Old Weird Ward
Unless otherwise noted, that which is posted here is opinion, which is protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. If you don't like my opinions, go somewhere else. Nobody is forcing you to actually read this drivel.
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Monday, August 22, 2005
- - - - - San Francisco and the US Navy - - - - - For many years, San Francisco was a Navy town. From 1850 right through the Viet Nam war sailors were made welcome in SF, most of the time. Oh, I remember getting the occasional "dumb sailor" comment when my ship, USS Nereus (AS17) was there, back in 1970, but nothing like the nastiness I got in another California city that shall remain nameless, for the moment. But now, it's official. The City and County of San Francisco so despises the US Navy that the Board of Supervisors has voted, 8-3, to decline the honor of acting as host city for the honorable retirement of the USS Iowa (BB61), in spite of her long, active and distinguished history. Here's the whole AP story that the SF Chronicle carried, which I've excerpted below. The USS Iowa joined in battles from World War II to Korea to the Persian Gulf. It carried President Franklin Roosevelt home from the Teheran conference of allied leaders, and four decades later, suffered one of the nation's most deadly military accidents.
Veterans groups and history buffs had hoped that tourists in San Francisco could walk the same teak decks where sailors dodged Japanese machine-gun fire and fired 16-inch guns that helped win battles across the South Pacific.
Instead, it appears that the retired battleship is headed about 80 miles inland, to Stockton, a gritty agricultural port town on the San Joaquin River and home of California's annual asparagus festival.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a former San Francisco mayor, helped secure $3 million to tow the Iowa from Rhode Island to the Bay Area in 2001 in hopes of making touristy Fisherman's Wharf its new home.
But city supervisors voted 8-3 last month to oppose taking in the ship, citing local opposition to the Iraq war and the military's stance on gays, among other things.
"If I was going to commit any kind of money in recognition of war, then it should be toward peace, given what our war is in Iraq right now," Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi said.
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I'm sure that Supervisor Ross Mirdarimi will forgive me if I regard him as a somewhat backward child. I'm sure that he's not aware that the USS Iowa made many port visits to San Francisco, and the crewmen of the ship dumped a ton of money into the local economy. And that some of those crewmen fell in love with the City by the Bay, and moved there after they'd served their time. And of course, only a backward child would be ignorant of the long history of the US Navy in and around San Francisco. Now, of course, I'm sure that many US Navy people, active-duty, retired, and those who just did their four years and got out, are thinking that San Francisco no longer likes sailors. Fine. Get a clue, knot-head. We'll not like you right back. And we'll tell our friends about the blunt-brains in SF who did in fact commit the following dumb-ass actions: 1. Turned down a piece of America's naval history. 2. Turned down a guaranteed tourist attraction. Tourists, as everyone knows, like to spend their money in the location of the tourist attraction. 3. Turned down a spectacular piece of the naval architect's art. HERE is a view of the USS Iowa. Face it, she's gorgeous. She mounts nine 16-inch rifles, a bunch of 5-inch rifles, and armor a foot thick - and she's still got a an absolutely beautiful profile. 4. And managed to enrage a whole bunch of people who aren't at all shy about making their views known. And our friends will think twice about going to San Francisco to spend their money. Blunt-brains. Dumbos. Peaheads. Asshats. Booger-eatin' mohrons. Just out-and-out stupid. Sheesh!
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