Basic Brown - Book Review

For a memoir from a politician, this book from Willie Brown, the colorful and engaging mayor of SFO was a very gripping read. I loaned this from the library not expecting to read it within the 1 week rental period. I finished it in 2 days. I bought Hillary's memoir but never read more than 2 pages.

Willie fills the book with anecdotes, his political conquests and skullduggery, sacremento and san francisco politics, san francisco city vibes and lots of fashion tips.

o Im rather proud of the liberal and progressive roots of the Bay Area where i live.
o California is on the forefront of forward thinking legislation (Civil Rights, Environment, etc.) because of the liberal influence of our area and of the politicians coming from our area like Willie.
o As much as i do not like the politicians who tax and spend, I do not like the direct democracy system either. Proposition 13 is evil and took the pendulum in the other extreme. This is Athenian democracy and ultimately, it is not not very democratic. I like the Roman republican system better.
o Term limits are not evil. They are absolutely necessary for posts with a lot of power like presidents. But term limits for legislators are completly useless. Perhaps term limits for powerful assembly positions like Speakership could be term limited.
o Business people seem to have huge influence in the California government. Lots of bad initiatives come from down in SoCal.
o Anti Politician attitude may be good populist politics but not good for our civic system and government. Legislators control a lot of our lives and take a number of important decisions, you want it or not. So instead of bringing quality people into the system by paying them fairly, why treat them in a miserly way thus encouraging corruption? Im not convinced "Citizen Legislators" idea will ever work in the modern world unless you pay them properly.

I do not believe all of what Willie says in the book but a lot of it. I do not like some aspects of his persona but i do respect him much better than the likes of people like Gingrich, Dashle, Byrd, DeLay, Bob Dole, etc.

Very interesting book, i recommend it!