Tag: elections

Red baiting in New York City “It’s officially hot commie summer”

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 6.25.2025

The barons of the business world and the Felon Donald Trump are beside themselves angsting out over the prospect that a genuine, intelligent, charismatic newcomer could be the next Mayor of New York City.

In his first comments since Tuesday’s mayoral primary, President Trump called Zohran Mamdani “a 100% Communist Lunatic” while insulting his appearance, voice and intelligence. He added that Mamdani’s ascent was “a big moment in the History of our Country!”

The sense of the corporate freak out is already on full display in the mainstream media.

“It’s officially hot commie summer,” Dan Loeb, chief executive of hedge fund Third Point, and a major Andrew Cuomo backer, wrote on X.

Red baiting the NYC Mayoral candidate

The Red Scare label is sure to be the framework for the next several months. The corporate world, the Republicans and mainstream media work overtime to obliterate the candidacy of Zohran Mamdani. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zohran_Mamdani

Excerpted from The Wall Street Journal 6.25.2025

On Wednesday morning, the world’s epicenter of capitalism woke up to find it might soon have a socialist mayor.

Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s stunning win over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic primary for mayor shocked Wall Street. Some of the world’s most influential and powerful financiers were left grasping to understand what Mamdani’s victory would mean for their industry—and whether they would leave the city.

Will Zohran Mamdani have the last laugh next November?

“It’s officially hot commie summer,” Dan Loeb, chief executive of hedge fund Third Point, and a major Cuomo backer, wrote on X.

Mamdani’s campaign was, up until a few weeks ago, a long shot. On Polymarket, which successfully predicted the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, Cuomo had odds as high as 92.5% on May 27. Negative ads against Mamdani paid for by Wall Street-funded super political-action committees, as well as also-ran candidate Whitney Tilson—himself an investor—blanketed airwaves and filled residents’ mailboxes. 

Mamdani’s platform includes increasing taxes on those making more than $1 million a year. He has said he would make the city more affordable by freezing rents on rent-stabilized apartments, investing $70 billion in publicly subsidized housing, providing free bus service and opening government-operated grocery stores.

Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani protesting the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/wall-street-panics-over-prospect-of-a-socialist-running-new-york-city-da7db7e4?st=7aMPXb&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Top photo: Zohran Mamdani like any solid New Yorker rides the subway.

MSM ignores S.F. DA Jenkins misconduct “It’s a pandemic over there.” 

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.23.2025

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins is a serial abuser of her office.

By and large San Francisco’s mainstream media has given this slick political operative a pass, instead giving big play to the successful prosecutions, while ignoring the dark underside of how Brooke Jenkins performs her job.

Her years shameful historical record of prosecutorial misconduct is well documented.

Brooke Jenkins history of prosecutorial misconduct started before she quit DA Chesa Boudin’s office in October 2021, labeled herself a “volunteer” (though she was being paid over 150K) and worked as a leader in his June 2022 Recall.

Brooke Jenkins, being rewarded for her political treachery, is sworn-in as District Attorney at City Hall in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 8, 2022. | Paul Kuroda for The Standard

Then being awarded for her political treachery by former Mayor London Breed. Selected as DA. Her incumbency has reeked of prosecutorial misconduct. Conduct which has resulted in several complaints lodged with the California State Bar.

The latest story in the Mission Local, a sordid tale which the mainstream media chooses to ignore is illustrative of this journalistic dereliction of its duty.

Excerpted from Mission Local 5.23.2025

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office has, under Brooke Jenkins, made a “pattern and practice” of improperly withholding evidence in both misdemeanor and felony cases, the city’s public defenders assert. 

“That is the tip of the iceberg,” said Jacque Wilson, one of two misdemeanor managers at the public defender’s office. The 50 incidents of late discovery tracked by the public defender’s office is a conservative estimate, he said, since it only includes cases where public defenders are aware of a violation. “It’s a pandemic over there.” 

Under California law, prosecutors and defenders must disclose their evidence to one another at least 30 days before trial during the discovery process. This ensures the opposing side has enough time to review evidence before a court hearing.

But in a six-month period between Sept. 1, 2024 and Feb. 28, 2025, the public defender’s misdemeanor unit says it tracked 50 incidents of the district attorney’s office failing to turn over evidence on time. 

The DA has had some of this evidence “in their possession for weeks, if not months or years, before disclosure,” wrote assistant chief public defender Angela Chan in a document sent to the Bar last month and obtained by Mission Local.

At times, she added, evidence was withheld until the eve of a trial. And “in a number of egregious cases” important evidence was not disclosed until the middle of a trial, Chan wrote.

S.F. DA has ‘pattern and practice’ of withholding evidence, public defenders allege

Daniel Lurie’s stealth campaign to destroy Great Highway Park

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 3.11.2025

The entitled motorists have an ally in Room 200 at City Hall.

In a brutal last ditch attempt to halt creation of an environmental oasis by the Pacific Ocean, Levi’s scion and billionaire Mayor Daniel Lurie has enlisted his legal fixer to destroy Great Highway Park

Proposition K was approved by 55 percent of San Francisco voters last November.

Daniel Lurie has been Mayor only nine weeks and his attempt to slash and burn the environmental legacy of his predecessor London Breed is evident for any who care to notice.

Rather than come out and publicly say he opposes Great Highway Park, approved by 55 percent of the voters last November, Mayor Lurie enlisted his campaign lawyer to slash and burn the voters will. The only conclusion one can draw from this turning his back on The People is that the Mayor has been bullied into submission by the entitled motorists.

It’s a crass political calculation that the environmentalists who have waged a successful battle can be safely politically ignored.

It’s a shame that even though the proponents of a more pedestrian and cyclist friendly San Francisco have emerged victorious in all the major battles; JFK Promenade, Slow Streets and Great Highway Park the spoiled rotten entitled motorists refuse to acknowledge reality.

Former Mayor London Breed was a champion for the environment and car free streets. She advocated for JFK Promenade and Great Highway Park. Those halcyon days of environmental progress are over.

Former Mayor London Breed, champion of both JFK Promenade and Great Highway Park, signs enabling legislation creating JFK Promenade in Golden Gate Park – May 7, 2022 – photo Lee Heidhues

Excerpted from The San Francisco Standard 3.10.2025

Opponents of Proposition K, the ballot measure that authorized the closure, and created Great Highway Park last November were expected to file a lawsuit Tuesday arguing that San Francisco voters don’t have the right to close the street to cars.

The lawsuit, led by Jim Sutton, alleges that the city ignored the state’s authority and unlawfully placed a measure before San Francisco voters. Sutton was Mayor Daniel Lurie’s campaign attorney.

Advocates for Proposition K – Great Highway Park. Will Daniel Lurie destroy their success?

The lawsuit also questions how the measure was put on the ballot, saying it bypassed the California Environmental Quality Act review process.

“This lawsuit is about standing up for the people who are being left behind,” said Albert Chow, a Sunset small-business owner and plaintiff. “Seniors, kids, and families will be forced to navigate more dangerous streets just so City Hall can score political points.”

Prop. K passed with 54% of votes in November 2024 after being placed on the ballot by five supervisors, including Joel Engardio of the Sunset, where the stretch of road is located. Approximately 64% of Sunset residents opposed the measure. Some have launched a recall effort against Engardio.

Top photo: Daniel Lurie prays that his Hail Mary to destroy Great Highway Park succeeds.

The Musk-Trump dream of global dominance is coming true.

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 2.18.2025

President Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s wildest dreams of worldwide political dominance are coming true.

The isolationist and politically obtuse American public is ignoring the impending disaster of the political order in Germany.

This Sunday German voters will go to the polls and elect a new parliament. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundestag

The extremist right wing Alternative for Deutschland (AfD), if the polls are correct, will gain over 20 percent of the seats in the Bundestag. Potentially giving the AfD 130 seats in the 630 member parliament. Making this party of extremists and, some would say, Neo-Nazis a major player in Germany and the whole of Europe.

Elon Musk is actively campaigning for the AfD. Vice-President JD Vance went to Munich last week and sang the praises of these extremists.

Excerpted from Wall Street Journal Editorial 2.18.2025

The AfD’s foreign-policy views should give Americans pause. Party co-leader Tino Chrupalla in December suggested Germany should withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization because NATO is too dominated by America. Alice Weidel, the party’s candidate for chancellor, said in September she believes “U.S. interests in Germany are diametrically opposed to our security interests.” The party taps into a deep well of suspicion of the U.S. and sympathy for Russia among its voters in the former East Germany.

Nor can Americans be blind to the extremism within the AfD. Björn Höcke, a party leader in Thuringia state, criticized construction of Berlin’s Holocaust memorial, says the word Lebensraum (the Nazi concept of an ethnic German zone in Europe) should be revived, and has peppered speeches with a nationalist slogan once adopted by Hitler’s storm troopers. Alexander Gauland, an AfD leader in the national parliament, once described the Nazi era as “bird s—” in the context of Germany history.

Ms. Weidel and other leaders haven’t purged these elements from the AfD. That is in contrast to Marine Le Pen’s purge of antisemites from her party in France, expelling even her own father from the party he founded. Ms. Le Pen’s party has cut ties with the AfD at the European Union level in Brussels.

This explains why mainstream German parties have erected a “firewall” around the AfD—something Mr. Vance criticized last week. Mr. Vance is right that Europe’s failed mainstream politicians can’t run from their voters forever, but it doesn’t follow that an American Vice President should throw his weight behind an anti-American party.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/germany-election-friedrich-merz-cdu-afd-europe-donald-trump-5bb5109d?st=2mbEJ9&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

SF City Hall feasts with the Levi’s scion Mayor. Lurie, lox and bagels.

SAN FRANCISCO CITY HALL

Lee Heidhues 1.8.2025

It was a beautiful sunny day in Civic Center as the new Mayor Daniel Lurie was sworn into office and the large crowd feasted on lox and bagels in the City Hall rotunda.

A crowd of over 2600 people including Da Mayor Willie Brown watched Mayor Daniel Lurie be sworn into office. Followed by his inaugural address. Many of whom then entered City Hall for the food and music festivities.

Da Mayor Willie Brown, dapper as always.
The crowd looks on at Civic Center Plaza.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) workers whose three months strike against San Francisco Hotels was settled with the intervention of Mayor Lurie show their appreciation.
The Philip and Sala Burton High School Marching Band performed in front of City Hall.
Leung’s White Crane and Lion Dance Association entertained the inaugural crowd.
Everyone was welcome at Mayor Lurie’s inaugural.
The inaugural crowd in the City Hall rotunda.
The SFJazz High School All Stars entertained the inaugural crowd in the City Hall rotunda.
Mayor George Moscone whose life was tragically cut short by Dan White on November 27, 1978 as he sat in the Mayor’s office. After assassinating Mayor Moscone, the assassin walked to the Board of Supervisors offices where he assassinated Supervisor Harvey Milk.
The crowd waiting to greet Mayor Lurie in his office.
City Attorney David Chiu greets a well wisher in the City Hall South Light Court.
Law enforcement was a heavy presence including this trio of bicycle riding SFPD officers
Willie Brown and blogger Lee in front of San Francisco City Hall
Inaugural attendees were invited to complete a ‘My wish for San Francisco’. This is Blogger Lee’s contribution.

Photos: Lee Heidhues

Pathetic SF motorists sink to the depths of Recall selfishness

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 12.3.2024

PATHETIC LOSERS ALL OF YOU.

My message to the group of San Francisco west side spoiled rotten entitled motorists who are starting a Recall petition against Supervisor Joel Engardio.

Sore losers. All of them. Unhappy and refusing to accept the fact that the voters Citywide approved Proposition K on November 5th, 2024 with a 55 percent majority.

The creation of a Great Highway Park along the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco.

“Your involvement means the world to us, and we’re so grateful to have you on board. Together, we can make a real difference for District 4 and all of San Francisco.” The so called “world” is that of the spoiled entitled motorists. A group of sore losers who refuse to accept the 55 percent YES Citywide vote on Prop K..If you are unhappy with Joel Engardio vote him out in 2026. This misguided waste of taxpayer money when the City is staring down an 800M deficit is selfishness personified.

Quoted Language in blue border from the Recall website  recallengardio.com and my response in the email seeking support for the Supervisor Joel Engardio Recall

Excerpted from the San Francisco Standard 12.3.2024

A group of Sunset residents is launching a campaign to recall Supervisor Joel Engardio over his support of Proposition K, the ballot measure to close part of the Great Highway that was successful in the November election but roundly rejected by his district constituents.

A recall petition letter, filed Tuesday morning with the Department of Elections, accuses Engardio of violating his “campaign promises of transparency” and betraying voters in his district. 

Prop. K passed with 55% of the vote. But on the west side, including Engardio’s District 4, which encompasses the stretch of the coastal roadway affected by the measure, 64% voted against it.

About 80 residents signed the initial recall petition. The website recallengardio.com went live Monday night.

Supervisors Joel Engardio and Myrna Melgar at Prop K – Great Highway Park rally – 7.27.2024

Photos – Lee Heidhues

Reactionaries in Germany, Trump USA and my block in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 11.16.2024

A year ago we were in Berlin. Who would have thought that 12 months later Donald Trump would be preparing to move into the White House?

Liz and Lee in Potsdam, Germany November 2023

Who would have thought that the coalition government in Germany, which included the Green Party, would collapse?

German Green Party members in happier times

Well, it’s all happened. It’s fair to say arch conservative reactionaries are on the rise. It’s not a comforting thought for anyone who believes in personal freedom and the expectation to be free from the oppressors.

The reactionaries are rising in Germany, America and, perhaps, on my block in San Francisco. Where it pains me to write Trump got nearly 22 percent (179 votes) in my precinct.

Nobody is exempt from the rising tide of oppression.

US President Donald Trump holds up a Bible outside of St John’s Episcopal church across Lafayette Park in Washington, DC on June 1, 2020.

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 11.7.2024

What now?

That was the question of the day after the collapse of the so-called traffic-light coalition — named for the colors of the three parties forming it: the center-left Social Democrats (red), the neoliberal Free Democrats (yellow) and the environmentalist Greens.

One day after the dramatic break-up, Chancellor Olaf Scholz‘s view was very different from that of the leaders of the center-right opposition, whose cooperation Scholz is seeking.

Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) – far right on the ascendency in Germany

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU) are not only the largest opposition bloc in the current parliament, they are also, according to current polls, most likely to emerge from new elections as the strongest force.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz who is tipped to become Germany’s next chancellor urged swift action. “The government no longer has a majority in the German Bundestag and so we have to call on the Federal Chancellor — with a unanimous decision by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group — to call a vote of confidence immediately, at the beginning of next week at the latest,” he said.

https://www.dw.com/en/political-wrangling-starts-after-german-coalition-collapse/a-70725678

Great Highway Park wins. I am relishing this moment of victory

SAN FRANCISCO – GREAT HIGHWAY PARK
Lee Heidhues 11.8.2024

I am beyond joyous that Proposition K which will see the creation of The Great Highway Park by the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco has been approved by a healthy majority of ALL the voters.

Liz and Lee at the kickoff for Proposition K – Great Highway Park – July 27, 2024

I will never stand down, will continue to fight and am relishing this moment of victory for a pedestrian, cyclist friendly San Francisco.

Victory of Proposition K is another affirmation that San Francisco voters can overcome the juvenile mentality of the spoiled rotten entitled motorists. Motorists who have fought viciously to protect their false sense of entitlement.

Two years ago these same dead enders with their false sense of car centric privilege waged a despicable campaign to stop JFK Promenade in Golden Gate Park. Their effort to bring cars back to JFK Promenade, aided by over 800K in funding from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, was crushed. The voters said “We want this car free oasis” by a 63 percent YES margin.

Two years later these vitriolic motorists waged a war of threats and personal insult against Supervisor Joel Engardio who put Proposition K on the ballot. These motorists have no shame. Even now they pledge to continue their onslaught against all who oppose their selfishness.

Mayor London Breed, voted out of office this week, may have sacrificed her political career by advocating for JFK Promenade and The Great Highway Park. When the history of her tenure is written this environmental advocacy will be long remembered.

Liz and Mayor London Breed parley at the 4th Anniversary celebration of JFK Promenade. Were it not for Mayor Breed JFK Promenade would not be a reality today.

Personally, I have been ridiculed and vilified on social media for vigorously promoting the car free movement in San Francisco. The most egregious example being my banishment by Michael Durand, publisher of the Richmond Review for pushing back against the entitled motorists.

To celebrate this joyous moment I am including La Mer by Claude Debussy. Music Liz and I listened to 55 years ago when we lived on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Close by what is now The Great Highway Park.

.

A message to Donald Trump. Your Election Denier gets 9 years in jail

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 10.3.2024

Where is the Judge who will mete out a sentence to convicted criminal, liar and election denier Donald Trump???

When will the election deniers learn that doing Trump’s dirty work for him is a fools mission which will result in jail time?

Colorado Judge Matthew Barrett sentences former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters to nine years in prison

Excerpted from Colorado Public Radio 10.3.2024

Tina Peters is headed to prison.

The former Mesa County Clerk was sentenced to nine years of incarceration, most of which will be served in the Colorado Department of Corrections.

Convicted election denier Tina Peters in happier days

Peters was found guilty of three felony counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation. She was also convicted of first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty, and failure to comply with an order from the Secretary of State, all misdemeanors.

Her sentencing was handed down in a packed courtroom Thursday that included supporters of Peters, several uniformed sheriff’s deputies and local elected officials. Interested parties also gathered just outside the courtroom, streaming the proceedings on their phones from feet away. 

Peters was found guilty by a jury of Mesa County residents in August on seven counts, including four felonies after she helped facilitate unauthorized access to county voting equipment that she was supposed to safeguard. 

The Election Official Who Tried to Prove “Stop the Steal”
How a group of conspiracy theorists enlisted a county clerk in Colorado to find evidence that the 2020 vote was rigged. The New Yorker – September 7, 2022 https://www.newyorker.com/news/american-chronicles/the-election-official-who-tried-to-prove-stop-the-steal

During Thursday’s hearing, the prosecution argued that Peters should face the maximum penalty for each charge and said Peters should serve time in prison, noting her lack of contrition even after she was found guilty. 

“I don’t think anybody in this room would make a straight-faced argument that Mrs. Peters has demonstrated any respect for the law,” 21st Judicial District Attorney Dan Rubinstein said.  

https://www.cpr.org/2024/10/03/tina-peters-former-mesa-county-clerk-prison/