Pretty Blue Angels of Death [Anti-Military/Anti-USA BARF ALERT!]

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 10/16/02 | Mark Morford

[Snidely Whiplash]

This guy is way overwrought.

That said, there are times when I'm watching the Blue Angels perform, or Thunderbirds, or any of a dozen other flying demos done each year at the Offutt Air Show when three thoughts occur to me, in this order:

As gorgeous as those machines are, and as impressively as they fly, they're purpose-built killin' and destroyin' machines. No getting around it.

Damn, they're still cool. God help anyone who pisses us off!

Snidely

[HiJinx]

Thank ya, thank ya verah much!
Seriously, I remembered seeing it a couple of days ago, and it just seemed so appropriate...
'Bout time to leave my cubicle and head home, I'll see and the rest of the Canteen Crew later!

[waxhaw]

It obvious to me that author Mark Morford suffers from extreme penis envy.

[Stone Mountain]

I have neither the time, nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it! I would rather you just said 'Thank you', and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post.

Sorry, but I've always hated this kind of attitude. Our country has always been about representative government which means that every American has the right to his own opinion about what our country does. And yes, that includes questioning the way in which our armed forces or any other government agency, for that matter, works. Honor and loyalty aren't the sole province of those who would blindly follow everything our country does; they also apply to those of us who want our country to do the right thing, even when we disagree with certain decisions that have been made. And one of the great things about our country (maybe the greatest) is that these attitudes can be expresssed without fear of retribution. I don't think it's patriotic to mindlessly support our country; I think it's patriotic to do what you believe is best for our country. If that sometimes includes disagreeing with the powers that be, that's the way it is. You don't have to pick up a weapon and stand a post to have a valid view about what our country does in our name.

I think this fictional character should actually take the time to explain himself to people who "sleep under the blanket of freedom" he provides. Maybe, he would change their minds. Maybe he won't, but he might be able to explain his point of view to others so that they can understand it. But no, he's going to just say "I'm right and you're wrong and it's a waste of my time to tell you why." That bugs me.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

I won't waste the energy in my PINKY finger for this moron!!

He and his opinions are irrelevant.

Isn't it amazing to realize that our servicemen and women who died, did so for him to have his free speech? I'm sure they would still do so, but it still amazes me that these ungrateful idiots just don't get it.

Just excercising MY free speech :o)

[A Navy Vet]

Fly Navy

[IronJack]

I love that quote. That should be our sworn purpose, to commit ourselves to a destruction that absolute, that unceasing, and that final. This conflict should go down in their desert mythology as the end of their world. Their mountains should tremble at the forces they've unleashed.

[A Navy Vet]

One more time:

"It's the men unafraid to fly those scary planes
who will keep you from ever truly knowing fear"

[luvtheconstitution]

The author must be gay. As I read the article I could picture some pathetic little girlie-boy, lisping, hissing and spitting. Sounds like he's got a knot in his panties.

[American Preservative]

Blue Angels ~ ping.

Thanks for the pictures ArrogantBustard. Beautiful. : )

[willyone]

Boy what a disaster using F-4s turned out to be. Lost almost the whole team in a mid air and other mishaps. This weekend at Miramar the Angels will perform. Catch the night show Sat. It is awesome. Stuck in Everett and will miss it.

[willyone]

Funny. None of these liberal Clymers said a peep when their boy Bill was bombing the Serbs and others. Two faced bastards.

[dighton]

Mark Morford

[Mr. Jeeves]

Morford's culture is not worth saving...

On the other hand, his attitude is hardly representative of Bay Area thinking about the Blue Angels. They draw huge crowds of enthusiastic spectators every year - plenty of ex-military people live around here. Morford represents a few thousand cranks that get an unfortunate amount of undeserved media attention.

[PsyOp]

But this time in tight aggressive hillside-annihilating bombing-run formation, dropping billions in deadly ordnance every day for weeks and months, devastating towns, killing foreign women and swarthy Islamic babies and, oh yes, those pesky ragtag al-Qaida fighters who scattered to the hills months ago. Let us imagine what that must feel like, to see those planes roar overhead, with an entirely different mission.

I imagine that site every April 15th. It's the only thing that makes paying my taxes palatable. And when I take my kids to see the Blue Angels rip open the heavenly veil over San Diego this coming weekend, I am going to tell them that they watching one of the few legitimate expenses of the federal government. And when the jets fly overhead I'm going to tell them that's what freedom sound like.

[Oztrich Boy]

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."

George Orwell BBC broadcast of April 4, 1942.

[SunStar]

They sure do have Feinstein vote for those military bases though don't they? Wonder why if they hate em so much.

Feinstein also voted to authorize military force against Iraq... GASP!

[Cloud William]

You forgot the napalm. You should never forget the napalm.

:-)

You should've followed with:

"'cause napalm sticks to kids!"

[stylin_geek]

You present a reasoned discourse on the topic, and you are absolutely correct. You and I could debate, and one of us would probably rethink and reconsider. However, the histrionics in the article deserve nothing less than the reply I sent. The author has no intellect other than knee jerk emotions to guide him. He is not someone you can educate. You tell that kind of person to shut up and go away, or you walk away yourself.

[Travis McGee]

If the Islamikazis ever get hold of one sutcase nuke, I have an idea where they should use it.