I would like to apologize on behalf of the entire San Francisco Bay Area for what one of our freakish elected officials said on national television two days ago.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronic...2/17/EDGG4H9CUE1.DTL

I don't know if you've have seen this story, but if you haven't, you might as well see it now.

Sure, we in SF (or the area of) are very liberal. Sure we disaprove with the modern interpretation of the second amendment. Yes, the citizens did recently ban guns. But we would never, ever, ever think that this nation does not need a military. This notion is simply irresponsible and unrealistic. The fact that one nutjob elected official (who, rest assured, will not be elected again) went on Hannity and Colmes and claimed to speak for us is repulsive. Every liberal talk show host I've heard in the area is disgusted by our portrayal as not supporting the military. I personally hate the idea of the rest of the nation seeing us as a joke, which is what this understandably makes us. So, please understand that the opinions of one slightly-crazed man do not reflect the whole of San Francisco, and please accept our apologies. Thank you.

(Please note that this man was the same who suggested that San Francisco adopt a policy of supporting the Seahawks in the Superbowl, because the Forty-Niners "suck." If that tells you anything, this man is not a true San Franciscan.)

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katalina: Which part of the Bay area are you from? It's all about Berkeley!! Go Cal!

I'm from the East Bay as well. Think Coco County. My mom went to Cal. In fact, I'm wearing a Berkeley sweatshirt as we speak.

Progressivism (note the capital P), in its modern context, is what used to be called Radicalism. "Progressive" is just a nice euphemism. I would agree with your statement if you were talking about "Liberalism", which encompasses a somewhat broader spectrum of ideology. However, Progressivism is a narrow subset of Liberal ideology, and the espoused views of the Radicals of the 60's and the Progressives of today are virtually identical e.g. dislike of capitalism, affinity for labor unions, close correlation with radical environmentalism, etc.

katalina: Which part of the Bay area are you from? It's all about Berkeley!! Go Cal!

Progressivism by definition is simply the political idea of favoring progress toward better conditions in government and the nation. I don't think its fair to label all progressivists with one idea, just like its not fair to label all conservatives or liberals with one idea.

Honestly, there is a name for these types of people: delusional.

I heard this a$$h01e on Hannity's show. His radical views are actually the norm for those who identify themselves as "Progressives". I live pretty close to Princeton, N.J. (the East Coast's version of San Francisco), and that kind of thinking is very widespread.

Look, I could care less if he doesn't like the military or not. I'm just pissed off that he so incorrectly tied that sentiment to the whole of San Francisco.

Euterpe that argument only makes partial sense considering a large reason for anti-American sentiment is our military endeavors. "We are disliked for our military aggressiveness; therefore, we need to take an offensive military stance." I know you weren't going for that exactly, but that's not going to solve our international popularity issues.

What he said doesn't make much sense, but much dumber and more offensive things have been said and gotten much less attention. I think it's funny people are reacting as if he said something like "I believe black Americans should be enslaved again". There's really no movement whatsoever to completely disarm and obviously we can't/shouldn't, and he didn't even say anything offensive. I mean, I can see worrying when someone says something ridiculous/on the fringe/very offensive and they have a significant amount of support behind them, but otherwise, is it really that big of a deal?

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I can understand the idea of downsizing the military

Maybe the ChairForce they don't do much besides sit of nuclear missles waiting for the strike order that will never come(that portion the fast movers and the cargo jockeys are nice to have around as are the satellite guys)

the cool thing about the Marines is it takes an amendment to the constitution to downsize us we're the only military force in the nation with our amount of force spelled out in law(3 Divisions and Three Marine Air Wings)

Still I can't beleave you all elected this guy he seems dillusional at the very best crazy at the worst

Here are some quotes from the Letters to the Editor regarding Sandoval's statements, shown here:
"San Francisco is the city of peace and is the city of independent thinking, but I do not know one San Franciscan, other than Gerardo, who thinks that the United States of America should not have a military, not one. Even the anti-war Vatican has a military! "

"Editor -- Gerardo, Gerardo! Wake up! Wake up! You're dreaming again! You're in your own little world again! Thank goodness you're out of our world (S.F. politics, that is) soon!

Oh, and for the record, you do not speak for any San Franciscans I know! You're a fool and an embarrassment. "

"A wise man once said: "There's a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people."

"Look, Iraq is clearly a ridiculous war that has been horribly carried out, and there are definitely ways the military could be consolidated and streamlined, but to get rid of it totally would leave us completely defenseless. Gerardo Sandoval isn't just coming from a fringe point of view, he's coming from a radically irrational point of view. "

As you can see, there is only one person out of all those letters who supported Sandoval's statements. That, my friend, is not the majority of San Francisco.

Oh, and if you want to see the video, as much as I hate linking to a neo-con's blog, http://www.alexandergrundner.com/. Scroll to the farthest down entry.

Way to blow my cover, blue.

Deathraven, or whatever your name is, you clearly don't know the people of San Francisco. I see your profile says you are from California, but I've heard the local citizens calling in to talk shows and complain. To my knowledge, no one has come out and agreed with him. I'm working on getting some stats for you, but my Edit Post time is running out.

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So an elected official can't speak for the people who voted for him, but a sixteen year old without voting rights can?

Kat's not really 16. She's actually a high-ranking city official in San Fran. She's just posing as a 16 year old on this website to get to know America's youth better.

Not only irresonsible, but impossible, as well. There isn't any way, with America as involved in world conflict, that we can afford to not have a military. Without a military, we cannot do half the goodwill work, or intimidate hostile countries, or even protect ourselves from the inevitable attack. Japan can afford to do this because they aren't public enemy number 1.

Countries hate us. They always have. And leaving ourselves unprotected is something we cannot afford, for the good of the people here. Even if we stopped involving ourselves in world conflicts, apologized for everything we've ever done, and just amiably went along with whatever the UN said, we would STILL be the first country prone to attack.

quote:

Originally posted by katalinacmnacha89:
I would like to apologize on behalf of the entire San Francisco Bay Area for what one of our freakish elected officials said on national television two days ago.

quote:

Originally posted by katalinacmnacha89:
The fact that one nutjob elected official (who, rest assured, will not be elected again) went on Hannity and Colmes and claimed to speak for us is repulsive.

So an elected official can't speak for the people who voted for him, but a sixteen year old without voting rights can?

How ironic.

San. Fran is a great city. In my opinion, second only to DC. This guy just went too far. He certainly didn't help the liberal movement.

I can understand the idea of downsizing the military, but not eliminating it altogether. As I said, that's just irresposible.

-----"""San Francisco is messed up anyways"""---

??? No it isn't...it's one of the best cities in America.


I actually don't think it's that big of a deal at all, yeah, it's pretty obvious it's just the opinion of one guy, if you're dumb enough to think he might represent an entire city I feel sorry for you. Actually, what annoys me more is the making a big deal out of it by the other two guys. "No military?!?! Why, that's down right preposterous! Absurdity! What a positively atrocious thought!" Ugh. So he thinks that we should devote our finances to our children and use diplomacy and economy instead of military, oh my god, what a crazy idea, entirely un-American. The Japanese do it, and look where their kids are. It's not even such a ridiculous notion to begin with.

quote:

Originally posted by rugar:
San Francisco is messed up anyways.

I am all for the 2nd Amendment. I cross-stitched the 2nd Amendment for my Dad a couple a years or so ago, the 1st and 2nd Amendments.

So is Atlanta

Lol, I do love this country. It's just a bad reality show.

Oh god...