I hate the Blue Angels. Every fall they come; every fall the US Air Force buzzes San Francisco in conjunction with Fleet Week. What crap! No city should be subjected to stunt pilots flying low over populated areas to demonstrate their cajones and prove US power to say “fuck you” to the world.
It is not like the damn things don’t fall down. In October, 1998 two of the planes crashed into Georgia woodlands — how many would have died if that had been a neighborhood in San Francisco? Previously, two planes collided during one of these shows over Niagara Falls; one pilot died.
Why does the Navy do these displays? The Chronicle interviewed the downtown lunchtime crowd subjected to practice runs yesterday.
“They’re the products of the devil,” said street artist Ulysses Dickerson, who was trying to sell his $25 paintings of angels and nymphs. “They’re overlords. They’re invaders. But there’s always something happening in San Francisco. One week it’s anti-Bush rallies, the next week it’s the military saying, ‘Look what we can do.’ “…
“At first it seems kind of cool,” said Christina Wolf, munching on a chicken salad. “But then it reminds you of what Iraqi citizens experience every day. But over there it’s real. So I guess it’s a mixed message.”
At a moment when even President Nincompoop is calling for fuel conservation, each F/A-18 uses approximately 8,000 pounds or 1,300 gallons of JP-5 jet fuel in a show.
Aren’t there any local authorities that can interrupt this nonsense?
Cross posted at Happening-Here