The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is a unique political body, serving as the legislative arm of the only government in California (and probably America) which combines the functions of a city and a county. It is also home to one of the most appalling collections of bozo—politicians to be found anywhere in the universe.

Supervisors (popularly called "stupor—visors" locally) are elected from small districts within the City of San Francisco, a surprisingly small entity in terms of geography and population, accounting for 49 square miles, and roughly 14% of the metropolitan population of the fifth largest metropolitan area in America, with over 6 million souls.

The Supes have just voted to turn down the opportunity to host the USS Iowa, a historic battleship that would instantly become a major tourist attraction, fortifying the undustry which is the largest employer within their jurisdiction. Senator Dianne Feinstein, once a Supervisor herself, is among the many who are not amused.

Antagonism among homosexuals toward the military seems to be at the root of this mindless position. To gain a sense of the mind—numbing quality of the deliberations which led to this verdict, listen to one of the Supes interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle:

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.

Grammar problems aside, this is logically incoherent.

Fortunately, the City and Port of Stockton, about 40 miles away, are ready to stand in and host the Iowa. Stockton is a town where pretensions are at a minimum, and logic is more sharply defined. I hope to visit the Iowa and would prefer to be able to do so close to home.

Thomas Lifson   7 14 05

Jack Kemp adds:

The USS Iowa first saw action patroling Newfoundland waters in 1943 and sailing off the coast of Norway, protecting against Nazi battleships. It later saw much action in the Pacific War against the Japanese.
 
While my cursory internet search showed no persecution of gays by the Japanese, it is common knowledge that the Nazis outlawed homosexuals and even sent them to concentration camps witha  pink triangle sown on their uniforms. Richard Gere even once portrayed such a gay in the Broadway play Bent. All this was done while some of the leading Nazis themselves were secretly or openly gay.
 
So the USS Iowa was, without exaggeration, fighting and risking the lives of its sailors to defeat a regime which imprisoned people for being homosexuals, male and female alike. Perhaps the San Francisco activists should consider what would have happened to them had the Iowa not been sucessful in its wartime efforts. To put it quite bluntly, they could be lampshades today.

Steven Dugger adds:

The USS Iowa may have special significance for homosexuals.  In 1989 an accident occurred in gun turret 2 which killed 47 crewman.  The initial investigation concluded that this accident was a deliberate act of sabotage by a gay sailor (who was killed in the explosion).  The investigators believed that the sailor was harassed by his shipmates until he choose to commit this act of murder suicide.  This led to the inevitable firestorm. Subsequent investigations blamed poor training, leadership, and other factors. While the sailor was eventually exonerated, I imagine that every gay activist in the country remembers the initial conclusions, and views the Iowa with hate and suspicion.