Comments on: The Sunday Paper (Fleet Week Diary)

By: Ward

Ward — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 22:22:36 +0000

GSBJoe:
As the Geico caveman might say: “Uh … what?“
What part of this post leads you to come to the conclusion of “blind hatred of San Francisco”? Is it the part where I say San Francisco is one of America’s greatest cities?
What’s with everybody today? (Or is it me?)

By: Ward

Ward — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 22:14:42 +0000

Thanks, SJ Bill. Unfortunately I’m headed to the east coast. Have a great event.

By: SJBill

SJBill — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:22:18 +0000

One of the two US Navy vessel Commanding Officers is scheduled appear somewhat to the south of San Francisco tomorrow evening. The venue is a Navy League Council in Santa Clara County. Chris, and Ward, y’knot come on down, if’n you can.
Chris should have my contact INFO.
V/r
–SJBill

By: demophilus

demophilus — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:25:59 +0000

As a former denizen of the Bay Area, let me toss a few comments out there.
First of all, it’s a great place to play, live, and work — especially if you can find a good paying gig. More on that later.
Thing is, the town was already changing before the Summer of Love, and that was forty years ago. There’s a strain of knee jerk liberal noise out there that’s just part of the environment. If you can’t turn the squelch up and ignore it, let it fade into the background like traffic, or the surf, it will drive you nuts — it’ll make you into a reactionary. Like, say, a knee jerk “liberal”.
That’s no way to live — reacting, rather than seeing or thinking.
Which leads into my second point: if you think everyone in the Bay Area cleaves to the knee jerk “liberal” thing, you don’t know the Bay Area at all. Spend some time in the parking lot or cheap seats at a Raiders, Giants or As game. Hang out in Oakland, El Cerrito, San Pablo, Daly City or Richmond. An SF City Councilman doesn’t speak for those people, much less many San Franciscans.
Once upon a time, the military pumped a lot of money through the Bay Area, and provided a lot of jobs — particularly, shipyard jobs. Those sort of jobs guaranteed a hell of a constituency for the Blue Angels — or for that matter, the Raiders. More on that to follow.
Third, have you considered the possibility that this guy Daly is grandstanding? I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time that a political hack picked a hot button issue as a stalking horse for something else: like, say, the changing nature of the polity, or a run at Gavin Newsome’s job.
Fourth, if you want to know why this sort of nonsense finds fertile ground anywhere in the Bay Area, think BRAC — if you close bases, you lose the servicemen, dependents and relatives that support the military most.
Over the past few decades the Bay Area’s lost bases at Alameda NAS, Treasure Island, Hunter’s Point, the Presidio, Moffett Field, Mare Island, Hamilton AFB, and God knows how many other installations. The contractors who serviced those bases are gone. When you cut jobs like that — like say, shipyard jobs — you lose votes. More importantly, you lose perspective — your Blue Angels and Raiders fans get pushed into the background, and grandstanders aren’t accountable to them any more.
This sort of thing is also happening in other parts of the country hit by BRAC. For example, you get homeowners in Virginia Beach protesting jet noise.
OK? Sorry for the rant, but don’t mistake an effect for a cause, or take a symptom as useless noise. If you have a squeaky bearing, it needs some grease.
Unfortunately, sometimes the squeaky bearing means it needed some grease a while ago. DoD’s been closing Bay Area bases for decades. It’s pushed the Bay Area up into the cheap seats of American defense.
In spite of that, the fans are still there. They’re just a little harder to hear.

By: springbored

springbored — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:24:47 +0000

Well, to get back into technical terms–Technically, military.com is owned by Monster International. Which, in 2004, bought military.com’s parent company, Military Advantage, which happens to, ah, still have an office in San Francisco, as I recall.
So as to whose party? Monster International’s shareholders threw it. And you know, they sometimes pop up at embarassing moments.

By: Ward

Ward — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 16:59:14 +0000

I don’t want to compare address books, SB, but for the record I DID enjoy a beer with my good friend and former boss ADM Roughead at FW two years ago. Also talked to him about the Navy’s support of FW a week ago at the CJCS change of command in DC.
If you want FW to continue in 2008 and beyond, you shouldn’t ignore the facts.

By: Springbored

Springbored — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 16:35:55 +0000

It’s my city, dude. And you obviously haven’t enjoyed a beer with Roughead in it, either. Know these people, heh.
I guesss some people are failures in life, neh?

By: Rix

Rix — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:17:57 +0000

It is my opinion that there were too many public relations nightmares for an admiral. Between antiwar groups, gay rights groups, and Berkeley types the city is quite hostile to the military. The Navy tried last year but things have if anything gotten worse.
Of course, as I point out in my blog (http://kosherwisdom.blogspot.com), military issues are perhaps the least of their problems given that they have a seven mile square area with over 800 registered sex offenders running free.

By: Moose

Moose — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 04:49:10 +0000

So because Chris Daly brought up a resolution THAT FAILED several times, the Brass gives SF a pass? If they had been dumb enough to approve that bill, I would certainly understand. But are we to assume that the Navy’s pissed at SF for letting this guy talk? You know, as Democracies do?
Yes, the SF politicos have a pretty backward view of the Military. And yes, most who do wouldn’t know an aircraft carrier from an M16, but the way to change attitudes is to open up and make them LIKE you, not give them reason to be even more pigheaded in the future.

By: CW

CW — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 03:19:50 +0000

here are my pictures from fleet week!
http://crm.wongbooger.com/gallery/v/blue+angels/
I got there kinda late so I didn’t get any pictures of the other aircraft performances.