Blue Angels

[Propellerhead]

The question was: Do you believe this guy? The answer is, sadly, yes. I live in Oakland and have the dubious "honor" of having none other than Barbara "Department of Peace" Lee as my congresswoman. "The horror, the horror..."

Every year there is a Fleet Week the editorial page contains letters from the legions of handwringers and bedwetters complaining how their city is "under siege." This year the Chron published an article about the return of Fleet Week and voiced the usual concerns and complaints. By contrast, the Oakland Tribune had a positive article that also mentioned that the bay area has the largest concentration of veterans in the country (true?). Lets inventory the past military presence of the bay area: Hamilton AFB, Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, Mare Island, Alameda Naval Air Station, and the Oakland Army Base. We still have Moffitt field and Travis AFB. These were built to protect you not to provide new real estate for a "planned development."

I'm sad to say I wasn't living here when Alameda was still really active. It was in the process of closing down. I like the sound of freedom that loud jets can provide.

On question for consistency, did the columnist agree with the "humanitarian" mission in Bosnia where innocent citizens were bombed in BELGRADE to stop the atrocities in KOSOVO launched by President Bill? Plenty of F-18s flew then, but I guess that was okay. A misuse of airpower in my opinion.

What is his answer to terrorism? Harsh rhetoric?

No doubt he's one of our local tree huggers who drives an SUV with a Sierra Club bumper sticker.

Rob

[AAFO_WSagar]

He Continues.... He really does NOT get it does he???!!!!

http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/

Same link, different story... apparantly they change the story to archives daily... This new one is so myopic that it is scary to think that many may also share his beliefs?

Clarification: I'm not, in the classic sense, a "Hawk" in that I don't feel that it is absolutely necessary to use force to solve every issue in the world but..

There are times when turning the other cheek is not the thing to do and from all we can see about the current situation, force is clearly needed.

This guy is spewing the same rhetoric that was prevelent prior to WWII When many people thought that Hitler was Europe's problem..

Clearly, that was a time when GREAT force was necessary and thank god that we had leaders with enough vision to see that or the world would be a terribly different place today!

I don't think a letter campaign to this guy does a thing, other than give him fodder for his next editorial.. which, if you look at today's, I believe it is a thinly veiled response to the many letters he received yesterday from his "Angels of Death" column... (the link to the story was listed in a lot of places with urging to respond to his dribble)

So.. let's just hope that there are not too many others who have their heads stuck in the sand (being generous there ) who would listen to this guy!

Wayne Sagar

[Leo]

my god

There is so much in this article to feel frustrated about. I am not a Hawk either. Those of you that have experienced and those of us that study do not want to see this country at war.
Stop the path of warmongering so we can set an example? To who? Those that would roll right over us to further their own greed and lust?
Change the Karma of the world? A few well placed pieces of technology would take care of that.
I fear that this writer instills in me a need to act just as he would expect me to, with thoughtless, macho, violence: like placing his head where it belongs.
You were too nice Wayne.
I sincerely hope that his voice is the extreme minority. It is in my circle, as I consider this kind of extreme thinking and pacifism a threat and an insult to those that have served and sacraficed so this jerk has the right to say it.
Try writing like this in Iraq.

Leo Smiley

[ecvsteve]

his bio says it all.

from his bio

Mark Morford is a columnist and editor for sfgate.com. He is also a yoga teacher and fiction writer and an outstanding parallel parker and fervent wine devotee and former smoker and former LA rock-god wannabe and careful insinuator and occasional unfair mudslinger and frequent skeptic and sporadic true believer and paradoxical contrarian and tattooed love-monkey and vehement non-conservative and casual coffee drinker and ardent dog lover and medium sleeper and comparison shopper and funky subtle prurient neo-pagan gleaner of screaming delicious naked nuances.

So I take it he is hired to basiclly sling **** until someone get hurts and then they will find another.

P.S. Notice no prior military expirence required. but a riot degree from Bezerkly desired.

So I wrote the editor and asked him to fire the geek, made me feel better.

[ecvsteve]

goes to show ya

From the editor.

Dear Steve:

Thanks for writing. For your information, Mark Morford works for SFGate.com and is not associated with the print edition of the Chronicle. (In other words, hold it against us, not them!)


-- Vlae Kershner, news director, SF Gate

P.S. People either love Mark or hate him, but he gets more page views than any other columnist we have, and in my biz, that spells success.

so sending us there is a mistake can someone out there block his addy and save a small portion of the Bay Area.

[Leo]

figures

Fire him or boil him in his own bong water......
We all know that opinions are as plentiful as a******s, but much less useful.

[FlyinLo]

Originally posted by Propellerhead
Lets inventory the past military presence of the bay area: Hamilton AFB, Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, Mare Island, Alameda Naval Air Station, and the Oakland Army Base. We still have Moffitt field and Travis AFB

Rob

Rob,

I think it is worse than that. Moffett is no longer "Naval Air Station Moffett Field", it is a "federal airfield" that NASA uses along with the occasional transport picking up a satellite from Lockheed or some random fighter on a fuel stop or Air Force One needing a secure place to land. We no longer have the steady stream of P-3C traffic over the south bay. I think the only military base within an hour's drive of San Jose is Onizuka AFB, aka the "blue cube", from where many of the military satellites are controlled (does that still happen here, or did it finally get moved to Colorado?).

[Leo]

travis

Travis is under constant threat of surrounding development. The land around it is open grazing land with little value but for housing. The AF has made it clear that if the base safety is compromised they will leave. With the loss of Mare Island already the area's economy would be devistated. But the locals are in it for the fast buck. My living is dependent on continuous land development and I am totally against development there.
I support the AF in their stand against development. They operate C-5's and KC-10's out of there, can you imagine what one of those going into a housing area would do? And of course all would sue.
Plus the noise complaints from people that came in 50 years after the base.

Need to take off my cynic hat now before I drive home.
Leo

[Propellerhead]

Jeff,

Yeah, I know Moffett is now "Onizuka AFB", but I always will think of it as Moffett. No disrespect to Ellison Onizuka, but it always seemed an insult to even think of it as an AFB.

It's other purpose is to fly the president in and out of the bay area. There certainly isn't as much of that kind of traffic since the Provaricator in Chief's term ended. It seemed he had to come every other month to get his dose of "you really like me!"

Rob

[Bill@Interstell]

Off Topic

And this has what to do with Air Racing?

[Race#21]

The correct adjective/discription, and spelling for the former "Chief" is prevaricator. The next correct answer to the following thread is .... "It starts with an "A", as in airracing, airplane, airport, aviation, altitude, attitude, AMF. Just pook'in fun.

Tom

[Randy Haskin]

Originally posted by Propellerhead
Jeff,

Yeah, I know Moffett is now "Onizuka AFB", but I always will think of it as Moffett. No disrespect to Ellison Onizuka, but it always seemed an insult to even think of it as an AFB.

Technically, Onizuka is an Air Force *Station*, and not a "Base"

[Propellerhead]

Originally posted by Race#21
The correct adjective/discription, and spelling for the former "Chief" is prevaricator.

Tom

Yeah, I know. A typo on my part. It was all I could do not to refer to the former POTUS as "Fornicator in Chief". A small attempt at diplomacy and civility.

Rob