I Left My Gun In San Francisco

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In 2004, Morgan Quitno Press ranked San Francisco as the ninth safest American city with a population over 500,000, putting it in the top 30%. This apparently did not impress Republican consultant Ed Rollins, who, on Wednesday, declared that House minority leader Nancy Pelosi “comes from San Francisco, one of the bastions of lawlessness in this country.”

Rollins’ point about Pelosi was that she “is certainly not going to be the one that’s going to convince Americans that the Democrats are going to get tough” on issues of national security.

Bad grammar aside, Rollins’ comment, made on Lou Dobbs Tonight, is a reliable Republican talking point that has grown even more popular since Americans have indicated that they are fed up with the war in Iraq. There is also a concentrated effort to brand Pelosi as a “San Francisco liberal,” a phrase which conjures up such notions as free love, drugs, gay sex and “radical” ideology.

This is an old theme. I remember standing in the Post Office line right after the 2004 election and hearing one of the clerks say to a customer, “Thank God the ‘other one’ wasn’t elected. Can you imagine what would become of us?” I was hoping to wind up at her station so I could say “Yes, a war hero and geo-political expert–that would have made a really scary president.” Unfortunately, I didn’t get to say it.

Unless the opposition can do an effective job of showing the obvious–that the Bush administration has made America less safe than ever–the “Democrats cannot protect you” theme is guaranteed continued success.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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