Chip Johnson writes a column in the S.F. Chronicle carrying the label “On the East Bay.”   Chip sees his role as applying the illogic of liberalism to items that occur on the other side of the Bay.  For example, on Friday past he railed on about the evils of Chevron, the major oil company that not only has a refinery in the East Bay, but also its world headquarters.  Chip opens his column with “Roll on, Big Oil,” which gives you a pretty good idea where he is headed.  As Chip sees it, Chevron is simply “bad news” for the public from start to finish.  The primary subject of Chip’s latest column is to assail Chevron for trying to avoid being the only source of tax revenue for the city of Richmond. 

Chevron starts out in the hole with Chip because it is a corporation.  You don’t go far into Chip’s column before discovering that corporations like Chevron make profits (yuk!), unlike Chip’s newspaper, the S.F. Chronicle.  Profit is a dirty word to Chip, and in recent times Chevron has made large profits.  Good lib Chip sees those profits coming at the expense of the poor and the downtrodden in society, many of whom happen to live in Richmond.   Journalists like Chip view economics through the same prism as Marx and Lenin.  Capitalism creates disparities in wealth leaving some with less than others.  And, liberal journalists hop all over these perceived disparities like ravenous dogs proclaiming the system is obviously corrupt.

Chip notes with lots of emotion but totally dearth of logic:

It's just tough to watch Chevron, which posted a record profit of $18.7 billion last year, pulling the purse strings tight at a time when it's doing so well and its host city is in such dire straits.

But, he is not through.  He goes on:

From every viewpoint other than that of the corporation, such tactics can't help but promote the notion that giant companies make the rules and anyone without the spirit, resources or organization to fight back is an easy target for manipulation.

Over the century that the plant has operated on the city's waterfront, it has spewed emissions, spilled toxic substances that require people to evacuate their homes and presented an environmental challenge to everyone living around it.

Here Chip really reveals his unvarnished anti-corporate, anti-capitalist attitude.  Corporations are bad. All executives are crooks.  Chevron deliberately spews out pollution while gouging the public in pricing their product.  Plus, they even manipulate and pay off the public officials.

Does Chip offer any proof of these ridiculous charges?  Of course not.  Did he talk to Chevron officials?  Of course not.  Why should he do that?  He would have to drive all the way out to San Ramon.  Obviously he had his mind made up before the sat down at his word processor. Did he tell us how much of Richmond’s tax revenue already comes from Chevron? Of course not.    

It seems to me that Chip’s problem is that he isn’t thinking big enough. He should write another column with a “big and sweeping” suggestion.  Since Chevron is evil in every respect, the Bay Area would be far better off without them.  I say to hell with their good jobs and tax revenues.  We should move forward on our principles. Officials should force Chevron to shut down their nasty, polluting refinery and move their crooked executives out of the state.  Now, that would show them, Chip.   Ride them out of town on a rail and good riddance.   MoonBeam Jerry Brown would undoubtedly chip in.  Super-lib Ron Dellums would agree to help with a wordy liberal proclamation of support.  The Berkeley City Council would pass a resolution declaring Chevron executives possess even lower principles than the U.S. Marines.  I’m beginning to like the sound of this, Chip.  I think you are on to something big here.

I should note that readers of the Chronicle are lucky in one respect. Chip’s column only appears twice a week. Even the Chron editors realize that more frequent columns by Chip would represent cruel and unusual punishment.