I want to acknowledge the support of so many of you who write in to say how much you enjoy reading my blog. This means a lot to me. Writers, especially those online, never really know if their musings are being read or, if they are, if people like what they read, or are at least stimulated or provoked. Many of you go out of your way to say “Thanks” or “Keep up the good work,” and I want you to know how much that means to me.
Jack Saunders and the late Rich DiLeo launched the Coalition for a Better Oakland, and I joined them, because we knew that we weren’t alone in how we thought about Oakland. There had to be thousands who agreed with us, only they had no voice, no platform to call their own. The local media is so biased toward the woke or progressive end of the spectrum that ordinary folks who live and work in Oakland, who love our city and know it can be better, who do not hate the police, and who object to the city being taken over by criminals and encampments—we feel that our voices are not heard. Prior to our starting the Coalition, there was literally no place for us-- who we believe constitute the majority--to feel represented. With CBO, we--they—you—now have a voice that is amplifying every day.
What I write is simply what I’m thinking and how I’m reacting to the events of the previous 24 hours. I’m not an obsessive news junkie, but I do spend a considerable amount of time keeping up with developments in crime, policing and homelessness—and these are, of course, the top concerns of Oaklanders. I opine as the person I am: older, white, middle-class, gay, Democratic by nature, an idealist of the 1960s resolutely opposed to the existential threat Republicans pose to America. Some of the things I write are controversial, but I feel shielded from being accused of being a right wing nutbag by my continued idealism and my opposition to Trumpism and to the homophobia, racism, xenophobia, misogyny and plutocracy that cult represents. I start from a very simple premise: supporting the police is not a Republican thing. It’s an American thing. I’ve been shocked by how successfully Republicans have co-opted supporting cops, from a Democratic Party that, frankly, all too often has made it easy for them to do so.
Many of you ask what you can do to help the cause. My answer is simple: Stick with us. Support us however you can. Talk us up to your friends. There’s strength in numbers. Give us a few dollars. And vote! I realize that voting can seem like an exercise in futility. Oakland has been run for decades by a reactionary cabal of bosses as entrenched as has ever existed in the history of America: the Tammany Hall of the Bay Area (or maybe the Communist Party of the Bay Area). Feinstein sclerotically controls it, with the connivance of Barbara Lee. Upsetting it is going to be hard, very hard. Don’t assume otherwise. There’s no guarantee that we will be successful in returning Oakland politics to normalcy. The other side—the wokes, the progressives—are entrenched and well-funded, thanks to the money of Big Labor like SEIU. These unions, which once had the legitimate interests of working people at heart, have cast their lot with the social justice movement, which—let’s be clear—has nothing to do with working people and their authentic concerns, but has everything to do with surrendering to the illiberalism of the unions. Big Labor, at least in Oakland, took a historically wrong turn when they decided to make Race their major concern. Of course Race is a problem, but the “equity” concerns of Carroll Fife and her friends are dodges to protect them from admitting the truth: they have nothing to do with making life better for People of Color. No plan, no program, no effective means, just more empty rhetoric.
If you like the way Oakland is going, then continue to vote for progressive candidates, including Sheng Thao, who may well be our next Mayor. On the other hand, if you look at Oakland and it makes you weep, then please, do the right thing: Vote in November. The Democratic Party is begging Americans from coast to coast to vote. In their case, it’s to protect our country from being taken over by a cult of right-wing, Trump-worshipping Republican “Christians” who would take away many of our rights, starting with abortion—already gone—and extending to Gay rights, contraception, interracial marriage, and who the hell knows what else. In our case, we have to vote to re-seize the power from extremist “progressives” like Carroll Fife, Thao, Nikki Bas and the powers-behind-the-throne that support them, like Cat Brooks and Pamela Price, who—let’s be honest—if they’re put in charge will result in even more crime, more degradation, more diminution of our quality of life, and more insults to our intelligence.
On behalf of Jack and all our members, let me thank you profoundly for your continued support. We couldn’t do this without you. We will suffer defeats in coming days and months, we’ll get discouraged, some of us will consider moving out of Oakland, but rest assured: those of us at the Coalition will not falter, we will not give up, we will fight against stupidity, we will call out the radicals who have thrown Oakland under the bus. We will never surrender, and even if—which I do not believe for a moment—the November election turns against us, we will redouble our efforts to restore sanity and law to Oakland!
Steve Heimoff