Paranoia San Diego Style Gail Heriot

I got an e-mail earlier this afternoon drawing my attention to a study entitled “Target San Diego:  The Right Wing Assault on Urban Democracy and Smart Government” by an outfit calling itself the Center on Policy Initiatives. Hmm, I thought, this doesn’t sound like the kind of study that would be written with me in mind as the audience.  But I printed it up anyway and took it with me to the sushi bar.  I didn’t want to have to eat my daily rainbow roll without any reading material.

I turned out to be just what the title suggests–a seventy-two page, paranoid “report” on how the City of San Diego is being taken over by … well … mostly by a guy named Carl DeMaio.  I’ve met Carl.  He seems like a sensible chap.  He’s … uh … in favor of effective government and … uh … against high taxes.  Evidently that qualifies him as a conservative wing nut.  But since it’s hard to talk about Carl for seventy-two pages (even his mother might flinch at that), most of the report is padded with general accusations about how conservative organizations like Americans for Tax Reform, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Claremont Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the Reason Foundation are taking over the nation.  Oh, and don’t forget that evil Federalist Society.

I don’t know what’s wrong with the left.  If this is their idea of an idea, no wonder they are losing the war of ideas.