Elegant Chambers--Lowlife Occupants

A few years back there was a movie entitled Pacific Heights. The plot involved a couple of naive yuppies renting a room to a psycho, then not being able to get rid of him. Pacific Heights is the heart and soul of San Francisco limousine liberalism. For those of us who lived in less expensive parts of town, there was a large dollop of schadenfreude watching the yuppies trying to get the tenant out.

The accompanying photo shows the elegantly-restored beaux arts Board of Supervisors chambers in San Francisco city hall. The politicians who hold the eleven seats are divided about equally between the two parties--the bolsheviks and the mensheviks. But every once in awhile, a standout purveyor of political poison takes a seat on the Board. And so it is with new District Six Supervisor Jane Kim. She's the public version of the Pacific Heights tenant.

Kim didn't take long to demonstrate her bona fides as a typical San Francisco America-hating, tradition-killing, decency-defying member of the Board of Stupidvisors. At her very first public meeting, she refused to join in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. It's not exactly Barack Obama grabbing his genitals during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner, and it shouldn't be any surprise. The only thing that surprised me was that there was considerable negative reaction from the citizens of Sodom by the Bay.

Kim says that it's a personal decision of how to honor the flag and country. I hope you can follow that logic. You honor the flag and the country by refusing to honor them? But then, in a statement which absolutely refutes her own stand, Kim goes on to say: "I don't think our flag represents a nation where there's liberty and justice for all, and I reserve my right to disagree or to even protest when I think our government isn't representing the best of our ideals or principles." Whose principles, pray tell? And whose flag better represents your ideals and principles? The flag of Utopia, perhaps?

Kim is proud to remind people that she hasn't recited the Pledge since high school and stayed silent during her previous tenure as the (yes, you guessed it) President of the Board of Education. Gee, I wonder where those San Francisco kids get their ideas of patriotism--and their low test scores. The majority of students in the San Francisco schools are immigrants whose families fled from repressive nations such as China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mexico, and, yes Ms. Kim, North Korea. Their parents seem to have concluded that there is a great deal more liberty and justice for all in the United States than in their homelands. Didn't you get the memo?

Kim said she prefers to let her actions speak louder than "those 31 words." Well, she's made a good start. As the heat started to rise over her refusal to pledge allegiance to the nation that has allowed her the opportunity to succeed that no other nation would, the red herrings began to be thrown about. The old reliable excuse for being unpatriotic is that there is no law that requires her to recite the pledge. Good going, Ms. Kim. Raise a non-issue and a legal given in order to cover up the fact that you are a sneak and an America-hater. There's also no law that said the voters in your district had to vote for you, but they did. Let's hope they think twice next time.

A professor from my favorite law school, UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco commented that "Jane Kim is completely within her constitutional rights." BUT, the professor goes on: "The cultural perception is if you're an elected official, you're a part of American representative democracy, and you probably shouldn't have a problem pledging allegiance to the United States." The professor is obviously an expert in understatement.

So it's time for Ms. Kim to play the misunderstood martyr. Says Kim: "I think most San Franciscans care about my position on how we can make Muni more effective and how we can make our streets safer, and how we can help small businesses, than on my reasoning for not reciting the pledge. I hope people will understand my decision and focus more on my political service than my silence." Aw, horse manure! Your loyalty to the United States and the flag is always an issue when you're an elected representative. Do you prefer the education system in Korea, or the family planning in China, or law and order in Mexico, or perhaps the transportation system in Russia? Obviously, in an oppressive and unjust nation like America, you won't be able to follow their examples without a fight.

I guess there's a breaking point for the MSM, even in San Francisco. Instead of burying the story, all three networks covered the issue on the local TV news, as did both newspapers and an unfavorable editorial on KTVU.com.