as missing in San Diego County in September of 2024. It is believed McKinnon may have been in the Mendocino County area as recently as Monday 11/04/2024. Anyone with information regarding this at-risk missing juvenile is requested to call Dispatch at 707-463-4086.

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UPDATE: Serenity has been found safe.

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CITY OFFICIALS GIVE UPDATE ON PALACE HOTEL to Ukiah City Council

by Justine Frederiksen

During its latest regular meeting Wednesday evening, Ukiah Deputy Manager Shannon Riley gave the Ukiah City Council an update on the status of the Palace Hotel.

“On Oct. 15 of this year, the LLC, Twin Investments, whose only asset is the Palace Hotel, was sold to Thomas Carter,” Riley said, noting that “to date, we have received a partially completed encroachment permit application, and a partially completed building permit application for the scaffolding that is up.

“We are aware that Mr. Carter has engaged ZFA Engineering, a professional constructional engineering firm that has familiarity with the Palace Hotel,” Riley continued, explaining that representatives of the firm “have apparently been in the building and reviewed its condition, and did supply the Building Official this week with a letter summarizing the condition of the hotel and affirming that it is dangerous as it exists.”

Riley also explained that all of that correspondence is posted on the city’s website under the Palace Hotel tab, and that staff will keep adding new information as it becomes available.

The most recent upload to the Palace Hotel section is a letter sent from city attorneys David Rapport and Darcy Vaughn to the building’s new owner, Thomas Carter:

“In purchasing Twin Investments I assume you have done your due diligence and received full disclosure from Jitu and Paru Ishwar on the current status of the (Palace Hotel) and orders binding on Twin Investments which you now own. Please be advised that the building has been declared a dangerous building and public nuisance by formal administrative action of the City Council which determinations are not subject to further review,” the letter begins.

“The City Building Official has determined that due to its instability, the building poses an imminent threat to people and property in its vicinity, and that finding is confirmed by the letter from Kevin Zucco of ZFA Structural Engineers which you submitted to Matt Keizer, the city’s Chief Building Official, on Nov. 5, 2024, (in which Zucco states that): “It is of critical importance that an immediate shoring plan is implemented to salvage the remaining structure, avoid additional collapse, and stabilize the existing conditions.”

The attorneys also note that “Twin Investments has been issued a building permit to demolish the building under which it can proceed, subject to the submission and approval of demolition plans. Alternatively, it can apply for a building permit to stabilize the building, as recommended by Mr. Zucco. Given the imminent hazard posed by the building and the onset of winter weather conditions, either of those options must be implemented as soon as possible. As the manager of Twin Investments, you are responsible for abating the public nuisance condition on the Palace Hotel property.”

(Ukiah Daily Journal)

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HERE ARE THE TOP LOCAL PERFORMERS from Week 10 of the high school football season.

Soso Prak, Jr., quarterback, Piner
5-of-24 passing, 329 yards, 2 TDs in a 36-6 win over Novato

Nova Perrill II, Sr., quarterback, Healdsburg
18-of-29 passing, 221 yards, 4 TDs, 67 rushing yards, TD in a 43-42 loss to Archie Williams

Gabe Casanovas, Jr., quarterback, St. Vincent
14-of-24 passing, 214 yards, 3 TDs, rushing TD in a 49-13 win over Montgomery

Beau David, Jr., quarterback, Ukiah
8-of-15 passing, 150 yards, TD, 99 rushing yards, 2 TDs in a 40-14 win over Maria Carrillo

Hector Marruffo, Sr., quarterback, Roseland University Prep
4 rushing TDs in a 76-40 loss to Branson

Dallas Logwood, Sr., running back/linebacker, Justin-Siena
27 carries for 125 yards, 2 TDs, 13 total tackles (10 solo) in a 26-21 win over Justin-Siena

Andre Lopez, Jr., running back, American Canyon
23 carries for 120 yards, TD in a 26-14 loss to Casa Grande

Hayden Anderson, Sr., running back, Windsor
17 carries for 117 yards, TD in an 18-6 win over Rancho Cotate

Rashai Thompson, Jr., running back, Santa Rosa
15 carries for 116 yards, 2 TDs in a 40-20 loss to Analy

Miguel Gallardo, Sr., running back, Santa Rosa
9 carries for 116 yards, TD in a 40-20 loss to Analy

Jamari Gentry, Sr., running back, Cardinal Newman
18 carries for 107 yards, interception on defense in a 13-3 loss to Marin Catholic

Frank Rea, So., running back, Healdsburg
20 carries for 103 yards, TD, 8 total tackles (7 solo) in a 43-42 loss to Archie Williams

Bo Lode, Jr., running back, Vintage
14 carries for 88 yards, TD, interception on defense in a 17-7 win over San Marin

Mason Caturegli, Jr., running back, St. Vincent
9 carries for 66 yards, 3 TDs in a 49-13 win over Montgomery

Wyatt Morris, Sr., running back, Windsor
14 carries for 58 yards, 2 TDs in an 18-6 win over Rancho Cotate

Victor Villarreal, Jr., running back, Analy
2 rushing TDs in a 40-20 win over Santa Rosa

Jaden Hernandez, Sr., wide receiver, Piner
8 receptions for 182 yards, 2 TDs in a 36-6 win over Novato

Omaurie Phillips-Porter, Sr., wide receiver, Ukiah
7 receptions for 138 yards, TD, punt return TD, kickoff return TD in a 40-14 win over Maria Carrillo

Apollo Pereira, Sr., wide receiver, Piner
5 receptions for 112 yards, interception on defense, punt return TD in a 36-6 win over Novato

Areum Romero, Sr., wide receiver, Healdsburg
7 receptions for 110 yards, 2 TDs in a 43-42 loss to Archie Williams

Ty Nicken, Sr., wide receiver, St. Vincent
Receiving TD, interception on defense in a 49-13 win over Montgomery

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MENDOCINO COUNTY STARTS DIVESTING FROM FOSSIL FUELS AND WEAPONS OF WAR

Nov 7 Mendocino County. At this Tuesday’s County Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisors voted unanimously in support of the people’s will. Supervisor Williams agendized a discussion to remove the Royal Bank of Canada from the County’s investment portfolio. It is the seventh largest financier of fossil fuels globally and finances companies that manufacture weapons used to kill civilians across the globe.

At the meeting, the grassroots organization Mendocino County for Ethical Investing (MCEI) delivered an impassioned presentation featuring statements from a diverse group of community members, including several high school students, a retired state department worker, and a climate refugee, and an indigenous rights advocate—all unified in telling the Board why the county should remove its investments in Royal Bank of Canada.

After discussion, the Board unanimously voted in support of removing the Royal Bank of Canada from the county’s investment portfolio when it reaches maturity in January 2025 and to reinvest the funds in an entity that does not contribute to climate destruction or killing civilians. “People in our community really care about where their tax money is going. We do not want to fund the degradation of our planet and the killing of civilians. The community really showed up to make that clear on Tuesday,” says county resident Katherine Flink.

Last May, feeling helpless because of the escalating deaths in the Middle East and the worsening climate crisis, caring individuals in Mendocino County joined together to figure out what collective action they could take to protect humanity and the planet. They concluded that one of the most effective tools at their disposal is choosing wisely where their tax dollars are invested.

Thus, Mendocino County for Ethical Investing (MCEI) was formed, and the people got to work. They began a campaign to improve our investment policy and have the county divest funds from entities not in alignment with its stated values. They are circulating a petition that has already garnered nearly 1,000 signatures of support.

“The county has an investment policy that discourages investments in fossil fuels, tobacco, firearms, and weapons not used in our national defense. And yet, our county invests in corporations and institutions such as the Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of America, and Caterpillar, which are major funders of fossil fuels and weapons of war. Why should our taxes be used to contradict the existing investment policy?” says Amelia Taylor, county resident.

MCEI will be following up with the decision made by the Board to ensure its implementation. In January, the Board will conduct its annual review and approval of the county investment policy. MCEI will be present to advocate for necessary changes. As other investments in the portfolio reach maturity, MCEI will follow up with the Board to advocate for divestment from fossil fuels and weapons of war, and for reinvestment in alternatives.

Learn more at mendodivest.org, and reach out to us at mendodivest@gmail.com.

Contacts: Katherine Flink, (972) 207-7804

Amelia Taylor, (707) 489-7267

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UKIAH REGIONAL AIRPORT CELEBRATES COMPLETION OF PHASE ONE AND PHASE TWO RUNWAY RECONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

Ukiah, CA. November 17, 2024. - The Ukiah Regional Airport is proud to announce the successful completion of the Phase One and Phase Two runway reconstruction projects, a critical investment in the infrastructure of our local airport, which serves as the CalFire Air Attack Base and provides local service for Reach medivac apparatus, Fed Ex, UPS, and more.

Phase One of this extensive project began in 2020, addressing the urgent need for runway rehabilitation. The previous runway was in very poor condition and required replacement to ensure the safety and efficiency of airport operations. This phase involved the repaving of the 75-foot center section of the previously 150-foot wide runway, along with the addition of a new taxiway. The project, which took almost 2 months to complete, was funded through a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant totaling nearly $4 million.

Phase Two commenced in October 2023 and focused on enhancing the airport's lighting systems. This phase also narrowed the runway to 75 feet and introduced essential safety features, including an edge line, edge lights, and new LED runway lights. Additionally, new runway end identification lights and a Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) were installed, significantly improving visibility and safety for pilots.

The cost of the Phase Two project was approximately $2 million, also funded by the FAA. These improvements are vital to ensuring the long-term usability of the airport and minimizing potential closures due to maintenance or lighting failures. The functionality of the runway is particularly crucial for Cal Fire operations, as Ukiah Airport operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

"We are thrilled to have completed these pivotal projects that enhance the safety and functionality of the Ukiah Regional Airport," said Greg Owen, Airport Manager. "The improvements not only benefit our local community but also support vital emergency services, ensuring that we are prepared for any situation."

The City of Ukiah owns and operates the Ukiah Regional Airport and has owned the facility since the 1930s. The airport is comprised of one 4,400 ft. runway and taxiway, 160 acres in size, and has 87 aircraft based on site.

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ACORN DAY THIS SUNDAY

The Grace Hudson Museum will host Acorn Day on Sunday, Nov. 10 from 12 to 4 p.m. This family-friendly, interactive program will be hosted by Pomo cultural educators Rose and Anthony Steele, who will share and teach the many steps involved in processing acorns. Participants can then try their hand at processing acorns themselves, and sample acorn mush. Visitors are welcome to drop by any time throughout the afternoon.

This program is included with Museum admission, which is $5 general; $12 per family; $4 for students and seniors; and always free to Museum Members, Native Americans, and active-duty Military. For more information please go to www.gracehudsonmuseum.org or call (707) 467-2836.

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COLD CREEK COMPOST EXPANSION OPPOSED

AVA,

You are receiving this letter because our records show you had previously expressed opposition to the Cold Creek Compost facility in Ukiah/Potter Valley.

We oppose Cold Creek Compost is a group of concerned stakeholders organizing to oppose the Cold Creek Compost expansion project and to enforce the requirements under which the original facility was approved/permitted.

If you would like to join our mailing list for important information and updates on the proposed expansion project please email we.oppose.cold.creek.compost@gmail.com.

Susan Summerfords is the primary point of contact from the Mendocino Planning Department for the proposed expansion of Cold Creek Compost. Jacob Nave is the primary point of contact from the Mendocino Environmental Health Department for the project.

Call To Action: Please Express Your Opposition To This Project!

1) Importantly, the County of Mendocino has a new link on their website where the public can log complaints EVERY TIME they experience the odor: https://www.mendocinocounty.gov/departments/public-health/environmental-health/lea-complaints

Please share this link with other people impacted by or experiencing odor caused by the compost facility and please log every experience you have with the odor.

2) Please share this information with other concerned citizens and ask them to email we.oppose.cold.creek.compost@gmail.com to join our mailing list for important information and updates on the proposed expansion project.

3) Please submit a public comment to pbscommissions@mendocinocounty.gov expressing opposition to this project.

4) Please email and call your Staff Planner, Susan Summerford at summerfords@mendocinocounty.gov and (510) 459-9788 expressing opposition to this project.

5) Please email and call your Local Enforcement Agent from Environmental Health, Jacob Nave at navej@mendocinocounty.gov and (707) 234-6302 expressing opposition to this project.

6) Please email and call your Planning Director, Julia Krog at krogj@mendocinocounty.gov and (707) 234-6650 expressing opposition to this project.

7) Please email and call your local Supervisor, Glenn McGourty at mcgourtyg@mendocinocounty.org and (707)-463-4221 to express opposition to this project.

Thank you,

We Oppose Cold Creek Compost

Potter Valley

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CLOUD NINE ART GALLERY DECEMBER FEATURED ARTIST

David Leonard, marine redwood sculptor

320 N Franklin Street, Fort Bragg, CA

First Friday, December 6, 5-7pm

David is a longtime coastal dweller, inspired by the fragility of our ocean and its inhabitants. Join us at Cloud Nine to celebrate David's amazing work, enjoy a glass of bubbly, mingle with friends, see what's new and listen to the refreshing guitar music of Chris Cisper.

Our new business hours are Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 12-5pm and by appointment. 707 964-9483.

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ED NOTES

MARK SCARAMELLA: 4th District Supervisor, Dan Gjerde announced Tuesday that he has accepted a position with CalTrans District 1 as a transportation planner. He said he expects confirmation of his position “any day now,” so he plans to resign immediately. Gjerde said he has recommended that Governor Newsom appoint Supervisor-Elect Bernie Norvell so he can start this month, a little ahead of his regularly scheduled January start date to fill out the last few weeks of Gjerde’s term. Presumably, Gjerde will become a double-dipper, receiving a nice County pension for his 12 years as a Supervisor based on his latest pay raise on top of whatever professional salary Caltrans pays.

ED NOTE: Isn't CalTrans and planning yer basic self-canceller? With Silent Dan routing traffic for Big Orange better hope your vehicle can swim. But seriously, in a just world Gjerde would be denied his pension on the obvious grounds that he was one-fifth of an ongoing supervisorial disaster, from his implicit support for the rampaging CEO Angelo whose work continues to cost Mendocino County taxpayers lots and lots in legal payouts to his most recent disastrous act in the clearly illegal firing of Auditor Chamise Cubbison. For 12 years of unmitigated irresponsibility, Gjerde will undoubtedly receive a record number of honorary Whereas' on his final day of "service. "Whereas Supervisor Gjerde never failed to reward incompetence; Whereas Supervisor Gjerde…”

I HADN’T KNOWN until John McCurdy told me, that a bunch of the mill workers brought in to break the big strike at the Fort Bragg mill back in 1946 were from Sparks, Louisiana, whose mill had been put out of business by radical over-cutting of nearby pine forests. John worked in the Fort Bragg mill as a kid in the early 1950s before going on to Stanford and big time basketball. Well into his 70s, John, 6'7" and very strong at 215 pounds, still played in men’s leagues around Chicago from where he remembers his Fort Bragg days with great fondness.

THE FISHER FAMILY of San Francisco own lots of things, among them the wrecked Oakland A's baseball franchise, and much of Mendocino County in the form of logged-over forest formerly known as Louisiana-Pacific. They also own the GAP stores and who knows what all. The Fishers call their Mendo holdings Mendocino Redwoods which, as it’s turned out, has been a good thing for redwoods and a very good thing for the eventual return of thousands of acres of blitzed forest to productivity, a productivity that may some day revive Mendocino County’s moribund timber industry. The Fishers, unlike the executives and majority shareholders of L-P, can afford to sit on the land because they don’t need an immediate return on it. But as good as the Fishers have inadvertently been for Mendocino County's redwood forests, which is of course debatable, if those forests were a logger's cooperative Mendocino County rather than a Frisco sun king's private fiefdom, Mendo would be a generally more prosperous county than it is now. But, but, but take it away from the people who own it? Don't you understand free enterprise, you, you, you….communist!

EVER WONDER who buys bad art? The Fishers, for one. Fortunately for San Francisco, when the Fishers tried to build at the Presidio to house their Warhols and Richard Serra’s “Sequence,” 243 tons of whatever, they were shot down. The Fishers had bought the alleged sculpture but were apparently unable to jam it through the front door of one of their several mansions before trying to muscle-bribe their way into the Presidio.

I SUGGESTED that they donate the mammoth Serra eyesore to the city with the stipulation it replaces the giant cornball sculpture by Oldenburg called Cupid’s bow down on the Embarcadero near the ballpark, where it irritates hell outta me every time I go to a ball game.

SERRA'S hunk of shiny brown steel is bigger than a jumbo jet and would go nicely with the pile of concrete down the street called the Vaillancourt Fountain. Pretensions aside, in a lot of ways, Frisco is really just a big collection of rubes who'll buy anything.

Barely amusing the first time, annoying ever since.

This would be perfect in front of the major eyesore of a new County Courthouse being rammed down Mendo's unsuspecting throat by our friends at the Superior Court.

Frisco paid a quarter mil for this baby and surely Mendo could pick it up for a hundred times that, also a perfect fit for the new County Courthouse no one wants.

WE ALL KNOW that in the current thinking “contemporary art” means a “contemporary building” to house it, and “contemporary building” means the SF MOMA with more empty space than art, and the art it does have being heavy on “contemporary” groove-o trendos like the rock exhibit I saw wherein an Englishman had arranged in the form of a V on the floor of one of the MOMA’s smaller rooms. The V was a hundred or so 20-pound rocks the con man claimed to have hauled out of the Sierra (more likely hauled out of Daly City Stone and Monuments). I thought to myself, “Only a furriner could get away with calling a collection of American rocks, art.

I IMAGINED the Englishman wowing the black clad art school grad curators agape as they bought everything the Brit con man told them before they wrote him a fat cashier’s check for the “installation of his master work.”

FAR MORE interesting exhibits than you can usually find at the MOMA are only a block away at the California Historical Society near Third and Mission. And at the Jewett room of the main branch of the San Francisco Library there’s always interesting stuff. At the Presidio, in one of its oldest buildings, and worth a visit just to see it, in the old Officer’s Club, there’s a very fine collection of watercolors, all of them rendered by amateurs. As for the deYoung and the Palace of the Legion of Honor, if you only visit them once every five years you won’t have missed anything; they never change. It's possible to find art in the city but you’ve got to look for it.

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A READER WRITES:

I was wondering if you would be interested in bringing some light into the money spent, by the City of Willits and its Citizens, for the countless trainings of the current City Manager Brian Bender. Some of these attended training sessions are not even associated with his current employment position as City Manager. Besides the Local Government Reimagined Conference, the West Coast Conferences, the International City/County Management Association, ect, the City/Citizens have also been paying for Mr. Benders upkeep of his Planner License and the needed mandatory continuing education credits that are needed about every two years to maintain his credentials. While Mr. Bender is given the opportunity to attend these events, it seems unbelievable that some of the other City of Willits employees, who are in need of these very important events and the knowledge that comes with them, are left behind. The amount of events attended by Mr. Bender are out of control and we are wondering who approved them. City Council? The attached list of conferences and training attended by Mr. Bender since January 4, 2021 is current until the beginning of October, since then Mr. Bender has attended at least two more. With the upcoming changes and a new City Council, we are looking forward to a more controlled and accountable system for these kinds of issues, and more transparency.

Your fellow concerned citizen

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ON THE SKIDS

by Chuck Bush

Reprinted from the January 21, 1993 Mendocino Beacon

For our mill here on Big River, the first large redwoods were cut down entirely with double-bitted axes, and cut into logs with axes. In those very early logging days it might have taken two experienced men a week to bring down a big tree, including a few days to prepare a bed or cushion of smaller trees for it to fall upon so as not to shatter upon impact. A sizable amount of wood from each tree was lost to the axes, so it did not take long before sawyers had saws long enough to be used on the big trees.

From the 1850s to the 1880s, logging remained an un-mechanized business, but it did become very specialized. Those that brought the trees down were the “fallers” or "choppers.” With axes they made a large wedge-shaped cut (called the undercut) into the side where the tree was to fall, then chopped out a ring through the bark on the opposite side just above the bottom level of the undercut. With saws they then cut into the ring, using wedges to take the pressure off the saws and to finally topple the tree when the cut was deep enough.

After the choppers had brought the tree down, the “ringers” would chop away the thick bark at log-length intervals along the trunk. Then the “peelers” stripped off all the bark because the mill saws did cut well through the thick fibrous bark. Lastly, the “buckers” would saw the bare tree into logs, in even-foot lengths usually from 12 to 20 feet long.

Providing the means of moving the logs from the woods to the mill was the job of the “swampers.” Most of the early cutting was done very close to the streams or creeks, because the only way to get the logs out was via the available watercourses; the logs would be rolled down to the creek bed, often with the help of jackscrews (essential logging tools with which woodsmen gained the leverage to manipulate large logs), and remain there until the rains generated enough flow to bring them downstream. To assist that process, temporary dams were often created; when enough water built the dams were dynamited and the flood brought all the logs downstream.

As the logging operations moved farther inland and away from the creeks, the swampers built roads on which horses and oxen were used to drag the logs to the creek beds. To facilitate the dragging, skid roads were created. Lined with small logs around a foot thick laid across the roads, they were also called corduroy roads.

The big logs were chained in a line, with the largest at the front, and teams of up to 16 oxen or ten horses—managed (usually with a great deal of prodding) by “bull whackers” or “bull punchers”—pulled them over the “skids” to the creek beds. A “water slinger” or “sugler” splashed water over the skid road just ahead of the log train to further reduce the friction.

As the logging moved up into the hills, the swampers smoothed out natural vertical troughs, and “chuted" the logs down to the skid roads or directly to the creek beds, with a “chute tender” wetting down the chute to ease the movement of the logs. Water for both the suglers and the chute tenders was kept in water tubs all along the skid roads and chutes. Horses carrying canvas water sacks were constantly moving from creeks or ponds to these water tubs, under the direction of “water bucks"—usually the junior members of the logging crew—who were responsible for keeping the tubs full.

The early lumbermen worked 12-hour days in the woods without benefit of power saws, steam donkeys, rails, or locomotives. With primitive tools, these rough and tough men brought down an amazing amount of timber and moved it to the mills.

(kelleyhousemuseum.org)

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BILL KIMBERLIN:

When your children ask you what this sign says, I think you can honestly say, "It says vote for Kamala Harris". Anderson Valley property right near the Church.

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Thursday, November 7, 2024

JESSICA BAUER, 37, Ukiah. Toluene with intent to become intoxicated, under influence, resisting.

MICHAEL DEATON, 40, Willits. Failure to appear.

MICHAEL FLORES, 36, Ukiah. Under influence.

TROY JACK, 57, Ukiah. County parole violation.

LAMONT JONES JR., 47, Ukiah. Robbery, paraphernalia, resisting.

DEVIN KESTER-TYLER, 31, Ukiah. Robbery, kidnapping, false imprisonment.

CODY MENDEZ, 21, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs.

MARK PALLEY, 51, Covelo. Unlawful camping on private property disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs.

DAVID PINGREY, 36, Ukiah. Vandalism.

SAMUEL SANCHEZ, 34, Ukiah. Indecent exposure. (Frequent flyer.)

TODD STANTON, 40, Piercy. Felon-addict with firearm, possession of ammo.

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DANIEL LURIE ELECTED SAN FRANCISCO’S NEXT MAYOR, IN REBUKE TO BREED

by J.D. Morris

Daniel Lurie has been elected mayor of San Francisco, denying London Breed another term after arguing that her flawed leadership caused the city to struggle since the pandemic devastated its downtown and exacerbated the drug crisis, homelessness and public concerns about crime.

The victory Thursday capped a stunning and rapid political ascent for Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune who founded a successful charity, Tipping Point Community, about two decades ago, but was not widely known when he began his mayoral bid last September.

Lurie will be the first San Francisco mayor in more than a century to have never served in government before his election. He saw that as a sign of strength as he campaigned on a promise to bring change to City Hall.

Under the ranked-choice voting system, Lurie had 56.2% support to Breed’s 43.8% as of late Thursday afternoon. San Francisco still has tens of thousands more votes to count.

Lurie won by pouring millions of dollars of his own money into his campaign — the main reason the race was the most expensive in modern San Francisco history — and consistently telling voters that the city had been let down by an ineffective group of “City Hall insiders” that included Breed and the other leading contenders in the race.

“After years of record-high budgets, worse outcomes, and more excuses, San Franciscans are ready for change,” Lurie wrote in an open letter to supporters.

His message was amplified by a political action committee that spent heavily on his behalf, financed in part by Lurie’s wealthy mother, Mimi Haas. Taken together, Lurie and the PAC raised more than Breed and the other top candidates combined.

A moderate by San Francisco standards, Lurie ran on promises to expand police staffing, build more homeless shelter beds, shut down open-air drug markets and root out corruption in City Hall. His policies did not diverge sharply from those of Breed, who is also a moderate. But Lurie said she’d failed to manage the city effectively despite having plenty of time to deliver more meaningful results since she was first elected mayor in 2018.

Breed campaigned on an optimistic message. She pointed to the city’s declining crime reports, a drop in street homelessness, stepped-up arrests of drug dealers and users, and a wave of lively downtown events as evidence that her policies were working. But she was dragged down by widespread discontent with how San Francisco had fared since she won a special election six years ago to finish the term of the late Mayor Ed Lee, who died in office.

Polls showed that most voters disapproved of Breed’s job performance and felt the city was on the wrong track. While Breed won praise for her swift efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in 2020, public opinion soured as downtown emptied out with the onset of remote work and open-air fentanyl markets proliferated in the Tenderloin and South of Market.

Breed’s reelection bid was complicated by the shooting of 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall in Union Square over Labor Day weekend. The incident put a spotlight on concerns about public safety, which voters had said was their most important election issue. Additionally, reporters uncovered broad mismanagement in Breed’s signature program, the Dream Keeper Initiative, which has invested millions of dollars of taxpayer funds to support the city’s Black community.

Beyond criticizing Breed, Lurie’s campaign also spent big to attack Mark Farrell, a former supervisor who was interim mayor for six months in 2018. Lurie and Farrell are both moderates, so they weren’t far apart on policy, but they repeatedly clashed as they jockeyed to position themselves as Breed’s leading challenger.

When journalists documented concerns about ethical breaches by Farrell, Lurie and his PAC plastered the headlines on advertisements and direct mail. The Chronicle’s final poll of the mayor’s race found that Farrell’s standing among likely voters had dropped, as had his favorability rating.

Farrell and Breed each targeted Lurie, describing him as too inexperienced and trying to buy his way into City Hall.

At her election results watch party at a China Basin soul food restaurant on Tuesday night, Breed panned the historic amount of money that flowed in the mayor’s race, led by Lurie’s spending.

“It has been really one of the most sad and horrible things I’ve seen in politics in San Francisco, that someone would take their wealth and just basically buy this office,” Breed said. “It’s really unfortunate and pretty disgusting.”

Asked if she had anything to say to Lurie, Breed said, “San Francisco’s not for sale."

Breed and her campaign repeatedly told voters that Lurie’s lack of governing experience would make him ill prepared in the event of a major disaster such as an earthquake. Former fire chief Jeanine Nicholson, a Breed appointee, called Lurie “untested, unprepared and unsuited for the job” in a San Francisco Examiner opinion piece. By contrast, Breed described herself as a “battle-tested” leader.

At the Chronicle-KQED mayoral debate in September, Breed called Lurie “one of the most dangerous people on this stage” because he hadn’t been a government official before.

Farrell similarly argued that voters should not allow mayor to be Lurie’s “first real job” and accused him of using his inherited wealth to launch a “toxic smear campaign.”

But the criticism of Lurie’s professional experience did not broadly resonate with voters. Lurie previously told the Chronicle that he thought his more politically seasoned opponents had all had plenty of time to improve the city but had failed to deliver.

Tyler Law, his campaign consultant, said before the election that Lurie’s personal loyalty couldn’t be purchased by wealthy donors such as those who backed Farrell.

“They fear the change he’s going to bring,” Law said. “It means an end to the status quo that serves their interests over the city’s.”

(SF Chronicle)

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ESTHER MOBLEY: We aim to be a reprieve from election-related news, but I’m sneaking in one dispatch from Wine Country: On Tuesday, Sonoma County voters overwhelmingly rejected Measure J, the ballot measure that sought to eliminate “factory farms,” the Chronicle’s Mario Cortez reports. The measure had become highly controversial, with many family farms claiming it would have put them out of business.

In Punch, Aaron Goldfarb has an amusing piece about Malort, the polarizing liqueur that is inexplicably beloved in Chicago. Its taste has been described as “grapefruit meets gasoline,” but after it moved production from Florida back to Illinois recently, many observers claim it tastes much more palatable.

The Napa Valley Register’s Dan Evans, Barry Eberling and Jennifer Huffman investigated the real estate holdings of embattled county supervisor Alfredo Pedroza. Much of his property was purchased with the aid of several million dollars in loans, at high interest rates, from local businessman George Altamura Sr., the Register reports.

Anyone complaining about restaurant prices in the Bay Area would do well to recall that Comstock Saloon, which earned a spot on our recently updated Top Cocktail Bars list, offers a free lunch every Friday (with the purchase of two drinks, either alcoholic or not). If you’re wondering whether a free lunch could actually be any good, here’s what Chronicle restaurant critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan thought of a recent iteration.

(SF Chronicle)

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DEPRESSING

After listing what Trump wants but may not be able to do, Kevin Drum sums the election up:

“But even that's not why this is so depressing. That's simpler: It's the fact that Americans would elect a boorish, blustering, fantasizing, moronic, self-absorbed dimwit like Trump. Any other Republican, sure. Sometimes the country turns right. But how can a man like Trump be supported by the vast majority of the Republican Party? That's depressing.”

Yes, well put. I am not a depressive, I'm an old man who lost any illusions I had about American history, government or people way back in the early 1960s when my country attacked and invaded Vietnam, a slo-motion atrocity that killed more than a million Vietnamese and more than 58,000 American troops.

The United States is a wonderful country, but it's scary when it's on a political or military rampage. We have to assume the country will survive another four years of a Trump presidency.

The only question: How much damage will he and the contemptible Republican Party do to the country in four years?

(Rob Anderson, District5Diary)

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THE FIGHT GOES ON

by Jim Hightower

Okay, the election was a gut punch. And all of us need a moment to catch our breath.

But no more than that, for this is a long-term battle, and we have enormous democratic strength to give us heart and hope for a progressive future. Yes, Tuesday’s Trump surge is depressing and dangerous, but the message of that surge is not for progressives to sulk and surrender. Rather, a workaday majority is fairly shouting for the Democratic Party to get out of the corporate boardrooms and Washington salons, standing unequivocally, FDR-like, with that majority, focusing intently on the very volatile, central issues of power and powerlessness in our nation.

Election analysts hurl a blizzard of election statistics at us, but here’s one that I think tells the real story: Despite the intensity and importance of this year’s presidential election, some 20 million FEWER people voted than in 2020. Kamala Harris drew 14 million fewer votes than Biden did back then. And, despite Trump’s grandiose claim of unprecedented popular support, he actually got 3 million fewer votes this year than in 2020.

A big reason for Harris’ defeat, I think, in addition to the sexism and racism values that still raises its ugly head in our society, is that her campaign focused on how awful Trump is, rather than bringing a clear message of economic hope for hard pressed families. She bought into the establishment’s assertions that “objectively” the economy is doing great. While they exclaim that the Dow Jones Index is booming, most people say: But a boom for whom? Check the “Doug Jones” Index, and you’ll find Doug and Donna are struggling—and feeling some compatibility with Trump’s constant refrain that “the whole system is rigged .”

And when Harris did strike populist gold with her plan for Medicare to provide home health care to help families who are struggling with the high costs of care for seniors, people with disabilities, and more, few people even knew she said that, because she didn’t hammer that popular message every day at every step.

Trump’s core message (magnified by X and a gaggle of other far-right media propagandists) is avowedly plutocratic, xenophobic, racist and sexist. But I believe that America as a whole is better than that.

So our challenge is not to try appeasing MAGA extremists, but to buck-up and recommit to the hard, steady work of grassroots organizing, directly challenging what I call the 6Bs: Bosses, Bankers, Billionaires, Big Shots, Bastards, and Bullshitters who’re running roughshod over America’s workaday majority.

True progressivism has had to endure many downs, but it’s the ups that define us. So the fight continues, with renewed vigor. See you there.

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I HEREBY PROMISE…

Who will join me?

Who will join with me in a movement to NEVER say the name again? To stop arguing about it/him?

To turn off the tube and drop out of any discussion when somebody else does. Live Local. Talk health, food, family. Stop shopping on Amazon and do with less.

Instead of the name do what Jesus would do. Give grace, love, hard work and hope. Or just do right because its right. Saying the name empowers evil. These folks have been in charge since 1980 but they get their power by rebelling against some unseen liberal authority. Being mad at the Woodstock hippies, now all senior citizens. Raging aginst PC while being mad at non PC beer cans, coffee cups and the like. Don't give them an enemy to overcome. They Don't cast your pearls before propaganda. Propaganda always wins filthy debate. Well intended old fashioned resistance movements like BLM and worse, the campus protests, that blamed Biden for. everything in Gaza, were guided by propgandaists into absurdity. They invent an entirely fictitious enemy such as Antifa to rebel against. The Texas governor pardoned a man who executed a protester and who a Texas rural jury sentenced to life for murder. Don't say their name. Tune them out and tune into your community.

Frank Hartzell

Fort Bragg

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FALSE PROPHET

Another day that don't end
Another ship goin' out
Another day of anger, bitterness, and doubt
I know how it happened
I saw it begin
I opened my heart to the world and the world came in

Hello Mary Lou
Hello Miss Pearl
My fleet-footed guides from the underworld
No stars in the sky shine brighter than you
You girls mean business and I do too

Well I'm the enemy of treason
Enemy of strife
I'm the enemy of the unlived meaningless life
I ain't no false prophet
I just know what I know
I go where only the lonely can go

I'm first among equals
Second to none
The last of the best
You can bury the rest
Bury 'em naked with their silver and gold
Put them six feet under and I'll pray for their souls

What are you lookin' at
There's nothing to see
Just a cool breeze that's encircling me
Let's go for a walk in the garden
So far and so wide
We can sit in the shade by the fountain-side

I search the world over
For the Holy Grail
I sing songs of love
I sing songs of betrayal
Don't care what I drink
I don't care what I eat
I climbed the mountains of swords on my bare feet

You don't know me darlin'
You never would guess
I'm nothing like my ghostly appearance would suggest
I ain't no false prophet
I just said what I said
I'm just here to bring vengeance on somebody's head

Put out your hand
There's nothing to hold
Open your mouth
I'll stuff it with gold
Oh you poor devil look up if you will
The city of God is up there on the hill

Hello stranger
Hello and goodbye
You rule the land
But so do I
You lusty old mule
You got a poison brain
I'll marry you to a ball and chain

You know darlin'
The kind of life that I live
When your smile meets my smile something's got to give
I ain't no false prophet
No I'm nobody's bride
Can't remember when I was born
And I forgot when I died

— Bob Dylan (2020)

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ELECTION DAY ICBM

Editor,

As crazy as it sounds, we tested an ICBM on Election Day!

Election Day ICBM Test Launch Denounced as “Dangerous”, "Insane" and “Wasteful”

At 1145 hrs. on Election Day, Nov. 5, activists gathered near Vandenberg Space Force Base to witness and protest the test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). During such tests, the weapons are launched from the Vandenberg base near Lompoc, Calif., and aimed at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Such tests are considered to be "provocations" and "acts of war" when they are conducted by America's nuclear enemies, such as North Korea, China or Russia, so why does the U.S. get a free pass?

Could the test "trigger" a nuclear war?

Adding to the political volatility of the test, November 5 is Election Day when the most Americans are preoccupied with the national elections.

Additionally, one may ask: Who is in charge? President Biden has dementia (the reason he isn't running for president) and Vice President Kamela Harris is campaigning for president as the Democratic Party nominee in place of Biden.

Activists with the Defuse Nuclear War Coalition issued the following statement on Saturday: “We condemn these launches in the strongest possible terms as a wasteful, dangerous, insane step backward for peace. Scheduling this latest test on Election Day is a clear attempt to avoid public scrutiny of these tests, even as the continued existence of ICBMs is a profound threat to the life and security of every single person in the United States and around the world. We ask that the upcoming ICBM test, and all future scheduled tests, be canceled.

“ICBMs have been sold to the public as a guarantor of security. In reality, they are an imminent threat to public security. In the words of the late Daniel Ellsberg, author of The Doomsday Machine, these weapons make ‘any conflict enormously more dangerous than it has to be’ by increasing ‘the danger that any armed conflict between major nuclear states can escalate to all-out war.’ ICBMs are on hair-trigger alert and, once launched, cannot be recalled, virtually guaranteeing a strike on the country that launches them. As long as ICBMs exist, we live with the constant risk that misinterpreted intelligence, human error, or a single rash decision could end civilization as we know it within an hour.

“Maintaining these weapons is a huge waste of resources. The U.S. has committed to spending hundreds of billions of dollars to ‘modernize’ its ICBM force, which in practice means replacing the entire system. The ICBM program is now an astonishing 81 percent over budget and years behind schedule. Yet the U.S. Secretary of Defense has certified, through a ‘comprehensive, unbiased review’ not shared with the public, that the program will proceed.

“Test launches damage human communities and ecosystems. The Marshall Islands, already forced to bear the overwhelming environmental costs of U.S. nuclear weapons testing, are still used as a target test area.

“When tensions among nuclear-armed states are high, each test launch carries an added risk. The U.S. military has acknowledged as much by pausing these launches at high points of tension in the war in Ukraine. The risk of nuclear escalation remains too high to introduce the possibility of misinterpretation of a test into the mix.”

John Sakowicz, co-host and co-producer of "Heroes and Patriots Radio" on KMUD asked the following questions:

PS. "Needless to say, this test was classified until it wasn't. It was top secret until it wasn't. The USAF got busted.

"This ICBM test launch presumably validates and verifies the effectiveness, readiness and accuracy of the weapon system, but aren't such tests redundant at this point?

"In any case, why conduct the test on Election Day"

"Finally, in accordance with standard procedures, the United States transmitted a pre-launch notification pursuant to the Hague Code of Conduct, and notified the Russian government in advance, per our existing bi-lateral obligations. But what about China? What about North Korea? Where is the official statement that they were also notified?"

See press releases from Vandenberg Space Force Base:

https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3958500/minuteman-iii-test-showcases-readiness-of-us-nuclear-forces-safe-effective-dete

https://www.tinker.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3958110/minuteman-iii-test-showcases-readiness-of-us-nuclear-forces-safe-effective-dete

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MARLENE DIETRICH & EDWARD G. ROBINSON

…take a break during the filming "Manpower", a 1941 American crime melodrama directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, and George Raft.

The picture was written by Richard Macaulay and Jerry Wald, and the supporting cast features Alan Hale, Frank McHugh, Eve Arden, Barton MacLane, Ward Bond and Walter Catlett

The script is one of many reworkings of the plotline for a 1932 Robinson movie called "Tiger Shark", in which Robinson played essentially the same part, only as a tuna fisherman rather than an electric power lineman

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IN ELECTION AFTERMATH, HOLLYWOOD SMASHES RECORDS FOR LACK OF SELF-AWARENESS

Jimmy Kimmel, one of the era's most infamous sources of misinformation, tearfully addresses a terrible night for "journalism" and "free speech"

by Matt Taibbi

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel’s “tearful” monologue from last night went viral. In thirty seconds he summed up both why Donald Trump won and why The Hollywood Reporter just six weeks ago asked, “Do late night talk shows have a future?”

Those of you who are hate-watching this show right now, wanting to watch me suffer, you’ll be happy to know that there was no joy in Mudville last night… One minute I’m watching these long lines in every city, and I think, “Oh, that’s beautiful! Democracy in action.” Next minute, there’s a reporter chatting with some bro at Arizona State who said he voted for Trump because Kamala didn’t go on Joe Rogan’s podcast. (Laughs) And I’m like, where did I leave my passport?

Kimmel went on to say many more things that were celebrated in the giant circle-jerk of self-pity that is mass media this week, as did other Hollywood stars, but let’s start here…

https://www.racket.news/p/in-election-aftermath-hollywood-smashes

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BEGIN THE DEPROGRAMMING: THERE WAS NO "PANDEMIC OF THE UNVACCINATED"

A note on Jimmy Kimmel, Howard Stern, Joe Biden, Stephen Colbert, and others

by Matt Taibbi

A few readers of this afternoon’s column on Jimmy Kimmel took exception to the line, “We now know the vaccine didn’t really work.” Writes “Blissex”:

And here Matt Taibbi jumps the shark as high as he can and states something outrageous: the vaccines really worked well, with few and rare side effects and reasonable ability to suppress the virus, and it was very necessary to reduce the number of deaths, hospitalizations and even mild sicknesses, to allow the scaling down and end of the lockdowns.

I got the shot the first time. Then I got Covid. Then I learned, in part during work on the Twitter Files, that officials like Anthony Fauci misled the public about natural immunity (here’s Fauci in May, 2021 suggesting two doses of mRNA vaccine offered up to “ten times” more protection than natural antibodies), overhyped risks to healthy adults and children, and severely downplayed Covid’s infectiousness. It came out in congressional testimony that Fauci essentially made up guidances about social distancing, that the policy “sort of just appeared” and was not based on studies, because “that would be a very difficult study to do.”

I agree with defamed reporter Alex Berenson: this medicine is more like a “therapeutic with a limited window of efficacy and terrible side effect profile that must be dosed in advance of illness.” For people in a high-risk category, it can be useful, lifesaving. But it’s a substance you stick in my arm that allows me to get the targeted disease almost immediately, and doesn’t stop me getting it from or giving it to my kids. If that’s a “vaccine,” I’m a Chinese jet pilot.

More to the point, I’m struck by the thematic consistency of the lies about the shot, which somehow all served the same propagandistic purpose. I’d bet good money that if the incoming administration digs in the right places, they’ll find it in writing somewhere that winding up nitwits like Kimmel to sadistic J’Accuse! routines was an expected consequence of the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” campaign…

https://www.racket.news/p/begin-the-deprogramming-there-was

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“We do not talk - we bludgeon one another with facts and theories gleaned from cursory readings of newspapers, magazines and digests. Talk is personal and if of any value must be creative.”

– Henry Miller

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CALIFORNIANS JUST VOTED TO KEEP SLAVERY IN THEIR CONSTITUTION

by Justin Ray

How did Californians, who pride themselves on being progressive, just vote to keep slavery in their state Constitution?

The California Constitution technically bans involuntary servitude, but it leaves an exception: It can be used as punishment for a crime. Proposition 6 would have amended the state Constitution to remove this exception, ensuring that labor within prisons would be voluntary rather than forced. The measure didn’t aim to ban incarcerated people from working; it simply proposed that work should be optional.

So why didn’t Californians support this measure? Many news outlets pointed to its vague language of “involuntary servitude,” a term that may have confused or failed to resonate with voters. But the underlying issue is deeper than just ballot wording. We as Californians pride ourselves on being informed and progressive, but our recent voting trends reveal a concerning reality: We’re too often swayed by misinformation, ballot confusion or simple apathy.

Almost 60,000 prisoners in California have been assigned a job, a spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation told the Los Angeles Times. These jobs include packaging nuts, washing dishes and making furniture, according to CalMatters. Incarcerated individuals earn less than 74 cents an hour, CalMatters reported, citing legislative summaries on prison labor.

If they fail to complete their work — whether due to sickness, injury or losing a family member — they risk disciplinary action, which may result in losing privileges like family visits. Prop 6 would have prevented the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from penalizing those who decline a work assignment.

The election results are not final yet, but preliminary reports show the measure did not pass. One might assume that with such a close vote count, the measure faced a heavily funded opposition campaign — but it didn’t. There was no campaign opposing it, and the measure was supported by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, labor unions and the California Democratic Party. However, a paltry $2 million was raised to support the measure.

Oregon, Vermont, Tennessee and even Alabama have passed measures similar to Prop 6. Only 15 states haven’t removed such language from their constitutions. Nevada approved a similar measure on Tuesday with 60% of the vote. Prop 6 was California’s second attempt to amend the Constitution to remove the phrase.

As Assembly Member Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, vice chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, aptly put it, “California is officially behind the state of Alabama on slavery. We should be ashamed and embarrassed.”

While we have no immediate, definitive reason voters did what they did, it wouldn’t be the first time voters made such a mistake. Take, for instance, the 2020 passage of Prop 22, which allowed gig economy companies to classify drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. Though the proposition denied drivers basic rights like minimum wage and benefits, it passed with overwhelming support. Many voters believed a “yes” vote would actually benefit workers when in reality it did the opposite.

When we vote without fully understanding the measures on the ballot, we fail to consider the broader implications of our choices. This has a direct impact on vulnerable populations. California’s incarcerated population is disproportionately Black and Latino, with Black men and women comprising 28% and 23% of prisoners, respectively, despite being only 6% of the state’s adult population, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. Latino men make up 46% of the prison population while representing just 38% of California’s adults. These communities are impacted most by policies that fail to ensure fair treatment.

Supporters of Prop 6 say the state is exploiting incarcerated people and interfering with their attempts at rehabilitation. The California Department of Corrections released a report earlier this year pointing to “lower recidivism rates for those who earned credits from participation and completion of rehabilitative programming.”

California has positioned itself as a counterbalance to extreme right-wing policies prevalent in America today. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the state sought to help women obtain reproductive health care. It wants to be a leader in the nation for green energy. The Los Angeles Times claims the state will lead the liberal resistance to Trump’s second term.

How can we do all that if we can’t even fully ban slavery?

Voting isn’t just about checking boxes; it’s about understanding the impact of each measure and the rights at stake. Californians need to take a hard look in the mirror. Our votes have consequences — ones that shape the future of our state and reflect our true values. Voting is more than a ritual or a checkbox. It’s a moral obligation to understand the impact of each measure and protect the rights of all Californians, including those who may lack a voice.

(Grist.com)

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LEAD STORIES, FRIDAY'S NYT

Elwood Edwards, Voice of AOL’s ‘You’ve Got Mail!’ Alert, Dies at 74

Trump Names Susie Wiles as His White House Chief of Staff

Elon Musk Helped Elect Trump. What Does He Expect in Return?

Biden Vows a Peaceful Transfer of Power: ‘The American Experiment Endures’

‘Total Nightmare’ as Wildfire Burns Through Southern California Homes

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TRUMP’S VICTORY & ELITE POWER OVER THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

by Norman Solomon

A pair of quotes, separated by eight years, spotlight a chronic political mentality at the top of the Democratic Party:

“The path to victory in a state like Michigan, Harris campaign officials are betting, is through suburban counties that are home to many college-educated and white voters,” the New York Times reported three weeks ago.

“For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia. And you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin,” Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer said in July 2016.

The same basic approach of Democratic Party elites that first opened the door to the White House for Donald Trump has done it again.

After losing a national election, political parties sometimes muster the wisdom to compile an “autopsy” report—assessing what went wrong and what changes are needed for the future. But after Hillary Clinton lost as a corporate war-hawk candidate in 2016, the Democratic National Committee showed that it had no interest in doing any such report.

So, at RootsAction we decided to do it ourselves, with a task force of researchers and activists who wrote “Autopsy: The Democratic Party in Crisis.” Many of our key findings about the 2016 election apply to the latest one. For example:

“The Democratic National Committee and the party’s congressional leadership remain bent on prioritizing the chase for elusive Republican voters over the Democratic base: especially people of color, young people and working-class voters overall.”

One of the large groups with a voter-turnout issue is young people, “who encounter a toxic combination of a depressed economic reality, GOP efforts at voter suppression, and anemic messaging on the part of Democrats.”

“Emerging sectors of the electorate are compelling the Democratic Party to come to terms with adamant grassroots rejection of economic injustice, institutionalized racism, gender inequality, environmental destruction and corporate domination. Siding with the people who constitute the base isn’t truly possible when party leaders seem to be afraid of them.”

The Democratic Party’s claims of fighting for “working families” have been undermined by its refusal to directly challenge corporate power, enabling Trump to masquerade as a champion of the people.

“What must now take place includes honest self-reflection and confronting a hard truth: that many view the party as often in service to a rapacious oligarchy and increasingly out of touch with people in its own base.” The Democratic Party should disentangle itself — ideologically and financially — from Wall Street, the military-industrial complex and other corporate interests that put profits ahead of public needs.

Four weeks ago, when asked on ABC’s The View if she would have done anything differently than President Biden, the reply from Kamala Harris was more than notable: “Not a thing comes to mind.”

Such loyalty to the powerful is a repetition compulsion disorder with horrendous consequences. Harris’s reply—after a full year of ongoing mass murder and genocide in Gaza, made possible by U.S. military aid—was a moral failure and a prelude to electoral disaster. Harris stuck with her patron in the Oval Office and his role as an accomplice to Israel while disregarding the clear wishes of the Democratic Party’s base.

Now that a fascistic party has won the presidency along with the Senate and apparently the House as well, the stakes for people and planet are truly beyond comprehension. Grassroots organizing should include maximum possible nonviolent pressure on officials in government and other institutions, insisting that compromise with Republican leaders is completely unacceptable.

“If you’re not worried about encroaching fascism in America, before long it will start to feel normal. And when that happens, we’re all in trouble,” the author of How Fascism Works, Jason Stanley, warned in a video. That was six years ago.

“Normalization of fascist ideology, by definition, would make charges of ‘fascism’ seem like an overreaction, even in societies whose norms are transforming along these worrisome lines,” Stanley wrote in his 2018 book. “Normalization means precisely that encroaching ideologically extreme conditions are not recognized as such because they have come to seem normal. The charge of fascism will always seem extreme; normalization means that the goalposts for the legitimate use of ‘extreme’ terminology continually move.”

Resisting such normalization is now imperative.

(Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of a dozen books including War Made Easy. His latest book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine, was published in June 2023 by The New Press.)

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THE POLITICS OF CULTURAL DESPAIR

by Chris Hedges

In the end, the election was about despair. Despair over futures that evaporated with deindustrialization. Despair over the loss of 30 million jobs in mass layoffs. Despair over austerity programs and the funneling of wealth upwards into the hands of rapacious oligarchs. Despair over a liberal class that refuses to acknowledge the suffering it orchestrated under neoliberalism or embrace New Deal type programs that will ameliorate this suffering. Despair over the futile, endless wars, as well as the genocide in Gaza, where generals and politicians are never held accountable. Despair over a democratic system that has been seized by corporate and oligarchic power. 

This despair has been played out on the bodies of the disenfranchised through opioid and alcoholism addictions, gambling, mass shootings, suicides — especially among middle-aged white males — morbid obesity and the investment of our emotional and intellectual life in tawdry spectacles and the allure of magical thinking, from the absurd promises of the Christian right to the Oprah-like belief that reality is never an impediment to our desires. These are the pathologies of a deeply diseased culture, what Friedrich Nietzsche calls an aggressive despiritualized nihilism.

Donald Trump is a symptom of our diseased society. He is not its cause. He is what is vomited up out of decay. He expresses a childish yearning to be an omnipotent god. This yearning resonates with Americans who feel they have been treated like human refuse. But the impossibility of being a god, as Ernest Becker writes, leads to its dark alternative -- destroying like a god. This self-immolation is what comes next. 

Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party, along with the establishment wing of the Republican Party, which allied itself with Harris, live in their own non-reality-based belief system. Harris, who was anointed by party elites and never received a single primary vote, proudly trumpeted her endorsement by Dick Cheney, a politician who left office with a 13 percent approval rating. The smug, self-righteous “moral” crusade against Trump stokes the national reality television show that has replaced journalism and politics. It reduces a social, economic and political crisis to the personality of Trump. It refuses to confront and name the corporate forces responsible for our failed democracy. It allows Democratic politicians to blithely ignore their base -  77 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents support an arms embargo against Israel. The open collusion with corporate oppression and refusal to heed the desires and needs of the electorate neuters the press and Trump  critics. These corporate puppets stand for nothing, other than their own advancement. The lies they tell to working men and women, especially with programs such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), do far more damage than any of the lies uttered by Trump.

Oswald Spengler in “The Decline of the West” predicted that, as Western democracies calcified and died, a class of “monied thugs,” people such as Trump, would replace the traditional political elites. Democracy would become a sham. Hatred would be fostered and fed to the masses to encourage them to tear themselves apart.

The American dream has become an American nightmare.

The social bonds, including jobs that gave working Americans a sense of purpose and stability, that gave them meaning and hope, have been sundered. The stagnation of tens of millions of lives, the realization that it will not be better for their children, the predatory nature of our institutions, including education, health care and prisons, have engendered, along with despair, feelings of powerlessness and humiliation. It has bred loneliness, frustration, anger and a sense of worthlessness.

“When life is not worth living, everything becomes a pretext for ridding ourselves of it … ,” Émile Durkheim writes. “There is a collective mood, as there is an individual mood, that inclines nations to sadness. … For individuals are too closely involved in the life of society for it to be sick without their being affected. Its suffering inevitably becomes theirs.”

Decayed societies, where a population is stripped of political, social and economic power, instinctively reach out for cult leaders. I watched this during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. The cult leader promises a return to a mythical golden age and vows, as Trump does, to crush the forces embodied in demonized groups and individuals that are blamed for their misery. The more outrageous cult leaders become, the more cult leaders flout law and social conventions, the more they gain in popularity. Cult leaders are immune to the norms of established society. This is their appeal. Cult leaders seek total power. Those who follow them grant them this power in the desperate hope that the cult leaders will save them.

All cults are personality cults. Cult leaders are narcissists. They demand obsequious fawning and total obedience. They prize loyalty above competence. They wield absolute control. They do not tolerate criticism. They are deeply insecure, a trait they attempt to cover up with bombastic grandiosity. They are amoral and emotionally and physically abusive. They see those around them as objects to be manipulated for their own empowerment, enjoyment and often sadistic entertainment. All those outside the cult are branded as forces of evil, prompting an epic battle whose natural expression is violence.

We will not convince those who have surrendered their agency to a cult leader and embraced magical thinking through rational argument. We will not coerce them into submission. We will not find salvation for them or ourselves by supporting the Democratic Party. Whole segments of American society are now bent on self-immolation. They despise this world and what it has done to them. Their personal and political behavior is willfully suicidal. They seek to destroy, even if destruction leads to violence and death. They are no longer sustained by the comforting illusion of human progress, losing the only antidote to nihilism.

Pope John Paul II in 1981 issued an encyclical titled “Laborem exercens,” or “Through Work.” He attacked the idea, fundamental to capitalism, that work was merely an exchange of money for labor. Work, he wrote, should not be reduced to the commodification of human beings through wages. Workers were not impersonal instruments to be manipulated like inanimate objects to increase profit. Work was essential to human dignity and self-fulfillment. It gave us a sense of empowerment and identity. It allowed us to build a relationship with society in which we could feel we contributed to social harmony and social cohesion, a relationship in which we had purpose.

The pope castigated unemployment, underemployment, inadequate wages, automation and a lack of job security as violations of human dignity. These conditions, he wrote, were forces that negated self-esteem, personal satisfaction, responsibility and creativity. The exaltation of the machine, he warned, reduced human beings to the status of slaves. He called for full employment, a minimum wage large enough to support a family, the right of a parent to stay home with children, and jobs and a living wage for the disabled. He advocated, in order to sustain strong families, universal health insurance, pensions, accident insurance and work schedules that permitted free time and vacations. He wrote that all workers should have the right to form unions with the ability to strike.

We must invest our energy into organizing mass movements to overthrow the corporate state through sustained acts of mass civil disobedience. This includes the most powerful weapon we possess – the strike. By turning our ire on the corporate state, we name the true sources of power and abuse. We expose the absurdity of blaming our demise on demonized groups such as undocumented workers, Muslims or Blacks. We give people an alternative to a corporate-indentured Democratic Party that cannot be rehabilitated. We make possible the restoration of an open society, one that serves the common good rather than corporate profit. We must demand nothing less than full employment, guaranteed minimum incomes, universal health insurance, free education at all levels, robust protection of the natural world and an end to militarism and imperialism. We must create the possibility for a life of dignity, purpose and self-esteem. If we do not, it will ensure a Christianized fascism and ultimately, with the accelerating ecocide, our obliteration.

(chrishedges.substack.com)

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DONALD TRUMP IS NOT YOUR FRIEND

by Caitlin Johnstone

Virulent Iran hawk Brian Hook has reportedly been chosen by Donald Trump to help staff the State Department of the incoming administration, just in case you were still holding out hope that this time might be different and Trump really would end the wars and fight the deep state.

Readers might remember Hook as the swamp creature who in 2017 was seen in a leaked State Department memo lecturing Rex Tillerson on the US government’s policy of using human rights as a cynical tool to undermine enemies and reinforce alliances. This is done, Hook explained, by ignoring human rights abuses when they are perpetrated by US allies while emphasizing them at every opportunity in the nations of enemy governments in order to “impose costs, apply counter-pressure, and regain the initiative from them strategically.”

“The ‘realist’ view is that America’s allies should be supported rather than badgered, for both practical and principled reasons, and that while the United States should certainly stand as moral example, our diplomacy with other countries should focus primarily on their foreign policy behavior rather than on their domestic practices as such,” Hook wrote in the memo, saying that “In the case of US allies such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines, the Administration is fully justified in emphasizing good relations for a variety of important reasons, including counter-terrorism, and in honestly facing up to the difficult tradeoffs with regard to human rights.”

“One useful guideline for a realistic and successful foreign policy is that allies should be treated differently — and better — than adversaries,” Hook wrote. “We do not look to bolster America’s adversaries overseas; we look to pressure, compete with, and outmaneuver them. For this reason, we should consider human rights as an important issue in regard to US relations with China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. And this is not only because of moral concern for practices inside those countries. It is also because pressing those regimes on human rights is one way to impose costs, apply counter-pressure, and regain the initiative from them strategically.”

Hook’s words, shared in confidentiality with the political neophyte Tillerson, were an excellent window into what western empire managers are doing when they feign outrage at alleged human rights abuses in nations they’ve targeted for destruction. The fact that his would be one of the first names chosen by Trump suggests we can expect more despicable foreign policy recklessness from the returning president.

I’m already getting people telling me to “give Trump a chance” and stop criticizing him before he’s in office when I point out developments like this. Give Trump a chance? He had four years. He was the president for four fucking years. Trump showed us who he is: a murderous warmongering empire lackey just like his predecessors.

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. There’s no reason to think this time will be different. Trump criticizes foreign interventionism because that kind of rhetoric is popular, not because he actually means it. In order to get to where he’s at Trump cut deals with Zionist oligarchs, powerful lobby groups, and more or less the exact same Republican voting base and donor class that’s given rise to every other disgusting Republican president in recent years. Even if he wanted to end wars and fight the establishment (and there is no evidence that he does), he’s already tied his own hands with the deals he’s made with the powerful establishment factions he’s promised his service to.

Trump supporters are George W Bush supporters LARPing as Ron Paul supporters. They act like they’re backing some anti-war figure who’s taking a meaningful stand against the machine, when they’re really backing a guy who spent four years rolling out longstanding neocon agendas.

That’s what makes them so annoying. At least liberals are more or less honest about wanting to preserve the status quo; Trumpers want you to take seriously their belief that they participated in some huge revolutionary act by ticking a box for the Republican on election day. They correctly believe that their country is controlled by an unelected deep state (though they are very confused about who that actually is), but they incorrectly believe this unelected power structure can be defeated by voting for one of the two mainstream candidates presented to them at the ballot box. Like that would ever be an option.

I am really not looking forward to another four years of that shit, I’ll be honest. For four fucking years these morons were in my mentions telling me every action of Trump’s that I criticized was actually a brilliant 47-dimensional chess maneuver against the deep state, even when he was openly advancing some longstanding agenda of the CIA and neoconservative swamp monsters like ramping up aggressions against Iran or staging a coup in Venezuela. They warm up to me because they see me criticizing the media and talking about corrupt power structures and go “Ooh, she’s like me!”, but then they cannot understand why I keep criticizing their shitty Republican daddy figure. And then I have to spend my time explaining to them that their hero is a murderous imperialist shitstain.

And at the same time I’m going to have to be criticizing the Democrats because they’ll be attacking Trump for being insufficiently hawkish on foreign policy, because that’s the only foreign policy criticism you’re allowed to level at a US president in mainstream politics and media — which will only contribute to the problem of Trump supporters thinking I’m on their side. It’s a much less efficient and straightforward way for me to do my thing than when there’s a Democrat in charge of the war machine. It’s not my preferred way to operate.

Let me make things simple: if you are cheering for the US president, you are not fighting the power. You are a power-worshipping bootlicker, and you should feel embarrassed.

Your president is not your friend. The US president will always, always serve the warmongering power structure you correctly feel needs to be opposed. The plutocrats and empire managers who rule your country are never, ever going to let you vote them out of power.

Hope that helps.

(caitlinjohnstone.com.au)

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