Justice for Mirkarimi!



Photo: Justin Henry for the SF Chronicle

The Examiner story on the Mirkarimi vote quotes Supervisor Chu:

Supervisor Carmen Chu was visibly disturbed by the comments, gestures and high-fives made by more than 120 Mirkarimi supporters who spoke during public comment. “This is not a joyous event,” Chu told the crowd.

On the contrary, it's always a "joyous event" when justice is done. And it's particularly good to contemplate a defeat for Mayor Lee and the lame majority of supervisors---including Carmen Chu---that voted to remove Mirkarimi from office. 

The supervisors as a body have been particularly feeble throughout the controversy, as they let lawyers muzzle them and lead them around by the nose.

The biggest mistake in the whole Mirkarimi kerfuffle was made by Mayor Lee when he tried to remove another elected official from office. He should have followed my advice and simply done nothing and let the domestic violence furies recall Mirkarimi. Mirkarimi and his wife had an argument that got out of control; it never justified "official misconduct" charges and removing him from office.

Chronicle columnist Debra Saunders has been good on the issue from the beginning, but she gives the domestic violence advocates too much credit:

Anti-domestic violence advocates were righteous in their contention that the city could not allow a man who pleaded guilty to a count of domestic violence to head the sheriff’s department. I was impressed with their courage and conviction. I must agree with Supe Jane Kim’s contention that Mirkarimi supporters should have been more respectful of these advocates.

On the contrary, these folks have pursued their admirable agenda with excessive zeal against Mirkarimi, putting up billboards denouncing him before he was even charged with anything[Wrong! Mirkarimi was charged in January, but the billboards went up before his plea-bargain deal with the D.A]. 

If the case had gone to trial in criminal court, Mirkarimi could have easily got a change of venue because of that alone. Like Mayor Lee they grossly inflated the seriousness of the incident to advance their agenda at the expense of Mirkarimi and his family.

Melissa Griffin of the Examiner has been awful on the issue.

As has C.W. Nevius at the Chronicle.

Even the Huffington Post joined the lynch mob.