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January 23, 2008
"Support the troops" (If only we could make them disappear!)
Via Glenn Reynolds, Donald Sensing highlights the latest chapter in moronic anti-military bigotry in San Francisco (aptly described as "San Francisco: the Few, the Proud, the Morons."), in which the Marine Corps was denied permission to film a commercial depicting Marines in San Francisco, thus forcing the filmmakers to superimpose Marines into the film later. Once again, shame on San Francisco. Unfortunately, this is nothing new to that hotbed of anti-military bigotry. In October, I discussed the Oakland incident in which Marines were treated in a very degrading manner by airport officials. While Mayor Dellums and the airport issued an apology, it was never made clear why Marines -- who are fighting for this country -- were not trusted in the Oakland airport. Here's what I said at the time: The people who run these cities believe in things like "Peace Studies." And "conflict resolution."Aberrations? Then why did Hillary single out Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums for praise in Monday night's debate? Not only that, she has named Dellums the National Chair of her campaign's Urban Policy Committee (a move which does not seem to be going over very well in Dellums' own backyard). As most political junkies are well aware, Ron Dellums was the most far left member of Congress in recent history. What can you say about a guy who admires Castro -- reportedly "more than anyone in public life"? I realize he's the Mayor of Oakland and he endorsed Hillary for president, but he's an admitted socialist who is undoubtedly proud of his anti-military voting record. One of Dellums' more notorious statements was that "we should totally dismantle every intelligence agency in this country piece by piece, brick by brick, nail by nail": Dellums' attitude towards America's intelligence services reflected his consistent support for America's international enemies. Just before the 1980 presidential election, with Soviet invasion forces flooding into Afghanistan, with the American embassy held hostage by the new radical Islamic regime in Iran, and with crowds chanting "Death to America" in the streets of Tehran, Dellums told the same Berkeley rally: "We should totally dismantle every intelligence agency in this country piece by piece, nail by nail, brick by brick."Now that Dellums is helping to run Hillary's campaign, I think it's fair to wonder what talk Hillary talks, and what walk she walks. Perhaps she's trying to talk both talks and walk both walks. (And perhaps the military should keep its fingers crossed.) posted by Eric on 01.23.08 at 12:25 PM
Comments
Why don't the planes ferrying our troops land at Travis Air Force Base...a few miles north of Oakland? Pork...funneled to Republican cronies is why. One reason I'll hold my nose and vote for Queen Hillary this November. alphie · January 23, 2008 09:13 PM Better check all the contents of that box before you buy it, Alphie. Some things just aren't going to work well with others, and once you buy it... you're stuck with it. JLawson · January 23, 2008 09:39 PM Ron was always looking out for his district. He hated the military and loved the Navy. Why? Big bases in his district. M. Simon · January 23, 2008 11:52 PM And if my memory serves (and it usually does) he was the politician who threw several kinds of s**t-fits, which resulted in the AAFES Package Stores (the military liquer stores) overseas having to stock large quantities of California wines beginning in the early 80s. Which was OK in one way - California wines are pretty good - but the military had to eat the cost of shipping them, and it just seemed pretty damn ridiculous, shipping CA wine to Europe, when there was so much local French, Spanish, German, Italian wines readily available. There were a couple of other commissary-related political boondoggles going on at the time. A politician like Dellums wanted to make sure that agricultural products from his district were stuffed onto the shelves, regardless of demand by military customers and their families. I'll never forget the ruckus thrown by a dairy-state senator when he was given a tour of a showcase commissary at a base in Germany, and found French and German cheeses in the deli. OMFG, how dare those proles want to eat any other cheese than Kraft! Sgt. Mom · January 24, 2008 07:01 AM "I'll never forget the ruckus thrown by a dairy-state senator" Do you remember who and when? I'd be very amused if it was Senator "Golden Fleece" Proxmire. pst314 · January 24, 2008 09:49 AM Eric, I agree with everything you wrote, but with one quibble: "that hotbed of anti-military bigotry" is not fully accurate, because they are much more, um, cough-cough, relaxed, about our enemies' military and intelligence agencies. Yes, many are merely stupid pacifists but more actually side with our enemies. pst314 · January 24, 2008 09:52 AM I believe that it was ol "Golden Fleece" himself - and yes, we were bitterly amused at the time. Early 1980s, and it was written up extensively in the Stars and Stripes. He was given a tour of a commissary on one of the big Army bases in Germany, and found the presence of all that French and German cheese in the deli section to be just insupportable, inexplicable, inconcievable! Obviously, the military commissaries weren't there to supply us with what we wished to consume - they were really supposed to be the means of cramming agricultural surplus from the districts of powerful senators and representatives down our throats. Sgt. Mom · January 24, 2008 11:02 AM Post a comment
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Ron Dellums is an enigma. Yes, he is a socialist; but he is so private and secretive, it is hard to know what he really thinks. Dellums is overtly hostile to the press. He rarely grants interviews to reporters, and when he does, his answers are usually terse. He seems like an angry guy to me. He looks angry too, especially when a TV camera is rolling and a reporter has put a mike in front of him. You can see the hostility. I can't remember ever seeing him laughing or responding to a joke. Its not the kind of personality one would expect in a successful politician.