Talking Ship
By Callimachus | Related entries in Bad Decisions, Smart Things Said By Smart People, WarCitizen Smash quotes Patrick Gryph, “an outspoken critic of the Pentagon’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy,” slamming the City of San Francisco for rejecting a USS Iowa museum on its waterfront.
[W]hat about paying some respect to the hundreds of thousands of active and retired gay and lesbian military personnel? Those that both live in SF and visit it every year? Don’t you think they would have appreciated being able to visit a place that acknowledged and honored their own personal history and sacrifices? We could [have] done this, and more, on the Iowa. There were good men and women who served on that ship, straight, gay, whatever. Their service on that ship deserved more respect than a boot in the pants by the city of San Francisco.
Now it’s just a wasted opportunity due to the childish temper tantrums of a group of over-the-hill yet still immature ex-hippies. There is no real difference between these Supervisors and their prejudice and that of people like Lou Sheldon, its just a matter of degree, and whom it’s directed at. It is exactly the same, and it is just as petty.
Smash, himself a veteran, adds: “Patrick is always welcome to come visit the USS Midway here in San Diego — no matter which way he swings.”
The comments get heated, and there’s a troll among them blaring the chickehawk meme for all its worth. But Gryph himself also weighs in, responding to one critic, and I think he’s got good chops:
I’m well aware of the faults of various political leaders and causes, and incidentally there are very few that can match the sheer intensity of my anger and rage toward Bush. But that is irrelevant to the worth of the individual Soldier, Marine or Sailor. While they are by no means saints, they are not the ones you should blame for the failings of politicians and causes.
You can run around life living in cynical pit of anger and despair at the failings of the world around you. Or you can choose to look at the good things. For they exist also. To say otherwise is also a lie as bad as the hypocrisy of some leaders. You choose whether America represents tyranny or freedom. Not the government, and certainly not George W. Bush. On your head the responsibility lies, not with politicians and pundits.
You say: “What you want to do is keep the tradition of marching off to war and inevitable destiny of man.”
No. What I want is to welcome home those who are marching back from war, so that they have a good and supportive, and peaceful place to come back home to. A place that won’t forget what they went through and what they sacrificed. And that won’t forget those that did not come back. I just think it’s something that they have earned and deserve. The Iowa can be a valid and worthy part of that place. It’s not to honor war. It’s to welcome home the warrior. I’m sorry you can’t see that.
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 21st, 2005 and is filed under Bad Decisions, Smart Things Said By Smart People, War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 7th, 2006 at 10:17 pm
Good job.