San Francisco, Caught in a Fog of Oblivion?
The local Bay Citizen has an interesting piece out that argues that the public living in the San Francisco Bay Area have reacted differently than their compatriots across America to the news of Osama bin Laden's slaying. As a whole, San Franciscans seem more detached, cynical, and suspicious.
On the East Coast, and especially in New York and Washington, D.C., the mood was one of spontaneous celebration, combined with an upwelling of difficult and complicated memories of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Here in the Bay Area, there is also support — but it is accompanied by skepticism about the legitimacy of the war on terrorism, the truthfulness of the government’s account and the appropriateness of celebrating violence.
Interviews and an examination of how the news played out on social media suggest substantive differences between Bay Area residents and people in other parts of the country in how they perceived bin Laden’s death. Those differences are related to the region’s geographic remove from the 2001 terrorist attacks. They also stem from the Bay Area’s place as the center of an antiwar movement that grew increasingly suspicious of the government after a series of revelations ranging from the torture of detainees to the false account of how Arizona Cardinal football star Pat Tillman, a San Jose native, died in Afghanistan.
Much to my surprise and delight, the article quotes Ricochet's own Bill Whalen:
But Bill Whalen, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank at Stanford, said the Bay Area, in particular San Francisco, is simply out of step with the rest of the United States, even as the country is more united around an issue than perhaps any time since 9/11.
“San Francisco considers itself part of America,” Whalen said. “But it has a very different view of how America should behave itself.”
Tell us more, Bill. What exactly is the San Francisco view of how America should behave itself? And what causes liberal San Francisco to differ so much in its reaction to news like this from its liberal kith and kin in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic?
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Mar '11
Re: San Francisco, Caught in a Fog of Oblivion?
Diane Ellis, Ed.
Tell us more, Bill. What exactly is the San Francisco view of how America should behave itself? And what causes liberal San Francisco to differ so much in its reaction to news like this from its liberal kith and kin in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic? ·
VDH (helped by Prof Rahe) actually does an excellent job of explaining this in this week's Podcast - as often with VDH, tis a tad depressing - but he nails it (he is referring to other aspects of "liberal" thought, but the same applies to this).
A simpler explanation - Nancy Pelosi is still in the House?
Re: San Francisco, Caught in a Fog of Oblivion?
Yes, Bill, tell us more.
I'd note in the meantime that the Bay Citizen's account sounds right. A comment I overheard on Monday when a Stanford student walked past talking into his cellphone: "If there's any real upside," he said, "I guess it's that it makes Obama look tougher, right?"
May '10
Re: San Francisco, Caught in a Fog of Oblivion?
Perhaps it is just that Bay area residents realize that the President is a serial liar who should not be believed on any subject. Doubtful but does have a logical basis. I mean the guy does make Bill Clinton look like "honest Abe."
Nov '10
Re: San Francisco, Caught in a Fog of Oblivion?
Forget Mexico. Can we build a wall around California?