Thoughts On Fleet Week

I was in San Francisco over the past weekend for the annual festivities of Fleet Week. Every time I go, I am struck by how badly San Francisco treats the United States military for 360 days out of the year, and yet how much they love the money the Navy brings to the former home of so many military personnel. I watched the Blue Angels air show from a small park at the corner of Steiner and Clay streets, and I was surprised at how much oohing and ahhing took place from the spectators. Considering that most inhabitants of San Francisco would rather welcome Osama bin Laden than a member of the United States armed forces, the crowd was quite surprisingly respectful.

San Francisco's hatred of all things military is always surprising to me, considering how much the city owes the military. San Franscisco would not be a part of the United States were it not for Commodore Stockton's squadron during the Mexican-American War, and Treasure Island, Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard and the famed Presidio have all helped make San Fransciso into one of the nation's most famous cities. But you would never know that listening to current Mayor Gavin Newsom. The Mayor is more interested in philandering and drinking on the job than actually trying to support the brave men and women who allow him to pursue his hobbies in peace.

The latest example of San Francisco's hostility to the military came when san Francisco supervisors refused to allow the United States Marines to film a recruiting commercial in the city, citing 'traffic concerns'. It's Ok to shut down any number of city streets for the Folsom Street Fair, complete with nudity, public sex and bondage on view, but the Marines might cause 'traffic issues'??? Of course, reason should not be expected from the San Franscisco supervisors. These are the same people who refused to allow the USS Iowa, class ship of the last battleships, and sister to the USS Missouri, on whose decks World War II ended, to dock in their city. These are also the same people who feel that they have the right to flout United States immigration laws by refusing to cooperate with federal immigration officers. As a result of their lack of patriotism, the Iowa will probably end up in Stockton, a city that seems to appreciate the contributions of the United States military.

One sometimes wishes that San Franscisco and other far-left havens such as Berkeley could be excluded from the protection that the military provides to this country. However, I have many friends who work in the city, and I would hate for them to reap what the supervisors' stupidity has sowed. Otherwise, I heartily agree with Keith Laumer, who once had a character opine that San Fransciscans were remarkable only in their ease of replacement.