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Published January 27, 2017
This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," February 22, 2006, that has been edited for clarity.
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BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Personal Story" segment tonight: Former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, now a talk radio host in "The City by the Bay" at 960 AM — The Quake. He joins us from San Francisco to reply to the Highland resolution and other topics of the day. What say you? You got the Highland people mad at you. And what else?
WILLIE BROWN, FORMER MAYOR OF SAN FRANCISCO: I think the Highland people are totally wrong. I think the citizens of Highland have not passed and said anything about not doing business with San Francisco. This is a city made up of lots of people with lots of views.
And the fact that the board of supervisors says please don't recruit in the military on our turf, on our school turf, or you had one supervisor who said something about we don't need a military and there shouldn't be a military, something to that effect, that's not the 800,000 people that live in this city. And the 800,000 people who live in this city shouldn't be treated any differently than the people who live in the little city of Highland.
O'REILLY: All right. But let's talk about that. You had a referendum that outlaws, symbolically, you can't do it concretely — military from recruiting on city campuses. And it passed 60-40, 60 percent to 40 percent. So, I mean, certainly America's going to go, "Whoa, what kind of city is that?"
And then you have a guy — maybe you can explain who Gerardo Sandoval is, because I don't know — saying we don't need a military at all. So what do you think Americans are going to think about San Francisco? Come on.
BROWN: I don't think Highland represents all of America. I don't think Highland represent a majority of Americans. I think Americans of all persuasions live in San Francisco and sometimes get themselves...
O'REILLY: OK, OK. But don't you think that San Francisco is the most radical city in the USA right now?
BROWN: I think San Francisco is one of the most unusual cities for political purposes...
O'REILLY: Unusual?
BROWN: Yes, unusual, cities...
O'REILLY: OK, but we're in a War on Terror and you don't want the military recruiting and one of your guys on the [board of] supervisors doesn't want the military at all. I think that's a bit unusual. I mean, did this guy miss the 9/11 events? Did he miss the beheadings? I mean, can you maybe show him a tape?
BROWN: Well, I think the Gerardo Sandoval thing is a whole different deal. He had to have been at that moment not fully understanding the implications of...
O'REILLY: Medical marijuana, what do you think?
BROWN: I think — No, I don't know about that either. But I think he was theorizing about why the military ought to be something that it is not.
O'REILLY: But he asked him point blank three times. Come on, Mr. Mayor, he asked him three times. Even Colmes was so incredulous, he's going wait, wait, wait, just so I understand, you're saying. And the guy is right, that's right we don't need a military.
Look, I agree with you. Most San Franciscans are not Gerardo Sandoval. But you've got to get it that you're living in a city that is way, way, way , out there on the left, and most Americans are not.
BROWN: And you're absolutely correct in regards to being way out there on the left. But I don't think that that's so unobjectionable or so unacceptable in this democracy. I think there has to be a balanced level of dialogue in order for this nation to really work.
O'REILLY: All right.
BROWN: In San Francisco, some of us who live here try to bring that balance. We don't do the stuff like Gerardo Sandoval.
O'REILLY: No, you — you were a lefty but you weren't a crazy guy. But now since you're gone, there's been a lot of craziness there, you've got to admit.
BROWN: There — there are some actions and some utterances that raise questions about the utterer, but that's not the base of San Francisco.
O'REILLY: All right.
BROWN: This is still the most beautiful, wonderful city for anybody to visit for whatever purpose. And by the way, if somebody is only spending $5,000 in a year, they better stay home. They aren't helping us at all.
O'REILLY: I mean, but if 300 cities do what Highland does...
BROWN: But 300 cities are not going to do that.
O'REILLY: I think a lot of people are...
BROWN: I know you have a great — I know you have great coverage, but I don't think they're going to be 300 cities that would move unilaterally to try to boycott San Francisco.
O'REILLY: Well, we'll see. Maybe you're right, but I'll tell you this. There is anger out there. That's all I want to say.
Now, Mark Leno prevented Jessica's Law from getting through in a tough way. Now the folks of California, 700,000 strong, have signed a petition to get it on the ballot in an initiative form next November. How do you feel about that?
BROWN: It will pass. There is no question that the business of child molestation, pedophiles and pornography and people of that nature, I don't think California is any different than any other place.
And if there's a way in which to inject some form of reasonable controls, when not intruding upon non-participants and persons who have not offended, California will in fact do that.
Mark Leno and his crowd may have been wrong in trying to manage it as — in the manner which they tried to manage it — but nevertheless, I don't think that you'll find California being out of step with the rest of the nation.
O'REILLY: All right. So you favor the initiative and you will actually vote for Jessica's Law yourself?
BROWN: I got news for you. I don't know enough about the initiative. I haven't read it. I haven't reviewed it. I know that it has a 2,000 feet in it, that is has some increase in penalty. I know that it has a life-time ankle bracelet. But that's all the stuff that I've heard. The initiative process is a bad idea in California. Representative democracy ought to be where these issues are appropriately debated...
O'REILLY: See, I disagree with you. I think that Leno and his guys can strangle that law, which they did. All they did was just up the penalties from eight to 10 years. This is 15 to 25 to life, which is what it should be.
You can't be raping little kids and go to jail for seven years. You know that. I mean, that's not punishment fits the crime.
I think this is the purest form of democracy. I think the folks are voting. They're saying to the politicians, we're tired of your games. We're going to do it. And as you said rightly, this is going to pass and this is going to send a signal to the rest of the nation, Americans want Jessica's Law.
Last word, Mayor. Go.
BROWN: I got to tell you, I think the nation would embrace the idea of ensuring that little children are protected against every kind of predator without reference to any Mark Leno. The only question is whether or not it's done in a fashion consistent with good judgment, not whether or not it's simply represents a revenge verdict.
O'REILLY: All right. Mayor Brown, always a pleasure. Thank you very much. We appreciate you coming on.
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