That is all.
UPDATE: No sooner had I written that then I saw this.... and this is really funny. I've got to give Mayor Newsom props for this. Protests in SF are usually nothing more than a mass exercise in self-importance, so the fact that they didn't get a chance to wave their flags and dance with puppets for one another is likely to make their heads explode.
I mean, look at this nonsense:
"Gavin Newsom runs San Francisco the way the premier of China runs his country - secrecy, lies, misinformation, lack of transparency and manipulating the populace," (Board of Supervisors President Aaron) Peskin said. "He misled supporters and opponents of the run. People brought their families and their children, and (mayoral officials) hatched a cynical plan to please the Bush State Department and the Chinese government because of the incredible influence of money.
"He did it so China can report they had a great torch run," Peskin said. "It's the worst kind of government - government by deceit and misinformation."
If there is one thing we can all agree on, it is surely that living in SF under Mayor Newsom's rule is exactly like living in China under Communist Party rule. I mean, really, the parallels between the plights of people in Tibet and in San Francisco are so similar that I do not know how I did not see it before.
Amazing. These people are here to protest the treatment of the people of Tibet, and in doing so, they demonstrated that they have absolutely no understanding whatsoever of what the people in Tibet are actually living though. To equate what happened here to what goes on in China is so astonishingly ignorant and, yes, self-important, that it makes my brain hurt.
And yet I must press on to the next wonderful example:
Police said no arrests had occurred and that clashes related to the protests had been minor. But the situation was tense for hours before the run, and at least one person was detained in front of the ballpark this morning. A few hours later, a confrontation between the two sides escalated to a physical violence, when a San Francisco man named Kevin Johnson, 48, walked into a crowd of torch supporters and began yelling, "Communists!"
The crowd encircled Johnson and the confrontation escalated when Johnson pulled a Chinese flag off a man's backpack. Then, someone grabbed Johnson's throat and another person punched him in the face before police intervened and walked him to safety.
And yes, if there is one thing someone in SF should not be... if there is one thing that you could yell at a San Franciscan that is sure to get under their skin... it is "communist." If ever there was a community in which the word "communist" was a slur, it is surely San Francisco. What a genius this man is! How cutting and insightful are his words! He called a San Franciscan a communist. The horror!
And doesn't this anecdote do such a wonderful job of demonstrating the truth of Sup. Peskin's claims above? I mean, it really is just like living in Communist China! A protestor came out to an event, heckled the official delegation, got in a fist fight, and was then led to safety by the police. So authoritarian! So manipulative! It was as if Lhasa had been recreated at McCovey Cove. Only this time with hot dogs and baseball. Or something.
But we must continue on with this, because there is another Super who must be heard.
San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly was one of the protesters in the street, holding a 40-foot sign that read, "San Francisco says: No torch in Tibet." Daly wrote legislation passed last week by the Board of Supervisors that was critical of the Chinese government and called on local officials to receive the torch with "alarm and protest."
The group headed back toward the Ferry Building around 1 p.m., after nine protesters lay down in front of what they thought was a bus carrying the torch at Bryant Street and blocked its passage. While supporters chanted slogans, police removed them.
Yes, Sup. Daly. SF says "no torch in Tibet!" Not "no human rights abuse in Tibet." No, not that. "No torch." If only the torch could be stopped, all would be right in the world!
And then.... They chanted slogans and lay down in front of a bus! All nine of them! My goodness! I'm sure the people of Tibet will be moved to know that San Franciscans did something that will so dramatically aid their cause. I mean, wow. A bus was blocked for a few moments that might have but did not actually contain a torch that will eventually be carried into a stadium in China. With dancing! And puppets! If only the world had more heroes like these all of our problems would be solved.
Sometimes I am sooooo glad I no longer live in San Francisco.
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