"Bay" Bans Battleship

The Drudge Report references a story at Breitbart.com on the recent decision by the San Francisco city council to ban the battleship U.S.S. Iowa from its proposed mooring in the bay because of their opposition to the War in Iraq.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a former San Francisco mayor, helped secure $3 million to tow the Iowa from Rhode Island to the Bay Area in 2001 in hopes of making touristy Fisherman's Wharf its new home.

But city supervisors voted 8-3 last month to oppose taking in the ship, citing local opposition to the Iraq war and the military's stance on gays, among other things.

"If I was going to commit any kind of money in recognition of war, then it should be toward peace, given what our war is in Iraq right now," Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi said.

For now it appears the U.S.S. Iowa is headed up to Stockton. But that hasn't stopped the reactions.

Feinstein called it a "very petty decision." and said, "This isn't the San Francisco that I've known and loved and grew up in and was born in."

San Francisco's rejection of such a storied battleship is a slap in the nation's face, said Douglass Wilhoit, head of Stockton's Chamber of Commerce.

"We're lucky our men and women have sacrificed their lives ... to protect our freedom," Wilhoit said. "Wherever you stand on the war in Iraq ... you shouldn't make a decision based on philosophy."

Just one more reason to stay away from San Francisco...