Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4678

This was in the Navy times. Google returned the following link, among others:
http://www.theolympian.com/home/new...ies/58898.shtml

Basically, the nuclear attack submarine Olympia had scheduled a port visit to her namesake city of Olympia, WA (Olympia is homeported in Bremerton). These kinds of visits are usually done for PR purposes--basically, the white hats all get a good time hanging out with civilians from a non-Navy town (civilians in Navy towns typically range from hostile to weary of our presence, with some exceptions).

The city council found out about the port visit when the State Patrol notified them of Olympia's request for uniformed officers to assist in providing security. Upon learning of the impending visit, members of the city council proposed to draft a resolution denying the USS Olympia and her crew their visit.

Some of the reasons cited:
- city was unable to provide personnel to meet security requirements
- environmental danger of nuclear reactors in the "fragile Puget sound ecosystem"
- general opposition, on the part of "the city," to the use of nuclear power
- city was unable to provide disaster-response personnel in the event of a radiological incident
- fact that the ship is, alternately, a "state-funded killing machine" or "a weapon of mass destruction"
- "It's an election year." (?)
- pressure from Iraq war protestors
- danger to citizens of Olympia posed by the weapons carried onboard the boat
- in light of the "many fiscal challenges that face our nation and our community" the council felt that the money being spent on the port visit could be better spent "in a manner that would be of more benefit to society"

When I read this I was fucking speechless.

I don't think a visit should be forced on anyone...but the reasons they listed were completely ludicrous.

So much for "we support our troops but oppose the war."

quote:

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Originally posted by Rudyard Kipling
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' Chuck him out, the brute!
But it's Saviour of 'is country when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: b0ulder
Posts: 5126

Hippies, man. They don't want any part of it.

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Registered: Jun 2001
Location: Octopus's Garden
Posts: 1005

quote:

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Originally posted by squee


Some of the reasons cited:
- city was unable to provide personnel to meet security requirements

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: East Texas
Posts: 328

if there where chinese bombers flying overhead I doubt they'd have much problem with a nuclear submarine endangering the fragile puget sound ecosystem.

but that's a cop out reply for how stupid I think this really is...

like the sight of the Olympia is gonna win Washington state for dubya

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Registered: May 2002
Location: No. California
Posts: 4175

Like it takes an excuse to stay out of Bremerton. They did the sailors a favor, as far as I'm concerned. Ask Billgerat, he "lives" there.

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Registered: Mar 2004
Location: Still Orygun
Posts: 10243

Olympia is the home of The Evergreen State College, bastion of trustafarians, feministas and general lefty-fascists. surprise, surprise.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4678

Most, if not all of which are a transient population.

Apparently a lot of the people who actually live there welcomed the boat and her crew.

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Den
Posts: 10983

It's those shifty lefty-fascists.

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Registered: Mar 2004
Location: Still Orygun
Posts: 10243

nobody understands my sense of humor. nute must be rubbing off on me. (meanwhile, Olympia is a weird mix of half liberal, half lumberjack. I used to live there.)

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Registered: May 2002
Location: No. California
Posts: 4175

They weren't keeping the ship out of Olympia. They were keeping it out of Bremerton, which is about fifty miles away.

EDIT- which has nothing to do with anything. Bremerton sucks, I guess that was my ill-thought point. Olympia is no prize, either. Maybe they were sending the Olympia to blow up Bremerton. Yeah, that's it.

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Last edited by Peter_Torque on 07-09-2004 at 10:53 PM

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Registered: Jun 2001
Location: Octopus's Garden
Posts: 1005

Isn't Bremerton the home oh the Navy's Trident class submaries?

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Registered: Jun 2002
Location: All over the place
Posts: 2803

Absolutely LUDICROUS. I am an avowedly left wing nut-job but dear god what a waste of time for activists. I mean it's an ATTACK submarine which means it's basically is just a nuclear kettle sans ICBMs etc etc.

I'll bet there's a civilian nuke plant kicking around within 200kms of this port which is much more of a risk to life and liberty than a bit of pomp and circumstance for the USN.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: East Texas
Posts: 328

yes, Weasel Spoor but it won't make ye olde WWII vets misty eyed and get them to vote republican.......

we (everyone who's not with dubya and thus is clearly a liberal) must stop anything form occuring which could possibly make the generally under educated and easily bamboozled public vote for Bush.

seeing a big, black, long, hard object full of seamen could do that to every homophob on the west coast.

this is where fundamentalist christianity takes hold!!!!

------------------------------
road map to the previous:

1) MAC's grandparents vote democrat because they do truely believe the republicans will "take away" everything, despite not having done so in the last 50 years

2) MAC is NOT a liberal but he doesn't support Bush and he resents being called a liberal by Rush Limbaugh and the like.

3) MAC refuses to believe that "everyone" is a good description of the non-vocal majority of the United States who allow simple persuasive pop-culture and catch phrases to bend their mob-ocracy opinion

4) I had to make that old "what's long hard and full of seamen" joke

5) Fundamentalist religions, of any stripe, are the fucking enemy and anyone who gives up their "free will" (for what that phrase is worth) to follow them blindly should die on my front door step holding their 3 color pamphlet

(did that last one sound too much like someone I'm associated with?)

oh well.....the last boat I saw with a gun on it was after alligator gar......

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4678

quote:

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Originally posted by Peter_Torque
They weren't keeping the ship out of Olympia. They were keeping it out of Bremerton, which is about fifty miles away.

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Registered: Jun 2002
Location: All over the place
Posts: 2803

quote:

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Originally posted by squee
So, given this strong and continual nuclear presence in these peoples' lives, is the nuclear-fear excuse just bullshit?

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Registered: Feb 2004
Location: south afrika
Posts: 16485

quote:

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Originally posted by squee
So, given this strong and continual nuclear presence in these peoples' lives, is the nuclear-fear excuse just bullshit?

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Registered: Mar 2004
Location: USA
Posts: 24302

I wonder what the feasibility of a hippy-powered submarine would be. They appear to be a renewable recource.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: In a Blue, Blue State
Posts: 12544

quote:

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Originally posted by Peter_Torque
Like it takes an excuse to stay out of Bremerton. They did the sailors a favor, as far as I'm concerned. Ask Billgerat, he "lives" there.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: NH
Posts: 6081

Completely assinine. My brother was on the USS Key West for several years and the boat was welcomed in its namesake port. He was there in the 90's and said you couldn't pay for a meal or a drink if you were from the Sub.

Seems the Navy did the right thing in Olympia and just cancelled its visit, of course, that means the whack-jobs who proposed this and supported it won. Thats what elections are for. That city council should be in for a fun race.

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