There's a short video you should watch. It showcases our city’s top politicians strutting their stuff as hotshot Top Gun naval aviators. It’s a droll skit. You’ll chuckle watching the honorable men I recently wrote about as they bond in a boys-will-be-boys ritual.
But most of all, this doozy of a video spotlights why -- in the hands of our current politicians and the people who prop them up -- San Diego is destined to stagnate as an underachieving, plodding, uninspired, also-ran kind of city.
The video was produced by the San Diego Taxpayers Association for its Golden Watchdog and Fleece Awards Dinner on June 19th. You can double your pleasure and double your fun if you read between the lines.
For example, notice who’s in charge. It’s none other than the honorable Jerry Sanders, cast as the swearing officer barking marching orders to a pair of compliant underlings. Yup, our city’s rogue top cop -- the same aw-shucks guy who spent close to 8 years as mayor overseeing the deterioration of San Diego’s public infrastructure, planning, municipal departments, workplace security, city finances, truth in government, and workers’ morale – is still running the show.
Okay, we know it’s a spoof. But the trouble is, the joke’s on us. While we’re giggling, the guys who write the script, the ones who call the shots in our city are laughing … all the way to the bank.
Picture our developers and their anti-regulation growth machine. Our hotel moguls and their oversized “hospitality” industry. Our sports team con-men luxuriating in taxpayer subsidies. Our swarm of banker/ lawyer/ investor middlemen drinking lustily from the trough of public bond debt. Our taxpayers association and chamber of commerce and downtown partnership and special financing district mafiosi slicing, dicing, and dividing the spoils.
In contrast, picture San Diego’s usual supply of political leaders -- sunkissed, puckish, avuncular, irresolute, lightweight, unenlightened, uninformed, uninspired, provincial, shortsighted, chicken-hearted individuals, handpicked by the guys who’ve been writing the script for decades. Most of them are engaged in the game of political chess -- accumulating local credentials, strategic contacts, and financiers in order to move up the ladder to higher office. They "yessir!" their sponsors while dragging their listless agendas behind them.
Sure, we've got a sense of humor. But check the end of the video where the short guy says to the tall one, “You can be my wingman anytime.” It’s an ambiguous buddy term suggesting support and protection. According to Wikipedia a "wingman" is:
Sure, we've got a sense of humor. But check the end of the video where the short guy says to the tall one, “You can be my wingman anytime.” It’s an ambiguous buddy term suggesting support and protection. According to Wikipedia a "wingman" is:
“a role that a person may take when a friend needs support with approaching potential partners. A wingman is someone who is on the “inside” and is used to help someone with intimate relationships. In general, a woman's wingman will help her avoid attention from undesirable prospective partners, whereas a man's wingman will help him attract desirable ones.”
So tell me, is it really a laughing matter when conflicted city officials work hand in glove to keep one another in business? Is it really humorous when San Diego’s elite private establishment assumes ownership of city officials and writes the scripts and agendas and laws that control the city’s future?
On the other hand, wouldn’t it be a blast if San Diego citizens commissioned our own pack of wingmen to help hook us up with dedicated, public-minded, smart, and courageous political figures? Just the thought of it brings genuine joy to the heart, doesn’t it? For starters, we could raise our standards several notches and demand a lot more integrity and intelligent action from the people we elect to serve us. Maybe then, the public would finally get the last laugh.
On the other hand, wouldn’t it be a blast if San Diego citizens commissioned our own pack of wingmen to help hook us up with dedicated, public-minded, smart, and courageous political figures? Just the thought of it brings genuine joy to the heart, doesn’t it? For starters, we could raise our standards several notches and demand a lot more integrity and intelligent action from the people we elect to serve us. Maybe then, the public would finally get the last laugh.
