How Times- And Opinions- Change

On Real Time on Friday evening, Bill Maher, railing about violent crime, read (at 27:46 of the video below) what he described as an "amazing quote" from San Francisco mayor London Breed.  On December 15 of last year, Breed stated "It's time the reign of criminals who are destroying our city come to an end. And it comes to an end when we take the steps to (be).....  less tolerant of all the bull_ _ _ _ that has destroyed our city."

Maher raved "this is how you talk like a real person. You say the word bull _ _ _ _."  However, guest Bari Weiss noted

But the reason that's such an important bellwether is if you go back, just wind back the clock to 2020, when she was talking about being soft on crime and defunding the police. She was running around talking about that and the switch is a great, great sign.

I don't know whether Breed was running around, driving, or merely walking. But Weiss' claim about Breed's earlier perspective can be confirmed by a video (below) of an appearance the mayor made at a rally in front of City Hall on June 1, 2020. She stated "what happened to George Floyd was because he was black," a statement which in those days could be made with no fear that anyone would attempt to rebut it. For better or worse, though, Officer Derek Chauvin's motive in killing Floyd was never determined.

Following that incendiary, albeit unfortunately uncontroversial, remark, it went downhill. Breed declared  "I don't want to see one more black man die at the hands of law enforcement. That's what this movement is about. Not one more."

Everyone makes mistakes- but Breed's statement was exposed as less humanitarian than boastful when she led a kneel down and announced "I don't want to see one more black man die at the hands of law enforcement. That's what this movement  is about." She then led a chant of "not one more."

 

Nineteen months later, we know that in 2021 alone there were an estimated 283 blacks killed by police. Safe bet: a large majority of them were male, which would make the mayor's estimation off by percent infinitum. Evidently, the movement has failed miserably. And the mayor had promised something that couldn't be delivered, a prime reason so many people have been losing faith in government since Donald Trump was merely a corrupt and bigoted businessman in New York City.

Weiss understands that Breed is singing a different tune now than she did in those heady days of summer 2020, when polls indicated support of black lives matter and of Black Lives Matter, the extremist group which advocated (total) defunding of the police and elimination of the nuclear family.

After the murder of Floyd, public expressions of support for "black lives matter" were in vogue, though the protests were more narrowly focused on police brutality toward blacks. It was easy not to notice the danger of a mayor who would proclaim, as she did three times during her speech, "I am a mayor but I'm a black woman first," laying bare her disregard for the residents of the city for which she was elected to be chief executive.

As violent crime increased- largely coincidentally- in wake of that summer's racial justice protests, voters recall the protests as they are bombarded with stories about theft, robbery, and murder. Mayor Breed can read the room, however, and now rails against criminals with a profanity or two to impress people (not only Maher) that she is a tough guy. Whatever the sincerity- or lack thereof- it is certainly a dramatic change of tone that Bari Weiss recognized.

 

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