‘The Greatest Good Men’

Then President-elect Abraham Lincoln in his farewell address in Springfield, Ill., on Feb. 11, 1861, proclaimed, “My friends … I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail.”

We humbly commemorate Mr. Lincoln’s birth on 12 February as we do George Washington’s February 22nd birthday. We can compare their lives with the experience in the 2025 National Football League (NFL) season of the New York Jets, who became the first team in the NFL’s long history to finish their season (in a drubbing, of course) without achieving an interception. (The previous record was two by 2018’s S.F. 49ers.)

The peripatetic Los Angeles Times broke a story last fall about a law firm called “Downtown L.A. Law Group” paying poor L.A. residents to sue Los Angeles County! The suits included county juvenile hall and foster home sexual abuse and molestation claims. People were paid by lawyers to sue L.A. County and recover money. The Times discovered seven plaintiffs who received payment outside a county special services office in South Los Angeles by representatives of such law firm. It’s illegal in California for non-attorneys to procure or solicit clients to sign agreements for lawsuits. State Sen. Tom Umberg of Orange County introduced legislation to strengthen laws banning firms or individuals which enable people to sue firms or persons who’ve solicited or persuaded clients to file such false law suits. That bill is still pending in the legislature which reconvened on Jan. 5 and must act on such bill by May 9.

California cities aren’t the only property tax lovers. In 2024, the Chicago City Council unanimously voted against Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed increase in Chicago’s share of property taxes by $300 million. Nevertheless, homeowners still confront a $500 million increase. New assessments have changed the burden from commercial downtown properties to homeowners. Some tax bills increased by 133%, affecting adversely Black families who will vacate in favor of higher income owners who can afford the tax. It’s fortunate California enacted Proposition 13 on June 6, 1978, when I was on our Board of Supervisors. That sent the mayor and profligate supervisors into a paroxysm over inability to spend taxpayer money freely, and instilled tax-eaters at City Hall with regret that the legislature hadn’t somehow prevented the late Howard Jarvis (Prop. 13’s progenitor) from qualifying Prop. 13 for the state ballot.

On the other hand, my “progressive” Ocean Avenue paralegal son reminded me last month of President Harry S. Truman’s remarks in Syracuse, N.Y. (my childhood hometown) on Oct. 10, 1952, about socialism. The “Little Man from Independence” (Missouri) declared: “Socialism is a scare word they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years. Socialism is what they called public power. Socialism is what they called Social Security. Socialism is what they called farm price supports. Socialism is what they called bank deposit insurance. Socialism is what they called the growth of free and independent labor organizations. Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people.”

Truman, unlike “Bone Spur” Trump, had served our country as a U.S. Army cavalry officer in France during World War I and was picked by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as his vice-presidential candidate in 1944 while a U.S. senator from Missouri. He became president after FDR’s death in April 1945 and was elected over Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican, in November 1948 for a full term.

Regarding election, I have already endorsed David Lee for supervisor in District 4 and reiterate my pleasure with David’s leadership in aiding some 40 or more Sunset District business owners recovering from PG&E power outages suffered last December. Many neighborhood businesses sustained loss of more than $100,000 – yet, PG&E offers them all just $2,500! Law suits will be filed in San Francisco Superior Court this month, and maybe it’s time to reconsider former Mayor London Breed’s notion of San Francisco replacing PG&E as our electric and gas supplier as the City of Sacramento has done for nearly 100 years.

I also have endorsed for supervisor in District 2 (Marina) Ms. Lori Brooke, in District 8 (Mission) Gary McCoy and J.R. Eppler in District 10. There’s plenty of time to extol my choices, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, our fearless leader at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20500 wastes more taxpayer money with one of the most feckless law suits I’ve ever observed. Last month, the Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. sued Chuck Redd, a vibraphonist and drummer, for $1.5 million in damages for canceling a free Christmas Eve performance as a protest against “Draft Dodger” Trump’s renaming the center which has, since its opening more than 55 years ago, been The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. It’s now The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Chuck Redd is manifestly a man of conviction. The center responded by stating: “The Trump-Kennedy Center is a true bipartisan institution which welcomes artists and patrons from all backgrounds.” Trump, incidentally, replaced the former board of trustees last year because they didn’t share “his vision of a Golden Age in arts and culture.” This is the same man who last month blamed the late Rob Reiner’s opposition to him for Reiner’s tragic killing. Typically, a president will enunciate a message of grief, especially when there’s a personal connection as there is with Reiner’s surviving wife, Michelle Singer, the photographer of the cover image of Trump’s 1987 book!

Last fall a Reuters/Ipsos survey revealed the most important elements influencing their vote in the 2026 elections are: cost of living (40%); protecting democracy (28%); immigration (14%); and crime (9%).

I want to close on positive thoughts. At a 2008 campaign rally an audience member declared he “was scared of Barack Obama becoming president.” There were boos and cat calls as Sen. John McCain responded: “I have to tell you; he is a decent person and a person you don’t have to be scared of as president of the United States.” Later, a woman stated she wouldn’t trust Obama because “he’s an Arab.” McCain again replied: “No, ma’am, he’s a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to disagree with on fundamental issues.”

I close with the late Henry Cabot Lodge’s 1909 observation in an address to the Massachusetts legislature: “That nation has not lived in vain which has given the world Washington and Lincoln, the last great men and the greatest good men whom history can show.”

Quentin Kopp is a former San Francisco supervisor, state senator, SF Ethics Commission member, president of the California High Speed Rail Authority governing board and retired Superior Court judge.