Willie Brown Predicts Shutdowns Won't Return

Willie Brown

Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco and an astute politician, writes in The San Francisco Chronicle:

Ready or not, we are reopening. And I doubt that even a spike in coronavirus cases would get us back into shutdown mode.

That “toggle switch” that Gov. Gavin Newsom said might be needed has been disconnected. Many people are no longer afraid to go out, and they are not going to be as cooperative if asked to return to microwaving and bad TV seven nights a week.

Here's his take on the "Defund the Police" movement:

 The call to “defund the police” as part of the anti-racism, anti-police-brutality movement is either one of the dumbest ideas of all time or the hands-down winner of the worst slogan ever.

I shouldn’t have to explain that actually defunding police is a nonstarter as a practical matter, let alone as a political one...You take away people’s feelings of personal safety, and you lose voters.

But here is a scary thought from him:

If the protesters throughout the nation can be channeled into voting come November, it could mean a Democratic landslide.

Not just for Joe Biden. Democrats could flip GOP-held U.S. Senate seats in Georgia, Arizona, Montana, Iowa, Maine and Colorado, and maybe even defeat Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky.

A net four-seat gain would guarantee Democrats a Senate majority. And I have every faith that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will ensure that Democrats hold the House.

If all that happens, and Biden wins the White House, we’ll truly be able to make America great again.

The one thing we don't need is one party in charge of all federal government. They are all terrible but it is best if we have at least some infighting that different parties bring.

In other words, the Republican Party better hold at least the Senate.

Here's a typical Brown story:

I’ve been hearing for years that America needs to have an “honest conversation” about race, but I have yet to hear one.

Looking back, I’d have to say the last time I heard an “honest” response to a racial question was in 1968.

I was the California co-chair of Bobby Kennedy’s presidential campaign, and we took him to Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church in Oakland.

The place was packed with ministers, activists, Black Panthers. You name it and they were there.

Bobby addressed the crowd. There was back and forth, and it got a bit heated.

Suddenly a booming voice came out of the crowd and said, “Senator?”

“Yes?” Kennedy said.

“Do you like black people?”

I was expecting the usual song and dance you get from politicians, but Kennedy just paused, took a moment to look over the crowd, then smiled and said, “Some.”

Now that was honest.

-RW