In the 1950s, Mies van der Rohe was fond of saying that "architecture is not a cocktail"--that it has certain rules, and unlike a Martini, you don't mix up a new style whenever you feel like it.

Similarly, one would assume that for a city mayor, the law is not a buffet where you can pick which laws appeal to you, and ignore those that don't.

But that seems to be exactly the principle that San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom operates from. Two years ago, Newsom ignored California's ban on gay marriage, only to eventually be slapped down by California's state supreme court. Today, he saying that the city "will not comply with any federal legislation that criminalizes efforts to help illegal immigrants", as the Baltimore Examiner puts it.

In 2004, Glenn Reynolds wrote of Newsom's attempt to end run California's gay marriage ban:

Newsom would deny others the right to violate a law he believes in, but feels free to violate the law himself when he chooses, even though his sole claim to legitimacy as a government official comes from the law.

It's not civil disobedience when it's done by someone who controls the machinery of government -- it's usurpation, even when it's in a cause I agree with.

Given the recently demonstrated hostility of San Francisco's governing powers to America's Second Amendment, its military, and the nation's religious freedoms, maybe this blogger has it right, that if "San Francisco intends to ignore federal laws then they should lose all federal funding":

Every federal agency that has a S.F. office should close and that includes the post office. The same goes for every other city which chooses to follow San Francisco’s lead on this or any other federal law. Being American means that along with the benefits, rights and privileges come responsibilities, the first of those responsibilities is abiding the laws of the United States. Cities and even states have no more right to pick and choose which laws they will obey than the people themselves do. San Francisco understands this well enough when it enforces it’s own local ordinances so they have no excuse for thumbing their noses at state or federal laws.

But as Newsom learned two years ago, nothing of the sort will happen. He's appears to be free to thumb his nose at the law with impunity--something the rest of us are most certainly not.

(Of course, all Newsom's preening may be for naught: "Senate Vote Shelves Immigration Bill".)

Update: Sister Toldjah has some thoughts as well.

Another Update: "Seriously, saw Frisco off into the sea already. It's a pretty city, but so is Seattle-- we may still be able to save them if we start now".