San Francisco’s supervisors have refused to support moving the battleship Iowa to the city as a floating museum of World War II and the Cold War.

GayPatriot pointed us to the story and, according to the local NBC affiliate, the Supervisor’s reasons:

In turning away the Iowa, supervisors cited opposition to the war in Iraq, the treatment of gay and lesbians in the service and the city’s reputation for embracing the peace movement.

To the credit of Senator Dianne Feinstein, she castigated the supervisors. But they were unswayed:

Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who voted against the resolution, reacted to Feinstein’s criticism by saying, “She’s entitled to her opinions. But I don’t think they reflect the sentiments of a majority of San Franciscans … (who) don’t want to see a warship docked here.”

…Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who is gay, said the military’s policy on gays and lesbians influenced his vote and that of Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who also is gay, against a battleship Iowa museum for San Francisco.

“For Tom and I it’s very difficult to advocate for some military honor thing when people are being harassed and even killed and are unable to serve in the military because they are gay and lesbian,” Dufty said.

“Military honor thing?” Here’s what the group trying to bring the Iowa to SF, the Historic Ships Memorial at Pacific Square, says the museum will be about (hint: it’s not military personnel policy):

The projected museum will engage a number of mediums (audio, pictorial, photographic, glass case display, computer graphics) to achieve its main theme–describing IOWA and life aboard the ship. Here visitors can view displays which will summarize the evolution of American naval policy and the role of sea power in defining the global arms race in the 20th century. The IOWA provides an unique insight into global history from a naval perspective. Along these lines, we view IOWA as highly representative of World War II, Korea and the Cold War–all subjects of intense, current historical review …

Iowa was purpose-built to fight the Japanese and German navies in a war that ultimately cost 500,000 American lives. Is it possible for the Supervisors to acknowledge that a sometimes this nation needs to go to war, and that a “military honor thing” is exactly the right tribute to the lives sacrificed? Do the “majority of San Franciscans” wish their grandparents hadn’t fought that war (are you sure you want to know the answer? - ed.)? Can the Supervisors separate a museum about two of the great conflicts of the last century ago from their hatred of the current administration?

Gryphmon has ideas about making sure that gay / lesbian concerns are addressed on the Iowa, which would not at all be out of place — it’s generally believed that SF became a haven for gays because it’s where the WW2-era military (dishonorably) discharged Pacific theater homosexuals.

Both Gay Patriot and Gryphmon’s Grumbles are p.o.’d at this and advocate boycotting SF. Gryphmon has contact information for the Supervisors. You can also let the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau know what you think.

We advocate sending the Supervisors some briefings on the history they are rejecting — perhaps

or

Then perhaps they can decide if winning World War II and the Cold War was worth commemorating.

PS: We emailed Senator Barbara Boxer’s office to see what her position is, but have not heard back. We’re guessing that since the Iowa issue won’t get her in the New York Times, she’ll have nothing to say.

[Other recent SF news: Anarchists get organized enough to trash a neighborhood. If only they’d remembered they were supposed to be protesting the G8 summit instead.]

[Update: Michelle Malkin is making sure this gets the attention it deserves.]

Technorati Tags: California, politics, San Francisco

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 14th, 2005 at 12:07 pm by A Senior Administration Official and is filed under Loons, California Schemin', Politically Correct ... and stupid. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.