Dems run over Franken on way to the high road
Here’s a question: If Roy Moore weren’t running for Senate, would Al Franken still have a political career?
Franken’s forced announcement that he’ll leave the Senate was a case of his fellow Democrats making a political point to the #MeToo movement: We’re more moral than Republicans.
To be exact, we’re more moral than the Republicans, led by a president who once bragged of grabbing women’s genitals, who want to elect a man credibly accused of pursuing teenage girls when he was in his 30s and molesting one of them.
That may not keep Moore from prevailing in Tuesday’s election. But winning an Alabama Senate seat would be pure gravy for the Democrats — what
they really care about is 2018 and 2020.
Not to be cynical about it, but it might be better for them in the long run if Moore ends up in the Senate, where he’d be a daily reminder to voters next year and beyond of the GOP’s amoral hypocrisy.
Franken is the sacrifice the Democrats tossed into the volcano so they would be smiled upon by the electoral gods. But we shouldn’t be entirely happy about that.
No one can argue with a straight face that Franken got due process. He was essentially convicted without an investigation, let alone a trial, but that’s the way it works in today’s Internet world — one accusation, and you’re probably guilty. Seven accusations, and there’s no doubt. Call the news conference, and demand his resignation.
Maybe that’s the price men are going to have to pay for creating a horror chamber for women in so many places — movie studios, halls of government, media companies and who knows where else.
Well, women know. It could be they’re entitled to some instant justice. Heads up: The family of Keita O’Neil, the unarmed carjacking suspect who was shot to death Dec. 1 after a chase by San Francisco police, has retained noted attorney John Burris.
I hear the lawsuit will be filed very soon. Oakland calling: I was lucky enough not to have been dragged into the Oakland city workers strike.
The unions invited me to mediate. They figured, he’s a former mayor and helped Muni drivers negotiate a contract a few years ago, so he understands both sides of the divide.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf told me she first heard the suggestion while getting ready to board a flight back from Aspen, Colo., where she was attending one of those urban think tank conferences.
According to Schaaf, she told her staffers she was fine with the idea and asked them to “handle it.”
Three hours later, she arrives in Oakland and reporters are asking her why she rejected the idea of having me as a mediator.
She told me her staffers were under the impression that “handle it” meant they got to make the call, and they decided that I couldn’t be neutral. “Why is that?” I asked. “Aren’t you on the union’s payroll?” Schaaf said. “What?” “Well, they think you are on the union payroll.”
“That shows how little your staff knows about public employee unions,” I said. “Anyone who knows unions knows they don’t pay anyone.” Life of the party: The holidays are on us, and once again Dede Wilsey has proved herself to be the town’s top hostess. Her annual Christmas bash features the best food in town and the best-dressed guests as well.
For all the talk and ink devoted to Dede’s socializing ways, she is also one of the biggest behind-the-scenes contributors to charity, politics and the arts.
And Christmas is the time of giving — and receiving. Lights out: The Christmas tree-lighting ceremony with Mayor Ed Lee in Golden Gate Park was a great time, right up until I suggested to the crowd that we string holiday lights along JFK Drive all the way to the ocean.
It got a big cheer from the crowd, but an even bigger groan from Recreation and Park General Manager Phil Ginsburg,
who would have to come up with the money. Life story: The San Francisco firefighters union had its annual toy drive kickoff the other day at the old Third Street firehouse, and if their selection of keynote speaker is any indication, former state Sen. Mark Leno is the front-runner for the union’s mayoral endorsement.
But it was Board of Supervisors President London Breed who stole the show.
Breed told the crowd that when she was a little girl, her grandmother would take her downtown around Christmas to see the stores’ toy displays.
But Breed lived in the projects. “And all she could buy me was another set of school clothes,” she said. “I would just look and look and look at all those toys. My goal in life was that one day, I would be able to get just one of those toys.
“Then two or three years later, suddenly the firefighters start giving kids like me a toy for Christmas,” she said “So for the rest of my life, whenever it’s toys for kids, I am in to help. Because that is how you all made this one little girl happy.”
Now, that’s working the room. Tip for holiday treat: Narada Michael Walden’s 21st annual holiday benefit show happens Saturday at the Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley. Headlining the show will be Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes, with my daughter Sydney singing back up.
This year the show benefits North Bay fire victims. Walden’s benefits are always a highlight of the holidays, and this year will be no exception.