The next time you're wondering why the political process seems so polarized and rancorous, consider this week's news about the act of a San Francisco member of the Board of Supervisor's move to appoint two members to that city's Public Utilities Commission while he had temporary mayoral powers.
Mayor Willie Brown was traveling out of the country, and had appointed Supervisor Chris Daly as the acting mayor for the day. Daly decided it would be a good time to fill the two vacant slots on the PUC.
Regardless of the whether or not the two appointees are good choices, it's hard to imagine how this kind of moves helps anything. The clear lesson for Brown, and for politicians everywhere, is to never give a political opponent a single inch or they'll take a mile. And stab you in the back while they're at it.
For all I know, this may even be a good thing for San Francisco in the short term. Many people seem to think that the two appointees are positive choices. But this can't be a good thing for the political process in our country in the long term.