Gavin Newsom is a HERO to many gays and lesbians and their straight allies

[ruggerson]

to trash him is to trash all the other heroes of the civil rights/human rights movement in our country.

It's just plain wrong.

[Teaser]

1. who's trashing Newsom?

context?

[jlake]

2. Yes, and I am adding this to the list of liberal values Obama is willing to

throw under the bus - and his followers are willing to defend.

[KittyWampus]

4. what are referencing? elaborate

[KittyWampus]

3. who is trashing him? One DU'er?

LOL!

seems like you're an excitable boy.

[ruggerson]

7. Really? read this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4410371

[KittyWampus]

25. #1.It seems like there was some creative editing to try & make Obama look bad and #2.Bay Area DU'ers

An astounding editing job

say Newsom is a corporate toady and not a progressive who used the Gay Marriage platform to get elected.

I'll take SFexpat2000's take on it because she's not only from the area, but a local activist and shown herself to be not terribly partisan in the primary.


From the thread you linked ot:
From the SF Chronicle, to MYDD, to DU...
Looks like quite a bit of the original SFC article was "lost" along the way:

From the first paragraph from the SFC article:

"On the eve of the biggest night of the presidential primaries, Newsom shared the spotlight during a town hall meeting staged and broadcast on cable TV and satellite radio by the Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign."

Later in the SFC article, also edited out:

"Barack Obama gets his picture taken with gay people all the time," Hildebrand said. "Including me, his deputy campaign manager."

Also edited out:

"the mayor's endorsement of the former first lady is more likely a case of repayment of political favors."

Also edited out:

"They could attack Obama for a lot of things, but this isn't one of them," said Hildebrand. "And for this to pop up on the eve of the election is very suspicious. There's just no truth to it."

[Cant trust em]

35. I'm also from SF and I don't trust Newsom

Here's what he had to say four years ago on the subject of taking photos with candidates.

Newsom freely admits, "It's been a little awkward with the Kerry campaign, '' adding that "the last thing (Kerry) needs is being seen close to me.''

Why?

"Because you'd all ask about 'the issue' -- gay marriage,'' Newsom said. "And I don't think this candidate wants to answer that question.

"We're respectful of that,'' Newsom added. "We'll stay in the background -- you know, arrive late, exit early and move on.''

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/06/27/BAG0T7CULO1.DTL&hw=Newsom+Democrats+gay&sn=016&sc=426

[EFerrari]

50. They had to bring in Bill Clinton to campaign for Newsom

because the city was trending to the PROGRESSIVE candidate.

That and Willie Brown's dirty tricks got Newsom elected.

Look, when Newsom was marrying people at City Hall, most of us cut him some slack and even called and thanked him. Before and after, he's been awful. That's the first thing.

The second thing is, no politically labial Democrat wanted to be seen with Newsom up to and including Kerry. So Obama wasn't even special if this story was true.

The story in the Chronicle today is quid pro quo for Bill's help and it's exactly Newsom's M.O. I'm sorry. That's just the truth. It's a good thing to know who you are placing your trust in.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. Yet some are using him to trash another civil rights advocate.

That just says to me that those people aren't as concerned about civil rights as they pretend to be.

[murielm99]

6. Huh?

Who is doing this?

I thought DUers were still busy tearing down Joe Wilson.

[ruggerson]

9. Here you go

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4410371

[Bluebear]

Get your "gays are the reason Bush won" thread of the day ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4412025&mesg_id=4412025

[terrya]

19. What pisses me off about this shit....

is that Florida has added an anti-gay marriage amendment to the ballot for Novemeber.

And if it's a close election...

I can see history repeating itself on here. There are people here, as you well know, who will latch on that "the homos caused us the election" shite in a heartbeat.

[dsc]

8. I wonder just how many slights we are supposed to take

before we are permitted to wonder just what kind of candidate Obama is. Honestly, it is beginning to piss me off.

[Exultant Democracy]

16. You don't think him fucking his friends wife wasn't the issue? The man's name is mud now.

[dsc]

17. If this was the first time, then OK, but it isn't

At some point it is hard to keep accepting excuses.

[ruggerson]

22. the event in question occurred BEFORE that happened

your excuse doesn't hold water

[Shakespeare]

36. Which is why he was just overwhelmingly re-elected.

:eyes:

Contrary to what a handful of bay area DUers have said here today, Newsom is very well-liked, indeed. And his work on gay rights and on healthcare has been remarkable--he's shown more political courage than anyone else I can think of.

Has he had 100% success in every single area? No, and he's still working. Geez, folks.

[Exultant Democracy]

44. Of course no one in the Bay area cares, he could have done it in public and they wouldn't care

but the rest of the country is not as progressive as the bay area (surprise!) and fucking your best friends wife doesn't fly.

[Shakespeare]

47. Oh, so you've switched from "he's so unpopular" to "it's only because everyone in SF is immoral"

Oh, please. :eyes:

[Exultant Democracy]

55. well I never said "he's so unpopular" ever. I said perhaps the wife fucking was an issue

[EFerrari]

53. He was re-elected because Bay Area progressives did not mount

a real challenge. Our Board of Supervisors is a progressive counter to him and there are too many other issues that are more pressing right now. I myself was sort of surprised until I considered how burned out I was and multiplied that by several hundred people.

Newsom makes gestures and he lets other people deal with consequences. I don't know how much courage that takes.

[Shakespeare]

58. The courage I'm talking about is his historic move on same-sex marriages.

That was his decision, and he knew he'd become a pariah for it to most people outside San Francisco, at a time when he was being called the face of the party's future. He effectively sacrificed his presumptive national career to make this "gesture," as you call it. And he did it anyway, and that took great courage.

[EFerrari]

60. Yes, Gavin gets credit for doing that. n/t

[MonkeyFunk]

28. I agree

I have defended Obama here many times, and have often said he'd be a fine candidate and a fine president. But I'm starting to reach my limit here.

[dsc]

32. I am bitterly disappointed to be honest.

[mondo joe]

54. The stance of 0bama and many DUers is plain to me: we are to be ATMs for cash and votes, and

we are then to be put away out of sight of decent people.

[xchrom]

10. waiting to see if the donnie mcclurkin of DU shows up.

it was both bigoted -- it was gay baiting.

[cboy4]

11. Word.

:thumbsup:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

12. thanks ruggerson

[ruggerson]

14. I really don't get what's wrong with some of these people

the double standard is alive and well

[La Lioness Priyanka]

15. me either.

[EFerrari]

45. Some of us have a fondness for the truth.

Harvey Milk was a hero. I knew Harvey Milk and Gavin Newsom ain't no Harvey Milk.

I realize that people who don't live here only see him through that one action. Unfortunately, those of us who do live here don't have that luxury.

[Recursion]

13. Trashing his judgment does not equal trashing him

I've seen quite a few people (more than I like to see) saying he did what he did at the worst possible time. I haven't really seen people trashing him. But then again my flamewar filter is pretty high at this point.

[CyberPieHole]

18. Kick and Rec for Gavin Newsom...

He is definitely a civil rights HERO!

:kick: and recommend

[Iceburg]

20. He is to the GBLT community what MLK is to the AA community...

Now we need a President that can demonstrate as much courage.

[jefferson_dem]

21. I'm with you, ruggerson.

Mayor Newsom has been a pioneer on the front lines of the movement for equality, taking slings and arrows for us all. He absolutely deserves our respect and admiration.

[ruggerson]

30. thanks jd

whatever his personal faults, the man stood up for what was right and organized one of the greatest acts of civil disobedience since MLK.

[Maddy McCall]

23. Yes.

[MonkeyFunk]

24. Indeed he is!

K&R

[Jed Dilligan]

26. He's a liar, a philanderer, a drunk, and a crypto-conservative.

Just because of one photo-op I won't forgive him his racist and fascist policies.

[democracyindanger]

34. You live in SF?

Just wondering.

[Jed Dilligan]

37. I did for many years and follow the politics closely still.

[democracyindanger]

40. Hmm.

So did I, I do, and I think your characterization is laughable. That is all.

[Shakespeare]

38. A crypto-conservative?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

That's one of the single most full-of-shit things I've ever read here. Way to go!

[Jed Dilligan]

41. "Quality of Life" laws

He is a carbon copy of Rudy Giuliani. who is more than friendly to gays but no friend to any progressive.

[EFerrari]

43. No, that's right. In fact, he ran to the right of a real civil rights leader

in the gay community, Tom Ammianno and also to the right of Matt Gonzalez who is a tireless advocate for social justice here.

[Shakespeare]

49. uh....you really want to champion Gonzalez?

He's as big a political whore as you'll ever find. I've always liked Ammianno, though.

I do think it's just a BIT much to call Newsom a "crypto-conservative."

I know the homeless issue is one you're very involved in--and I really admire that--but I also don't think Newsom's been heartless OR a liar where this is concerned. I think he genuinely is trying different approaches to try and alleviate the problem--he's just a long way from the solution, and in SF especially, it's an enormous problem to start with. It also doesn't help that you have residents of the Mission and the Castro who've turned into a bunch of heartless NIMBY assholes. Those folks aren't exactly helping with solutions.

The problem is much bigger than what the mayor's office is or isn't doing.

[EFerrari]

51. I've caught him red handed on more than one occasion.

And, so has the Chronicle:

Police say they've been told to roust homeless

Nobody at the top is copping to it, but San Francisco police patrolling around Westfield's new megamall say they've been told to make sure the bums don't bother the paying customers.

Since the downtown mall opened two weeks ago, foot traffic on the surrounding blocks is way up -- and so, apparently, are the number of street people and street crimes. The cops tell us there's even been a surge of purse snatchings, assaults and other offenses in the BART and Muni Metro stations at Powell Street, adjacent to the mall.

Mayor Gavin "Care Not Cash'' Newsom voiced his concern about the street scene during a meeting with Police Chief Heather Fong.

The mayor's press secretary, Peter Ragone, denied his boss had called for any type of crackdown. He said Newsom had simply pointed out to the chief just before the mall's debut that 5,000 to 10,000 extra shoppers were expected for opening day, and that the cops needed to be sure "we have the personnel to deal with that size crowd."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/11/BAGCELMT011.DTL&hw=Newsom+homeless+roust&sn=006&sc=522

[Shakespeare]

57. Not only did you ignore some of my points...

....but you quote me a PHIL MATIER column?! He's hated every democrat that ever held office in SF, so he'll slant every single item he writes about to portray them (not just Newsom) in the most negative light possible.

One, it's a no-brainer that they'd increase security at the new megamall. In fact, they'd be negligent if they didn't.

And you're trying really, really hard to make this a one-man problem, and it isn't. Everything isn't just up to Newsom alone; there's been a big problem (and I see it as a HUGE problem, and wonder why you don't, too) with the newer residents in the newly gentrified Mission and Castro all of a sudden stamping their feet and insisting that the police make all the nasty, smelly homeless people go away before it starts affecting their property values.

It's a big, complex problem in a big, complex city. Newsom isn't going to solve it by himself (or make it worse by his policies alone), and he's not exactly getting a lot of help right now. I'm certainly not suggesting he's perfect; I have some problems with some of his policies in that regard, too, but it's politically myopic to finger Newsom as the bad guy here.

[EFerrari]

59. You really believe you are going to explain homelessness in San Francisco

to me? Or, convince me that Newsom, who ran on homelessness, has been effective? Go read my friend Fagan's "Shame of the City" Chronicle series. It probably the best depiction of homelessness in San Francisco available. Kevin spent months on the street and researched the best models for dealing with homelessness in order to write it.

Those same models were available to the Mayor's office who chose to ignore them.

That Matier column isn't about a mall. It's about how Peter lies through his teeth. He's been repeatedly caught doing it. I was sitting here working on a fundraiser and Channel 4 called to get a comment: Newsom was rousting people in the Bayview. I call Peter and "tell" him about it. The next day, the Mayor's Office was "unaware", says the Chronicle. Rinse and repeat.

I don't need to make Newsom the bad guy. The gulf between the PR and his practice couldn't be more plain. He wants credit for attending to homelessness while doing as little as possible and using the police force as the default response. Matier isn't hard on Newsom, he's accurate.

It's sad to think how different this could be had Tom been elected. Or, Matt, who has campaigned for progressives here no matter their affiliation and who has never turned me down when I needed help on a number of issues.

No, I'm not myopic.

[Jed Dilligan]

56. Cooked studies published in the chron w/ no methodology

I guess that's not lying in your book. It is in mine.

[terrya]

27. Yes.

Gavin Newsome is a tremendous friend of the GLBT community. And he is a hero in our fight for full equality.

Thanks for posting this.

Oh...recommended.

[AlCzervik]

29. i saw that earlier, total bullshit but not unexpected and i'm really sorry.

equal rights are not special rights and hopefully pretty soon it won't be an issue anymore, hopefully for all of you this will be the last year you are denied your equal rights.

[Cant trust em]

31. We can't put him in the same category as some of the other heroes

He is no MLK, no Rosa Parks, no Ghandi. I'm from San Francisco so the lense I see him through is probably much different than yours.

[EFerrari]

33. Sorry to disappoint you, ruggerson. Gavin is not a civil rights leader.

He's the kind of man that sends cops in to roust homeless families IN THE DARK and then lies about it.

[stevietheman]

39. I'm gay and I think Newsom sucks

Why? Because he is the reason why all those anti-gay-marriage amendments ended up on so many state ballots in 2004, and *that* is what nailed Kerry, more than anything else!

Newsom launched that firestorm with dynamite.

[democracyindanger]

42. You don't think

as mayor, his first responsibility is to the citizens of his city?

He did the right thing. You can argue about the timing, but he did the right thing.

[dsc]

52. I lived in Ohio at the time

and Ohio's amendment was proposed months before the San Franscisco weddings.

[robbedvoter]

46. Hear!hear! Some of us - still invested in civil rights fights

[xchrom]

48. recommend