June 2, 2008
Best Comment Argument Ever Over At SFBG
Oh man. Like... wow. This is entertaining, exciting stuff.
Let's back up a bit: It all started last Friday after a not-so-innocent yet fraudulent slate card endorsing Migden and boasting the SFBG logo (something SFist knows a little something about) showed up on doorknobs across the city. Of course, SFBG Editor Tim Redmond had to issue a WTF-we-didn't-do-this -shit post.
Also, and get this, Chris Daly was behind said slate card. Redmond says:
I called Sup. Chris Daly, who was behind the card, tonight and told him how unhappy I was, and he said he didn't care. "I'm unhappy, too," he said. "You endorsed Mark Leno, who is not a progressive."Okay, we can argue that forever, but it's not the point. It's not cool to use the Guardian logo and (I hope) good name and reputation to confuse the voters.
But then in the comments is where it gets good. Real good.
In a lengthy reply, Supervisor Chris Daly says, ahem:
It is outright slanderous for Tim Redmond to call the CHANGE Slate card "fraudulent" in his headline. If you read Tim's post, even he admits that the card does not boast a Guardian endorsement of Migden, although he claims that you have to read "the fine print." What Tim doesn't tell you is that "the fine print" is in 13 point font -- much larger than the 8 point font required by ethics laws.
And then, several comments later after former SF Weekly scribe Peter Byrne, an Audre Lorde fan, and many others throw barbs, SFBG writer Steven T. Jones responds to Daly thusly:
By Wednesday, we ought to start to heal this rift and not hold grudges because well-meaning people with similar values can still disagree. But I must admit that I've lost a bit of respect for Chris. Aggressive advocacy is great, deception and misrepresentation are something else. I expect it from the Sutton crowd, but not from those who claim to hold progressive values. We've defended Chris many times when he's pushed the line, even sometimes when we've cringed at his antics, but I think we'll now be less likely to do so in the future given his repeated tendency to let his ego-driven belief that only he possesses the answers get in the way of dealing honestly and respectfully with his progressive allies. And that makes me unhappy because on his best days, Chris can be the city's most powerful advocate for issues I support.
Dude! Because, come on, when you're too crazy for the Guardian...
Needless to say, the popcorn is popped, salted, resting in our lap as we hit 'refresh' over and over.
Altered image credit: Steve Rhodes
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This slate is 100% totally fraudulent. There is NO mention ANYWHERE on the door hanger of who is distributing it. Any reasonable voter would expect that this was connected to the Guardian - I did and I remembered who they endorsed (but already voted, so it didn't matter).
Chris has admitted to being the author or at least a lead sponsor of this. He needs to pay a nice fine for it.
How Karl Rove of Daly. I am so not surprised.
nice to see the progressives finally figure out what fucking nutbag and huge liability this clown has always been.
lame!
So... they're going to sue the pants off him, right?
Also, holy ethics violations, batman. Can he get Ed Jew'd over this please?
Um, which proposition is the "Moral Turpitude" one again? ;)
which one is supposed to be the "best" comment?
Oh. My. God. Is this not the same fight we had with the Guardian in 2006. Christ.
Sorry Chris - you just sealed my vote for G over F. Good use of $$$
that is the biggest crock of shit i've heard in a long time.
Chris Daly is a pile of grunt. Incredible that the schnooks in his district elect him. Doesn't he realize how ridiculous he sounds when he says Leno "is not a progressive."
Chris Daly is the worst kind of progressive. He has gone so far to the left he has lost all ability to be a politician.
It's all or nothing with Daly and unfortunately his constituents and the people of SF tend to end up with nothing.
wow, so many things to say--even the link daly provides is deceiving. How sketchy...
p.s. does anyone else feel like they've received a TON of political mailers this year?
I've been getting a mailer practically every day for the past week and a half from the Migden campaign - and I voted my mail-in ballot almost a month ago. Environment?
I'm not so sure about the "good name" of the Guardian, but this is sleazy as hell.
If Chris is really behind this, he needs to be kicked out. Now. This is fucking unacceptable.
It's petty obvious that most of you cluckers rely upon the local media to draw a picture of who Chris is and what he's about. This is a shame, because the picture is always skewed by the heavy emphasis on the stupid stunts he pulls. Daly is actually an especially effective legislator and the reason he's repeatedly re-elected by his district is because he does a good job of meeting the needs of his constituents. Granted, his constituents are all toothless, drag queen prostitutes, wandering aimlessly across 6th Street in a crack induced haze and always inviting me to run them over when I ride my bike down Market, but that's beside the point. Within his own particular context, the man does a great job. This, however, goes beyond the pale and shows the kind of lack of ethics I'm more accustomed to seeing from young Brock Landers here, than a member of our city's Board of Supervisors. Coupled with the annoying yet pointless Proposition F and his fondness for dressing like the President of Iran, I'm beginning to suspect that Le Daly needs a long, long vacation.
None of the links to the Guardian are working. :(
Am I the only one bothered by the fact that people make their decisions based on door-hangers and endorsements from publications? I mean... even outside the world of politics we all know that product endorsements are just ways of making money. I would never cast a vote for or against a particular candidate because I saw a door hanger, magazine or newspaper support that candidate. What happened to researching candidates and figuring out who you are voting for? What happened to this country?
"What happened to researching candidates and figuring out who you are voting for? What happened to this country?"
Oh, come off it. You don't seriously think that the American peoples ever actually researched who and what they're voting for, do you? Stop engaging in false nostalgia. The humans of this country have always decided who and what shall lead them based on which candidate can make the loudest noise using the brightest colors. For all intents and purposes, American democracy is little more than one of those silly prairie chicken mating dances you see on that Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom program with Marlon Perkins and the cute younger guy in the jeep. Chris Daly knows this, why don't you?
I'm reading this from China, from where I've gladly been dissociated from U.S. and San Francisco politics for two weeks. After years of growing disillusionment with the antics of Daly and his gang, I've realized that he would cheerily lead a Cultural Revolution in San Francisco. Fortunately he can only be a petite dictator wannabe. Let's start a fundraising campaign to send LaDaly one-way to Beijing to save the hutongs.
"Am I the only one bothered by the fact that people make their decisions based on door-hangers and endorsements from publications? "
I'm as cynical as the next person, but I refuse to believe anyone actually makes their decisions based on junk mail.
I think I lived next to the Hutongs once. Their lawn looked terrible. I think both their kids went to Stanford.
Bluecanary, you are apparently NOT as cynical as the next person. But I am.
I think people really do make decisions based on junk mail. But this isn't really junk. It's the SFBG endorsement, which means something to a lot of people.
Agreed. A lot of people, myself included, make decisions based on the suggestions of institutions we respect (SFBG) that can sit around and sort though the volumes of political legicrap that I simply don't have time to read.
Some SF voters actually have a life outside of politics.
I couldn't believe the mailer when I saw it, and examined it pretty thoroughly. The fine print made things look *questionable* but it really looked like the SFBG had changed their endorsement at the last moment.
I don't care if people don't think fliers should be the basis of opinion; I don't care if they're completely meaningless. This act was completely dishonest and done with intent to misinform.
If we want good government we need to demand more of those in power. We have no right to complain about conservative political shenanigans unless we have the same outrage when one of our own does it.
after all this, I went to the polls to vote for Leno, and (unless I read my ballot wrong) found out I'm not in the Leno/Midgen district anyway. LOL
I admit I do go to media outlets I respect to get information to make my decision, and the SFBG is one of those outlets.
but a door hanger? I don't think I'd have even noticed the guardian's logo on there. I just assume people automatically grab them and fling them into the recycling bin.
People who vote based on the endorsement of rags like SFBG instead of actually getting educated about what they are voting for are why this city is in such a mess to begin with. If you have enough time to read blogs and comment on them, try reading some propositions for a change.
Tee hee.
So what can folks tell me about the 3 candidates for Superior Court Judge (other than the obvious)? How about DCCC? Who had a clue who most of those folks even were? That's when I turn to trusted sources for endorsements.
For propositions, I like SPUR's voter guide - though I use it to convince me why I should vote Yes. By default, I vote not for all propositions - do we really need more rules/laws that won't be enforced or may just be a way to collect more fees? Worse yet, maybe they're asking to create more set-asides for particular uses - a horrible, horrible way to govern.
Blah ...
DUH. Of course I read the actual ballot measure, but then I peruse secondary sources to see if there were any nuances/possible effects I hadn't thought of.
now. now. chris daly is hardly the anti-christ. at least he fessed up to it.
Why can't I access the page with the comments? I can see the SFBG post, but I am being denied access to the most entertaining part ...