Yet another Democrat-run utopian city's chickens have finally come home to roost.
San Francisco voters veered away from their coveted far-left reputation on Tuesday, overwhelmingly voting in favor of multiple ballot measures designed to rein in crime and out-of-control drug abuse, including expanding the powers of city law enforcement and requiring drug screens for welfare recipients.
Among the measures, Proposition E will reportedly make it easier for police officers to pursue suspects. It will also provide the force with new surveillance cameras, and drones to make crime-fighting jobs easier and hopefully more effective.
Proposition F was created to help adults struggling with drug addiction by implementing a policy that will require those eligible for cash welfare assistance from the city to enroll in a drug treatment program. Drug testing will be mandated to ensure compliance.
Even San Francisco Mayor London Breed backed each of the winning measures on the ballot after waffling back and forth from one extreme to another — including the insane "defund movement" — for months. Shockingly, Breed called the passage of the measures "a win."
Did I mention that the embattled mayor's November reelection bid is widely believed to be in trouble?
Following the vote, Breed said:
It is clear that people want to see changes around public safety. What’s exciting about this for me is I get the kind of tools I need to continue the work we're doing.
Breed also posted on X:
Thank you to the voters for passing Prop F to bring more treatment and accountability to San Francisco. This is how we get more people the help they need and change what’s happening in our City.
In other words, the embattled mayor connected the latest Democrat dots.
Thank you to the voters for passing Prop F to bring more treatment and accountability to San Francisco.
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) March 6, 2024
This is how we get more people the help they need and change what’s happening in our City.
A spokesperson for Breed told Fox News Degital that the election results indicate residents are "fed up and want more action to address crime."
Mayor Breed placed Prop F on the ballot to give San Francisco another tool to get people suffering from addiction into treatment and save lives. Prop F will create more accountability and eliminate the ‘drug tourism' where outsiders come to San Francisco to secure government-funded benefits and buy illegal drugs.
Our current public safety policies are outdated and make it difficult for police officers to chase suspects, even in a felony or violent misdemeanor. Prop E makes common-sense changes to City rules to get more officers on the street fighting crime. It provides police with helpful new tools such as cameras and drones and expanded power to pursue criminals.
And this was my favorite part:
Over the last few years, the city’s policies swung too far to the left. Now, it’s time to send a message that San Francisco is closed to criminals and brazen theft will not be tolerated.
Do you suppose it occurred to either Breed or her spokesperson that they were among the people who swung San Francisco's policies "too far to the left"? Me, neither. Like all Democrat politicians, they stuck their fingers in the political wind to check which way the so-called "progressive" wind was blowing.
Democrats always have and they always will.
Here's more:
Voters in San Francisco have increasingly become fed up with the city's relaxed attitude toward drugs and violent crime.
Last year, more than 800 people in the city died of an accidental drug overdose — many of them were addicts living on the streets of the city, which are plagued by an abundance of fentanyl and xylazine.
Breed's campaign has, to some extent, read the tea leaves and is trying to mold a campaign around a more moderate platform that takes into consideration the quality of life of tax-paying, law-abiding San Franciscans.
For many years, the city has voted for hyper-progressive politicians and measures, but the tide began to change in 2022, when voters recalled far-left District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who was well-known for letting violent criminals back out onto the streets following their arrests.
Those who opposed the propositions said they will be detrimental to privacy and civil liberties and will only hurt the marginalized communities the city prides itself on helping.
So here's the question: Is this recent 180-degree turn in so-called "progressive" thinking a watershed moment or an anomaly? I suspect it's too early to know, but I do know that sooner or later, even leftists tire of abhorrent reality.
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