I Wish the Rest of the Country Could Be Like San Francisco ... Maybe We Can Take Over California

And now ... a break from the tunes to get a little political.

Last week, Highland - a small California city located just outside of San Bernadino county - made national news with the announcement from their City Council that they would be"prohibiting the expenditure of city funds for attending conferences, training seminars and/or workshops to be held in the City of San Francisco." In an article published this past Sunday in the San Francisco Chronicle, one Highland resident referreds to my fair city as the "land of kooks and nuts." He continued, "There are a lot of people up there who have some weird ideas, who are extreme in their views."

These views of San Francisco are not limited to Highland; in fact, a number of right wing politicians and pundits see the city as the center of cultural depravity - one where (gasp!) we support the institution of marraige between both same-sex and opposite-sex couples, we support a woman's right to decent healthcare, and we do not believe innocent men and women should be dying to preserve the oil riches of the corrupt president and his friends. It really seems like common sense, but in this political climate - it is deemed radical; in San Francisco, we don't think it's radical enough.

I'm disgusted by the political climate in this country - political homophobia, democrats afraid to stand up for women's right, the support of a war started on a lie. As more countries accross the globe legalize gay marraige, or even just civil unions, America sinks further into the dinosaur age. On the issues of abortion and gay marraige, I wonder if those outside the US find it funny that we let Christain mythology dictate our policies. As for this president and his corruption that goes deeper than I can possibly imagine, how many scandals do democrats need - the lack of WMDs, the FEMA fuck up, Bush's close personal relationship with Kenneth Lay - to start a discussion about impeachment.

San Francisco exists outside of this climate, and I love pissing off the Sean Hannitys of the world. Two years ago, when we started issuing marraige licenses for same-sex couples, it created a firestorm - but it also influenced other cities around the country to do the same. The real issue conservatives seem to take with us, however, is our undying opposition to the war in Iraq. After the city overwhelmingly voted to not allow military recruiting on high school campuses, Bill O'Reilly encouraged al Qaeda to attack us.

Conservatives want to paint San Francisco as a city out of touch with the rest of the country. On the otherhand, it is a city that is constantly at the forefront of progressive political movements - something I hope never changes. I hope the actions of San Francisco citizens and politicians continue to influence progressive liberals around the country. But before we can help change the United States - we need to take back California. In 2003, we looked rather silly when we elected Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor. While he initially was able to gain some support from democrats - he has since lost most of the support within his own party. Schwarzenegger wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on a special election in November, putting forth four propositions that were overwhelmingly shot down by California voters.

California is a liberal state - the majority of its citizens do not support the war, the president, or the governor. San Francisco is at the front of this, continuing to pass legislation and spread ideas that will influence the rest of the country.