October 7, 2007
SFist Photo: Is San Francisco Still a Navy Town?
Fleet Week continues. Saturday's monstrous crowd sure seemed to enjoy the airshow.
Navy town. That's the phrase Mayor Gavin Newsom used to describe our fair city. The Guardian has a problem with that. Do you?
The mayor recently felt the urge to go after the "extreme right" in his "fierce defense of San Francisco." "I am sick and tired of this city being depicted as anti-military." Well, all right then. Check out the reaction here and see and hear how things are going so far with the Fleet Week after the jump.
Here's what you do: Fire up the Top Gun video and then watch this slide show. Good times.
Hey, hey, hey.
Jingo a go go
Transient vapour clouds
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I applaud Mayor Newsom for reaching out to the Secretary of the Navy in that letter. I also agree with many of the comments on the Chron. article - SF has a very vocal minority who just love to protest anything. Witness, Chris Daly. He is an embarrassment as a progressive. Instead of working together to get things done, he just takes the antagonist position to the Mayor.
Do I enjoy the roar of fighter jets over my apartment all weekend. No. But guess what, thousands of people enjoy it and that's great. I hope they had a fantastic weekend. Do I enjoy my bus routes being all screwed up everytime there is a parade or fair? No. But guess what, thousands of people enjoy it. I deal with it. Why?
Because I am an adult. We live in a city and there are certain pros and cons to it. So, everyone please stop whining about the airshow and don't give Newson a hard time because he is trying to deal with some of the whiny children on the Board of Supervisors.
I'm a San Franciscan, born and raised. A true blue progressive. All that good stuff.
Last year, when I went to Fleet Week, I stood there, staring in awe at the sky, at the Blue Angels, and I thought to myself, "Imagine if I were some regular guy in Afghanistan or Iraq, and I saw these planes screaming overhead. Imagine if those planes weren't putting on a show, but instead were dropping bombs on my city." And for the the shortest of moments, I could almost imagine the sheer fear that regular guy in Kabul or Baghdad might feel.
This year, more than any other year I can remember, there was loud criticism of the Blue Angels flying overhead. So, I sat around and thought about it. Here's my $0.02:
If I were given a patch of land and the authority to create a country, I know I'd want a military. I hate the idea of armies and navys and tanks and guns, but I know if I had a country and citizens, I'd want a military. A good one. A strong one. A voluntary one. It sucks, but that's just the way it has to be.
If I had a military, I'd want that military to be independent. That is, the military would have to listen to whoever the citizens picked to command them. The military wouldn't be allowed to be loyal to a party or to an individual or even to thier own judgment. They'd simply have to be loyal to the office and the person who just so happens to have been picked for that office. Sometimes a crazy man or woman might fill that office and sometimes the military might have to listen to that crazy man or woman and fight his or her adventures even if the military wouldn't want to. They'd have to listen because if they didn't, we'd have a Pakistan or Burma.
Because I'd want a military, and because the military requires much sacrifice in terms of personal freedom and liberty and sweat and blood, I'd want to celebrate that military. Not overly so, but just enough. Surely, if we can celebrate football players on Sundays and doctors on TV shows and actors in magazines, we can have a parade here and there for our military.
Because I'd want my military to be voluntary, I'd want the military to be effective at selling itself to the citizens. I'd want this because I think a voluntary military is much more attractive than a conscripted military. And because I think individual citizens should make the choice to join or not, I wouldn't want institutions or governmental entities to intervene in such recruitment. If the military isn't attractive to the citizens, the citizens won't join. The citizens, I think, don't need a city to step in on thier behalf.
I've had the good fortune to meet many many San Franciscans. I count among my greatest blessings, my encounters with the few dozen WWII and Korean War vets I've met here in the City. Like Mr. Hitomi who was interned, joined the 442nd, lost an arm in the war, came back home, and couldn't buy a house in the Sunset because of racial covenants. Or Danny, who played in an army band during the war. Or Eddie in Hunter's Point, who drove trucks in Germany and then went to the Pacific, and later to Korea. These guys all made San Francisco thier home. These guys are San Franciscans like you and I. These are the kinds of people I'd want in my imaginary military in my imaginary country. These guys, I'm certain, love the Blue Angels. Not because it makes them feel macho or war-hungry. But because it celebrates them. One weekend a year.
I know the arguments against the Blue Angels and Fleet Week and the propaganda machine that all of it is. Which is why I'm actually surprised to find myself supporting Fleet Week. I don't support it to support Bush or Rush or O'Reilly. I support it in spite of them. I support it because I know that that's the way I'd do it if I were trying to create a perfect country in an imperfect world. I support it because I know guys like Mr. Hitomi and Danny and Eddie are proud of thier service and they and people like them make me proud to be San Franciscan.
Keep SF a navy town! We need all those sailors in their cute little hats running around.
I do worry about the blue angels droping blue ice on me though.
Is that the same kind of plane they used to drop napalm on the kids in Viet Nam? I can't decide it that one or this one will be remembered as the war we lost the most.
Given our U.S. Navy heritage as well as an opportunity to pay tribute to our armed forces, we appreciate Gavin Newsom's warm and dignified welcome to U.S. Navy plus the 26th Fleet Week was a great tme had by all!
Except Chrissy Daly who can stay home and knit pink booties.
Go Navy!
Gavin Sucks.com says vote for Newsom is and fire Daly!
i'd be really surprised if they come back next year. way to go you worthless piece of shit daly!
mariconsoy,
what does the gay community think of daly, just out of curiosity?
there's a difference between having a strong defense and militarism.
great speech though.
Right on, Native Son.
It is a privilage to live in this amazing bubble where we get to argue about whether supermarkets should be allowed to give out plastic bags. Even though there problems and injustices here and in the rest of the country, we are lucky as hell that the City and County of San Francisco is part of the United States of America.
The least we can do is spend ~4 days a year being respectful of - and maybe even learning about - the values of the other 300 million people who live in the country that makes San Francisco possible.
These may be the most rational comments I have read in a very long time on SFist. How nice.
Yes, San Franciscans support our sons and daughters in the military.
The commander in chief is a douche bag, and that's unfortunate. Even worse is the politicization of some of the top military men due to the Worst President Ever's lack of credibility with Americans.
I hope the San Francisco USD School Board has an epiphany and realizes the JROTC has nothing to do with the Worst President Ever and his lies that took us to war in Iraq. The kids of San Francisco deserve after school activities that allow them to learn how to better contribute to society, and JROTC is a 5-star example of just that sort of program.
I love watching the Blue Angels do their thing ... and I hope to see them again next year.
great point rincon. code pink is attacking the individual people in the military for the bad decisions of our elected officials. pretty stupid and disrespectful if you ask me.
Thumbs up Native Son.
Native Son for Best Comment!
Native Son for Best Comment EVER. Thank you.
Agreed!
I blogged a thank you note to the US Navy here.