Video: SF Vet for Peace protests horrific WMDs — a.k.a. the Blue Angels
posted at 4:37 pm on June 11, 2007 by Allahpundit
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What if one of the planes spirals out of control and slams into a crowded overpass on the Golden Gate Bridge? Or what if some kid thinks they’re wickedly cool and decides to enlist? So many terrible scenarios to contemplate.
The boss says it’s time to end the occupation of San Francisco and all the sweet, sweet touristy money that comes with it. Exit question: Do you think Fox made a point of airing breataking BA footage while this tool was talking, just to underscore his toolishness?
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Am I seeing things or did the screen say “Veterans for Peace Chapter 69″ ???????
KelliD on June 11, 2007 at 4:42 PM
Whenever the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds come to my town, I always think of the possibility of one of them crashing. And I’m willing to bet just about everyone else does, too. Then we all get into the show and forget about the possibility.
But how many times have these expert pilots ever, EVER crashed a plane in a crowd during a show, or how many accidents have there been? I can think of only one offhand, and that happened (if I recall) during a practice run in the desert.
And, yes, they are sometimes used as an enlistment tool. Too frippin’ bad.
Gottafang on June 11, 2007 at 4:45 PM
Veterans for Peace, chapter 69? *sigh* What do expect from San Francisco?
USN hear my cries, come to San Diego!!
Theworldisnotenough on June 11, 2007 at 4:48 PM
Something tells me way more cars have crashed into people than Blue Angels. Why not ban those from San Francisco as well?
Hm. Come to think of it there’d probably be substantial support for that in the City by the Bay.
Citizen Duck on June 11, 2007 at 4:49 PM
Why is there still a Fleet Week in SF? Move it to a city that actually cares about our soldiers.
antoniojvr on June 11, 2007 at 4:50 PM
This schmuck said the big lie is that there’s something cool about war? Is he out of his mind? The big truth is that there’s something cool about defending the country!
And I think this is what he has a problem with.
stonemeister on June 11, 2007 at 4:52 PM
We did this last week — let’s not let this little queer and his 200 douchebag commie friends negate the votes of about 1 million California fans who come out to Fleet Week to see the Angels.
Jaibones on June 11, 2007 at 4:53 PM
Strange how these guys aren’t targeting flyovers at major sporting events. Why, I had the good fortune of seeing four F22 Stealth Raptors in formation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with 750,000 people in attendance. Yet no complaints of safety hazards then.
In addition, there was a report about how difficult it was to coordinate the flyover, considering how many personnel were required aside from the pilots, not to mention the refueling. But not a peep from anyone like this douche.
Interesting.
SouthernDem on June 11, 2007 at 4:53 PM
I doubt there was much coordination involved. The F-22s are low-maintenance (MMH/FH = Maintenance Man Hours per Flight Hour), and very fuel efficient. I’d imagine most of the personnel were guards, as the F-22 is still a classified piece of hardware.
stonemeister on June 11, 2007 at 4:57 PM
How do the odds of such a thing happening compare to the odds of getting hit by a truck, or slipping in the shower?
I’ll take the Angels, every time.
yo on June 11, 2007 at 4:57 PM
Putz.
$4 million in income, or a “message”?
Gee, tough decision…
mojo on June 11, 2007 at 4:59 PM
What. A. Nut.
Lawrence on June 11, 2007 at 5:00 PM
…And if I was SecNav, I’d give ‘em a message right back. There wouldn’t be so much as a dingy ported in SF.
mojo on June 11, 2007 at 5:00 PM
If the race was in S.F. he would have complained.
Take Fleet Week out, and let this this dude be the fall guy. The businesses will drag him through the streets naked…nevermind he may like that.
right2bright on June 11, 2007 at 5:04 PM
He’s got a problem with a few Blue Angels being weapons of mass destruction (which they are, by the by, just ask a jihadi) but he’s got no problem with Fleet Week itself!!! Aircraft carriers, destoyers, nuke subs, lots of other awesome hardware…
What a maroon!
jdpaz on June 11, 2007 at 5:04 PM
There is something cool about serving your country like you’ve got a pair…
unamused on June 11, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Forget S.F. it’s been lost for a long time. NO to warships, YEA to Barry Bonds, NO to the Blue Angels, Yea to Nancy Pelosi. Geeeeesh When is the next earthquake? Will it be big enough? I doubt it, when one city has so many big holes, how can the earth possibly compete? He believes he has found a loop hole in talking safety. If this guy is a Vet. then there is no doubt he sat behind a desk. The military has DA. geeks the same as society has but some are absolute LOSERS.
mjkazee on June 11, 2007 at 5:15 PM
Second thought, PULL FLEET WEEK
mjkazee on June 11, 2007 at 5:17 PM
I think that was one of the item’s on Jello Biafra’s platform when he ran for SF mayor back in the day. He also wanted to have a Board of Bribery to standardize bribe amounts in the city.
rw on June 11, 2007 at 5:23 PM
I think the problem is air traffic over SF altogether. Ban all flights of SF.
ricor on June 11, 2007 at 5:25 PM
I think Fleet week should be even bigger this year with twice as many planes and ships just to spite this Yo-Yo.
Have a Harrier hover over his house all week, show it on Fox just for laughs.
Don’t let this turkey buzzard or his soviet buddies spoil anything for anybody.
Speakup on June 11, 2007 at 5:29 PM
And moonbats always wonder why normal people regard them as a bunch of utter nutjobs. Why the Navy is spending any money in a city that for the most part despises them is beyond me. As always, I sympathize with the few remaining sane people in SF, but enough’s enough.
I vote yes, although his toolishness is self-evident anyway.
ReubenJCogburn on June 11, 2007 at 5:32 PM
I have never heard of one single Blue Angle or Thunderbird punching out if their jet was in trouble. They fly them out of the way of civilians even if it means their own death.
That cowardly sack of $hit isn’t fit to lick their boots much less make moral decisions about them.
csdeven on June 11, 2007 at 5:39 PM
There are only three F-22 squadrons active at the moment, in Alaska, Hawaii, and New Mexico. The fly-over might have been treated as a mock forward-deployment by one of them, which would have entailed moving support personnel to a nearby airbase as part of the exercise.
Just idle speculation, of course. I don’t even know which squadron was involved in the flyover, though I wish I’d seen it myself.
Blacklake on June 11, 2007 at 5:47 PM
At this point, I’d rather be hit straight on by a low flying Blue Angel than visit that disgusting city.
Gregor on June 11, 2007 at 5:56 PM
Sorry if this is a double post (computer problems)
Without revealing too much of my “real life” identity, I know Paul Cox and have worked with him. I am glad the news anchor did not let him get away with the “it’s about safety” line and pressed him on the WMD point. This guy is as lib as they come and does believe the Angels are WMDs. He is a former Marine and, I think, served in Nam. He also believes the soldiers in Iraq should be brought home NOW.
Mallard T. Drake on June 11, 2007 at 5:56 PM
Two takeaways commenters (except for Jaibones) seem to be missing:
According to the interviewee, he’s not opposed to Fleet Week in S.F.
According to the interviewer, far more people complained when the Angels weren’t in S.F. than when they were.
I know these don’t line up with the stereotypes expressed in the comments, but they happen to have the benefit of being true.
calbear on June 11, 2007 at 6:07 PM
calbear,
last week when this issue first appeared, I was imagining that there might be as many as 100,000 people out on the bay to watch the excitement, but I didn’t want to guess, so I did a few searches. As best I can tell 1 million + people will be out there, as in past years, just like in Chicago at the Air and Water Show (1.5 mil annually).
That’s a lot of supporters who seem to disagree with this guy. I just say let’s give them the benefit of a doubt, and not this self-proclaimed spokesman. These nuts in SF often claim to speak for the masses, but the facts don’t support…
Jaibones on June 11, 2007 at 6:21 PM
Oh… its safety they are worried about. Just proof again that any excuse will serve a tyrant. But with such a very low acceptance for risk then it seems San Francisco should start discouraging the gay lifestyle, because that is a far greater safety and health issue than the Blue Angels.
Maxx on June 11, 2007 at 6:27 PM
Not too many. One of the worst was an accident at Ramstein AB, Germany back in 1988–75 dead with only 3 of those being the pilots. However the aircraft and pilots were Italian and they were doing a maneuver that I’m pretty sure in no longer performed by the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds (USAF), if either ever performed it. (Not to bust on the Italians.)
I have been to an airshow since then, however.
baldilocks on June 11, 2007 at 6:34 PM
haven’t been
baldilocks on June 11, 2007 at 6:34 PM
Indeed. I used to work a bit south of the Miramar base and they’d practice a few days ahead of the yearly show. Could never get enough of them. Been at the show often. Majestic.
baldilocks, that was indeed tragic. It must have been incredible to be there. It’s a sobering reminder to what edge these pilots take it. I admire them so, not primarily for the shows.
Entelechy on June 11, 2007 at 6:41 PM
San Francisco is a Weapon of Ass Destruction….
What? Someone had to say it.
They should move Fleet Week to San Diego, at least then they’ll be appreciated.
Tim Burton on June 11, 2007 at 7:06 PM
Lets see if I understand this.
San Francisco, the place that dropped junior ROTC from the high schools.
San Francisco, the place that doesn’t allow military recruiting in their high schools.
San Francisco, the place that wouldn’t allow the USS IOWA to come as a floating museum becuase it sends the wrong message.
As a guy that pulled many liberties in Frisco during my time in the Navy, why in the world is the Navy even care about fleet week? Maybe because the speaker of the house just two heart beats away from the Presidency, represents Frisco in the house.
I wrote the American Legion and the VFW and requested they not consider frisco for any national conventions about 2 years ago. I haven’t changed my mind.
navy1946 on June 11, 2007 at 7:10 PM
For a patriotic American, it is a privilege and a thrill to be able to see the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds or a flyover of F-22s.
I would have loved to see those F-22s.
Phil Byler on June 11, 2007 at 7:19 PM
I hereby move that Fleet Week be relocated to the lovely city of San Diego.
fusionaddict on June 11, 2007 at 7:24 PM
You’re right about the low maintenance part, but the logistics of getting them their and refueling them - in the air for a technical reason I don’t understand - was apparently a monumental task.
New Mexico, if I remember correctly. And yeah, they were a sight to behold. Trumped only by the B2 Stealth Bomber flyover in 03.
SouthernDem on June 11, 2007 at 7:31 PM
PULL FLEET WEEK is right mjkazee!
But I’d also like to see us pull every dime of our tax federal dollars pulled from that LibRat s**thole and let it’s pretty-boy mayor try to figure things out.
Teddy on June 11, 2007 at 7:32 PM
If anyone actually works on F-22s, could you please identify yourself? There’s lots of questionable information being posted here. Every weapon system is low-maintenance until the Mean Time Between Failure of its components are established…in other words, until stuff starts breaking on a regular basis.
From a non-MX AF type.
James on June 11, 2007 at 8:25 PM
No, don’t work on them (not even close), just relaying what I heard on a show before the race.
SouthernDem on June 11, 2007 at 8:47 PM
if even Mayor Newsome says to leave the Blue Angels alone, you know you’ve walked off the cliff, and this guy has. I think this guy, if he had a choice, would ban fleet week too
Defector01 on June 11, 2007 at 8:48 PM
I wish I worked on the F-22, but alas, I was a Northropite…worked on the B-2, though, and it is also low maintenance. Thing is, this is a relative term. You really have more going on besides MTBF…sometimes there’s alot of scheduled maintenance to avoid failures. Both these things go into MMH/FH. The B-52G’s, for example, had something like 50 MMH/FH. The B-2 is pretty low, I’m not sure how low, but it’s something like 10 or fewer. With fighters, the F-15 was around 30, the F-22 is supposed to be close to 1. I researched this data myself from Air Force historical data (for the B-52 and F-15, and other aircraft), but might remember the numbers inaccurately.
I wish they’d make this info more readily available, I tried searching on the web, but couldn’t find it. Thing is, with solid state integrated circuits and LCD/LED/Plasma displays, phased array radar systems, etc., avionics have become highly reliable. New materials for engines (titanium, new aluminum alloys) have made jet engines amazingly reliable. The low observables materials (RAM) probably constitute most of the maintenance on these aircraft nowadays.
stonemeister on June 11, 2007 at 9:08 PM
That woman is truly the kind of “infobabe” we need. She was good. Very good. What’s her name again? That smile, the innocent shrug, the questions and the raised eyebrow, the “look.” She didn’t spell it out, but it was there:
“When you look in the mirror in the morning sir, do you see “total ass,” looking back at you?”
He’s bloviating on, clueless, thinking he’s got the argument of the hour and she’s just smiling at him …
naliaka on June 11, 2007 at 10:28 PM
Jane Skinner.
Tennman on June 11, 2007 at 11:08 PM
KelliD – thought the same thing when I first saw this posted last week. I just laughed because it seems apropos for the region. Yes?
Phil Byler on June 11, 2007 at 7:19 PM
The F-22’s have been cleared to do demo flights at various air shows. I got to see it fly @ the Joint Services Open House last month at Andrews. It was wickedly cool. I got a nice shot of a pass that showed off the weapons bays, which now adorns my background on my home pc.
Finally, I got a kick from Jane not giving into this moron’s arguments. He has no standing when it comes to safety. These are professional pilots who value safety over anything else. I’ve been to their shows when they didn’t fly because of safety issues. Disappointed as I was, I still understood why they didn’t fly.
I think I enjoyed this clip mostly because Fox ran the Angels performing while this nut was on. That in itself was a hoot. I wonder if he knew?
JohnnyD on June 12, 2007 at 7:47 AM
I just sent another email to the BOS. I really question why they even have Fleet Week anymore out there. The disdain for the military by most of the people in town is pretty obvious. Why give the moonbats an opportunity to have them spit (figuratively and probably literally in their faces).
Does anyone have any connections with the higher ups at the USN who could sit those people down and ask them if they are insane? Years ago SF was a different city but it’s so corrupted by the hatemongers of the left that I cannot fathom why any military branch would want to spend 10 seconds there. I feel badly for the few sane people who live in the city but the majority of the folks there are anti-military unless of course they needed them to bail them out of some catastrophe. Anywho, my days of going to SF are long over and I even paid $90 more per ticket coming back to HI one time to avoid a stop over in their stinking airport for a total of $180 (money my husband said was well spent).
I was lucky enough to live in VA Beach for 10 years and the Blues often made visits there during the Neptune Festival (and the T-birds were there once or twice as well). THey put on a spectacular show and as others have said didn’t fly when it wasn’t safe to do so.
I’m all for SF joining the VT session movement. Wonder if there is any chance of those two groups getting together.
Catie96706 on June 12, 2007 at 9:39 AM
Thanks…I see some of the same issues because I’m working on provisioning and cataloging for the JSF. As an aside, they won’t release the info right away because it’s a capability of the aircraft we don’t want just anyone looking at. It’ll filter down once the aircraft gets a bit more common. By the way, you forgot the 1FW at Langley…they were the first to get the F22 and (at least were scheduled to) share their airframes with the blended ANG unit there.
James on June 12, 2007 at 10:48 AM
This man has no clue. The Blues spend a great amount of time mapping and choreographing their flight patterns for each show venue to make certain that EVERY piece of their routine that includes inverted, opposing, spinning/rolling maneuvers is aimed either along the flightline, or AWAY from populated territory. They absolutely will not fly a show in questionable weather, and they will DOWN a jet that isn’t Fully Mission Capable in a heartbeat. I’ve seen the team use the #7 jet (the two-seater used for VIP rides) in a show as the backup of a failed primary bird on more than one occasion.
Civilian death toll from Blue Angels airshow crashes: 0
Average show AND preparation flying days PER YEAR: Over 150
If the Blues reach a total of 50 flight hours in a week, that would still amount to less fuel burned than in one week of NASCAR driving.
Freelancer on June 12, 2007 at 3:21 PM
Thank you. It was.
And you’re welcome.
Professor Blather on June 12, 2007 at 4:15 PM