For a fleeting time at the beginning of Supervisor Carmen Chu’s accidental term as San Francisco Supervisor, it looked as though she might be more independent minded than many had feared, but since then, she contnues to disappoint.

No no no no. At every measure introduced by a progressive supervisor, Chu, along with Sean Elsbernd and Michela Alioto-Pier, she votes “no”. And yesterday, according to Fog City Journal she did so even though it meant turning her back on the people of District 4.

When Chris Daly, someone I often disagree with, introduced a resolution in protest of the Chinese Government’s crackdown on Tibet, the Three Reactionaries voted in league with Mayor Newsom.

A symbolic but controversial resolution addressing human rights concerns when the Beijing Olympic torch is welcomed to San Francisco next week passed the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Tuesday, but could meet with resistance from a mayor who has called for the event not to be politicized.

By an 8-3 vote, the board today approved Supervisor Chris Daly’s resolution to loud cheers, and some tears, from an audience of Bay Area Tibetans, Chinese and others who have protested outside City Hall for the past few weeks, opposing the torch’s arrival and calling for international support for human rights in Tibet, Burma and Darfur, and for Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Supervisors Michela Alioto-Pier, Sean Elsbernd and Carmen Chu – all Mayor Gavin Newsom appointees – voted against Daly’s resolution.

I realize that Chinese-American politics are more complex underneath the surface. I also know that Chinese American Chamber President Rose Pak is closely allied with the Mainland government. But considering that San FRancisco, especially the Chinese neighborhoods, is full of people who arrived here to escape opression, and considering Chu reresents a portion of the city that was represented by human rights champion Tom Lantos, her vote a is a slap in the face of those who suffered, fled and worked so hard to build a better life here. I hope people think about this in November when she aeeks their votes for the first time.  

Does anybody remember when Brian Bilbray sold himself as a moderate? I know it seems like a lifetime ago (or maybe some sort of absurd dream), but it was just 1995 that he first went to Congress.  And I’ve heard the stories from reasonable people with clear eyes about how once he was (relatively) a champion of the environment, particularly clean beaches and water.  He was (and perhaps still is) a surfer and lifeguard after all.  And yet, it’s not at all surprising that he was doing rhetorical backflips in celebration yesterday when Homeland Security decided to waive 30 federal and state environmental laws in order to more quickly build 670 miles of border fence:

“It’s great. This is the priority area where most of the illegal activity is going on and where most of the deaths are occurring,” said Rep. Brian P. Bilbray (R-Solana Beach), chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus. “The quicker we can get the physical fence up, the sooner we’ll avoid situations like the deaths of agents. And it’s still a national security issue. You just have to stop this kind of open traffic along the border.”

DHS head Michael Chertoff opted to blatantly lie about the situation, claiming:

DHS is neither compromising its commitment to responsible environmental stewardship nor its commitment to solicit and respond to the needs of state, local and tribal governments

Right. Because not adhering to existing environmental law is the same as being commited to it.  Much closer to the truth is:

Critics, however, said the waivers were intended to sidestep growing and unexpectedly fierce opposition — especially in Arizona and in Texas, where concerns have been raised about endangered species and fragile ecosystems along the Rio Grande.

While the section of this project in East San Diego County hasn’t met with much opposition (yet?), Brian Bilbray should know- if he’s been paying any attention at all- that local opposition to the destruction of communities and habitats can be a real pain in the ass for right-wing ideologues.  And as proponents of comprehensive (read: effective) immigration reform note, just building a fence really is a simple-minded approach to securing the border.  Nevermind that impeding the cross-border flow hurts the local economy and the people that Bilbray purports to represent.  This “wall or bust” outlook from Bilbray fits nicely with his America should create more uneducated poor people economic plan and his Protect the employer (as long as they contribute to the campaign) enforcement policy.

Yesterday the Defenders of Wildlife sent around an email asking people to call their representatives in Congress.  If you’re in the 50th, where Brian Bilbray thinks it’s politically astute in 2008 to run to the right of President Bush, you may want to just skip straight to your Senators.

Cheryl Ede and Nick Leibham are Democrats running against Brian Bilbray this year.

Cross posted at San Diego Politico

I’m not sure if he’s just a soulless ass or if he’s also actively trying to undermine the entire foundation of post-9/11 conservativism, but Darrell Issa is doing his level best to spit on the rescue workers who got sick at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the twin towers attacks.  He’s flatly refused to vote for federal funding that would provide medical care to these victims of the attack because, in Issa’s mind, it apparently was just a local thing, and not a major one at all:

“It simply was an aircraft, residue of two aircraft, and residue from the materials used to build this building,” Issa said during a hearing into whether a new 9/11 victims’ compensation fund should be launched.

Which is odd since, as Rep. Anthony Weiner notes, “The gentleman voted for [original 9/11 funding] because we had the national sense that this was not an attack on New York City, this was an attack on our country.”

But hey, keep up the dispicably cruel hypocrisy Rep. Issa.  Feel free to even bring some friends along. Because all it proves is that 9/11 to you is nothing more than a tool to intimidate people into sacrificing Constitutional rights and attempt to justify the $3 trillion Iraq boondoggle. That’s when it’s a national issue. That’s when America is at stake. Only when it serves the political interests of Darrell Issa.

But when the heroes who sacrificed at Ground Zero need help? For Darrell Issa, that’s not America’s problem and it apparently sure isn’t his problem. It’s…well…somebody else’s problem.

Robert Hamilton is challenging Darrell Issa this year.

Cross posted at San Diego Politico

Charlie Brown reported $225,000 in the first quarter of 2008, with over a million dollars raised throughout the campaign.  He’s had 12,000 donors thus far.

Russ Warner took in $100,000 in the first quarter and has $220,000 cash on hand.

But I was more interested in this story, which shows the CNA making an electoral play in two swing districts to help the Democrats reach a 2/3 majority.

This year the nurses union also is backing two Democrats vying for open seats which are being vacated by Republicans:

Up north, longtime San Ramon Valley School Board trustee Joan Buchanan seeks the East Bay’s open 15th Assembly District being vacated by termed-out Assemblyman Guy Houston. In January she reported a $166,000 war chest and most likely will face off against San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson.

Down south, former Santa Barbara Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson wants to fill Ventura County’s open 19th District state Senate seat being surrendered by termed-out Tom McClintock, who’s heading north to run for an open congressional seat near Sacramento. Ex-Assemblyman Tony Strickland is the GOP’s anointed successor.

“We only need two more Democrats in the senate and six more in the assembly to have a two-thirds Democratic majority,” said CNA legislative director Donna Gerber, who spent six years as a Contra Costa County supervisor.

“When there are budget cuts those budget cuts pretty much happen in health care and education. So for sure we are supporting Hannah-Beth Jackson and Joan Buchanan. Those are two that we’re putting a lot of our energy into.”

If labor jumps in explicitly in these legislative races to aid in the drive for 2/3 then we’ll have a distinct financial advantage.  Remember that the CA Republican Party is essentially broke.  This is the best news I’ve heard all week and I know the rest of labor will follow suit.

Here’s what I wrote yesterday about CA-46 challenger, the best we’ve had in years, Debbie Cook:

Debbie Cook (CA-46): Cook, running against certified loon Dana Rohrabacher in a district mostly in Orange County and part of Long Beach, is running on the environment, but not as an advocate against global warming necessarily.  She is on the board of directors of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO-USA), and really is passionate about moving to a post-carbon future and radically reinventing our energy infrastructure.  When I asked about carbon taxes or cap and trade systems, she really looked beyond that debate about greenhouse gas emissions and toward a debate about sustainable living.  This is about land use, about smart growth, about living closer together, adopting mass transit, eating locally grown foods, reorganizing society to deal with the prospects of a world without as much oil.  It’s an interesting message for a Congressional campaign, especially when going up against someone who speculates that global warming may have been caused by dinosaur flatulence.  But Cook also supports the Repsonsible Plan to End the War in Iraq and understands the post-carbon fight as a national security and an economic issue as well.

Cook has a total command of these issues, and on a day when the heads of the top oil companies bobbed and weaved on Capitol Hill, it would have been great to see her up there doing the questioning.  The video is in three parts, and it’s below.  There’s actually quite a bit more of the interview on Robert’s microcassette recorder, and he will copy it and mail it to you. (just kidding)