By Michael Swartz
It’s all hands on deck for the Democrats as they race to clean up the filthy, feces-ridden city of San Francisco in advance of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, which Gavin Newsom bestie Xi Jinping will be attending.
Over the last few years, the city has developed, shall we say, a reputation as a crime- and drug-infested magnet for the homeless, with tent cities lining its byways. Clearly, it wasn’t fit for the world stage in its normal state. Even Newsom, the California governor and wannabe presidential candidate, admitted as much: “I know folks are saying, ‘Oh they’re just cleaning up this place because all those fancy leaders are coming to town.’ That’s true because it’s true. But it’s also true for months and months and months before APEC, we’ve been having conversations.”
So, they’ve been having conversations. But this time those conversations turned to cleanup, and it’s a sprucing that has proceeded apace: Streets that just weeks ago teemed with tents and sleeping people who chose to live out of doors have yielded to amenities like a skateboard park and outdoor café. As The New York Times put it, “San Francisco had the air this week of teenagers frantically cleaning up after a house party with their parents on the way home.”
Obviously this is a welcome surprise for those who live in the City by the Bay, but it’s also led to questions about motive. We all know Joe Biden is trying to burnish his reelection hopes by hosting a successful and fruitful APEC conference — which will include the aforementioned visit from Chinese leader Xi Jinping. But consider the future presidential prospects of one Gavin Newsom, who is running a shadow campaign of his own, waiting in the wings for a reason to make his grand entrance. San Francisco is where he began his political career, and it’s certain he wanted the city cleaned up for showing out as well. After all, one of Newsom’s signature issues when he was a member of the city’s Board of Supervisors and later mayor was an initiative he sponsored known as Care Not Cash, intended to reduce cash aid for homeless welfare recipients and instead provide them with housing and services. Perhaps it has worked too well as an attraction?
Regardless, once the foreign dignitaries — a number estimated to be 30,000 for this 21-nation confab — have left, will San Francisco return to its state of squalor? The obvious question was asked by local business owner Adam Mesnick. “If the city is able to create an illusion that it’s clean and runs effectively and humans are in shelters, even if it’s just for APEC, why is that not sustainable for the longer term?” he asked. On X, another resident noted: “They managed to clean up San Francisco using existing budgets in just a matter of days to prepare for Xi’s visit. No one can explain why they couldn’t have done this a long time ago.” It’s simple, explained the writers at Not the Bee: “The leaders in San Fran did this because they care more about impressing a commie dictator than they do about keeping the streets safe for their citizens. … You see exactly where the priorities are.”
Finally, as Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher, who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said: “For years, San Francisco residents have had to put up with rampant homelessness, open-air drug use, assaults, and feces-lined streets, all in the name of some twisted progressive notion of equity. But suddenly, when the genocidal communist dictator comes to town, the ideas of equity suddenly vanish and the streets get cleaned up. That’s very weird. What kind of message does that send? It means California politicians like Gavin Newsom know that San Francisco is an embarrassment, and they don’t care about the residents; they only care about impressing Xi Jinping. If it weren’t so sad, it would actually be funny.”
Needless to say, this Potemkin piece of San Francisco may stay relatively neat for awhile. More than likely, though, the blight will begin to spread once again from those corners of the city to which the homeless were shooed off to while Xi Jinping and Joe Biden were in town. The action may shift to different areas for awhile, but without the massive intervention of law and code enforcement, along with help for those who are willing to accept the first step on a long journey toward sobriety, we’ll find San Francisco having to once again panic-clean for its next big event — perhaps the NBA All-Star Game in 2025.
It’s a question of leadership, a quality this once magnificent city hasn’t seen in a long time.
