posted on March 3, 2006 02:26:20 PM new
A military
Even Alan Colmes is amazed at this guys stupidity...
S.F. supervisor makes waves with loose lips, battleship
- Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Gay marriage, medical marijuana or calls to impeach President Bush, San Francisco City Hall has a long history of giving the rest of the country something to talk about -- and this week the talker was a bombshell served up by Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval.
It started with Sandoval going on Fox's "Hannity & Colmes" show to explain why he opposed bringing the historic battleship Iowa to San Francisco: "We just don't want to put a 10-story gun on the waterfront where everybody is going to be looking at it every single day."
But things really got interesting when the conversation turned to Sandoval's feelings about the U.S military.
"What good has it done for us in the last five years?" Sandoval asked.
"Are you kidding me?'' Alan Colmes -- a Democrat -- asked a moment later.
"The United States should not have a military,'' Sandoval repeated. "All in all, we would be in much, much, much better shape."
"What do you want to defend ourselves -- what do you want to defend ourselves with?" Colmes asked later.
Sandoval: "Well, you got cops. It's called the Coast Guard. There's lots of things different."
Colmes: "You want to send cops to defend our shores if we're attacked? Cops?"
To which Sandoval replied: "You want to send people abroad to start these wars?"
By the next day, the calls and e-mails were pouring in to both Sandoval and other supervisors -- not only questioning Sandoval's stance, but also his shrug-of-shoulder delivery.
"I'm a third-generation born San Franciscan, and I'm appalled that you have not only been elected but re-elected by your misguided ultra liberal so-called citizens,'' wrote Jim Donovan of Sacramento.
"I remember when San Francisco was truly a dynamic city, but it has been reduced to a joke ... .'' Donovan wrote.
On the local front, David Heller of the Greater Geary Boulevard Merchants and Property Owners Association wrote, "I almost do not want to promote the interview any further such that it makes our city look so bad."
Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Mike Myatt, president of the Marines' Memorial Association in San Francisco, said, "I don't think he speaks for the city -- or even his district. It was the most inane and stupid comment I've heard in some time.''
"Just because you disagree with how the military is being deployed -- and by the way, I'm kind of in that corner, too -- doesn't mean we degrade those who serve in the military," Myatt said.
Sandoval, however, is sticking by his guns -- sort of ... telling us, "I engaged in a little exaggeration to make a point."
"Of course we need some kind of military, but now we have one that is unprecedented in size, and we need to scale back. But these days you can't even suggest scaling back because of the hysteria that has built up around terrorism," he said.
"I don't think the military is being used to defend America,'' Sandoval said. "It's being used by civilian leaders for adventurism, for politics and for economic reasons like we are now doing in Iraq.''
As for the reaction to his performance: "It's being portrayed in the media as extreme -- I'm sure you guys are going to write it that way as well,'' Sandoval said.
He also noted that 90 percent of the critical phone calls and e-mails he'd received were from outside San Francisco -- and some of the comments are "very racist and very homophobic."
By the way, this isn't the first time Sandoval has found himself in the limelight -- although never on such a national level.
He last made news a couple of weeks back when he proposed an official resolution supporting the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl, because the 49ers are such losers.
In 2002, while pushing for more Latino representation in the city's workforce, he said the fire department shouldn't read like the "Dublin phone book."
Sandoval also got into hot water when he suggested picketing the bar mitzvahs hosted by uncooperative business leaders during a fight over the city's payroll tax.
And yes, Sandoval said he also supports the pending resolution before the board calling for the impeachment of President Bush -- which was last week's talker.
"“More Iraqis think things are going well in Iraq than Americans do. I guess they don’t get the New York Times over there.”—Jay Leno".
[ edited by Bear1949 on Mar 3, 2006 02:28 PM ]
