3-2 vote on anti-hate measure was a disgrace. Blame SLO County’s political tribalism | Opinion

The haters were at it again Wednesday, a day after political tribalism prevented the county Board of Supervisors from adopting a unanimous resolution condemning white supremacists and their odious message of hate.

As if on cue, someone papered a Paso Robles neighborhood with flyers riddled with anti-Semitic, anti-LGBTQ bigotry so toxic the local police want to know who did it. Some recipients of the plastic-wrapped stink bombs live across the street from an elementary school.

Local activists, many of whom counter-demonstrated recently against the masked “white pride” provocateurs on the Vineyard Drive freeway overpass in Templeton, went into action again in Paso Robles via a rapid-response email chain launched after the first bridge incident.

Neighbors ‘sad and upset’ over toxic flyers

“A friend of mine who lives in that neighborhood said that some of the houses in her neighborhood received the flyer on driveways and doors,” one note writer said. “She was very upset because they live directly across the street from Kermit King Elementary. The police were notified and there is currently an investigation. I understand they are still collecting evidence from cameras,” said the writer, whose name I’ve omitted for privacy.

“She also said her neighbors are very upset and sad. There are families who received the flyers that have LGBTQ family members and there are Jewish families on her block. A senior neighbor came in tears to her door yesterday and looked sad and scared,” the note said.

Which is exactly what the hate mongers on the bridge – and now in Paso Robles – want: to make us sad and scared. Typically, these cowards want attention for their evil but are too ashamed to come from behind their masks and shrouds of secrecy to own it.

Which makes the 3-2 vote by the Board of Supervisors to condemn hate that much more disgraceful.

What is it about fomenting hate and vileness in the community that supervisors John Pesching and Debbie Arnold can’t scorn?

Minimizing very real, very bad things happening in the North County isn’t a good look. Do they understand the signal they’ve sent, that racist, antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ provocateurs won’t be condemned here – at least by Peschong, Arnold and their supporters?

Peschong and Arnold didn’t want to identify Templeton as the venue for the original provocations, yet that bridge is known by anyone who’s driven over or under it the past couple of years as a platform for far-right militants sporting MAGA flags, Gadsden flags, election-denial signs and the like.

Peschong denies radicalism is a problem here: “… (T)hat’s not who we are,” he said at Tuesday’s board meeting.

Why choose Vineyard Drive bridge?

Sure, but why did the masked white supremacists choose that bridge, of all places in SLO County, to pull its stunts? How did they know to go to that bridge, that they might find comfort there?

These vile provocations may not be “who we are.” But, for some reason, our North County – Peschong’s district – apparently is viewed by racists and bigots as a safe space for vilifying, scapegoating and dehumanizing certain segments of our community.

Lame excuses notwithstanding, it seems almost as if Arnold and Peschong voted against the anti-hate resolution because the three so-called “liberal” members of the board voted for it. As if Peschong and Arnold had to appease the “who” in “who we are.”

Rationalization, apologia and the minimizing of hatred are not bipartisan. The tribal asymmetry is rooted in the far-right side of the aisle.

This episode comes days before Paso Robles celebrates Juneteenth, meant to foster unity and cultural sharing, to mark the achievements of the Black community, to come together in peace, love and comradery.

If Peschong and Arnold think showing up at Juneteenth will buy redemption, they should know this county has a long memory. Their message of tolerance for racists, anti-Semites and haters – intended or not – has been delivered.

Most of us in SLO County aren’t having it. We won’t be brought down to their level.

Tom Fulks is a longtime local political columnist and campaign consultant. He most recently advised the Bruce Gibson for District 2 supervisor campaign.