Petrelis Files

Chronicle's All-Male, 2-Party Election Debate Needs to be Zapped

The political industrial complex of San Francisco rolls on with more of the usual bullshit masquerading as democracy.

The Hearst Corp-owned Chronicle, an unabashed mouthpiece for developers and tech titans, and favorite electeds particularly Scott Wiener, is partnering with the University of San Francisco for a standard-issue debate. Pro bono ads are appearing in the print edition and the Hearst and USF p.r. machines are cranking out the releases.

It takes place on Tuesday, October 11 in the evening at USF campus.

Editorial page editor John Diaz will moderate a conversation with the heads of the state Democratic and GOP committees, John Burton and Jim Brulte respectively.

Not enough men for you? After the conversation, there's a Q & A overseen by James Taylor, the university's director for African American studies. Four men, three white and one black.

Where are the women and diverse political party voices?

Then there's the matter of only the two major parties have a seat at the debate. Um, have the Chronicle and USF leaders not taken heed of the Libertarian, Green and other third parties, and let's forget the growing numbers of fed up citizens registering as not-affiliated with any party?

Nope, there's nothing promising about the official participants list. The appalling lack of political and gender inclusion and diversity guarantees political industrial complex business as usual.

The four men controlling the agenda and microphones need to be challenged. Let's hope voters and activists show up to raise their voices, unfiltered by written questions rules or only a minute or two for each audience speaker to make a comment.

Shame on the SF Chronicle and University of San Francisco for failure to include any women and third parties.