Marines Denied Permission To Film Commercial

[thedrifter]

Marines Denied Permission To Film Commercial
On The Streets Of San Francisco
By Dan Noyes

SAN FRANCISCO, Sep. 24, 2007 (KGO) - New York said "yes," but we said "no." Why were the U.S. Marines denied permission to film a recruiting commercial on the streets of San Francisco?

San Francisco is, once again, the center of a controversy over how city leaders treat the U.S. military. This time, it involves an elite group of Marines who wanted to film a recruitment commercial in San Francisco on the anniversary of 9/11.

The tension has been building in the two weeks since the city turned away members of the Silent Drill Platoon, and it boiled over Monday afternoon at a meeting of the San Francisco Film Commission.

The U.S. Marine Silent Drill Platoon performed Monday morning in New York's Times Square. They filmed part of a recruitment commercial through the start of the morning rush hour -- something they could not do in San Francisco on the anniversary of 9/11.

"It's insulting, it's demeaning. This woman is going to insult these young heroes by just arbitrarily saying, 'no, you're not going to film any Marines on California Street," said Captain Greg Corrales of the SFPD Traffic Bureau.

Captain Greg Corrales commands the police traffic bureau that works with crews shooting commercials, TV shows and movies in the city. He's also a Marine veteran and his son is serving his third tour of duty in Iraq.

He says Film Commission Executive Director Stefanie Coyote would only allow the Marine's production crew to film on California Street if there were no Marines in the picture. They wound up filming the empty street and will have to superimpose the Marines later.

"Ms. Coyote's politics blinded her to her duty as the director of the Film Commission and as a responsible citizen," said Captain Corrales.

We asked Stefanie Coyote why they're not allowing the Marines to shoot on California Street. She wouldn't answer our questions.

At today's Film Commission meeting, she said she wouldn't let the Marines film because of rush hour.

"Traffic control was the issue," explained Stefanie Coyote.

However, the Marines would have just shut down one lane of California Street for a few minutes at a time, and Captain Corrales points out the Film Commission often approves shoots for rush hour.

"If they want to get the job done, they find a way to get it done," said Captain Corrales.

The city's treatment of the Marines is making many people angry, from local conservatives like Christine Hughes with the San Francisco Republican Party who told us, "it's an embarrassment. I'm a fourth generation San Franciscan and I don't even recognize my city right now."

To current and former Marines like Vince Rios, a Vietnam veteran.

"I'd like to say, 'does your mother know you're doing this? And if so, is she proud of you for that?'" said Vince Rios.

"The city of San Francisco made a statement saying, 'we don't like the war' by shutting down the troops. I don't think that was the right thing to do," explained Eric Snyder, a U.S. Marine.

"I wish to hell she would leave her politics at home and take care of the city business and the bridge business on an even keel basis," said Mike Paige, a Korea veteran.

The Marines also applied for permits to shoot on the Golden Gate Bridge that same morning, but were turned down because of similar traffic concerns.

The end result -- the crew didn't film the Marines in San Francisco at all. They had to go to the National Park Service for permission to shoot in Marin overlooking the bridge and at Kirby Cove.

"Golden Gate National Recreation Area is steeped in military tradition and we're honored to be a part of their continued military traditions so we're glad that we could accommodate the shoot," said Amy Brees with the National Park Service.

Captain Corrales and several other Marine veterans came to the Film Commission Monday afternoon. They see this as just the latest insult along with the city blocking the USS Iowa from docking here, banning the junior ROTC from high schools, and trying to ban the yearly Blue Angels air show.

"This -- a slap in the face of every veteran and every parent of men and women who are doing their duty -- is shameful," said Captain Corrales.

The Marines we spoke with also make the point that the city allows street demonstrations, anti-war protests and other events which snarl traffic, such as Critical Mass. They still don't understand why the Marines got turned away.

ABC7 Video Extra
Watch raw video of the Silent Drill Platoon from Times Square Monday morning below.

abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=i_team&id=5673526&ft=print

Ellie

[thedrifter]

The World InSight 25/09

A US Marine yawns during a break in the filming of a Marine Corps commercial in New York's Times Square. A new advertising campaign, called 'America's Marines,' will begin in early 2008.

http://www.xpress4me.com/images/07/09/25/insight_12b_5.jpg

Ellie

[bigdog43701]

:devious: :mad: :thumbdown just my thought on this subject...if sf will not allow the milutary to recruit or film commercials in their city, why don't the government STOP all federal maoney going to it. then let them decide where to get their money to run the city.

[jinelson]

Thedrifter - http://www.xpress4me.com/images/07/09/25/insight_12b_5.jpg

Was that a war face? Looks that way to me, these two Marines seem to be a bit upset at something a passer by on the street said. One appears to be screaming you want some, come on and the other is contemplating either a horizontal buttstroke or what he learned in the pugil pit.

Jim :D

[vmfn513]

They say the female of the pack is most vicous. COYOTE that is!

[3077India]

They say the female of the pack is most vicous. COYOTE that is!Is that because they're Coyote Ugly? :p

[Ed Palmer]

San Fran-gay-frisco
doesent want us there because we are not GAY (queer )ENOUGH for their ****ycity

[Osotogary]

Geez, you'd think that she'd get her panties wet over something else.
I'm really upset about all this. Traffic concerns? How about the time I couldn't drive across Market and First Streets', in the heart of San Francisco's downtown and financial districts, because we all (the rest of motor bound resident's or visitors waiting to get across the inter-section) had to wait until the, honest to God, "Dykes on Bikes", who were part of the Gay Parade festivities, cleared the inter-section.
Traffic concerns? My azz. What a bunch of horse puckey.

(Would it be perverted to say that some of Dykes on Bikes were pretty good looking? They almost made the waiting bearable. LOL.)

[OLE SARG]

I say **** all the homos in san francisco to include mushmouth barbara boxer, that slut!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am kinda hoping the next earthquake takes care of the "fruit" city!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SEMPER FI,

[RLeon]

I wish that city would change it's name, that place is a disgrace to the good saint the city is named for.

[thedrifter]

September 25, 2007
San Francisco disgraces itself. Again
Thomas Lifson
San Francisco turns a tolerant eye toward all sorts of behavior, all the while patting itself on the back for its virtue. NAMBLA used to march down Market Street in the Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade until the PR cost became too high and the group was banned by the parade's organizers.

But even San Francisco tolerance has its limits. It turns out that the United States Marine Corps is too hot for the city. KGO Television reports:
The U.S. Marine Silent Drill Platoon performed Monday morning in New York's Times Square. They filmed part of a recruitment commercial through the start of the morning rush hour -- something they could not do in San Francisco on the anniversary of 9/11.

"It's insulting, it's demeaning. This woman is going to insult these young heroes by just arbitrarily saying, 'no, you're not going to film any Marines on California Street," said Captain Greg Corrales of the SFPD Traffic Bureau.

Captain Greg Corrales commands the police traffic bureau that works with crews shooting commercials, TV shows and movies in the city. He's also a Marine veteran and his son is serving his third tour of duty in Iraq.

He says Film Commission Executive Director Stefanie Coyote would only allow the Marine's production crew to film on California Street if there were no Marines in the picture. They wound up filming the empty street and will have to superimpose the Marines later.

"Ms. Coyote's politics blinded her to her duty as the director of the Film Commission and as a responsible citizen," said Captain Corrales.
I wonder if Ms. Coyote is the wife of Peter Coyote, the left wing actor? This website lists his wife's name as "Stefanie Pleet." Whoever Ms. Coyote is, she is a disgrace.

Hat tip: Byron Hood, Moonbattery

Ellie

[Alphaonethree]

Wow, That just plain pis__s me off. I bet even the queers are a little pis_ed about that too. Traffic concerns? Crap we let santa walk right down the middle of the street During thanks giving. So lets see San Fransisco boycots the Marines. Ok so now the Marine Corps boycots SanFransisco. I was going to go in October. But hmmm NO. It's off to New York I think.

[jetdawgg]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za2jp_tfifs

[thedrifter]

The San Francisco Left and the Marines
Thomas Lifson

America's liberal-dominated media are doing their best to ignore a story of a leftist official snubbing the Marines. When the haters go too far in their anti-militarism, The Cause is damaged. MoveOn.org may have reaped a lot of donations from its famous ad, but widespread pubic revulsion and the irregularities in the ad's handling by the New York Times have caused no end of woe for the "progressive camp."

In the wake of the MoveOn dust-up came another example of serious disrespect for the brave warriors who protect our freedoms: denial of a permit for the Marines to film on a city street in San Francisco. A team of Marines has been traveling the country, filming drill maneuvers in iconic places like Times Square. But San Francisco's Film Commission turned down their application for use of a city street on the day the team was in town.

The story has plenty of visual possibilities: connections to Hollywood celebrities, United States Marines in drill formation, and San Francisco playing its typecast role as a scenic citadel of crazy leftism. The official involved has a story that doesn't stand up to close scrutiny. Yet despite initial coverage in three major media outlets -- the San Francisco ABC television station (owned and operated by the network itself), USA Today, and Fox News -- no other major media outlets have picked up the story. Mark Carney of USA Today has followed up and been given a runaround.

When conservative embarrassments make their way into public notice, others rush in to amplify the damage. But the media are not anxious for this story to have any legs at all. Bias reveals itself in the stories that are not covered, as much as in stories that run.

That's too bad, because this story turns out to have some quite interesting connections.

The city official who denied the permit is Stefanie Coyote, the wife of left wing activist and actor Peter Coyote. Even more interestingly, she is a former Teamster, and a highly controversial appointee to a city job, actively (and visibly) supported by Sean Penn when a longtime staffer was fired without cause, making way for her to run the city agency charged with attracting film production jobs to San Francisco her way with her people.

As the website Sweetness & Light (which unearthed her Teamsters background) sardonically commented, "They are so desperate for more production jobs they turned down a commercial. Somehow, when it's something pro-American, jobs just don't matter."

The Marine Corps is not crushed. They have posted a version of the commercial to the web, with locations on federal land with views of the Golden Gate and other scenery.

Ellie

[Ron60]

Pull all Federal funding from the city and see how they act !!
I hope this seriously hurts their tourism dollars.....

[RLeon]

Ok so now the Marine Corps boycots SanFransisco.
:thumbup:

[Midnite Rider]

After signing up about a month ago on ************* to advertise my counter-Islamo-terrorist product,a thing called Silver Bullet Gun Oil,I received about a week and a half ago a turndown to sell it on ************* because they claim it's a "Hate" site.Turns out ************* is located in,you guessed it,San Francisco.They sell many generic type of military items,they want to make money.BUT Silver Bullet is NOT a generic type product,it's aimed directly at Muzlim terrs. Silver bullet contains 13% pork grease.The gays,er I mean guys(?) at ************* have a problem with "OFFENDING" our enemies. I will admit that Silver Bullet Gun Oil is based on HATE. I cannot verbalize how much I HATE turning on the news and hearing of brother leathernecks or members of other branches being KIA or WIA by low-life muzlim terrs.I wanted to put some PROPER respect for the Corps in them by giving them good reason to avoid being KIA by Marines.Naturally those muzlims wantin to meet allah early were going to go after the Corps as they know sure death awaits those who are so stupid as to attack Gyrenes.Silver Bullet voids the "Jihaad" clause.As a consequence any muzlim kia from a weapon using SBGO does NOT get to meet allah.
I stopped being ****ed off about bein turned down when the news about the Corps being turned down to make a commercial there was aired.The mentality and philosophy demonstrated by SF is reprehensible and unpatriotic. ANY MFer THAT DOES NOT SUPPORT the excellent work being done by the Corps should pack their sh*t and hit the bricks,try Iran,oh yeah,I forgot,they don't "Have that problem (gays) there" so they won't be welcome there either.
SEMPER FI

[PatriotGirl422]

San Fran-gay-frisco
doesent want us there because we are not GAY (queer )ENOUGH for their ****ycity

LOL! Couldn't have said it better myself, SSgt!


And "Dykes on Bikes"---That's just hilarious (and awful at the same time).

But seriously, something's gotta give with this whole San Francisco situation. It seems like there's a new story every week about them committing an injustice against someone.

[yesyouam]

Speaking as a San Francisco Lefty _and_ a former Marine, I have to say I'm pretty disappointed by the things I see being spit out on this thread. Why does it always have to end up with the immature name calling? Why all the hatred toward gay people? If you feel like that, maybe you should go move to, like, Iran... oh wait-- you hate Muslims, too. My bad. If you hate San Francisco so much, why are you so worked up about these Devil Dogs not being filmed on its streets? You love the city but hate all the people in it? I understand it's easier to hate than it is to think. Hope it keeps you warm.

[3077India]

Yesyouam, I like the way you think.

[SlingerDun]

In '80 the U.S.S. Coral Sea___"San Fransisco's Own"___ set a record of 102 continuous days at sea. Upon returning to Alameda a request was made of the 49'er cheerleaders to perform on the flight deck during an open house day for all hands off duty, and civilians. They declined.http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/images/icons/icon13.gif

The Oakland Raiderettes accepted http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif and put on a hell of a show including plenty of pictures with anybody who could produce a Kodak. Oh and they were smokin hot.

--->Dave

[LeonardLawrence]

yesyouam said:
If you feel like that, maybe you should go move to, like, Iran... oh wait-- you hate Muslims, too.

I think one has to pick one or the other. In Iran, per the head of state:
there are no gays in Iran, they don't have that problem like our country.

Come on bigots...lets pick one...or the other You can't have both! :p Please save some hate for the rest of us!

[3077India]

...In Iran, per the head of state:
there are no gays in Iran, they don't have that problem like our country.That's because they kill them!!!!!:sick: :p

[OLE SARG]

Some people just need killing - where have I heard that before!!!!!!

Look at the politics that comes out of that so-called city - bones pelosi, bat-faced boxer, and more, PLUS being a sanctuary city for thousands of illegals!!!!! PPLLUUSS - kick the ROTC OUT!!!!!! They really do a lot to endear their ****ing city to the populace!!!!!!

I am sorry but you lefties can have the ****ing place!!!!!

Aren't we all a little racists or bias????? Be truthful and you will have to admit you are!!!

SEMPER FI,

[OLE SARG]

Forgot to add - the gays, homos, etc. bring most of the disgust for their life-style on themselves!!!!!

SEMPER FI,

[Osotogary]

I think one has to pick one or the other. In Iran, per the head of state:
there are no gays in Iran, they don't have that problem like our country

No gays in Iraq? One of the saying's that I heard from those deployed over there was, "Over there women were used for procreation and young men were used for recreation."
Jokes about San Francisco? I'm originally from there and have kin living in that area; I don't think they are gay; they have never told me so. LOL. I take the barbs with a grain of salt. My only beef with the city, now that the Giants' got rid of Barry Bonds, is that there are very few, if any, working class neighborhoods left within its' boundaries. Love the fog, sour dough French bread with Italian dry salami and Mother See's candy.

[HOLM]

Forgot to add - the gays, homos, etc. bring most of the disgust for their life-style on themselves!!!!!

SEMPER FI,
What are you talking about?

http://www.sfpride.org/
http://www.downtownvancouver.com/index.html?v=pride

http://www.mellowmoose.org/photos/SF/house%20party/images/gay%20pride%20sylvia.jpg

[FISTFU68]

:evilgrin: FAGGOT'S ARE ONLY A'LIVE BECAUSE IT'S ILLEGAL TO SHOOT THEM:evilgrin:

[3077India]

Forgot to add - the gays, homos, etc. bring most of the disgust for their life-style on themselves!!!!!

SEMPER FI,
What are you talking about?

http://www.sfpride.org/
http://www.downtownvancouver.com/index.html?v=pride

http://www.mellowmoose.org/photos/SF/house%20party/images/gay%20pride%20sylvia.jpgIt's really sad that too many people judge an entire segment of the population by a small, highly vocal and embarrassing minority. I know of several gays and lesbians and they neither behave, nor look anything like the shameful morons we see on gay pride day parades.

[yesyouam]

:evilgrin: FAGGOT'S ARE ONLY A'LIVE BECAUSE IT'S ILLEGAL TO SHOOT THEM:evilgrin:

Just... Wow.

[3077India]

FAGGOT'S ARE ONLY A'LIVE BECAUSE IT'S ILLEGAL TO SHOOT THEMIT IS BETTER TO BE THOUGHT AN IDIOT, THAN TO OPEN ONE'S MOUTH AND REMOVE ALL DOUBT.:nerd: :p

[FISTFU68]

:D SAVE YOU'R BREATH YOU FUCING BOOT,YOU'R GONNA NEED IT;TOO BLOW UP YOU'R NEXT DATE:D S/F:yes:

[3077India]

YOU'VE GOT ME CONFUSED WITH YOUR OWN PERSONAL HABITS.:p :D MUST BE YOUR ALZHEIMER'S.

[yesyouam]

FISTFU68 (member.php?u=26050),
Be advised: The Punctuation Police are on their way.

[sparkie]

Fist is "OUR" problem child,,, Dont mess,,, lest you tick ME off.

[FISTFU68]

:evilgrin: I GOT YOU'R PUNCTUATION SWINGING,BOOT;TRY NOT TOO LET YOU'R MIND WANDER.IT'S TOOOOO FRIGGING SMALL AND FRAGILE TO BE OUT BY ITSELF PUNK!!!(LMFAO):evilgrin: WHAT YOU GONNA DO,PUNKETT SEND ME BAC' TOO THE 'NAM???;)

[sparkie]

Not without shaving your head again,,, Fist,,,;]

[yesyouam]

*snaps to position of attention*

[OLE SARG]

Damn FIST, we got some smartass boots in here, don't we???????

SEMPER FI,

[FISTFU68]

:evilgrin: 'DAT'S A BIG 10/4 ON YOU'R LAST,S/SGT.OLE SARGE;SO IF I'M YOU'R JURISDICATION.DO ME A FAVOR MARINE?AFTER I BUST HIS WIZE-AZZ IN THE CHOP'S,SEE TOO IT THAT I GET A NICE CELL(LMAO)???:evilgrin: S/F THAT:iwo:

[Mikhaelis]

Marines are denied to shoot a commercial there, yet every year the city of San Francisco sponsors publioc gay orgy parades where gay parents dress their childrenin bondage gear and allow them to watch men publicly having sex in broad daylight on the street while children look on. This is what the gay community is all about-- not love, just random sex.



WARNING: EXTREMELY SHOCKING PICTURES EVEN FOR MARINES WHO HAVE SEEN IT ALL:

http://mitchieville.blogspot.com/2007/10/folsom-fair-your-children-will-thank.html

[OLE SARG]

Cut all the federal funds that go to that ****ing place, and I bet their attitude would change!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course, we have NO ONE who has the balls to do that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SEMPER FI,

[ggyoung]

These boots nowdays have no respect for there elders. About time to washout there mouths with soap

[yellowwing]

Uhh...I guess I'll take the one on the middle.

[Ironrider]

Isn't there some way we can throw San Fransico out of the Union? :mad:

[Marine84]

They just said no because they knew that all the gay guys would be standing around eyeballing alllllllllll that Marine candy!

[Marine84]

Uhh...I guess I'll take the one on the middle.

I would like to try to change the minds of the other 2! ;)

[yellowwing]

I dunno Kim, those other two look really gay! I mean REALLY

[ggyoung]

For all you gay lovers and those who don't see anything wrong with it or have no problem with it wait untill they hit on your kids or grandkids.

[3077India]

For all you gay lovers... ...wait untill they hit on your kids or grandkids.That is so stupid; gays (the vast majority) aren't pedophiles. However, the vast majority of pedophiles are, in fact, heterosexual.

[Achped]

That is so stupid; gays (the vast majority) aren't pedophiles. However, the vast majority of pedophiles are, in fact, heterosexual.

Do you want to ban heterosexuality?

[3077India]

Do you want to ban heterosexuality?WHAT??:confused: Where is that coming from?

[Alphaonethree]

( ACHPED ) I think what really pis--es most people off here about this subject is the fact that they will let dykes on bikes & the rainbow network march down the middle of the street. But an organization like the U.S Marines was denied permission. The Marine Corps lives by the values that are respected around the world. Can you say that about Dykes on bikes or the rainbow network? This was just a slap in the face from the fuced up liberals. They saw a chance to hit back and they took it.

[Ron60]

"That is so stupid; gays (the vast majority) aren't pedophiles. However, the vast majority of pedophiles are, in fact, heterosexual."



I'm new and not sure if I got this right (quoting) but I'd be interested in seeing some statistics on this statement.
The Gay community has been saying this for years but it seems frequently when a pedophile is caught he is gay...

[booksbenji]

Good reply of the dimissal of MCSD Team;

SAN FRANCISCO
By Neal Boortz
Sept. 27, 2006

Look, I love the city. It's wonderful. Earlier this year Belinda and I spent a week there broadcasting from the studios of our San Francisco affiliate 860 AM KRTB. We look forward to coming back for some more live broadcasts in the very near future. Hey ... I even lived in San Francisco for a while when I was a mere rug rat.

And just why did I live in San Francisco? Because my father was working there for a short time. My father - the United States Marine.

Now you know where I'm going with this. San Francisco - its public officials, not its people - has flipped off the United States Marine Corps. San Francisco has just delivered an insult to every man and woman who ever has or who ever will wear the dress blues of a United States Marine.

The Marines, you see, wanted to do some filming on San Francisco's California Street for a Marine recruitment commercial. On Monday of this week the Marine's Silent Drill Platoon did some of their filming at Times Square in New York City. The obvious goal here is to show these Marines on the streets of America's great cities.

Did I say great cities?

In order to film on California Street the Marines needed the permission of the San Francisco Film Commission. That means they needed the permission of the commission's executive director Stephanie Coyote. Stephanie Coyote used to be Stephanie Pleet ... then she married the ultra-leftist and anti-capitalist Peter Coyote. That's right ... a Hollywood left couple.

When the Marines made their request to film on a San Francisco street Miss Stephanie said "No way." Oh, she did give the Marines permission to film, just so long as there were not any actual Marines in the video. When the media came forward to ask her why the snub, she wouldn't talk. Then some of her handlers obviously told her that she had to come up with some sort of an excuse ... so she did. Traffic.

Now here's the part I can't say on the air. Traffic? Horse s h i t.

Stephanie Coyote is a radical left-winger who has a searing hatred for the American military. She pals around with the likes of Sean Penn and is married to a left-wing moonbat who writes articles lamenting his failure to do more to reign in capitalism.

San Francisco has a rich military history. Who knows how many American men and women passed under the Golden Gate on Navy ships during World War II? As they sailed into the Pacific their last glimpse of the country they loved would have been a fog shrouded San Francisco. Tens of thousands of these people never came back. Tens of thousands more longed for the day they would stand on the deck of another troop ship and see that same Golden Gate coming out of the fog to welcome them back.

What kind of a welcome do they get now? They get slapped in the face by some military-hating leftist Hollywood type who, thanks to Mayor Gavin Newsome, finds herself in a position of some power.

The Marines? They take Stephanie's snub in stride .. and proceed to film in areas where her hatred can't reach them.


--------------------

Snafus involving Marines in S.F. and Oakland have critics raving
Carl Nolte, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, October 4, 2007

To the rest of the United States, the San Francisco Bay Area is the nation's stronghold of pinkos, radicals, traitors and dangerous fringe groups.

And the proof came last week in reports that the city that allows a group called Dykes on Bikes to parade up Market Street had refused to allow the U.S. Marine Corps to make a television recruiting commercial in the Financial District. And, some said, the city had insulted the Marine Corps, to boot.

The situation got even worse when 200 Marines and soldiers returning from Iraq were prevented from entering the passenger terminal at the Oakland International Airport for so-called "security reasons."

Conservative Internet sites and the Fox television network were full of invective about the Bay Area and the "far left coast."

But, as it turns out, the stories about the Marine commercial weren't exactly true - the city did issue a permit to make the recruiting TV commercial, but not on the day the film company the Marines had hired wanted. The company ended up filming the Marines on the Marin side of the Golden Gate, with the Golden Gate Bridge and the city in the background.

The Oakland airport incident turned out to be less of an insult to the Marines and soldiers than a miscommunication between the airport and the Marines' charter airline and its ground crew. Oakland Mayor Ronald Dellums promised that such an incident would never happen again.

But the damage had been done. "It felt like being spit on," Brandon Harding, a chaplain with the 3rd Marine Regiment, wrote in an Internet posting that made its rounds among the Marines. Retired Rear Adm. James Carey, chairman of the National Defense Committee, a pro-military organization, wrote in another posting circulating online that "While many of us joke about 'the left coast' and the liberal leftists in la-la land, this is disgusting and surely nothing to joke about."

All this happened as San Francisco prepared for a visit by the Blue Angels for Fleet Week, which begins Saturday with a parade of warships under the Golden Gate Bridge. The activities are expected to draw a million people to the San Francisco waterfront and vantage points ringing the bay.

Meanwhile, Ken Burns' "The War" scored ratings last week and this week that San Francisco television station KQED said were "fantastic."

It is a paradox: On the one hand, there is widespread perception that San Francisco and the Bay Area are opposed to the military and all its works; on the other, the citizens of the Bay Area seem to be interested in military history and gather in huge crowds to welcome the Navy.

And perception seems to trump the facts every time.

Not since the Republican Party stirred up the fears of "San Francisco values" last fall to try to head off the election of Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House has there been such an outpouring of patriotic bile onto San Francisco and its neighbors.

There was a virtual avalanche of letters, e-mail and telephone calls, many of them pointing out other unpatriotic actions by San Francisco.

These include rejecting the battleship Iowa, kicking Junior ROTC out of high schools and trying to stop the Navy's Blue Angels from flying on grounds that the flights were dangerous and would frighten citizens, cause war veterans to suffer post-traumatic stress, and even scare dogs and cats.

Never mind that San Francisco Bay already is home port to five other World War II ships and that the resolution to ban the Blue Angels was defeated by the Board of Supervisors 8-3. Minds have already been made up.

One message posted on conservative Web site Theodore's World confused San Francisco and Oakland. "Those **** wouldn't even let the Marines film in the streets ... now they refuse to let Marines into the airport terminal! That city needs to be ejected from the Union! ... I AM BEYOND FED UP with San Fransicko."

The Golden Gate Bridge District, which refused to allow the filmmakers to let the Marine drill team use the bridge sidewalk during morning rush hour on Sept. 11 this year, was bombarded with more than 300 angry e-mails and phone calls. Public affairs officer Mary Currie said she was called a communist, a terrorist, a traitor and "other horrible things."

Even the Marines Memorial Association, a club established by the Marines after World War II, caught some of the fallout. Michael Myatt, a retired Marine Corps major general who is president and CEO, said he'd received e-mails from veterans saying they'd never set foot in San Francisco again.

Others, he said, refused to renew their membership in the Marines Memorial as long as the club was located in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Bay region has always had a complicated relationship with the military - a mixture of history, politics, affection and dislike. It goes back into the very bones of the region.

San Francisco was founded by both Spanish missionaries and the Spanish military in 1776. The United States seized the region from Mexico in 1846, when sailors and Marines raised the Stars and Stripes over the town's main plaza.

The plaza was renamed Portsmouth Square, after a Navy ship, and Montgomery Street for the ship's captain.

Soldiers from the Presidio of San Francisco and sailors from naval stations around the bay were hailed as heroes for stopping the fire that followed the 1906 earthquake.

During World War II, the Bay Area was the major port of embarkation for the war in the Pacific. Don Jardine, then a Marine private on his way to Guadalcanal, remembers he and his buddies found that for Marines, the drinks were free in the bars.

Al Gonzales, a Navy veteran, says that San Francisco was "a Navy town, totally."

But Gonzales, who is 81 now and lives in Santa Rosa, says the city has changed. "It's not the way it was when we grew up," he said.

"The city is too far left, too liberal," he said.

The region shifted to the left in the 1960s, especially during the war in Vietnam.

The Bay Area, particularly San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland, were strongholds of anti-war feeling. Many soldiers, sailors and Marines remember the hostile reception they received in the area during the Vietnam War.

Myatt, a young officer at the time, says he was warned not to wear his uniform at the San Francisco airport. Others say they were insulted or even spit on in the Bay Area. Whether it is true or not, that view is an article of faith with many veterans.

However, as the years went by, San Francisco and other Bay Area cities went through a complex change. The population grew, and so did the region's reputation as a haven for views that were not always welcome in other parts of the country.

Political conservatives found it difficult to win elections - nearly all the region's elected politicians are Democrats. However, perception doesn't always reflect reality.

Nancy Pelosi, held up by conservatives as an example of San Francisco values, is in reality a wealthy Roman Catholic grandmother who received an honorary degree from the Jesuit University of San Francisco last spring.

On the other hand, many of San Francisco's politicians, like Supervisors Chris Daly and Gerardo Sandoval, make a point of taking anti-military positions.

And their views are the ones that make the airwaves and the Internet.

Myatt, for one, thinks the political leaders have a skewed view. "The politics of the city do not reflect the views of the population of San Francisco," he said.

Nor does political action, like opposing the battleship Iowa or banning ROTC in schools, mean that the residents of the area dislike the military.

They have made the distinction between the unpopular war in Iraq and the men and women who are serving in it, Myatt says.

"I have never had so many people in my 17 years of service stop and thank me for my service," said Maj. Sean Pascoli, the officer in charge of recruiting for the Marine Corps in the Bay Area.

Pascoli says he has exceeded his quota for Marine recruits in the Bay Area this year.

He is aware, he said, of the Bay Area's reputation. But, he said, "We have been able to recruit some of the best men and women in the Bay Area to join the Marine Corps."

Besides, a reputation for being unpatriotic is bad for business in a city where tourism is the main industry. Perhaps that's why San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom issued statements denying the city had insulted the Marines. "We welcome the Marines," said Nathan Ballard, the mayor's spokesman.

The mayor's office also released a statement from Tight Films, the production company that is making the Marine commercial, saying that San Francisco treated the film crew and the Marines "with respect and professionalism."

However, San Francisco police Capt. Greg Corrales, who originally raised questions about whether the city should have accommodated the Marine commercial, thinks that Tight Films is obscuring the truth about the commercial. He still feels the city did not give its cooperation for political reasons.

On the other hand, he feels that political conservatives and conservative media outlets have been using the incident for their own purposes. "I stopped calling them back," he said. "They weren't concerned about the Marine Corps. They wanted to bash San Francisco."

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SOB's R at it again:

http://www.*************/NewsContent/0,13319,150633,00.html?ESRC=dod.nl

:thumbdown

[sparkie]

Yep,,,, give in to one perversion,,, Why not 6? Most peds get hooked on porn first, then graduate. Just like pot leads to other drugs mostly. Why should a homo, already given over to a pervision, ever be trusted with anything? Only thing new is that people living in any evil find security, and justification in numbers, therefore attempt to make it mainstream and PC.

Wait"""""""" Thats not new, is it?