The recent crime wave in Oakland—multiple bank robberies, a smash-and-grab at a jewelry store, a double homicide in the Hills, a robbery at gunpoint by Lake Merritt, the ramrod burglary of two dispensaries, and seven shootings last weekend--prompted Barbara Lee’s dismal performance in front of the nightly news cameras, waving shiny objects and assuring everyone, “Nothing to see here, we’re making progress!”

I’m so proud of San Jose and Mayor Matt Mahan for dealing firmly with their encampment problem. I’m also jealous. If you compare San Jose to Oakland, the former has stepped up to the plate and behaved maturely and responsibly in cleaning up these awful slums that befoul streets and parks. Meanwhile, Oakland has done little to nothing concerning our own encampments and shanties because, as L. Schaaf once insanely babbled, “We love our unhoused brothers and sisters!”

Years ago (I think in the 1990s) there was a news story about a criminal who was trying to break into a store. He snuck up on the roof after hours and figured he could gain entry through a skylight and plunder the contents. He did gain entry, but not the way he wanted: he fell through the skylight down to the floor and was injured. Later, he sued the building owner for not making the skylight safe.

“I wish we could evolve past destroying our own businesses,” I heard a cannabis activist remark on the evening news concerning the latest assault on Oakanna, the Black-owned Lakeshore Avenue dispensary that’s been broken into many times.

It’s hardly surprising that Barbara Lee reacted so emotionally to Trump’s takeover of the D.C. police and his implied threat to do the same in Oakland. Here’s what Lee said: “President Trump is wrong.” His comment was “not grounded in facts, but in fear-mongering. This is not leadership--it’s an attempt to score cheap political points by tearing down communities he doesn’t understand.”