FASCISM COMES TO SAN FRANCISCO ENDING HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION

San Francisco, CA. - The grinch stole Christmas. And in a city once known for its tolerance and playfulness, the city government of San Francisco stole Halloween. Neo fascism is creeping up in America and no greater example is that of San Francisco. Once considered tolerant, liberal it now begins to take on the strains of fascism. Yes, even in San Francisco, the city police have put up 24 hour monitoring video cameras. Tonight, Halloween, the city government more or less closed down the famous Castro Street Halloween and many of the small businesses were complicit in the close down. While hundreds of police outnumbered those with costumes and almost all the bars and restaurants were closed, the spirit of fun that has been a part of San Francisco legend for decades was destroyed.

Much of the credit for this crack down can go to gay supervisor Bevan Dufty who represents the Castro District. No need to look for a progressive here. This one apparently took heed of the Oakland Police Department’s shut down of community celebrations such as The Festival By The Lake and the Carijama Festival. This is the new America. The one where the government will impose itself and do a total shut down of public events. Was this necessary or was it basically a showcase of how government can shut things down when it wants to? How government can invade the cultural, social and spiritual life of communities and assert its authority over it all.

Yes, there was violence last year but should that have meant a death penalty for a beloved event in the City of San Francisco? For many this is just another brick being torn out of the fabric of our society. This kind of things along with ICE raids of family homes in the middle of the night, or dedicated workers being led away from their work in handcuffs because they had latino names or didn’t have the right papers. Or people being swept up, kidnapped off the streets by our own government with no due process, no notification of next of kin. Or our own citizens held in trumped up charges. Or people who were maybe speaking out of turn being tasered and that being sanctioned by the state powers. Or a government which gives protection to lawless guns for hire who murder with impunity in the streets of Iraq. Where are we heading and would you ever believe that San Francisco would be the place were Halloween ended.