Then we heard about dumping some of those detainees being dumped (to the tune of $7000/month) in a San Bernadino group home. Oh hey, they also escaped. Embarrassing much?
Then we had the denials. "I don't have the authority here."
Then we had the simultaneous reversal and the whole exploratory committee announcement. Timely, I know.
Today, we're hearing a bit more from San Bernadino. Big surprise, they're more than a little hacked off about SF dumping our criminals into their community. Gee, total shocker - apparently other communities are actually concerned about protecting their citizens.
"This is a virtual assault on our communities," [County Supervisor Gary] Ovitt said Thursday at a news conference. "Our county will not serve as San Francisco's dumping ground."
"But what the city of San Francisco and its rock star Mayor Gavin Newsom did to poor little Yucaipa and the county of San Bernardino is a crime - really. And they should be ashamed of themselves. Sending eight crack-dealing street criminals to a nonsecure home in Yucaipa to serve out their sentences in a lock-free come-and-go at-will environment is beyond the pale. Their motive was to shelter these crooks from the feds because they are illegal immigrants from Honduras. Where did they park their brains? It was wrong, wrong, wrong." (Wes Hugh)
San Francisco didn't really need any help building a bad reputation with the rest of the state. There's already plenty of resentment about San Francisco values and the fact that we spell city with a capital "C" because we are just that darn important. This scandal is not helping. It definitely won't be a boon to Gavie's campaign for guv in 2010.
Tonight's 10:00 news featured a tasty piece of journalism from Hank Plante. You can read the article but I seriously urge you to view the video. Among other things, Newsom claims that he ended the policy of dumping illegal immigrant felons on May 16th, the date he claims to have found out about the practice.
So was he lying when he said that he didn't have the authority to change the practice on July 2nd? Or when he said that he that he didn't know "until recently" about the policy and that it was changed on July 3rd? Or tonight, was he lying when he told Hank Plante that he terminated the policy a month before the press got wind of it? Because, Mayor Newsom, I'm sure even you can see that all three of these things cannot be true.
I'm sure that behind closed doors this guy has the worst temper (in my head, I'm thinking Patrick Bateman-style rage...my imagination could be considered a little colorful). At any rate, it's probably a good possibility that a few walls of his office (or home) had a good bit of contact with his fist when all of this hit the fan.
Despite his adamant insistence that this has "nothing to do with anything political" - Newsom can be sure that to the rest of California, especially San Bernadino, this is going to be very political when they go to the polls in 2010.
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"Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."
There is salvation for you if you leave judgment in His hands.
Specifically, I think you are being awfully harsh on people convicted of dealing drugs or breaking immigration laws. Obviously, the Biblical passage quoted above was not a call to disobey the law, but a reminder that He is a merciful god and we do well to remember that.
More generally, I quote the passage as general comment on your blog. The God that I know, while He certainly disapproves of our sin, seeks to save the sinner with mercy and the word of His love, not stones of disapproval and outrage.
I commend your civic engagement, and I hope that this story of Jesus's mercy will guide you as you seek to make the world a better place.
Anonymous...we do do well to remember that God is merciful. There are definitely cases, personal and political, where mercy is the better path. When it comes to convicted drug dealers, I do not believe mercy is the appropriate tactic. JUSTICE for the rest of the community is required. People who deal dangerous drugs put society at risk for more violence. They should be punished for their crimes according to the law. The stability of our particular society relies on individuals and government abiding by the social contract and those who break it must bear the consequences.
As for illegal immigrants, it may be that they are fleeing harsh conditions, but I am of the mind that it doesn't justify breaking the laws of the land. Sure, there are cases where asylum is the right thing, but our gov't has a duty first to the protection of it's citizens and their welfare. It sort of amazes me that liberals hate it when America plays "world police" but when it comes to taking on unlimited numbers of illegal immigrants - we should always have arms wide open regardless of the consequences for the law-abiding citizens already here. Isn't that sort of being world police/daddy?
As for the rest, I would say a couple things (without desire to get involved in a theological debate):
1. "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." (Pr. 14:34)
2. It's important for all Christians to make sure that the "God they know" is firmly aligned with the God of the Bible - otherwise religion is an exercise in fantasy. Worshiping a god designed by our own imagination does not lead to salvation.
I would be happy to talk to you more at length about these sorts of issues, but email might be a better forum. You can email me anytime: urbanette.sf@gmail.com
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