Considering the yearslong drought California has suffered from recently, a week’s worth of rain should have been an occasion for any San Franciscan to celebrate. But not lifetime Democrat Michelle Tandler, who went for a drive around the City by the Bay during last week’s downpour and was disturbed by what she saw.
“The slums of Mumbai look cleaner than the streets of downtown SF,” Tandler tweeted in what would become a viral 45-tweet thread. “This isn’t just the Tenderloin — it’s SOMA, parts of the Mission, Dogpatch. … We have thousands of people wandering around — looking like they are on the brink of death. This is why [people] use the term Zombie.”
Tandler posted multiple pictures of tent encampments drenched in rain throughout the city on sidewalks, in parks, and even in the middle of the street.
“Downtown is boarded up,” Tandler continued. “The children of the Tenderloin are begging the Mayor to arrest drug dealers. Our school system is on the brink of state takeover. Our DA is completely over his skis and a defender at heart. We are in crisis. And — yes, we voted for this. We know.”
Accountability for the Democratic Party was a big theme of Tandler’s thread. “Progressives tend to blame Republicans for almost everything,” she wrote. “Yet here we are — not a Republican in sight — and I think we may be the most deranged city on the planet. Nowhere is there such inequality. I have never seen destitution at this scale.”
How are other San Franciscans coping with their now decrepit city? Tandler explained: “One of my friends recently woke up to find a homeless person sleeping on the front step of her multi-million dollar home. I asked her what she did. ‘We closed the blinds.’ I think this is such a metaphor for what’s going on here. San Francisco is turning its head.”
Tandler did not go as far as to suggest that San Franciscans should begin considering voting for — gasp — Republicans, but she did suggest that maybe “radical moderates” could work with them.
“What does it mean to put political tribalism aside & work together?” she asked. “Is it possible? What does it look like to study the other side? To challenge your beliefs?”
It has taken a lot of human pain and misery for Democrats to begin questioning their beliefs. Hopefully they are able to see the error of their ways before another 700 people die from drug overdoses, as happened in San Francisco last year.
