[doorocks]

This is an exact copy of an email & article forwarded to me from a friend............the liberals get their way and boy were they STUPID.

The following was sent me by a rather quietly soft spoken conservative lady friend who's hubby was a Marine Corp F-4 Pilot back in "the old days" who was shot down over Vietnam and after sustaining wounds from hostile gunfire while hanging suspended from his parachute was literally snatched from the hands of the VC by an AF Rescue Copter escorted by a couple of Army Gunships .. a true multi-service effort to save one of those seemingly fearless & gutsy guys who flew those ultra-close ground support missions for our "Grunts" .. like many other naval aviators he too "practiced" his craft at the gunnery range at Vieques .. which is what brought this article to the attention of his family .. don't ya just love these Liberals ?? .. it's almost astounding that somehow or another they ALWAYS seem to know what's best for EVERYBODY huh ? .. too bad they didn't bother to ask the Puerto Ricans what THEY wanted before they trashed their economy ... oh well .. "fa la la la la and a kalamazoo !!! "
s/Da Fantum

Always be careful what you ask for, you just may get it!



OAccording to "some" one of the many headaches that the U. S. has had was the Puerto Rican Island of Vieques. In the waning years of the Clinton Administration, Protesters demanded that the US Navy abandon bombing and naval gun fire exercises that had taken place on the largely uninhabited island for nearly seventy years. Liberal icons literally bumped into one another to fly to Puerto Rico, boat over to the island, trespass (but never on a day that there was an exercise scheduled) and get themselves arrested for the benefit of the New York Times, Washington Post, or Newsweek. They included such luminaries as:

Reverend Al Sharpton,

Mrs. Jesse Jackson,

Joan Baez,

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,

Edward Olmos,

our now infamous friend Michael Moore,

and Ramsey Clark, just to name a few.



In 2002, the bombing exercises were transferred to an Air Force bombing range in central Florida, not far from the Jacksonville and Pensacola Naval Air Stations. In January, many of the protesters were back in Puerto Rico, celebrating the final bombing exercise on Vieques and waved Puerto Rican flags and placards that read



"U.S. Navy, get out of Puerto Rico."



The following Feb, Rumsfeld announced that the U.S. Navy will close the Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Station in Puerto Rico in 2004, thereby eliminating 1200 civilian jobs as well as 700 military positions. This naval facility is estimated to have put nearly $300 million annually into the local economy.



The very next day a absolutely stunned Governor Sila Calderon held a news conference in San Juan, protesting the base closure as a serious blow to the Commonwealth's fragile economy.

The governor stated that:

"The people of Puerto Rico don't now or never did have an interest in closing the Vieques bombing range or the Roosevelt Roads Naval Base. We are interested in both staying open and in Puerto Rico."



When asked, the Commander-in Chief, Western Atlantic Command, simply said,

"Without Vieques, I see no further need for the facility at Roosevelt Roads. None."



So, Yanqui go home? Fine. But we'll take our dollars with us. Hasta la vista, baby!



On February 21, the Secretary of Defense also announced that starting this year, the U.S. European Command would begin moving most if not all of its active combat and support units from bases in Germany to others being established in Poland, The Czech Republic, Hungary and Turkey to "better position them for rapid deployment to likely hot spots in those parts of the world".

Immediately the business and government leaders in the German states of Hesse, Rhineland-Phalz and Wurttemburg, loudly protested the loss of nearly $6 billion in revenue each year from the bases and manpower to be displaced. A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry speculated that the move may be "what the Americans call 'payback' for the actions of this government in opposing Military action in Iraq.



Hmmmmm. Do you think ??



" Does anyone know the German translation for

"Hasta la vista, baby?"

Oh, ain't it nice to see a government with guts and a good memory.



GOD BLESS AMERICA



Oh Yes, in case you were wondering; the German translation is:

“Hasta die Sicht baby?�

[djorkboy]

Always a good idea to make sure the people you are "rescuing" actually want to be rescued.

[balloo93]

The entertainment industry is full of sheep! My take on it is this:

Actors should act.

Muscians should sing.

I don't want to know what they think about anything! I don't care what thier personal views are.

I crank the organ and the monkeys dance, that's it!

[Meerkat]

That is, for the most part, close enough to what happened, with one glaring exception:
Governor Sila Calderon was very verbal about wanting the U.S. out of Vieques.

[ncb76]

Originally Posted by wvd

That is, for the most part, close enough to what happened, with one glaring exception:
Governor Sila Calderon was very verbal about wanting the U.S. out of Vieques.

That happened a while ago. I remember laughing about it. What did they think would happen? Liberals. All heart, no brains.

[LeftoverSalmon]

Do a little research before posting BS.....

"The governor of Puerto Rico will seek a temporary restraining order Wednesday to block the United States from conducting bombing exercises at its Vieques Island range. "

http://www.cnn.com/2001/LAW/04/25/puerto.rico.suit/



"The people of Vieques, off the coast of Puerto Rico, have voted overwhelmingly for an immediate end to controversial US Navy bombing exercises on the island.
Around 70% of islanders - some 3,230 people, called for the navy's immediate withdrawal from Vieques. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1463816.stm

[ncb76]

Originally Posted by LeftoverSalmon

Do a little research before posting BS.....

"The governor of Puerto Rico will seek a temporary restraining order Wednesday to block the United States from conducting bombing exercises at its Vieques Island range. "

http://www.cnn.com/2001/LAW/04/25/puerto.rico.suit/



"The people of Vieques, off the coast of Puerto Rico, have voted overwhelmingly for an immediate end to controversial US Navy bombing exercises on the island.
Around 70% of islanders - some 3,230 people, called for the navy's immediate withdrawal from Vieques. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1463816.stm

Where's the BS? That's what was posted, right? The Puerto Ricans wanted to stop the U.S. Military from bombing. The military stopped the bombing. They also closed the base.

[LeftoverSalmon]

"which is what brought this article to the attention of his family .. don't ya just love these Liberals ?? .. it's almost astounding that somehow or another they ALWAYS seem to know what's best for EVERYBODY huh ? .. too bad they didn't bother to ask the Puerto Ricans what THEY wanted before they trashed their economy ... oh well .. "fa la la la la and a kalamazoo !!! ""

it sure sounds to me like doorocks is implying bunch of liberals went over there to protest a cause that only they believed in and f*ed puerto rico in the process.

stop blaming liberals for anything and everything.... its getting old

[djfuzzy]

Hasta la vista is not even German...

[AjRagno]

Republicans/conservatives are for welfare in the oddest sense. You'll support giving $billions to corporations that have more money that most of the world's countries. You'll also support wasting $billions to support operations on an island in the Carribean, that serves absolutley no statigic purpose and never has; there was nothing to protect there and the port was too shallow for large naval ships to dock. What you won't support are the thousands of homeless, shell-shocked veterans that are living on the streets of New York City, or wasting away in V.A. hospitals.

The Roosevelt Roads Naval Station was always a pork barrel project. There were no threats in the Carribean that it would help us control, and there was nothing geographically unique about Vieques Island. We were only using it because the citizens of Puerto Rico don't have a vote like you and I, and therefore no voice in the U.S. goverment.

I followed this story in 1999-2000, and what it came down to was that the people around the island where we were practicing these bombing exercises simply didn't want us there, and the liberal activists listed above helped give them a voice in the American media.

Originally Posted by doorocks

On February 21, the Secretary of Defense also announced that starting this year, the U.S. European Command would begin moving most if not all of its active combat and support units from bases in Germany to others being established in Poland, The Czech Republic, Hungary and Turkey to "better position them for rapid deployment to likely hot spots in those parts of the world".

This was purely political. Bush went for this to gain votes in the Novemeber election, by creating the appearance that Americans are coming home to be closer to their families. If he wins in the election, all of these troops that have come home from Europe and Asia will be sent to Iraq and Afghanistan by Spring. Although our troops will be better serving our interests in the current war zones, the Bush adminstration will not say that this is their plan, and this is very misleading.

These stories don't, in essance, have anything to do with liberalism. Posting stuff like this will only bolster other like minds. It's not going to sway us liberals because we'll check the facts. It's also not going to sway independent voters because us weirdo liberals are just going to come along and dispute these perverted views.

[MudMonster]

Originally Posted by LeftoverSalmon

stop blaming liberals for anything and everything.... its getting old *sob*

^ Quote from LEFToversalmon

[robbieaoa]

First they don't want us there and then they piss and ***** that we left and took our money with us.
Rob

[robbieaoa]

Originally Posted by AjRagno

This was purely political. Bush went for this to gain votes in the Novemeber election, by creating the appearance that Americans are coming home to be closer to their families. If he wins in the election, all of these troops that have come home from Europe and Asia will be sent to Iraq and Afghanistan by Spring. Although our troops will be better serving our interests in the current war zones, the Bush adminstration will not say that this is their plan, and this is very misleading.

This has been in the works for MANY YEARS (10 I think) I wonder who was president 10 years ago? Oh yeah, that low life Clinton.
Rob

[AjRagno]

Originally Posted by robbieaoa

This has been in the works for MANY YEARS (10 I think) I wonder who was president 10 years ago? Oh yeah, that low life Clinton.
Rob

I'm not disagreeing with the logic, just Bush's shady motives for doing it now.

[Meerkat]

Originally Posted by AjRagno

I'm not disagreeing with the logic, just Bush's shady motives for doing it now.

Actually, it has nothing to do with elections or politics in the sense you are stating.
Our military has been facing a growing problem for many years, both at home and abroad. It's called encroachment. The moves proposed in the European theater reflect the fact that established training ranges are being encroached upon by urban development and the like. They also reflect the fact that some countries are more willing than others to rent large areas for training.
Most of the actions people attribute to the White House actually originate in the different Departments in response to fiscal constraints (biggest impact), global political climates, and technological progress. The White House is just too small an organization to micro manage all the different aspects of our government to the degree they are regularly accused of.

Just an insider's perspective.