"MAN UP"

Last week the Chronicle printed a story about the suffering of the two young men charged with felonious assault on visiting Yale choir members.

The victims of what San Francisco D.A. Kamala Harris calls a “cowardly attack” had injuries that required ambulance trips to the hospital, but two of the attackers, currently free on bail, are complaining about how much they are suffering.

The ringleader of the attack, Richard Aicardi has lost 30 pounds. Boo fucking hoo.

Aicardi’s mom, a pediatrician, has lost some patients. Even though three of her sons are alleged to have participated in the cowardly attack, Ms Aicardi can’t understand why parents would doubt her expertise in raising children. Boo fucking hoo.

And Brian Dwyer’s life has turned upside down. Boo fucking hoo.

They thought they were immune to the law. They are totally surprised

They thought they should get away with beating people up.

Now the Chronicle has printed an editorial impugning the manliness of the Yale victims.

They had to get a woman to write it. Ms Caille Millner thinks it’s ok to go around insulting men’s masculinity, or is it their grown-upness she’s impugning. She starts the article by characterizing her views as “wisdom.”

A FEW WORDS of wisdom for the kids involved in the Yale New Year's Eve confrontation: Man up.

“Man up”? I guess that mean’s act like men. What exactly does that mean?

From the outcry that's erupted over this, you'd think it was the first time anyone had ever been in a fistfight. You'd think it was the worst thing in the world that a couple of Yale singers got hit in the face. You'd think that human beings have evolved to the point where violence isn't a day-to-day part of our existence.

The commentary over the course of this story boils down to a basic question: is fistfighting and street brawling a part of everyday life? Advocates for the attackers point to the unwritten rules of streetfighting.

This blog takes the position that there is no place in civilized society for fistfighting and street brawling. We advocate “love your neighbor as yourself.” It’s not a new concept.

What Ms Millner is asking for is exactly what she’s getting. The Yale kids are “Manning up.” They’re manning up just the way the Aicardi’s manned up.

Aicardi was outnumbered so he called for reinforcements. Then they used their superior force to prevail over the Yale kids that evening.

Now Caille Millner wants to declare the fight to be over. But the kind of “real men” Caille seems to prefer don’t admit defeat and dishonor, they, just like the Aicardi’s, look for reinforcements and revenge.

Now the Yale kids with their lawyer reinforcements have forced the police department, whom the Aicardi gang thought was on their side, to do their jobs and make a few arrests. So SFPD (at least in part) and the D.A. (at least in part) are on the Yalie side.

Now the Aicardi’s are whining that THEY are outnumbered.

This just proves what they say about bullies, when they meet superior force they turn into sniveling little babies.

You know, the story was fading from view until these two pro-defense articles came out. This is strange. It makes me suspicious.

Hopefully Dan Noyes will continue to investigate why more attackers haven’t been charged. There has been at least one anonymous allegation that one or more children of SFPD brass were involved in the attack.

Transparency is needed here, or we have to assume the worst.

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I SAW THE LIGHT

I Saw the Light – Johnny Cash

Amazing about the Aicardi/Dwyer story below is the surprise at the severity of the consequences, as if they thought it wasn’t too big a deal to go around beating people up.

You wonder about how they were socialized.

Sometimes it takes a scrape with the law to help us see the light.

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TWENTY DEEP

The two youths charged in the Yale Baker’s Dozen beating case are discovering that simply being arrested and charged with a crime is hugely painful. It’s life-disrupting. It’s future-affecting. Readers of the recent Chronicle story would be hard pressed not to feel sorry for these two kids. Quote:

On Thursday, Frank Passaglia, Aicardi's attorney, and Tony Brass, Dwyer's attorney, told The Chronicle that their clients' lives have been tossed upside down by the New Year's Eve foray and the media attention that flowed from it.

Richard Aicardi, the 19 year old accused instigator, is famously quoted for bragging, on the night of the incident, “I’m twenty deep.” This meant that he had twenty buddies on their way to help him fight.

The video of young Aidardi surrendering for booking shows him, not twenty-deep, but accompanied only by his father.

This is the seed of what should happen next.

The best outcome from the criminal proceedings, from the point of view of people who want to walk the streets of San Francisco without getting beaten up, is that all the attackers be convicted of violent crimes.

Another quote from the Chronicle sob story:

Now Dwyer finds himself in the difficult position of being "someone who has been a law-abiding kid his whole life and now all of a sudden he faces charges that could send him to state prison,'' Brass said.

Never in trouble before, Dwyer is depressed, sleeps a lot and has little appetite, his lawyer said.

Massive punishment for Aicardi and Dwyer might or might not deter future violence from the other attackers, those of the “twenty deep” who haven’t been charged. Better for all of us would be for all the attackers plead guilty of misdemeanor battery or something like that, do some community service, and go and sin no more.

That way, if any of the attackers should strike again, they couldn’t claim “first offense.”

So how do we get them all to plead guilty? By threatening Aicardi and Dwyer with vigorous prosecution and serious state prison time. Then offer to bargain down to a misdemeanor if they testify against the other attackers.

At the same time, the D.A. Harris could let it be known that if the other attackers surrendered, they could plead guilty to misdemeanors.

It would be malpractice for the D.A. not to exploit this loyalty dilemma. Aicardi and Dwyer feel loyalty to the twenty-deepers. But how much loyalty do the twenty-deepers show by letting Aicardi and Dwyer take the entire fall?

It’s a real grown-up problem.

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"UNDERAGE DRINKING"

In the immediate aftermath of the New Year’s Eve attack on Yale's Baker’s Dozen, the mayor, other officials, and defense attorneys all referred to “underage drinking” as a mitigating factor.

Here’s a quote from an ABC7 interview with Mayor Newsom, early in the investigation:

Why were these kids, they’re all underage, why were they in a home with a lot of liquor, how’d they get the liquor, what the heck were they doing down there…?

I interpret this as a threat to the adults responsible for the party at which one or more of the alleged attackers was an uninvited guest.

For high school and college kids under 21, drinking alcohol is way common, but it's illegal. It is illegal in California for a grownup to supply alcohol to people under 21. Not only is it a criminal offense, but the supplier assumes liability for the subsequent behavior of the underage drinker.

For a bar or liquor store to sell to underage drinkers could also jeopardize their licenses. There is no allegation of any specific act of providing alcohol to minors, but, they got drunk somehow.

The owners of LaRocca’s Corner might be a little nervous.

According to this Chronicle story a recent Sacred Heart High School grad, Rich Aicardi picked at fight at a party and called some friends in to help him finish it.

"After the confrontation on the deck, Aicardi was overheard and acknowledged making a phone call to the other suspects," according to [police inspector]Newman. Aicardi summoned friends from LaRocca's bar in San Francisco, he stated.

If the friends Aicardi summoned from LaRocca’s were also under 21, there might be a problem.

LaRocca’s, a neighborhood institution since 1922, says it’s a place where tourists can rub elbows with natives. LaRocca’s website features the slogan, “Drink With Dignity.”

Yelp has fourteen reviews of LaRocca’s Corner. With one exception the reviews are positive. People interested in the “local high school” aspect of the Baker’s Dozen case should take a look at Yelp.

Two reviews say the bar is hangout for Sacred Heart alumni. Another review mentions a bartender’s discussion of Catholic high schools and Catholic girls.

Two reviews hint at manly fisticuffs. One review implies the bar is friendly to underage drinkers. Altogether, the reviews agree on one great feature , generous cheap drinks.

Earlier reports mentioned one carload of attackers arriving from a “nearby bar.” LaRocca’s is not very nearby the scene of the attack. There may be other bar owners who might be nervous about a thorough investigation.

The arrest of otherwise privileged kids like Aicardi and Dwyer has ripple effects. The locals don’t like any of this one bit. The police don’t care how the kids got the booze, but the plaintiffs’ attorneys might.

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OUR HERO: DAN NOYES

The felony charges filed yesterday against two attackers in the Baker’s Dozen case never would have been brought had it not been for the efforts of the I-Team at San Francisco’s ABC7.

Others contributed, notably the Gonzalez and Leigh law firm, but the public demand for justice was led by Dan Noyes and his investigative I-Team.

Gee whiz! This is kind of like those corny stories of courageous newspeople who dig deep and buck entrenched powers to get at the truth and to force elected officials to do their jobs. Maybe some bad guys will do some time behind bars.

This is not that big a deal, unless you consider that after the incident the Mayor and the Police Chief both maintained that no crime had even been committed. The attackers were going to get away with it.

Congratulations Mr Noyes (bio) and the whole crew at ABC7. Now we need to know why others have not been charged and why the police chief tried to cover the whole thing up.

Answering that last question would deserve a Pulitzer.

----- o -----

FLIP 'EM, FLIP 'EM GOOD

D.A. Kamala Harris announced felony charges against two suspects in the New Year’s Eve attack on Yale Baker’s Dozen Choir members. ABC7 story here.

Other attackers have not been charged, but Harris has hinted that charges against others could be brought if additional evidence becomes available.

This “additional evidence” must be eyewitness testimony from the two already charged. We’ve seen it on TV a million times, defendants are offered reduced sentences in exchange for testimony against other perpetrators.

The two defendants are only nineteen years old. If the D.A. can’t flip them, she’s not really trying.

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GLEEGATE UPDATE

Pud says our out of town visitors might want to here the news about Gleegate—the New Year’s Eve incident in which local toughs beat up members of a visiting Yale choir.

The attackers were originally let go, allegedly because they are the children of prominent San Franciscans and of police brass. Only because of citizen outrage did the police launch a formal investigation.

[In above photo: The gal on the left is supposed to be prosecuting violent crimes. The gal on the right is supposed to be ending the Iraq War. Nobody hold your breath.]

On February 14th the SFPD turned over the results of the investigation to District Attorney Kamala Harris. That was two weeks ago. We’ve heard nothing since.

It’s been two months since the attack took place.

What does this say about San Francisco? Nothing very good.

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GLEEGATE: TWO SIDES

We were pleased to receive the following comment to one of our posts regarding the New Year’s Eve attack by local youth on members of a visiting Yale Choir.

The Commenter displays a level of intellectual honesty that SFWILLIE’S BLOG must strive to emulate.

could it be the simple fact that if you go to the wrong place at the wrong time, get drunk and pick a fight with a bunch of marines, then try and get out of it by standing in a circle, holding hands and singing the star spangled banner, that you're just going to get your ass kicked and people are not likely to have any meaningful sympathy for you?

freedom, it ain't free.

i get the outrage over yet another incident of the sfpd dragging its dirty heels in the course of administering due process to people who regardless of how one feels about the subject, have an undeniable (one would hope) right to it, but i don't get the outrage over a bunch of sheltered ivy league snots from yale coming here and getting their asses duly kicked after picking a drunken fight with a bunch of marines and sons of sfpd brass.

if you're that stupid, there are going to be consequences. apply the law, okay -- but no tea and sympathy

Commenter has two main points, which we discuss in reverse order.

Commenter’s second point is something that by now most people (who care at all) agree on—that due process should be pursued because we all deserve access to due process, and that maybe due process wasn’t pursued too well right after the incident.

Commenter’s first point, which is more controversial, is that we shouldn’t be too quick to judge the characters of the people involved, the Yale choirboys or the local youth.

Commenter is saying that probably the police and DA should be involved, but that the Yale guys are a bunch of rich punks who disrespected less privileged kids on their own turf, and paid the price by getting knocked around a little.

Rules We Live By

R1) Kids’ subculture rules.

R2) Common sense/street rules

R3) The Golden Rule

R4) Civil code

R5) Penal code

In the discussion of the incident, the SF local kids (the attackers) emphasize R1 and R2. Like, what did the Yale kids expect?

The Yale kids are emphasizing R5. Who knows if the Yale parents even want to bother with R4.

SFWILLIE'S BLOG tries to always emphasize R3. And for all the supposed Catholics involved, we want to aver that Jesus was not a beater-upper.

Time Periods
T1) The history of the world up until the “Gleegate” fight was picked.
T2) The time between when the “Gleegate” fight was picked and when the police arrived on the scene.
T3) Everything since the police rolled onto the Gleegate scene.

T1 Before the Incident
accusers A group of local Catholic High School graduates, who probably have a history of street-fighting, are looking to get rowdy on a New Year’s Eve. They haven’t been invited to any parties and no girls are interested in them, so they are out looking to spoil other people’s fun.

defense Some local kids are chillin’ on New Year’s Eve. Their prospects aren’t all that bright. In fact some of them have enlisted in the Marines. These are good, robust boys.

sfwillie: This confrontation comes from the mixing of classes that happens in high school. By their mid-twenties these classes will be completely segregated from each other.

In San Francisco, St Ignatius sends kids to Yale and to the Naval Academy. Sacred Heart sends kids to City College and into the Marines. In general, as grown ups, SH kids will be taking orders from SI kids. There’s no reason why SH kids shouldn’t see injustice here and resent it. The local kids were looking for a fight, and they didn’t know exactly why.


T2 The Incident
accusers The local kids' search patrol (party crasher) draws fire from the enemy (Yale students verbal interaction) and calls in massive fire power (a van full of marines), to wipe out the enemy. The squad of locals waits outside and gangs up on the unsuspecting Yale kids who leave the party one by one or in small groups.

defense The Yale kids voluntarily came out of the house to engage in a fight with the local kids. The Yale kids lose the fight and suffer minor injuries. No one dies, no one suffers permanent disabilities. A broken jaw, a couple of black eyes, a little concussion, this is all pretty tame stuff for SF General’s ER on a New Years Eve.

sfwillie There could be some mixture of the two above versions, but there is little doubt that any “mutual combat” soon turned into a beating. As a newsman put it—when someone is on the ground and has ceased fighting, kicking that person in the head is usually considered a felony. I think there were probably multiple felonies committed that night, most if not all by the SF locals.

T3 After Police Arrive
accusers When the police arrived on the scene they recognized the local kids as people they shouldn’t arrest. Maybe the cops on the scene favored the local kids, maybe the cops knew that the SFPD brass would punish them for arresting these particular kids. The cops on the scene conducted the “investigation” and wrote their reports in such a way that would justify their decision to make no arrests. A harsher way to say this is that the cops lied and purposely ignored proper procedure.

defense When the police arrived they confirmed no fatalities, no life-threatening injuries, all subjects ambulatory, teenage/young adults drinking and fighting on a New Years Eve. The Yale kids, who were losing the fight, see the cops as a way of getting back at the local kids. Instead of admitting to “mutual combat” they claim an unprovoked attack.

Maybe this will teach the Yale kids to show some respect for the lower classes, who in this case are Marines, sworn to sacrifice their own lives to protect the Yale kids’ candy asses from real attack. The Yale parents should congratulate the local kids for possibly knocking some sense into their spoiled brats.

sfwillie The unexpected wrinkle is that the victims were from Yale, which belongs to the national and international ruling class. As far as Yale is concerned, our turf is their turf. The entire world is their turf.

So the SF local kids thought that their connections gave them impunity for street-brawling. Then they came up against kids with even better connections. The lesson is familiar: no matter how tough you are, you’ll find someone who’s tougher.

I sympathize with the police on the scene, who will probably draw the blame, but who were doing exactly what they’re superiors expected.

We simply cannot allow kids to go around beating people up. There should be prosecutions of at least some of the kids. The SF local kids need help in finding alternatives to violence. We all need this help.

More importantly, there must be an investigation into the handling of the incident by the police and district attorney. Their performance stinks to high heaven.

It’s time to professionalize SFPD.

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GLEEGATE/TOURKGATE

Some say let’s show Gavin the gate. It looks like he’ll get lost if he tries to find his own way out.

Monday morning has dawned in San Francisco. We’ve all had a full week to recover from the Super Bowl (Pud’s minority report: “Stupid Bowl”).

I think of the week after the Super Bowl as a national post-coital nap. It’s good timing that Anna Nicole died during a week when no one was going to cover serious news anyway.

So, what ever happened to the thorough investigation conducted by SFPD into the New Years Eve attack by local toughs on visiting choristers from Yale?

On the table is the proposition that the Gleegate attackers, and the Fajitagate attackers, and cops who rough up gay people are acting as agents of the “true San Francisco.” You know, like, we’re a brawlin’, sissies-beware kind of gold rush town.

We San Franciscans insist on balsamic vinaigrette, then we kick you in the balls, or shoot you between the eyes, like Palladin. We’re manly men, like Richard Boone, we just happen to have good taste.

I should remember that many think danger is an attraction.

Heck, it’s common for young men visiting SF for the first time have fantasies of being Shanghaied. Of course, to them “being Shanghaied” includes lots of opium and sex with Chinese women.

So, Gavin, if you want these Yale pussies to fuck off, just say so.

Or, now I get it, that’s what you’ve been saying all along. Stupid me.

That's why Robert Frost left when he could. Fucking pansy!

----- o ----

"EVERYBODY DOES IT"

It looks like the people responsible for raising and educating the perps in San Francisco’s shameful Gleegate attack are resorting to the world’s most pathetic defense: everybody does it.

A defense attorney hired by alleged perp parents refers to a “mutual brawl,” as if mutual brawling is SOP. Like, oh yeah, it was one of them mutual brawls.

Yesterday’s Chronicle article quoted a spokesperson for St Ignatius High School, Paul Totah, as saying, “Teenage boys all across America get into fights. That’s natural, though unfortunate.”

Isn’t it strange that the Jesuit fathers of St Ignatius would have a lay person, an English teacher, fronting for them on an important issue of public morality. Also, since the alleged perps are not from St Ignatius, it’s interesting that SI would come to their defense.

The Jesuits publish their own guide to English usage (the Brown Beast) which contains a section titled COMMON FALLACIES AND THEIR REFUTATIONS.

Mr Totah’s statement (besides being incredibly sexist) is an argument from common practice, a variant of the “Argument from Common Knowledge.” As the Brown Beast says, this argument is the easiest to refute—one simply states one’s own disagreement.

So, when someone says, “Everyone loved Ronald Reagan,” I can prove that assertion to be false simply by stating my own opinion, that the man was a scumbag.

And, when Mr Paul Totah tells us that all teenage boys do a little curb-stomping, I can personally refute that one. Sfwillie is no saint, sfwillie has much that he’s ashamed of, but sfwillie has never kicked anyone in the head when they were lying on the pavement.

If you exclude pre-pubertal stuff, I would aver that less than 3% of adult American males have ever been in a serious fistfight.

There are and always have been a certain small percentage of teenage boys who find physical intimidation useful, or who actually enjoy fighting.

OJ Simpson tells stories about his street fighting when growing up in San Francisco as a form of amusement. Interestingly, St Ignatius had a basketball star at the same time, who also had a reputation for brutal street fighting.

We’d be at a teen club dance on a Friday night and kids would come in all excited with accounts of how this basketball star nearly killed a guy, stomping his head on a curb. Poor kid, he was socially awkward, and the best he ever did was warm a couple of NBA benches.

So I refute Mr Totah’s assertion. Very few teenage boys get into fights. We’re talking about bullies, not normal teenagers.

I wonder what an actual Jesuit priest would have to say about this.

Pud thinks the administrators of Sacred Heart and SI should come off the defensive and put a positive spin on the situation. Something like, “Catholic Education: Keeping our city safe from visiting choirboys.”

Saint Francis looks a little sad.

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GOING NATIVE

Pud and I both hate this Yale Choir beating story. The actual crime, basically white-youth-wilding, is embarrassing for the city. But the cover up, so extensive for such a low level crime, hints at secrets far deeper and darker than a prominent parent’s inability to control her kids.

How does it relate to Fajitagate? How does it relate to the unsolved murder of SFPD vice-officer Lester Garnier? How does it relate to the weird political rub-out of Roger Boas?

If you’re a true crime fan at all, this story about the cover up in the murder of Lester Garnier will make you’re skin crawl.

Some of the Yale beating commentary involved the nativeness versus non-nativeness of residents and visitors. This reopened the dispute between Pud and me about which of us was more native.

I have documentary evidence. Pud has a story.

I have census documents showing that my grandfather was born in San Francisco in 1865. There are UC records showing he finished Medical School in 1894, and phone books showing he was practicing medicine and living at Haight and Masonic in 1901, the year my dad was born.

Pud has bullshit.

According to Pud, his great-grandfather worked for John Sutter in 1847 but was banished to San Francisco when he screwed the pooch.

“My great-grandfather, Clarence Wilson, was a beastialist,” Pud said, hanging his head for effect.

“There’s no other way to say it, he was a dog-lover. I guess he wasn’t too discrete about it, so he had to keep moving along. Finally, he came to California.

“You know how these days some people come to California for the 'California Girls'?

“So great grandpa found himself near Sacramento, milling at Sutter’s and raising dogs on the side. Until one day great granddaddy Clarence got caught having sex with John Sutter’s favorite Lab.

“Of the choices presented him, old Clarence chose the highway and came to San Francisco where he pursued a number of occupations.

“Then when the 49ers started arriving, Clarence put his dog husbandry (so to speak) skills to work, and overnight he was proprietor of the biggest meat packing plant west of Chicago. Prime beef, fresh and cured.”

“And the prime beef wasn’t really prime?” I asked.

“The prime beef wasn’t really beef,” Pud laughed.

“So the entire gold rush was fueled by dog meat?”

“Good part of it,” Pud said.

“When old Clarence was shot by what we’ll call a ‘dissatisfied diner’ his presumably large fortune was nowhere to be found. The lawsuits against Clarence’s estate would have reduced it to zero.

“There are still people in San Francisco who are pissed off at the Wilsons. Some people think we still have old Clarence’s fortune stashed away somewhere.”

“But look at me,” Pud gestured, “I live like a pig.”

“You ARE a pig,” I said, “but you’ve never worked a day in your life.”

“So the mystery lives on,” Pud said.

“So my family’s been here longer than your family,” he said, almost nyah-nyahing. “Clarence was already here when you’re great grandfather arrived. Your great grandfather probably loved Wilson’s Famous Beef Tamales.”

Pud cites the truthfulness of his father and grandfather as proof that the dog story is true. I don’t want to be in the position of calling either of them a liar.

----- o -----

GO TEAM!

[Note: The wonderful kids in this video have no association with San Francisco, nor with any New Year's Eve ugliness. I salute them for their presentation and for the excellent example they provide. As always, you can click through to YouTube for more information. BTW: I love this song, it's one of my guiltiest pleasures.]

Tourists to our sophisticated city need an additional guidebook:

SAN FRANCISCO HIGH SCHOOL RIVALRIES
Who’s Gonna Kick Your Ass, and Why

----- o -----

SAN FRANCISCO BEAT

Examining why I’m so pissed off about the Yale choir beating cover up, I had to consider my family’s status vis-à-vis this city’s elite.

My dad had been destined for a role in San Francisco’s native Catholic elite. His father, Joseph Sr, fucked things up and my dad wasn’t able to claim his birthright.

My dad saw his sons (me and my brother) as a way to reclaim his family’s status. My family returned to San Francisco from a truly happy time in Los Angeles, so that my brother and I could attend St Ignatius High School.

This is all in retrospect, but, what a tawdry goal, aiming to be part of a goodoldboy native elite in a provincial, if pretty, town! I’m so glad, for my sake, that the effort failed!



Our current mayor, Gavin Newsom, is in a position to greatly quiet the Yale beating uproar, but appears to be supporting the attackers and the cover-up-ers instead.

Gavin Newsom’s dad, Bill, was a high school (St Ignatius) friend of Gordon Getty, and pretty much worked for Mr Getty all his life. Gordon Getty was considered for a time to be the richest man in America. He’s currently around #150.

It seems that now Gavin, our mayor, works for Gordon Getty. No problemo. [These are all native San Franciscans.]

For the most part we expect if not exactly applaud that special privileges are accorded the rich and powerful. I believe that I’ve been a significant beneficiary of those privileges.

The idea that native born people have privileges not enjoyed by newcomers or by visitors, is also not particularly shocking or upsetting.

But there’s no way those privileges include beating people up, with impunity.


I can’t imagine that Gordon Getty likes this situation. San Francisco is, sortalike, HIS city. So why can’t they arrest a couple of kids and slap them on the wrist?


And the tourist industry and CofC can’t like it much either.

There’s got to be some bad juju somewhere back there, if even Gordon Getty is powerless. Somebody’s got somebody by the balls.

----- o -----

WOMEN'S MOVEMENT FAILURE

One supposed benchmark of success for a minority rights movement is to see members of the minority ascend to positions of power hitherto closed to them.

For instance, having a black president would signal that black people had “come a long way.”

The power structure can turn this impulse into a cruel burlesque, giving us Clarence Thomas (black), Alberto Gonzales (brown), Elaine Chao (yellow), and Ken Mehlmen (nerd--gays have disowned him).

The current police crisis in San Francisco (cop friends beat Yale choirboys) shows a clear failure of this standard as regards the women’s movement.

The only job description item that makes policing unique is the use of force. A police officer must, when it gets down to it, be willing and able to apply force to apprehend criminals and to protect the public.

The willingness to crack heads, while a necessary trait in the police force, requires effective management. Just as we want police dogs to be gentle and non-aggressive except when aggression is called for by their jobs, the same principle applies to human police.

In San Francisco there are three people who bear responsibility for the behavior of the police: the Chief of Police, the District Attorney, and the Mayor. All three at this time, happen to be women.

All three are defending, or cooperating in the defense of the cops who covered up and the cops’ friends who actually did the beating. This is a setback for the women’s movement.

Heather Fong is our chief of police. She was brought in as some sort of sop after goodoldboy police brass were indicted for covering up a previous off-duty cop beating sandal. I’m sorry, but when I look at her I think Barney Fife. She’s backing up the cop lies.

Kamala (sort of rhymes with Pamela) Harris is our District Attorney. She has done nothing except delay. And as we know from TV, delay is the friend of the guilty. The strategy is to let things cool down, in hopes that the outrageous decision not to prosecute, when finally announced, will cause less outrage.

Gavin Newsom is our mayor. He looks so good, I’m making him an honorary woman. And his behavior in this case is what misogynists used to call “womanly.”

Why? There are two reasons why cop power would trump obvious public interest:

1) The cops, or their friends, have dirt on Fong/Harris/Newsom, that keeps them from doing the right thing,

2) Fong/Harris/Newsom are afraid of being murdered by the police. This has happened before. Dan White, an (ex)cop murdered our liberal mayor and a county supervisor, and his cop friends and the D.A. helped him get off with five years for manslaughter. Our top prosecutor was supposedly caught off guard by the Twinkie defense.

It’s a shame our police department can’t do better. I went to school with lots of kids who became cops, and I would personally vouch for the integrity of most of them.

But the police department is a bureaucracy, and left unattended, bureaucracies will be taken over by the mediocre and the venal.

I wonder how we good-government advocates can make things easier for the great majority of policemen and women who want to do a decent, honest job, and who don’t enjoy licking the asses of our podunk (wikilink) aristocracy.

[Editorial note: Pud thinks that associating Gavin Newsom with the women’s movement is grossly unfair and “stupid.” I tend to agree. To call Gavin Newsom “a woman” is an insult to women everywhere, and I apologize.]

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VIOLENT MUTANT GEEKS

. . .because the cops don’t need you
and, man, they expect the same.
Bob Dylan

It’s sort of a cliché, when a driver stops in a strange hick town, he shouldn’t go too far off the highway, for fear of encountering that town’s contingent of violent mutant geeks.

For an extreme example of what I'm talking about, see the movie Deliverance.

Well, San Francisco is just such a hick town.

I think the Yale choir boy beating story had a brief national play. Here’s a decent summary.

I went to one of the high schools mentioned in the story, and witnessed the development of the kind of violent mutant geeks who are the alleged perps in the beating story.

It’s a Catholic boy high school thing. Half the S.F. police department went to one of the SF's three Catholic boys high schools. Their high school friends expect some leniency in future dealings, especially if wealth or status is involved.

So these alleged perp kids are 1) privileged, 2) burdened by expectations, and 3) twisted by the Catholic sex thing. They are San Francisco’s own Violent Mutant Geeks.

Young men, New Year’s eve, in the company of their male buddies, out looking to beat up other males--now that’s mutant-geeky.

Didn’t anyone tell them they’re supposed to be out looking for pussy?

So, when they beat up some guys, their cop buddies show up and let them go, just like normal. Except this time the victims are Yale choir boys, some with parents who want some sort of justice.

So the usual cop-lies are being exposed.

It’s a disgrace. Especially coming so soon after the death of a young SFPD patrolman who was shot while pursuing a dangerous escaped felon. He was a hero.

I’m a fourth generation San Franciscan. I’m ashamed. Pud is, too.

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