Hey San Francisco, How About that Log in YOUR Eye?

First, a Biblical reference, Jesus speaking:

Luke 6:41-42 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye.

And now from the San Francisco Chronicle:

San Francisco politicians went right to their favorite toolbox in reaction to Arizona's offensive and constitutionally suspect law to turn its police into immigration enforcers.

"Boycott Arizona!" was the thoroughly predictable City Hall reaction.

It's unlikely that lawmakers and businesses in the Grand Canyon State are going to be quaking in their boots at the prospect of lost business from indignant San Francisco liberals. And this boycott might end before it begins once the federal courts assess the constitutionality of singling out people for extra scrutiny on the basis of their appearance or language skills.

It's hard to get too upset about San Francisco politicians for seizing an opportunity to posture. It's what they do.

But the rapid-response treatment of an unjust Arizona law makes one think: It would be nice to see a similar sense of urgency about problems in San Francisco.

This city is losing revenue every day as a result of inaction from City Hall. They might not use the term "boycott," but the businesspeople and tourists who don't return because of their disgust with the condition of the streets or concerns about their safety represent lost dollars. So do the entrepreneurs or developers who go elsewhere because of the regulatory thicket here. So do the fleeing homeowners who become fed up with the drug dealing or street intimidation in their neighborhoods.

When it's a San Francisco crisis, the response at City Hall is all about process: endless hearings, exhaustive analysis of every potential unintended consequence, attempted shakedowns from various interest groups, but no real action. If it's an injustice in a foreign land, including the state of Arizona, San Francisco politicians are all business.

San Francisco, get the log out of your eye first and then maybe you'll be in a position to lecture the rest of the world.