Newsom's beds keep burning
Beds Are Burning by Midnight Oil
Poor Gavin Newsom. Even when he finally finds a seemingly noncontroversial, competent, normal guy to hire as planning director, John Rahaim, he turns out to have a whack job boyfriend.
Lance Farber is still in jail after allegedly setting the bed on fire in the historical SF Fire Chiefs Residence, where Rahaim was staying, and smearing canned tomatoes on the walls.
I met Rahaim, who came from Seattle, last month at an href="http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2008/01/newsom_prioritizes_politics_ov.html">open space forum and invited him to stop by the Guardian to share his vision for the city (John, you never called). But he seemed like a good guy: personable and smart, if not the most dynamic speaker in the world. I actually wondered at the time how such a button down guy would fare in such a high profile position in this combative town.
But apparently, greedy developers and angry activists are the least of his concerns.
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Comments (5)
Note to Guardian staff: This blog takes forever to connect to. I think that this is due to your exceedingly long entries. Either you should shorten them or break them up into two parts with the second part to be shown by clicking a link (as you used to do in the past). Otherwise, I'm inclined to not visit this blog.
Also, could you all please write about something other than your lawsuit. I'm not saying that it shouldn't write about it, but I think that you all are overdoing it.
Posted by expatriate | February 28, 2008 08:04 AM
Hey there expatriate -- it's Marke B. the Web editor - thanks for letting us know. I'll try to fix today.
Posted by Marke B. | February 28, 2008 08:08 AM
Yes, Steven, domestic violence is FUNNY, isn't it? It is especially hilarious, when you can make light of it to further your own particular political agenda. I mean that crazy queer John Rahaim must simply enjoy having an abusive boyfriend who threatens him and then sets their residence on fire! And of course, it is Mr. Rahaim and Mayor Newsom's fault that John Farber chose to commit a crime! In fact, Mr. Rahaim and Gavin Newsom really owe Mr. Farber an apology for making him commit a crime which has landed him in jail.
Sarcasm aside, Steven, Mr. Rahaim did not ask to be threatened, nor did he ask for Mr. Farber to set fire to their temporary living quarters. Moreover, Mr. Rahaim immediately called 911 when he was threatened and when Mr. Farber informed him he was going to set fire to the house. I wonder how long the police took to arrive? Maybe, they found the situation just as funny as you did and took their sweet time showing up.
I am sorry Mr. Rahaim hurt your feelings by never calling you back for an interview. Nonetheless, I would think that if anything a victim would deserve sympathy, not mockery and contempt. But, I guess in the world of hard-boiled San Francisco politics, it is perfectly acceptable to stomp on someone when he or she is down. You should give Ann Coulter a call; perhaps she is looking for an assistant.
Posted by Chris Brown | February 28, 2008 02:33 PM
Chris,
You make a good point about the nature of domestic violence, and I certainly didn't say that this incident was funny or even imply that it was anything but unfortunate for all involved, Rahaim most of all. But this was a public official living in a public facility, so it's a legitimate news story (and a weird one at that) in which nobody was hurt. So lighten up, Chris, I didn't stomp anyone.
Posted by Steven T. Jones | February 28, 2008 04:15 PM
Steven, I appreciate your acknowledging that domestic violence is not a laughing matter. Nevertheless, I find your response to be a bit disingenuous.
I did not object to either the Guardian or any other news publication merely reporting on the story, so I am not quite sure why you felt the need to mention that the incident was a "legitimate news story."
My objection was to the tone of your reporting/editorializing. To begin with, the title "Beds Are Burning By Midnight Oil" suggests the reader is supposed to find the event funny, not simply "weird." Also, why would you include the gratuitous comments about Mr. Rahaim being a "button down" guy with a "whack job boyfriend" who has found that "greedy developers and angry activists are the least of his concerns," unless you were trying to mock him? And why add a little dig about his failure to call you back for an interview or his undynamic speaking abilities (as if it were even a requirement for an urban planner to be "dynamic" in any event), except to knock him? Also, if you want to criticize Gavin Newsom why not simply do it directly instead of using John Rahaim as a proxy?
I give you the benefit of the doubt that you were not intending to be cruel, and I will be the fisrt to state that your comments were not the most egregiously offensive remarks about the incident(one can go read some of the posts on SFGate to get their fill for a lifetime of homophobia and hatefulness); nonetheless, your remarks were still rather insensitive.
But again, thank you again for addressing some of my concerns.
Posted by Chris Brown | February 28, 2008 08:25 PM