July 26, 2024

THE DEMOCRAT STANDARD-BEARER IS WHATEVER HER BOSSES ORDER HER TO BE:

Kamala Harris, whose mentor and former boyfriend Willie Brown was one of the most powerful figures in California state politics, was part of an expansive political machine, and she ran the attorney general’s office along the lines of a twentieth century urban prosecutor. She refused to cooperate with ICE in disclosing the immigration status of criminal offenders, but such antics are the baseline in leftwing sanctuary cities like San Francisco.

Until recently, San Francisco was a colorful but relatively safe town—small (with under a million residents), wealthy, and surrounded by water. With antisocial behavior largely confined to certain districts such as the Tenderloin, San Francisco lived up to its reputation as one of America’s urban jewels. Its murder rate was much lower than in gritty Oakland across the Bay, but the Golden Gate city distinguished itself in drug-related deaths. In that category, San Francisco posted statistics nine times the national average — until the opiate epidemic caught the rest of America up.

As DA, Harris focused her attention, somewhat strangely, on marijuana offenses. In the Bay Area, pot is considered about as exotic as vitamin supplements. To be fair, she was in line with her predecessor — Hallinan prosecuted even more of those types of  violations. But Harris opposed recreational marijuana and in 2010 co-authored the rebuttal to the pro-legalization argument for the California voter guide. Although she changed her position on cannabis prohibition once she rose to the national stage, there is little doubt that the prosecution of marijuana offenses in one of the most permissive American municipalities contributed to her downfall as a presidential contender. During the 2020 presidential debate, Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard noted: “she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when asked if she ever smoked marijuana.” Kamala’s candidacy was already faltering, and that remark finished it.

Kamala could certainly get tough on San Franciscan tokers. But cop killers? Meh:

Posted at 4:30 pm by Ed Driscoll