Watching City Hall #472

Watching Krissy run for Kongress XI

(for Josh Wolf)

(8-17-06)

“Where do I send my check?”

(typical response to Dance Mission rally)

You need to see Dance Mission. You need to feel the energy of the place where Josh Wolf’s first ‘Free Josh Wolf’ rally/fundraiser/social forum will be held (3316 Mission at 24th). Lemme give you a couple of other addresses to send money for Josh to if you can’t make our gathering, then I’ll talk about the iconic space itself and take up the news of the day:

Federal Correctional Institution
Joshua Wolf 98005-111
5701 8th St.
Camp Parks, Unit J2
Dublin, CA. 94568

or, paypal account at:

http://www.joshwolf.net/blog/

I’d prefer you all show up at Dance Mission tomorrow night, make a donation and talk about this entire Bushite rage of locking up reporters but if you can’t, at least send a note to the kid. Better yet, do both. Jackson West of SFist has already gotten 2 letters from the kid George Bush hates. All prisoners love mail and for those of you who collect such things, these will end up framed on a wall somewhere. And, when you write Josh would you please enclose a copy of this column if you don’t mind. Let me expound a bit on what I’ve learned in the week or so since Julian and Diamond Dave and I (with Josh, a band of former D-5 supe candidates) have been putting this thing together.

First, Josh and his cause are very popular. Second, reporters and lawyers have lots more balls than the politicians do. Third, support for the imprisoned journalist crosses the entire political spectrum.

I couldn’t get a ‘progressive’ politician to take the microphone for this thing. I invited Matt Gonzalez first, of course. There was a day when he’d have been on top of such an invitation like stink on shit as the tasteless oldtimers used to say. These days, he’s learning how to be an old man from Peter Camejo, the prick who bought the state Green Party slate. Oh, incidentally, Camejo is rumored to be going under the knife today to have a pacemaker installed. It would be an excellent time for him to withdraw from the race and toss his support to Gonzalez. There’s still time for Matt to have his name on the November ballot and if you don’t think that will have Arnie’s handlers reaching for the steroids, you’re not in the loop. Every progressive Democrat and Decline to State in California would vote for Gonzalez. Absolutely none of them will vote for Camejo.

Next, I went to Ross Mirkarimi who peered down from his place atop his Panhandle pedestal and chose not to even reply. Chris Daly has a wedding to attend and that was arranged before Josh got locked up by the Republicans (how many reporters will this asshole, Alsup put in prison?). Mark Leno at least released a forceful press release supporting Josh but it’s uncertain if he’ll make an appearance.

I went to Peskin next and he was better. He even came over to my buddy, Jens’ place in the Tenderloin to have a drink, listen to some rock n’ roll and explain that he’d be in the Sierras. He said he’d be glad to contribute advice for my skit lampooning him.

What’s with these idiots? What is it about ‘free speech’ and ‘a room full of reporters and columnists and publishers’ that the politicians don’t understand? It’s so typical of them to miss the boat, then try to jump on at later stops and claim they were always with you. Frankly, I’d like to see the Mayor show up, speak for 5 minutes, toss in a check for $500 towards Josh’s rent during his first month in prison and see how the ‘progressives’ deal with that when next year’s election comes around. I phoned and left a message to that effect with Mike Farrah and I hope they come through. It would be humorous to watch Gavin grab the issue the same way he snatched Gay Marriage away from the Greens. Fucking idiot progressive politicians … they start out campaigning on the issues and finally, the only issue that matters ends up being themselves.

So, Josh, 18 days in prison and you can see that little has changed on the outside. A bunch of chickenshit politicians being prodded by activists and reporters … prodded to do the right thing.

Cops are the same too

Worse, if that’s possible. Now with all the friendly judges, jackoffs like Alex Fagan Jr. can beat the shit out of you, then bill you for the cost of their legal defense when some dickhead Republican judge lets them off. Yeah, that happened this week. Some poor, broke, gay guy sued Fagan for attacking him and the judge let Fagan off and billed the gay guy for the City’s expenses for defending the force’s most notorious (sorry, Greg) thug. That’s really gonna encourage people to fight the cops. Knowing that not only do you not have a chance once the case reaches the appointee of a Republican governor, … not only do you not have a chance to fight the gangsters, but you’ll have to pay their lawyers. I guess we’re just supposed to take our ass-kickings and enjoy them (see Gerardo Sandoval vs. Donald ‘peanut prick’ Fisher).

POA chief, Gary Delugnuts went on the Arthur Bruzzone show (’SF Unplugged’ - Channel 11, Wed. thru Thurs. evenings) to laugh about how the cops had stopped arresting people and the DA had stopped prosecuting them (’bad’ people, anyway). Remember the guy who threw his wife out a window and Kamala had him on the street with charges dropped in time for him to ignore his wife’s funeral? The DA is worried about her conviction rate (see where she gave the Irish guy whose reckless driving killed three Chinese immigrants a free pass and an ‘attaboy!’?) … she’s convinced she has to convict everyone she charges and the cops say they’ve stopped working (arrests down 25%) because they’re afraid they’ll get sued. What a laugh, huh? They manuever to put you in federal prison for filming them, then ignore murderers while they pop steroids and bash ‘fags’.

But, you … you they go after. You know why? Because the cops fucked up that G8 demonstration royally. Backstabbers, as always, the upper command double-crossed Greg Suhr for not getting the Gestapo on the scene soon enough. Then, they lied. And lied. And lied. They know that no demonstrator hit a cop. The only fucking cop fired here in the last decade was fired for the same god damned thing. He beat the shit out of a demonstrator, then claimed she attacked him. But, there was another camera there. Film showed up late just like they’re afraid yours will. Someone like you was filming the asshole while he pounded the poor lady on the sidewalk (just as his record testifies, he’d done to many others - for this brutality, they made him a ‘training’ officer). They’re afraid you might have film of how the cop really got hurt. These people are lying cocksuckers, Josh. And, that’s on their good days.

Worst thing for them is that because Suhr didn’t have his own cameras at the scene of the anarchists’ demonstration (illegal for cops to photograph demonstrators til Bush II - Chief Shin is now in charge of the cops’ photo-intel unit), … since they didn’t get pics, they decided they’d get the feds (whose values the local POA share) to bust your ass. See, they know that no demonstrator hit a cop because they have the cops’ account of what happened. They just don’t want the truth to get out. I mean, they were really, really embarassed when the woman sued the guy who beat her and they let him off and then the film of him attacking the woman came out and the Police Commission had to fire him. My guess is that while they don’t know what’s on your outtakes, they know what could be there and they want to make certain you don’t have it.

Why you? Cause the demonstration was against the G8 and Bush and his cronies have literally trillions of dollars at stake in anything involving them. They panicked when the anarchists disrupted their convention in Seattle a couple of years ago and you can bet your ass that they formed a federal task force to track anarchists at all subsequent G8 gatherings. Greg Suhr fucked em up by not tracking the anarchist contingent in San Francisco. As usual in their backward world, he got a promotion for not doing his job.

But, this is about your rally

I hope this is the only party we have to have under these circumstances. Trust me though, your event will be full of loving and committed people. Milling around in San Francisco’s oldest community dance facility. A place where revolutionaries rub shoulders with the FBI. And, downstairs and across the street and around the corner? Look for Julian’s ‘Free Josh Wolf’ banner hanging out the windows.

The place is the stuff of legends. R. Crumb himself sat in Laboheme Cafe’ below and sketched the supple calves and powerful thighs of the dancers upon whose backs he so loved to piggy back … (OK, you gotta be an R. Crumb fan to get this, so I’ll move on)

24th and Mission teams with gangs. In other neighborhoods, you keep kids off the street with ‘Y’s or playing fields. At 24th and Mission, it’s Dance Mission. It’s been that way for 50 years.

Oh hell, that’s enough for today. It’s pushing 11am and I only have 2 hours to get stoned and liquored up for today’s Salon. Then, it’s only a couple of hours til Mirk’s monthly art party. And, I still gotta finish putting together details for your show tomorrow. You take care and know that, as Diamond Dave likes to quote:

“You know what the Wobblies said?

‘Because they’re in there for us, (prison)
we’re out here for them.’”

(thank you, Diamond Dave Whitaker)

Dance Mission tomorrow nite … 7pm start