Winners and Losers,
Quote of the Week

July 7, 2007

Winner of the Week - SFPD Officer Andrew Cohen

SFPD Officer Andrew Cohen

When Andrew Cohen produced a parody of police life in video skits intended for internal viewing at a police Christmas party, Mayor Gavin Newsom and Police Chief Heather Fong pounced on Cohen and labeled his video "sexist, racist and homophobic."

Cohen was subsequently suspended without pay and placed on desk duty following his suspension.

Cohen cried foul, filed a lawsuit, and won his case this week after a lower court decision was overturned on appeal.

Justice Sandra Margulies wrote: "In our view, temporary suspensions may not be used as a shortcut method of taking punitive action against an officer or as a tool for conducting public relations damage control."

The ruling means Cohen will be paid for the four days he was suspended without pay and permits him to seek compensation from the city for his attorneys fees.

Loser of the Week - Attorney James Sutton

James Sutton

In a move reminiscent of Nazi book burning, Mayor Gavin Newsom attorney and campaign treasurer, James Sutton, has filed a complaint with the City Attorney's Office in a blatant, unapologetic attempt to censor Supervisor Chris Daly.

Daly has been an effective critic of Newsom, as evidenced by recent attempts by Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier and Senator Dianne Feinstein to censor Daly via censure.

In the July 2 complaint, Sutton requests the City Attorney to "take immediate action against Supervisor Chris Daly to prevent his continued and repeated use of public resources for campaign purposes. In short Supervisor Daly has used his publicly funded blog, his office resources, and staff time to attack Mayor Newsom and his campaign in order to influence the voters to vote against Mayor Newsom in this November's Mayoral election."

One doesn't have to read between the lines of Sutton's legalese to understand his true intentions -- to suppress opposing viewpoints and to clear a path to Newsom's re-election in November. All this coming from a man who many regard as the most ruthless operative in San Francisco politics, who has been associated with traceless smear campaign mailers, numerous ethics violations and record fines.

In response, Daly has created TheDalyBlog.org, a "no holds barred" website where interested readers can find "uncensored, unadulterated analysis of San Francisco politics."

Quote of the Week

What crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, and do you believe the official explanation?

"We've seen the video tape a million times over of what happened in New York -- the planes hitting the towers. At the Pentagon - and I've filmed there before - there has to be at least a hundred video cameras circling the building, in the parking lot, in the trees, so there's a hundred difference angles of that plane supposedly hitting the building.

"Why have they not released those tapes? I would like to see those tapes. This is what I have been calling for from the beginning. Release the tapes and then let's have the discussion about what really happened there.

"To this day, no tapes. What are they hiding?

"I would like to know why they won't release those tapes. That's all. It's an honest question. Any citizen has a right to ask and those tapes belong to us. Those are Pentagon tapes that belong to the American people.

"What are they afraid of showing?

"I think they're afraid that if they release the tapes, it would show that that plane was being flown by a highly trained military pilot, not by some guy who learned how to fly a plane on a video game in a flight training school in some dipshit place in Florida.

"That's the myth, I think, they've put out there about the nineteen hijackers and I'm afraid they know that that tape will maybe say something else.

"We need to see the videotapes. Release the videotapes."

- Filmmaker Michael Moore, June 13, 2007

Michael Moore

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