Left, right, wrong, and District 5

Supervisor Breed

This from Tim Redmond on the Democratic County Central Committee's endorsements:

The vote in D5---to endorse Sup. London Breed for re-election and snub tenant advocate Dean Preston---was expected, but still a bit embarrassing for the left, since several of the members of the Reform Slate that took control from the real-estate interests in June decide to support Breed...

What choice did the committee have? Both are Democrats, but Preston is so timid on the issues a lot of city progs hesitate to support him (see Dean Preston: A one-issue candidate?). Apparently Matt Gonzalez's endorsement isn't enough to make Preston a "left" favorite. 

I think Breed has an awful record as District 5 Supervisor, but that record includes issues that other city "progressives" are also awful on. She's wrong on almost everything, but unlike Preston she at least takes positions on issues, though that's mostly because she has to as a supervisor.

I guess the other members of the committee could have abstained, like Aaron Peskin: 

District Five went to Breed overwhelmingly---with some of the candidates that the progressives supported in June joining the conservatives and going with Breed. Bevan Dufty, Pratima Gupta, Leah Lacroix, and Sophie Maxwell all voted for Breed. Peskin abstained. When the vote came to consider Preston as a second choice in ranked-choice voting, Gupta and Lacroix voted to endorse Preston; Peskin abstained again...

That's typical Peskin, who's more windsock than political leader (see Aaron Peskin and the class of 2000).

Trump's "apology"

Since Trump's "apology" lacked specifics, Kevin Drum at Mother Jones makes a list:

1. Saying I opposed the Iraq War, even though it was a lie.

2. Implying that I opposed withdrawing from Iraq, even though it was a lie.

3. Attacking a Muslim family that lost their son in Iraq.

4. Suggesting that we should register all Muslims in the US.

5. Saying that Ted Cruz's father was involved in the JFK assassination.

6. Calling Hillary Clinton the "founder" of ISIS.

7. Saying that I might break our NATO guarantee by not defending the Baltics.

8. Trying to renege on a $1 million donation to a vets charity until the Washington Post embarrassed me into it.

9. Saying the real unemployment rate was 44 percent, which I knew was a lie.

10. Saying that my companies offered child care to their employees, which was another lie.

11. Confirming a story that I sent my personal jet to ferry soldiers stuck at Camp Lejeune, yet another lie.

12. Continually claiming that neighbors of the San Bernardino shooters saw bombs in their apartment, also a lie.

13. Claiming that I saw a video of Iran unloading pallets of cash.

14. Claiming that I saw thousands of Muslims celebrating on 9/11, even though I didn't.

15. Tweeting that 81 percent of white homicide victims are killed by blacks.

16. Saying that the Obama administration was deliberately sending Syrian refugees to red states, which was a lie.

17. Saying that Carly Fiorina is ugly.

18. Repeatedly claiming that America has the highest tax rate in the world, a huge lie.

19. Telling Anderson Cooper that I still don't really know if Barack Obama was born in the US.

20. Claiming that more than 300,000 veterans have died waiting for VA care.

21. Saying that vaccines cause autism, which is a disturbing and genuinely damaging lie.

22. Denying that I suggested Japan should get nuclear weapons, even though I said exactly that to Chris Wallace of Fox News.

23. Calling Hillary Clinton a liar when she said—accurately—that I had suggested Japan should get nuclear weapons.

24. Claiming that judge Gonzalo Curiel was biased against me because of his Hispanic heritage.

25. Promising that I would tell all Trump properties to allow guns on their premises.

26. Slyly implying that maybe President Obama is actually sympathetic to ISIS.

27. Not releasing my income tax returns even though I promised to, and then lying about this being due to an IRS audit.

28. Saying that John McCain was no kind of war hero because he got captured.

29. Mocking a disabled reporter in front of a huge crowd.

30. Claiming in a debate that I never called Marco Rubio "Mark Zuckerberg’s personal senator" even though that's exactly what I called him.

31. Being a cheapskate who never donates any money to charity.

32. Saying that I support torturing enemy combatants.

33. Suggesting that maybe somebody ought to assassinate Hillary Clinton.

Rob's comment:

Anyone who's had experience with someone like Trump understands that calling him a liar is not entirely accurate, since they believe their bullshit when they are saying it. Later they often convince themselves that their bullshit is true. Trump's pathology was not sustainable only because he said it to a national/international audience and was challenged afterward.