Radical leftists suck up power void in California

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By Richard Eber, California Political News and Views  

Following the forced resignation of twice elected Republican Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark Peterson, the Board of Supervisors has the job of appointing a successor to fill his remaining term.

Giving their recommendation to fill the post was a so called non partisan group of community organizations to weigh in on the decision to be made. The problem is there was no one individual who was not considered to be a so called Progressive in the whole bunch.

Typical of those participating was the ACLU, Labor Council, NAACP, CCC Racial Justice Center, and the Democratic Party.  No one in this impartial coalition was middle of the road let alone a conservative or Republican.

It is also quite likely that those who voted the former conservative District attorney were not anti law enforcement or supported Sanctuary Cities and prisoners rights. Despite such having more moderate views on law and order, these folks will undoubtedly be ignored when choosing Peterson’s successor. .

There is nothing improper about these progressive groups from recommending who should be the new D.A. Vetting candidates for political office is a time honored practice in a democracy. But how can this ultra liberal group be allowed to publish Op Eds in the East Bay Times Newspaper and elsewhere without being required to being scrutinized for who they really are?

The answer is simple.  No one cares or has interest in such matters.  For the most part the Republican Party is hanging out at the country club saying “ain’t it awful” while lacking the resources and will to communicate with the electorate on what they believe is sound public policy.

Choosing a replacement to Mark Peterson is yet one example to the one sided political debates that dominates California politics.  For the most part Republicans are no longer considered to be viable candidates for public office outside a few selected areas in the Central Valley. In many cases such as the new Contra Costa D.A., they are not even in the discussion.

It is not a typographical error that the GOP holds zero state offices and less than one third of both houses in the legislature. As a result when issues are presented to the public it is not conservatives leading the opposition; but a rather extremist leftist with their radical agenda’s who are providing the air space.

A good example of this is the battle the Alameda County Sheriffs Association has had to wage to continue participating in the Federal Government’s Urban Shield Program. For the last 17 years, with both political parties in charge, training and equipment has been provided to local police departments.

This program has provided expertise for such diverse tasks as dealing with gangs, hostage situations, disasters, and civil disobedience.  In Alameda County which includes Berkeley, Oakland, and Richmond, leftist protestors came close to ending Urban Shield participation in their communities.

According to a press release that was released by the Prisoners’ Rights organization Critical Resistance prior to a community meeting making the decision,” Five members of an Alameda County taskforce assigned to assess the notorious Urban Shield training have submitted proposals to the taskforce recommending that the program be ended.

“Notorious” and “controversial”, was slipped in to describe this police training that is used in all 50 States of the Union.

The argument was based upon the assessment that “The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office has proven to be incapable of addressing community concerns regarding human rights, racism, and militarized tactics, and should not lead an exercise to prepare for the most serious disasters,”

If Critical Resistance had their way their leftist colleagues hiding their identities wearing black masks, under the guise of fighting fascism, would be squaring off at demonstrations against poorly equipped and trained law enforcement personnel. In their minds AntiFa are the good guys while this dressed in blue are considered to be evil.

Meanwhile, the Alameda Sheriffs Association and other law enforcement agencies in the State of California constantly receive a barrage of criticism from so called anti-fascist groups that anyone with half a brain knows resembles the group they are allegedly battling.

True to form on Friday Critical Resistance held their rally which consisted primarily of their hard core membership minus masks and assorted equipment utilized in demonstrations.  Other leftists groups including Marxists, anarchists, and those affiliated with Middle East terrorists were well represented in the throng. There was even a lady who blamed U.S. Imperialism for provoking North Korea. Instead chants could be heard:

• People power. Stop! Stop! Stop Urban Shield.
• The Sheriff’s Department is not protecting public safety
• Urban Shield is part is part of the occupation of black and brown communities around the world.
• Urban Shield can not be reformed. It needs to be ended.

Not surprisingly, the media consisting primarily of six o’clock news reporters did nothing to scrutinize the participants in this rally against Urban Shield.  They even borrowed phrases from Critical Resistance in writing their own accounts of the rally.

It was also not a leap of faith that demonstrators in depicting law enforcement officers being part of a fascist conspiracy, failed to mention the work this group has done in Texas and Florida in saving lives during recent hurricanes.

Instead a press release came out which stated “In Houston, as in many places struck by disasters, we see that it is community members themselves – and not the police – that are the most effective emergency responders”

So who came to bat for the Alameda Sheriffs?  No Progressive Democrats were willing to step forward.  They were too busy in their hatred of Donald Trump to question the motives of the AntiFa crowd.  In addition, supporting police is considered to be sign of weakness in ultra liberal political circles. We couldn’t have that!

Republican and conservatives voices were also absent from this event. As a result Critical Resistance and other extreme leftists had their way attacking the previously non-controversial Urban Shield program and law enforcement in general.

This time the Alameda Sheriff’s Department was barely able to hold off the forces who want to end Urban Shield.  The only change they had to make was to shed a vendor who was deemed to have a non PC cartoon on their web site.

Contra Costa County citizens will not be that lucky in getting a well balanced appointment for the open D.A.’s slot. Sanctuary City opponents need not apply.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident as California has turned out to what amounts to a one party state. Radical leftists are guarding the hen house from so called progressives.  Talk about scary!

Richard Eber studied journalism at the University of Oregon. He writes about politics, culture, education restaurants, and was former city and sports editor of UCSB Daily. Richard is president of Amerasa Rapid Transit, a specialized freight forwarder.

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