Willie Brown Was Always About One Thing -- Power

Re “New Chapter for Old-School Politician,” Dec. 21: I was amused by the poor-old-Willie-Brown article, about the outgoing mayor of San Francisco. When I was active in the California Democratic Party, Willie was at the height of command. He was called a radical but did everything he could to preserve establishment power against the Democratic Party’s grass roots.

Brown was never about true liberalism; he was always about power. He laid the foundation for the current disarray among California Democrats. He helped his cronies destroy local party organizations that disagreed with him; he played off interest group against interest group. It wasn’t about principle; it was all about Willie. How funny -- the symbol of radicalism in the Democratic Party as portrayed by the press and the Republicans is laid low by real radicals.

George H. Morris

Upland