Lee Heidhues 10.10.2021
It is not far fetched to find parallels in the attempted Recall of Progressive San Francisco District Chesa Boudin and the June 19, 1953 execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
In the midst of the 1950’s Red Scare paranoia the Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage and executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in New York. The evidence against both Julius and Ethel was sketchy, particularly Ethel’s. Their arrest, trial and conviction was one of the most shameful episodes in American political history.
After the execution the French author Jean Paul Sartre penned the following in the magazine Liberation.
Now that we have been made your allies, the fate of the Rosenbergs could be a preview of our own future. You, who claim to be masters of the world, had the opportunity to prove that you were first of all masters of yourselves. But you gave into your criminal folly and this very folly might tomorrow throw us headlong into a war of extermination.
By killing the Rosenbergs you have quite simply tried to halt the progress of science by human sacrifices—we are here getting to the point—your country is sick with fear…you are afraid of the shadow of your own bomb.
Now we fast forward to 2021 and Progressive San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin. He was elected less than two years ago on a platform of “progressive” justice. The San Francisco Police Officers Association spent nearly $1,000,000 in a vicious campaign to defeat him.
From Day One DA Boudin has been besieged by his opponents in the mainstream media and the political establishment who have jumped on every alleged misstep to bring him down.
Two recall attempts have been launched. One by a disgruntled San Francisco Republican failed to gather the necessary number of signatures. The second recall launched by so called moderate Democrats has been funded by wealthy right wing donors and Political Action Committees funded by law enforcement agencies.
This second attempt, which has spent over $1,000,000 will likely make the ballot and a Recall election will take place in the coming months
Make no mistake. This recall is an insidious attempt to thwart the will of the voters. In its most blatant form this must be called an attempted political lynching of Chesa Boudin.
San Francisco cannot allow this Rosenberg type political justice to occur and have a present day Sartre write a similiar epitath about Chesa Boudin.
Lee's Perspective 