When I moved to Adams Point, in 1987, the Reagan era was drawing to a close. America had moved further to the right than it had ever been in my lifetime, and Republicans were hungry for more. Their party had already been taken over by the Moral Majority, with its racism, homophobia and religious crankiness. Democrats were enfeebled; the best they could come up with in the 1988 Presidential election was poor Michael Dukakis.

“Wokespeak” is a language in which words are used to deceive. As Gore Vidal noted, “Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it.” In another historical context, “The Nazis upheld a deeply veiled language, which they used to hide their vicious goals and deceive their victims.” “Resettlement to the east” actually meant death camps. “Showers” actually meant Zyklon B.

You’ve probably seen the ads: “The BART Police Department is Hiring!” In response to overwhelming public demand for greater safety on the trains, BART is engaged in its most intense hiring program in years. But not everybody is supportive of the effort.

The woke, or progressive, fantasy is that idealistic motives can and should underlie all government policy. By this thinking, progressives feel sorry for criminals, particularly criminals of color, whom they perceive as the victims of “systemic racism” and predatory capitalism. Therefore, punishment for criminals of color should be minimized, no matter how heinous or frequent the wrongdoing has been. Only in this way, progressives believe, can “systemic racism” be combated.

Fife is such a phony. Suddenly “traffic safety” is her #1 issue. This, from “defund the police” Fife and “Moms 4 Housing” Fife and “Protect the encampments” Fife. None of those issues is resonating with normal people, so Fife has found a new cause—or is pretending to.