Fiddler Greens: Wasting Time With the S.F. Board of Supervisors

(Eyeroll)

All of San Francisco's problems must have been solved because the Board of Supervisors are doing what they really came to office to accomplish: voting on pointless symbolic legislation. Either that or San Francisco's problems are so intractable that they figure there's nothing to be done but distract the populace with dumb votes.

First, there is the gratuitous slap at Israel: Tensions In SF Over Anti-Israel Vote

Tensions soared at City Hall on Tuesday over a nonbinding resolution calling for the condemnation of the Israeli military's deadly raid on a flotilla headed for Gaza.

(snip)

The legislation, sponsored by Supervisors John Avalos and Sophie Maxwell, has more than two dozen "whereas" clauses.

It attempts to localize the attack that took place a half-a-world away by noting San Francisco's "recognition and understanding of our population's unique relationship to international struggles and the overall principle that human life, whether here or abroad, has value and dignity."

After more than four hours of public testimony that lasted until nearly midnight, the Board of Supervisors didn't vote on the resolution. Instead, the supervisors sent it to committee, where critics hoped it would die.

Foreign policy by municipal politicians is a favorite past time in the Bay Area. So is smug self regard:

Although the legislation carries no legal weight, it took on an importance in the world of public relations, providing a forum for the contentious Israeli-Palestinian debate to be heard. Both sides flooded the supervisors with e-mails, phone calls and personal visits.

Avalos acknowledged that there are "so many different realities, so many different sides," but was not ready to back down from the legislation he helped draft.

"I've been told that this resolution is divisive," he said. "But really it acknowledges the disproportionate power the state of Israel has to create a blockade and enforce it on the high seas, even to the extent of attacking civilians in the dead of night."

You have to love how the same snobby San Franciscans who can barely stand the thought of people coming into The City from Walnut Creek are unable to understand why one nation might want to maintain a blockade against a hostile foe. And, you have to love how these supposed peace activists go out of their way to gin up "tension" by taking a stand that is widely seen as supporting terrorists against an outpost of western civilization. Grow up.

The other wasted vote actually passed. This one is positively embarrassing: Supes Back Posting of Cell Phone Emission Levels

San Francisco moved a step closer Tuesday to becoming the first city in the nation to require that retailers post in their stores notices on the level of radiation emitted by the cell phones they offer.

The Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 to give preliminary approval to the proposal. Final approval is expected next week. Supervisor Sean Elsbernd was the lone vote in opposition. Mayor Gavin Newsom, an early proponent of the legislation, plans to sign it into law when it reaches his desk.

Cast by backers as a pro-consumer measure, the ordinance would not ban the sale of certain cell phones but would require retailers to provide the "specific absorption rate" - a measurement of radiation registered with the Federal Communications Commission - next to phones displayed in their shops. Consumers also would be notified about where they can get more educational materials.

"This is about helping people make informed choices," said Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, chief sponsor of the legislation.

I just happened to have gotten a new phone the other day. If I had seen such a sign at the Verizon Store, I would have gotten brain cancer from sheer frustration. I mean you have everything wrong with the modern Left here: the gratuitous Ludditism (cell phones cause cancer!), the anti-corporatism (big corporations are trying to make you sick!), the whiny nannying (the People must be warned!) and the sheer uselessness of it all (a warning label! Ooooo!) I'd love to know how many of the supervisors who voted for this use a cell phone, but can guess that it is, oh, just about all of them.

Don't forget, these are the sophisticated tech-savvy people who are Barack Obama's "base." I sure hope they know something the rest of us don't, or we are in trouble.