Happy Fourth of July — the center holds

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.”

Yet the Jan. 6 hearings showed the center can hold. Three cheers for the methodical truth telling and the brave witnesses. Not so, the U.S. Supreme Court where “the worst” seem to be winning. An unacceptable outcome for a majority of Americans.

***

Lisa Warren is leaving the five-member San Mateo-Foster City School District board and airing some dirty laundry. She was no longer comfortable being a trustee when, according to her, two colleagues ganged up against her. And she often felt it was four against one. Shara Watkins and Noelia Corzo, close friends on and off the board were, she said, her regular critics. To make matters worse, one of her children is a special needs child. Warren was constantly at odds with her child’s placement and progress and frequently critical of staff. It got to the point where board President Elizabeth Proctor felt it necessary to document some of this controversy in as positive way as possible. I talked to Warren to hear her side of the story. Yes, she was unhappy with her child’s special ed experience at San Mateo Park Elementary School. Warren had nothing but good things to say a about Superintendent Diego Ochoa except questioned the ethics of his making a $1,000 campaign contribution to Corzo who is running for the Board of Supervisors. Not a very smart move on his part.

I talked to a regular board watcher and she never saw any of this coming. She said the board always acted professionally in public. I also talked to Watkins who said Warren created her own issues and no one played favorites. It’s never a good idea for a school board member to have to interfere with her child’s education. Even if you are unhappy with a teacher, you should keep your mouth shut. Many feel your kids are at an advantage when you are on their school board. But I can tell you from experience that is not true.

Meanwhile board Trustee Ken Chin who was about to be districted out of office in November will run for Warren’s seat. She lives in San Mateo Park. He lives in Baywood. Both neighborhoods are in the same district.

***

“We know. We know. But we just didn’t like Hillary.” Various versions of this message with photos of Handmaidens are on Facebook. Have to admit it hit home. I did vote for Hillary, reluctantly. I never liked her and believed she was a terrible candidate. I was always an Obama fan. My husband, especially, did not like Hillary. He refused to vote for her but he did not vote for Trump. I wonder if the Facebook post got it wrong. It wasn’t the women but the many men — registered Democrats — who found Trump less distasteful than her. And then there were the Bernie Sanders devotees — mostly young people but some old enough to vote — who sat it out.

***

After the past week’s revelations of Trump’s involvement in the Jan. 6 uprising and destruction of the Capitol you wonder what real Republicans — so called RINOs — are thinking. And for the Trumpsters (they are not real Republicans) will it make a difference if their man is guilty of treason? I have a pen pal via email who usually comments on my columns but in a funny way even when he disagrees. He is a Trump supporter. He wanted to know if I knew any Republicans. Today, many men in my Rotary Club are Republicans. There was a time when Republicans dominated San Mateo County politics. Bill Duplissea and Robert Naylor served in the Assembly; Becky Morgan was the state senator. Those were different times. I don’t know if they would still identify as Republicans.

***

When the Jan. 6 investigation heard from Mark Meadows’ aide, many were riveted to their TV screens when she told how Trump knew about and encouraged the assault on the Capitol. I was curious how Fox News would cover this. They didn’t. Instead Sean Hannity blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for not calling the National Guard and played clips of Joe and Hunter Biden. More people watch Fox than any other station — one of the reasons we remain a nation divided.

Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.