Who’s Still Sending Virtue Signals?

It seems that just about all San Francisco political leaders have lately acknowledged the need to rein in progressive policies—except perhaps the one running for President of the United States.

Compared to past elections, the mayor’s race in San Francisco this year has been striking for its focus on the need for law and order. Even many leftist politicos are sounding more moderate these days and offering fewer progressive virtue signals—perhaps because such signals don’t yield progress and lack virtue.

The San Francisco Standard’s David Sjostedt reports on the incumbent running for re-election:

How very Texan of Ms. Breed. Earlier this year she led a successful referendum campaign to cut off cash assistance to drug addicts who refuse to enter treatment programs. While she’s at it, perhaps she’ll consider turning off the subsidy spigot entirely for able-bodied adults.

Meanwhile across the Bay, there is a similar political hunger for a new approach to social problems. Rigel Robinson, a former member of the Berkeley City Council, opines in the Standard:

Back in San Francisco, another Breed departure from the kooky dogma of the extreme left is suddenly relevant to our national political discourse. Last December this column noted a Jose Martinez report for CBS News in San Francisco:

The office would have been a precursor to attempting to redistribute money from people who never owned slaves to people who were never enslaved. It isn’t just the principle of reparations plans that’s offensive , or the difficulty and destructiveness of government officials trying to precisely define the level of ancestral guilt or victimhood within the great American melting pot. It’s also the money.

In early 2023, after studying the work of San Francisco’s reparations committee, Lee Ohanian at Stanford’s Hoover Institution provided a ballpark estimate:

Pretty much everyone in San Francisco, even those who favor expansive social spending, recognized that this leap into the depths of progressive insanity wasn’t going to happen.

In February of this year, Aldo Toledo reported in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Opposing reparations plans—un-American efforts to punish or reward people based on their ancestry—is now a perfectly safe space for politicians on the left to show how reasonable they have become. If a massive reparations plan failed in San Francisco for goodness sake, politicians campaigning nationwide can be comfortable rejecting it, too.

But the Democratic presidential candidate from San Francisco still won’t do it. Curtis Bunn reports for NBC News:

Any gathering of journalists is likely to be deflated when a candidate refuses to stake out the leftwardmost position on an issue of public policy. But for the rest of America, it’s bound to be disturbing that Ms. Harris won’t repudiate an extreme position she held as a presidential candidate in the last election.

The logical conclusion is that she’s still just as radical as her record.

Rolls-Royce has revealed a new series of bespoke Cullinan motor cars inspired by the world of yachting, with four individually commissioned vehicles reflecting the materials, movement and design codes of life at sea.

Presented at Goodwood in the UK, the Cullinan Yachting collection comprises four one-off vehicles themed around the cardinal directions, North, South, East and West, each expressed through distinct exterior finishes and interior detailing.

The commissions lean heavily into maritime influence, a space Rolls-Royce says is closely aligned with its global client base.

Each vehicle features marine-grade teak, hand-painted fascia artwork inspired by the wake of a tender cutting through water, and intricate marquetry compass motifs made from more than 40 individual pieces of wood veneer.

Hand-painted elements have become an increasingly sought-after feature among Rolls-Royce clients, with the brand employing dedicated artisans to develop bespoke interior compositions.

For the Cullinan Yachting series, the painted wake effect required months of experimentation to achieve a natural sense of movement.

Inside, the vehicles are finished in Arctic White and Navy Blue leather, with hand-stitched detailing designed to echo the structure of nautical ropework. A signature Rolls-Royce Starlight

Headliner has also been reimagined, with fibre-optic constellations arranged to reflect Mediterranean wind patterns.

Each car’s exterior colour has been developed to align with its directional theme, ranging from lighter blue tones evoking northern waters to deeper hues referencing warmer southern seas and storm-lit horizons.

Rolls-Royce said the collection reflects a longstanding relationship between the marque and the world of yachting, dating back to its co-founder Charles Rolls, whose family owned a steam yacht and travelled extensively through the Mediterranean.

The release underscores the growing demand for highly personalised vehicles among ultra-high-net-worth buyers, with Rolls-Royce increasingly positioning its cars as part of a broader luxury lifestyle that extends beyond the road.

Who’s Still Sending Virtue Signals?

Kamala Harris and the evolution of San Francisco progressives.

Four one-off Cullinan commissions draw on the design language of yachting, blending marine craftsmanship with Rolls-Royce’s signature bespoke detailing.